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"Despite all its making potential, desktop 3D printers have a reputation of being nothing more than toys. Only suitable for creating desktop clutter. To be fair, that reputation isn't completely undeserved, as many users create little more than pot planters and smartphone cases. That's exactly why Ding Zhou, a Chinese industrial design lecturer at the Nanjing University of the Arts, recently hosted a workshop that seeks to inspire users and find handy solutions for everyday problems through 3D printing. And the results are very impressive; from plug removal aids to wire clips that prevent entanglement, this workshop is an excellent reminder of how much simpler our lives can become with a few clever 3D prints."

"Fiber optics! Fiber optics! Admittedly, I'm a little obsessed with fiber optics, and for good reason. They are a durable, versatile, and relatively simple way to add beautiful lighting effects to anything you're making. Just look at some of the gorgeous projects you can create with them! There was a time when I mostly used el wire in my illuminated designs, but ever since the amazing Natalina and Technorainbows introduced me to the wonders of fiber optics in their various forms, I've been on a bit of a fiber optic bender. So come fall down this rabbit hole with me, and turn yourself into a mesmerizing bioluminescent sea creature... you know you want to."

"Having an iPad in my classroom and home has clearly helped me become more productive and have more fun. iPads are engaging and they are powerful. I have downloaded some great apps but one of the most overlooked aspects of the iPad are the awesome accessories you can connect to it. Here is my list of the five coolest things you can connect to your iPad:"

"For as long as I've been aware of makerspaces, I haven't quite understood them. I have seen plenty of photos on social media, with the towers made of marshmallows and toothpicks. I've walked through exhibit halls at conferences where the coding and robotics displays cause me to stop, stare, and try to look like I have some idea of what I'm looking at. I even stumbled into a Twitter chat one night where a group of school librarians was throwing around some pretty great ideas about building makerspaces in their libraries. And yet, I still feel like I don't get it. I have this picture in my mind of kids kind of messing around with Legos instead of, I don't know, reading primary source materials that would shed light on some period in history. Or taping together some cardboard strips to make them into a car. Or attaching some kind of wire to a banana. I don't know…the more traditional, stodgy, control-freak part of me says it looks like a bunch of hooey. But some of the smartest people I know are pretty into makerspaces, and the part of me that's not a stodgy control freak, the part that knows there's a lot about tradition we need to question, that part of me wants to find out once and for all what's so great about makerspaces."

"Evaluating a student's understanding of a topic is like taking a measurement. However, it requires measuring something that is difficult to see. It's not like I can stick a ruler into a student's brain to determine the size of their physics stuff. Now, most teachers use indirect means, usually a multiple-choice test or an exam in which students work through a problem. These are poor measures of student understanding. Someone could simply guess, or flub the answer through a silly mistake. So how can I accurately assess a student's understanding of physics? Until someone invents a way of reading a student's mind, I must do something else. I use a combination of written tests and video assessments."

"As anyone who's ever spent hours hunched over Candy Crush can attest, there's something special about games. Sure they're fun, but they can also be absorbing, frustrating, challenging and complex. Research has shown our brains are "wired for pleasure," and that games are an effective way to learn because they simulate adventure and keep our brains engaged and happy. But what exactly do we learn from them? In an era consumed with teaching 21st-century soft skills, are games any good at building critical thinking or collaboration skills? The answer is likely yes, but, much like games themselves, it's complicated. "What you'll find from the research is that it's very much dependent on, 'under certain types of conditions, certain types of skills seem to be developed,'" explains game designer and theorist Katie Salen, a former executive director at the nonprofit Institute of Play. "I never want to make claims that games writ-large for any kid-under any circumstances-teach these sort of skills.""

"THE ARRIVAL OF iOS 12 means you can now use Apple's long-awaited suite of Screen Time tools. The new features, which appear under Settings > Screen Time, are designed to give you a better idea of how you're spending time on your phone and limit the time you spend on certain apps. It's all part of a greater push by tech companies to mitigate the ways personal devices are engineered to be addictive, by creating all kinds of new "digital wellness" features. Similar features showed up on Facebook and Instagram this summer, and Android's own set of screen time tools are currently in beta on Android Pie. Looking to use your phone less? Scroll down-mindfully and purposefully!-to find out how to get the most out of Apple's Screen Time tools."

"In the latest issue of Nature Human Behavior, Przybylski and coauthor Amy Orben use a novel statistical method to show why scientists studying these colossal data sets have been getting such different results and why most of the associations researchers have found, positive and negative, are very small-and probably not worth freaking out about."

"Augmented Reality (AR) is the imposing of digitally generated images into a viewer's real-world surroundings. Unlike Virtual Reality, which creates a completely artificial environment, AR uses the existing environment and overlays it with new information. Augmented reality apps are usually written using special 3D programs which allow developers to superimpose animation in the computer program, to an AR "marker" in the real world. It is now popularly being used by advertisers to create 3D renders of products, such as cars, the inside of buildings, and machinery. This provides consumers with a 360-degree product view. The term 'Augmented Reality' was coined by Boeing researcher Thomas Caudell in 1990, to explain how head-mounted displays of electricians worked during the assembling of complicated wiring. Since then, the technology has been used in CAD programs for aircraft assembly, architecture, digital advertising, simulation, translation, military, and various medical procedures. Tech giant Google, unveiled Google Glass in 2013, propelling AR to a more wearable interface - glasses. It works by projecting on the user's lens screen while responding to voice commands, overlaying images, videos, and sounds."

"Create your own DIY lighting around a LED light bulb hanging on a wire. This resourceful video from The Lighting Channel shares 10 ways to change a lightbulb: with paper, crochet, a bottle, a bowl, paper mâché, ducting tube, stencils, a metal utensil can, a pentagon tower made with construction paper, and a soft box. Remember to use LED lights for safety-they don't burn as hot as other kinds of light bulbs-and give them lots of room to breathe. As always, be safe, be smart, be sure to test your creations, and don't leave them unattended. And for an up close look at these ideas, check out this playlist. Here are two we want to try:"

"UPDATES HAVE CONTINUED to be released thick and fast in October, with patches now available from the likes of Apple for iOS, Google Chrome, Android, and, of course, Microsoft in its monthly Patch Tuesday. That's in addition to updates to fix issues in Zoom, Cisco, VMWare, and SAP products. Here are the details about all the important patches issued in October."

"SOON AFTER ChatGPT broke the internet, it sparked an all-too-familiar question for new technologies: What can it do for education?  Many feared it would worsen plagiarism and further damage an already decaying humanism in the academy, while others lauded its potential to spark creativity and handle mundane educational tasks.   Of course, ChatGPT is just one of many advances in artificial intelligence that have the capacity to alter pedagogical practices.  The allure of AI-powered tools to help individuals maximize their understanding of academic subjects (or more effectively prepare for exams) by offering them the right content, in the right way, at the right time for them has spurred new investments from governments and private philanthropies.  "

"'Free-Range Learners': Study Opens Window Into How Students Hunt for Educational Content Online"

"Have an iPad 2, iPhone, or iPod touch? Take advantage of the dual cameras that come with the device. Some of you might even own the new iPad, which boasts the much improved camera much like that of the iPhone 4S. Simply having a camera on these devices adds so much convenience to your photography tasks. No more need to fiddle with SD or Compact Flash cards, wires, usb connection kits."