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""There's a huge gap between the needs and requirements of the job market of the 21st century and what the education system is delivering," said Vishal Talreja, founder and CEO of Dream A Dream, a Bangalore-based organization that prepares young people from vulnerable backgrounds to succeed in a changing world. Talreja is right -- neither employers nor education leaders (not to mention some students themselves) would argue otherwise. But it is the second point Talreja made before the 2015 LEGO Foundation IDEA Conference that educator-innovators should pay the most attention to: "Learning spaces, which could be physical spaces of learning or just safe environments for learning, are extremely critical." A learning space differs in both look and feel from the traditional classroom. In the past year, we've met social entrepreneurs with an eye on education who are creating cost-effective methods to infuse schools with the type of culture and design that students need to better develop their curiosity, creativity, and imagination, and better achieve desired learning outcomes."

"Are  your students texting in class? Of course they are. A better question is, are you allowing your students to send text messages? If not, why? The picture above is what happens in most classes. Students hide their mobile devices and surreptitiously send text messages to their friends. In many cases they may be texting peers in the same room. Teachers fear this secret texting in class and, in many cases, ban the use of mobile devices entirely. A better practice is to embrace the mobile devices and the text messaging."

3 Ideas To Help You Feel Better About Your Kids and Screens http://t.co/sCtGMcXUpR

" Reading makes your smarter.  More importantly, it makes you a better teacher. Smart districts offer in-service or professional development compensation for instructors that read relevant resources. Most people think that the summer provides educators with well deserved time to recharge.  While that is true, most importantly, it provides educators time to read. I challenge you to read the list of books described below this summer.  They have immediate and actionable implications with the way you instruct your students."

"In my opinion, when starting something new, it's better to have more than less, and it's better to think more than less.  But I will say, now that I'm on the other side, I invite you to learn from my anxiety if you, in fact, decide to create a time for making in your classroom this year.  Try these four tips for preparing for your first maker class:"

"As an element of my technology sessions at Lakeland Elementary School's teacher inservice yesterday, I took a different approach. I did this partially to better model what I have preaching (teacher as facilitator rather than all-knowing bestower of knowledge) and also to give my teacher first hand experience in how a student feels in that environment. Additionally, it made the session more interactive (less boring) and by finding answers on their own, the teachers should better remember what they learned to do. In hindsight, I also believe a major benefit is the realization of many of my teachers that they know more, and can do more, than they thought they could. Being under the pressure of a time clock and motivated to beat the other teams, they had very little wiggle room to have their creative problem solving skills hijacked by self-doubt. Instinct kicked in. From the standpoint of the facilitator, it was fascinating (and addictive) to watch that happening. Very, very cool."

"Students perform better if they share an iPad with another student as opposed to having one all to themselves, according to a new study. Though schools nationwide have ramped up their efforts to introduce technology in the classroom, there's just a small body of evidence on the benefits for students. Now a new study suggests that iPads do have a role in academic performance, but the effect may be greater when students collaborate."

"The Managing Complex Change model puts language to that which makes some schools successful while others struggle. The model looks at five components necessary to create a desired environment. These include vision, skills, incentives, resources, action plan. If any one piece is missing the model indicates results schools will experience including change, confusion, anxiety, gradual change, frustration, and a false start. When thinking of successful schools such as Science Leadership Academy, The MET, The Island School, The iSchool, you will find they have all those components in place. On the other hand, when I hear teachers lamenting about their school failures, the model brings clarity to the fact that one or more of these components are missing. Below is the chart that lays this out. Following the chart, I'll take a look at what each missing component might look like in a school environment. As you read, consider which, if any are components, are missing at your school. save image Lack of Vision = Confusion When I hear exasperated teachers spinning their wheels, working so hard to get ready for all the various mandates and requirements, but never feeling a sense of accomplishment, it is clear there is not a tangible school vision that has been communicated. In some cases this is because what is being imposed does or can not reconcile with what the school wanted for their vision. Skill Deficit = Anxiety My heart goes out to those with a skill deficit. They are required to implement a curriculum they are not trained in using or being evaluated via measures with which they are not familiar. Or…they are put into a position they were not trained for or prepared to embrace. Social media provides a great medium for helping these teachers get up to speed, but when the outreach occurs, the anxiety is abundantly clear. Lack of Incentives = Gradual Change It is not unusual for innovative educators to feel like and be perceived as misfits. Islands onto their own

"Instagram is more than just an app for photo filters, it's a community to share stories. And sometimes, the app's built-in features aren't good enough to tell the story you want to. But there are some innovative third-party apps that let you get creative with Instagram. Third-party apps for Instagram are nothing new. In fact, some Instagram clients are better than the official app. Of course, you will still have to use the official app to upload your images, but these third-party apps let you do some cool edits to them before uploading. From adding captions to a Flipbook-like collection of photos, this is how you can tell a better story on the world's most popular social photo community."

