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In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxYouth@FortGarry, where x = independently organized TED event.

"Mobile Learning and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is the latest craze in education. Mobile devices are transforming the way teachers are teaching and students are learning. The term "Flipped Classrooms" is becoming more mainstream in which teachers are using online methods to teach and students are using mobile devices to learn. While there are 1000's of educational iOS apps, I decided to curate a list into a 100 to help educators. I created a list that covers a wide variety of areas and I hope will be beneficial to not only students but teachers as well."

"In Texas, there are 180 days of instruction, taking away 30 days for state testing so that leave 150 days for instruction. Let's say that a teacher gives a curriculum-based test once every two weeks and the district benchmark test three times a year. That is 21 less days of instruction or 129 days. Now, schools typically have three days of teacher in-service. Five special assemblies, two holiday parties, two half days, four emergency drills and three sick days takes away 15 more days bringing it to 111 days."

"Assessment reports and online grading tools take away the tedious task of collecting and grading quizzes, as well as provide educators with spreadsheet-style assessment results that can focus on the student, the question, or even the topic. To help bring solutions to the classroom, our Teq PD team created this eBook, to inform you about some of our favorite and most useful assessment apps."

"At DonorsChoose.org we have noticed a recent trend in technology-based project requests. Teachers recognize that we live in an age of information and are excited to bring items such as iPads, laptops, iPods, and Kindles into their classrooms. Eric Crouch of Columbus, GA created a video about how he uses iPads to engage his first grade students. Take a peek into Mr. Crouch's classroom as he discusses the benefits of learning through iPads."

"In theory, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs in schools are a great idea; students can use their own tablets, laptops and smartphones in the classroom, and can take advantage of a wider range of apps and programs than they might be able to normally access in school. There is a case to be made that doing so can make schools more cutting edge and capable of engaging students through methods that they're comfortable with. However, there's also a risk that BYOD could lead to bullying and inequality within schools. How, then, can BYOD be successful without causing these kinds of problems? "

"Last year I volunteered in my child's Kindergarten class daily for an hour with our family's three iPads. I learned a lot about selecting educational content (primarily early math & literacy apps) and how to set up an environment most conducive for learning. I was most impressed by the potential for mobile devices to improve the experience in class for both teachers and students. So this year I volunteered to bring our iPads into my child's First grade class once a week for 'buddy reading'. As I do more outreach and training for local teachers in my community, I am surprised at the large number of classrooms getting devices without any guidelines about how to integrate them into their existing institutional structures or curriculum. From these experiences, I have come up with the following five tips for starting a new program in any classroom …"

"Many schools will ask students to bring their own smartphones, tablets and laptops from home as a federal government program which gave every student in years 9 to 12 access to a computer expires at the end of this month."

"Summer has begun! This is a great opportunity to reflect on the past year and to learn some new skills for next school year. We will be starting a weekly book study of Dave Burgess', Teach Like a Pirate on 6/17 at 8pm CST. Burgess teaches cutting-edge strategies for skyrocketing creativity so that teachers will be able to design lessons to draw students into their content like a magnet. Readers will leave with the ability to create a classroom experience that will have students knocking down the doors to get in. The book will have your mind racing with ideas that you can bring into your classroom immediately."

"Current discourse on 'improving' education is a lot of "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic". We have important and difficult issues to address but ignore them. Bring up "flipping the class" or "BYOD" and experts flock to tell you why and how wrong you are, but mention the big issues affecting student learning and you're greeted by silence."

"Infuse Learning is a new assessment service which works very much like Socrative. It allows teachers to set up quizzes which the students can answer via any device which can connect to the internet - whether that's a laptop, netbook, iPod, iPad or other tablet device. Like Socrative it is a fantastic addition to a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom. As well as the quizzes you can set up and save, you can also add Quick Assessment questions which can be given to the class at any point in a lesson. These can be quick True/False, Multiple Choice and Numeric answers and Likert Scale answers. There's also the option for students to draw a picture as their response to a question, which is an interesting addition which would work well for students with touchscreen and tablet devices."

"If you want to embrace technology effectively and in a meaningful manner in the classroom, you first need to identify your strengths and weaknesses. You need to identify what kind of knowledge you are bringing. Think about your knowledge in the following areas- Technology Pedagogy Content"

"Originally released in early 2012, Apple's education-themed ebook creation tool took bold steps as the first WYSIWYG program to export an ebook just as its author envisioned it. As I noted in my review of that software, however, the first version of iBooks Author was very much a 1.0 product, with strange omissions and odd workflows for users who didn't want to build textbooks. Ten months later, an updated version-iBooks Author 2.0 (Mac App Store)-brings simplified tools, new templates, portrait-only options, and a better publishing workflow to the table. Naturally, I couldn't resist taking the updated program for a spin."

"Learning to read can be difficult. And teaching a group of students to read and write can be a daunting task - especially taking into consideration that each student may learn differently, and at a very different pace. Some students may have trouble matching sounds with letters and words, some with writing mechanics, others may have trouble concentrating in a traditional classroom setting. Having a few extra tools in the arsenal to have students using either in class or out of class can help to bring everyone up to speed or help any student to get a bit ahead."

"Clear, concise communication is powerful. With a little clarity, we can eliminate those long, roundabout email exchanges that keep projects in perpetual limbo. That's what Skitch is for, and today we're bringing this vision to your PDF workflow to help you give the fastest, friendliest and most direct feedback ever. Not only that, but we've also added an innovative summary that ensures your recipients are able to act upon your feedback immediately. Let's dive into the new PDF features, as well as some exciting new tools."

"For the last year, myself and four other members of the Cinnaminson School District staff worked relentlessly to start a pilot Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) program at Cinnaminson High School. We worked together to create an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and a FAQ sheet for students and parents. We researched how other school districts began their program. We asked for volunteers. I thought we took all the necessary steps to pilot this program. After meeting with Eric Sheninger and touring New Milford High School, I now recognize that we share similar goals for a successful technology program, but our steps have not overlapped to make the same progress."

"The superb TED app for iPad and iPhone has been updated this week, to Version 2.0. This is the app that brings more than 1,000 wonderful TEDTalk videos to the iPad - or as they're touted 'riveting talks by remarkable people'. "

"The most powerful thing she said was something that education policy makers will ignore at all costs. That is that Creativity is the next essential literacy. Now keep in mind I am just beginning to try and wrap my mind around what that may look like. My first belief in this discussion is that creativity is something that begins at a young age. I also believe that creativity and imagination go hand and hand. When I teach my courses for the college I refer to imagination as a sense of wonder because often people are distracted by the word imagination. This is because it brings up a short time in their life when they were encouraged to imagine. As an education system we ignore imagination and we have quickly weeded out that perceived "unnecessary" tool over the past 20 years. "