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"If you build it, will they come? Just because you create a makerspace (PDF) in your school doesn't guarantee that your community will embrace it. Students who have had all personal choice removed by traditional educational models can be passive and feel overwhelmed when faced with real-world problems or design challenges. Academic passivity is common in schools where students swallow content and regurgitate it on multiple-choice tests. Students simply want to know how to get the "A." This type of learning does not stick. Teachers may find the role of facilitator (or "guide on the side") uncomfortable if they are used to being the "sage on the stage." New technology in these spaces may be intimidating. Teachers need encouragement and professional development to change their mindsets and become facilitators of learning. How do you change your culture and ensure that your shiny new makerspace will empower students to acquire 21st-century skills? How do you change the culture of student apathy to encourage a mindset of doing? Follow these steps and design tips to build a culture of making and active learning."

"Think Tank: Flip-thinking - the new buzz word sweeping the US "

Lecture first via online video, then set the work in class. Teacher in a better position to assist and enable learning than lecturing in class and setting homework

Twitter is increasingly being used by journalists to make contacts and track news events, but the Twitter user-interface (UI) itself is pretty limited making it difficult to track conversations. Fortunately its open API structure and the ability to subscribe to various types of RSS feeds from Twitter means there are a number of ways to track a 'buzz' around an event or specific conversations

"I've been pushing a lot of people's button lately because they keep throwing around this buzz word "engagement". For example, we need to increase student engagement! We need to promote student engagement! We need to provide teaching that will develop student engagement! The problem I have with this is that it seems to me that many people confused the word "engagement" for "entertainment". If kids are having fun then they must be engaged right? And what concerns me more is the people who have taken the message about "increasing engagement" and translated that into a hidden mandate to "increase test scores"."

"Infographics is certainly creating a buzz over the past years. With most people getting busier and busier, infographics cut the time it requires to read a full article. Just like videos, infographic is a surefire way to capture one's attention. As a wise blogger, you must learn to properly utilize infographics for your own good. How exactly can you master the art of using infographics? I'll provide you some tips to help you get started."

"Prior to presenting Hour of Code lessons in my classroom, and eventually to my entire school, my knowledge of computer programming was limited to knowing it had something to do with ones and zeroes. I understood a lot of work went into constructing the digital world we now rely on, but what that work entailed was hazy at best. In fact, prior to Hour of Code, I didn't know the second week of December was Computer Science Education Week, which is when Hour of Code is held. It was all thanks to a buzz on Twitter that I first heard about Hour of Code's launch in 2013 and its simple, but powerful, mission: to expose children (and adults!) to one hour of computer science. After a trial run with my class the first year, I dove in headfirst and presented Hour of Code lessons in every class at my pre-kindergarten-through-second-grade school -- and with only a little prep, so can you!"

"December is one of the most exhausting months of the year for teachers. The days are shorter. The weather grows colder and (at least here in Oregon) wetter. Students are anxious - whether it's a buzzing excitement for vacation or a sense of dread that some kids feel in homes that are unsafe during the holidays. And teachers are tired. They're tired of redirecting behaviors and tired of the mid-year pressure of the test and simply tired of the sheer energy it takes to be a teacher. It's no wonder that so many teachers begin playing holiday movies around this time of year. They want to create a sense of fun and escape and enjoyment, and a motion picture promises exactly that. Maybe that's okay. Maybe that's a part of creating a culture of joy. But for me, movies always fell flat. For my first few years, I showed a movie the day before the winter break. However, within minutes, kids were disengaged. They were passive. It wasn't special. My students could go home and watch a movie whenever they felt like it. It had me wondering . . . was there something that they could do in my class that they couldn't do anywhere else? Was this actually the chance to do something epic and make something memorable?"

"Virtual and Augmented Reality apps are starting to hit the market in force. While most of the buzz for these technologies has been for immersive gaming, many companies are getting involved in realizing the potential that Augmented and Virtual Reality may have as educational tools. The fraction of projected VR and AR market value taken up by education may seem small, but considering how large whole market is, this "small fraction" still represents Billions of Dollars. This article will discuss 22 virtual and augmented reality apps for education that are already available, in beta, or still in the testing process. Some of the apps are aimed at parents and preschool teachers, while most are for primary school teachers. Others will interest anybody, including higher education students, and even non-students."

"You may have heard the educational buzz about the free app Periscope. With this app, you can record a live broadcast and share it with followers or with the public. If you aren't familiar with the it, check out this Education Closet article from the fall: http://educationcloset.com/2015/09/15/up-periscope-reimagining-arts-integration-professional-development/ Many educators have jumped on the Periscope platform, broadcasting tips after school hours or live from their classrooms. While it is easy to sign up and follow broadcasts, it can be daunting to record a public broadcast yourself. After learning about Periscope, I thought this might be a useful tool for my school district to help teachers network and learn from one another. I ran the idea by my principal, and she was immediately supportive. To help with privacy concerns, we decided all of our broadcasts would be set to private. In order for anyone to see a private broadcast, though, our staff must be mutual followers of each other. Here's the plan we followed when rolling out a school-wide Periscope community."

Next to technology use in education, assessment generates buzz. Americans scramble to put together formative assessment into their system and here are links to research articles to show evidence of the race.

"On any given day at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy, visitors to the Lower School library might be surprised to find it bears little resemblance to the school libraries of years past. Several 5th graders sit at computers, developing 3D luggage tags using Tinkercad to be printed on the nearby Makerbot 3D printer. On the central library tables, students are creating Rube Goldberg machines using physical manipulatives or the RubeWorks iPad app. The library is a buzz of activity and student engagement, punctuated with squeals of excitement. And overseeing the makerspace is librarian Judy Houser, a veteran educator who took the visionary step of transforming this once quiet library into a space where students not only learn to love reading, but learn to explore, create and innovate using a variety of tools"

"Whether teacher, trainer, or instructional designer these are 5 TED talks you need to watch. They all provide insight into the way we learn and what's wrong with how we currently 'deliver' learning. They all think big when envisaging how we might design and create engaging and meaningful learning experiences. My key takeaways: Creativity should have the same status as literacy. Solving problems sparks curiosity and creativity. Conversely giving the learner too much information can kill that buzz. We need creative problem solvers for our future. Learning happens best when it is social, collaborative, has meaning and is on the learners terms."

"f you build it, will they come? Just because you create a makerspace (PDF) in your school doesn't guarantee that your community will embrace it. Students who have had all personal choice removed by traditional educational models can be passive and feel overwhelmed when faced with real-world problems or design challenges. Academic passivity is common in schools where students swallow content and regurgitate it on multiple-choice tests. Students simply want to know how to get the "A." This type of learning does not stick. Teachers may find the role of facilitator (or "guide on the side") uncomfortable if they are used to being the "sage on the stage." New technology in these spaces may be intimidating. Teachers need encouragement and professional development to change their mindsets and become facilitators of learning. How do you change your culture and ensure that your shiny new makerspace will empower students to acquire 21st-century skills? How do you change the culture of student apathy to encourage a mindset of doing? Follow these steps and design tips to build a culture of making and active learning."