"Teaching the Ten Steps to Better Web Research"

The Apple-developed music player now features all kinds of accessories to help you study better, and now other companies are in a rush to get their designs in sync with the iPod. Pre-teens, college kids and even adults are taking advantage of the educational benefits an iPod affords them. From downloadable podcasts to just-for-iPod study guides and applications, learning on the go has never been easier. To find out about the many different ways you can transform your iPod into a learning device, check out our list below.

Welcome to the 2008 Comment Challenge! Challenging bloggers to become better blog citizens. Challenge runs from May 1 - 31, 2008. Coordinated by Sue Waters, Silvia Tolisano, Michele Martin and Kim Cofino Sponsored by coComment and Edublogs We would like to challenge participants to be better blog citizens tracking who is the commenter with: * The most comments on a wide range of blogs (not just the "top" edubloggers) * The most high quality comments that thoughtfully reflect on the topic * The comments that provoke and promote the most learning

60 Second Recap is an awesome new site that has one goal, they want to make the great works of literature accessible, relevant, and irresistible to today's teens. Using short (60 second) video albums, they seek to help teens engage with the best books out there ... not just to help them get better grades, but "to help them build better lives". Looks like a welcome and nice alternative for Cliff Notes and Spark Notes. Check this one out - it only takes a minute.

"10 Ways to Help Students Ask Better Questions "

"Tablets are Good, Content is Better, and Teachers are the Best Educational ICT Investment"

"The Power of Teacher Workshops: Advocating for Better PD at Your School"

"Finally, science has given its approval to one of the literary world's most cherished ideas about the value of literature. Even though the study only measured short-term benefits, it was taken to stand for a wider truth about the morally improving effects of the stuff, the "Finally, science has given its approval to one of the literary world's most cherished ideas about the value of literature. Even though the study only measured short-term benefits, it was taken to stand for a wider truth about the morally improving effects of the stuff, the notion that it makes you a better, more empathic person."

"Maybe it's the festive spirit in the air. Maybe it's the eggnog they serve in the Google cafe. Whatever it is, Google Maps feels like the gift that just keeps on giving! For the past ten years Google has been helping children around the world track and follow Santa on his journey from the North Pole. And each year it just gets better and better. Students can play high quality Christmas themed games, watch fun videos and of course learn all about Santa and his journey from country to country."

""While we're at it, maybe we should just design classrooms without windows. And, hey, I'll bet kids would really perform better if they spent their days in isolation." My friend was reacting (facetiously, of course) to a new study that found kindergartners scored better on a test of recall if their classroom's walls were completely bare. A room filled with posters, maps, and the kids' own art constituted a "distraction." The study, published last month in Psychological Science [1] and picked up by Science World Report, the Boston Globe, and other media outlets, looked at a whopping total of 24 children. A research assistant read to them about a topic such as plate tectonics or insects, then administered a paper-and-pencil test to see how many facts they remembered. On average, kids in the decorated rooms were "off task" 39 percent of the time and had a "learning score" of 42 percent. The respective numbers for those in the bare rooms were 28 percent and 55 percent. Now if you regularly read education studies, you won't be surprised to learn that the authors of this one never questioned, or even bothered to defend, the value of the science lessons they used - whether they were developmentally appropriate or presented effectively, whether they involved anything more than reading a list of facts or were likely to hold any interest for 5-year-olds. Nor did the researchers vouch for the quality of the assessment. Whatever raises kids' scores (on any test, and of any material) was simply assumed to be a good thing, and anything that lowers scores is bad."

While it becomes impossible to live without your iPhone 4S, you must be a bit worried about the habit of the gadget eating up all the battery at inopportune times.there are still some vital tips and tricks you can follow to improve your Smartphones battery life. Low Down The Screen Brightness Just as it goes for your laptop devices, you need to lower down the brightness of your iPhone screen, which will enhance the battery life. Adjust the screen brightness under the Settings tab. Make Use of Wi-Fi When You Can Instead of making Voice calls, downloading apps or browsing the Web over your iPhone 3G or cellular connection, it is recommended to always find a Wifi hotspot or make use of your home network. This will help you keep away not only from data charges but also will aid you have a better battery life as your device will not be searching for the data signals. Remember, if you are in an area where there is no Wi-Fi hotspot, it is better to turn off the search and it will help save the battery life of your iPhone 4S. Do Not Use The GPS Tracking Feature If you are using apps that support the feature of Automatic GPS tagging and location such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, your iPhone is working overtime to determine your location. If you do not want to be Geo-tag your updates and posts, must keep the GPS function off. Do Not Use The 'Fetch' & 'Push' feature If you have your iPhone 4S set to 'fetch' the data after every 30 minutes time along with numerous apps to push new alerts and messages as they happen, then you need to turn off this feature on your device. This feature is going to drain your battery. Only use the facility when you really need it otherwise keep it off. Keep Your Notifications In Check To enhance your iPhone 4S battery time, you need to limit your app notifications to just the apps you make use of more often. This actually means that you have to say 'no' to the requests for all kinds of notifications you ge