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"Our job as educators is more than just standards we teach. We are in the business of helping students know they are more than just a number. More than just data points. They are the story, the song, the art that moves and matters. They are the embodied learning. Our challenge is to help stakeholders care more about the embodied learning, the things that don't have names. The journey that collectively leads to things that matter. Our challenge is to care most about students that are fully alive in their learning. It is up to us to make the things that matter, the most important."

"I went to Edcamp Detroit last weekend and Erin Klein shared a free app that she has used in her classroom with a lot of success. The app is called Aurasma. The app allows individuals to create and publish their own augmented reality experiences they call "Auras." I'm sure you are thinking the same thing I was thinking when Erin was talking about this app, "Sounds cool, but what does it do?" Students and teachers can make lessons come alive with this platform. It is difficult to explain so I will explain it step by step, then show you what it looks like in action. "

"Design is an artistic endeavor that values the creative and human centered application of math, science and technology. Using design to help others learn science is not intuitive, however, once practiced you will see how humanistic and authentic it is to incorporate design in any subject. Below is a list of the most promising benefits that I have noticed in the past six years for using design as a framework and making as the engine to empower students as they gain and apply their scientific literacy."

"About us Living Junction is a fun and easy way to create social magazines around your hobbies and interests. You can drag-and-drop your favorite rich media content to the pages of your magazine to bring the stories around your favorite topics alive. Each magazine comes with a set of social features which help to create micro communities around your favorite topics. The magazines you create can be private to you and your closest friends, or public and shared with a community of like-minded people."

"Friday March 14 is the 135th anniversary of Albert Einstein's birthday, a good time to think about the importance of asking questions. This was a big theme for Einstein, who told us, "The important thing is not to stop questioning," while also urging us to question everything and "Never lose a holy curiosity." Einstein understood that questioning is critical to learning and solving problems. If he were alive today, Einstein would see a world in which questioning has become more important than ever before. But he might also be left wondering why, for the most part, we still don't encourage questioning or teach it to our children."

Imagine living in the magical world of Harry Potter, where the school hallways are lined with paintings that are alive and interactive. Now imagine creating an atmosphere like that for your students. Augmented Reality (AR) allows educators and students to do just that: unlock or create layers of digital information on top of the physical world that can be viewed through an Android or iOS device.

"In 2009 some folks said Twitter would kill blogging. Six years later, longform is flourishing. Some english teachers still worry that texting and social media damages student writing, but look at all the great new content sites full of great stories and useful information! What caused this resurgence of writing? We think it's new platforms, advocacy, content marketing, and a little edu blogging."

"Stop Motion was one of the original video creation techniques. By stringing together a series of single images and displaying them quickly in order, film was born. Now on iPad, Stop Motion can be used as a technique for capturing learning as it happens, making drawings, models, science projects, or counting exercises come alive. Consider the power of creating a digital flipbook that could later be viewed as a video. Introduction to KomaKoma KomaKoma is a FREE Stop Motion iPad App that can compile together a series of photos taken in the app and then export them to the Camera Roll as a video. With a simple user interface consisting of only a few buttons, KomaKoma is very intuitive. The app launches the camera automatically (first time app users will have to allow the Camera access). A big red record button captures each image in sequence, and a big green play button plays the images back as a video. The only other 2 editing buttons are a blue "X" to delete the last image taken, and a yellow arrow for saving the video to the app's Gallery. "

"Art has long been recognized as an important part of a well-rounded education - but when it comes down to setting budget priorities, the arts rarely rise to the top. Many public schools saw their visual, performing and musical arts programs cut completely during the last recession, despite the many studies showing that exposure to the arts can help with academics too. A few schools are taking the research to heart, weaving the arts into everything they do and finding that the approach not only boosts academic achievement but also promotes creativity, self-confidence and school pride."

"Any book lover can tell you: diving into a great novel is an immersive experience that can make your brain come alive with imagery and emotions and even turn on your senses. It sounds romantic, but there's real, hard evidence that supports these things happening to your brain when you read books. In reading, we can actually physically change our brain structure, become more empathetic, and even trick our brains into thinking we've experienced what we've only read in novels."

"I often wonder if what we see as teaching at professional learning events would be acceptable in a high school classroom. If the purpose of professional development (Pro-D) is professional learning, then what is our evidence that learning does, in fact, occur? Are we using effective teaching practices in Pro-D? Although Pro-D is evolving, the "Sit'n'Git" way of learning seems to still be alive and well in many conferences and workshops throughout Canada and the U.S. In the past five years, I cannot tell you how many times I've sat in a large conference room for a number of hours with hundreds of other dedicated educators and not been provided with the opportunity to even talk to the person beside me. People are spending hundreds and thousands of dollars to attend these events to listen to a series of lengthy lectures without the opportunity to network and wrestle with the presented ideas. I'm not opposed to a keynote address to start off the day with some inspiring, thought-provoking ideas; however, if there is no opportunity to take these ideas and move deeper, many of the thoughts that are initiated in the keynote get lost as I move on to the next session or listen to the next presenter. It's no secret that in order for deeper learning to occur, we must DO something with a new concept; we must apply new learning to take it from an idea to implementation. Our current typical model of Pro-D makes deeper learning a challenge and often only leaves participants with a few ideas that are unfortunately left on the shelf with the many glossy white binders from workshops of years past. At some point we need to stand up and say that a high volume of "Sit'n'Git" style of Pro-D is no longer acceptable and is an insult to those who have spent money, time, and effort to attend. While doing this, we also need to rethink the conference model and professional learning so that it better aligns with what we want to see in classrooms."

Avatar meets IM. Very cool!

"Welcome to AncientWorlds where history comes alive! This online community for lovers of ancient history is free for many features and activities such as reading and posting on the discussion boards as well as touring member Homesites. Extended features are available by a monthly or annual subscription. To begin building your Homesite for free, register now or click one of the links below to begin exploring the site. If you are already a member login here!"

"What constitutes a human right? Abstractly, a human right is one that is inherent and inalienable to all human beings. They are the elements of social life any individual should reasonably expect to be granted solely for the fact that they are alive. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there exist thirty such elements ranging from the Right to Equality to Freedom of Religion to the Right to Rest and Leisure. Some are more abstract than others, some more integral to survival than the rest. Near the end of the list is the Right to Education, which is the focus of Big Think expert Nicholas Negroponte's recent interview, featured today on this site and embedded below:"

I recall logo and turtle robotics. Seymore Papert is skill alive and well. This clever 'robot' kit could be a nerd's delight!

Much has been made about technology's ability to better facilitate a wide range of educational opportunities. With the advent of tablet computers in classrooms, ever-growing internet resources, and cloud computing platforms that help school administrators go wireless, there are boundless instruction possibilities when it comes to making use of new technological advances.

"rt has long been recognized as an important part of a well-rounded education - but when it comes down to setting budget priorities, the arts rarely rise to the top. Many public schools saw their visual, performing and musical arts programs cut completely during the last recession, despite the many studies showing that exposure to the arts can help with academics too. A few schools are taking the research to heart, weaving the arts into everything they do and finding that the approach not only boosts academic achievement but also promotes creativity, self-confidence and school pride."

"Historical inquiry helps make history class exciting. History teachers can use primary sources in creative, exciting ways to make history come alive. Many people in history might be dead, but your teaching doesn't have to be. Let's dive in. What is historical inquiry? How can it be used to teach history? How can you use technology, creativity, and exciting projects to teach history? Here's how."