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"PBL (Problem Based Learning) has long been an important aspect of my teaching programme. This term in my Year 6 Mathematics Class we have been learning about Fractions and Decimals. After doing some learning about how to use and manipulate them effectively and developing an understanding of chance, the students have been set a problem based around filling a gap in the market.   The students were set a problem based on filling a gap in the market. The problem was: "The educational board game market is severely lacking fraction, decimal and chance based games to support learning"."

"t's not unusual for educators to use analog games in the classroom, but as more classrooms gain access to technology, digital games are also making a strong showing. A recent Joan Ganz Cooney Center survey of 694 K-8 teachers found that 74 percent of those surveyed use digital games in the classroom, up from 50 percent two years ago. Many of the teachers finding the most success are good at creatively connecting the game back to the curriculum, while allowing it to maintain the qualities of a good game. These teachers are often more comfortable with games themselves, playing for fun in their spare time, and are thus more likely to see valuable classroom connections. It's one thing to have empirical evidence that digital games are growing in popularity and another to get an in-depth look at how and why teachers see them as a valuable use of precious class time."

"Third grader Cordell Steiner makes a pretty convincing argument for using video games in the classroom in this TEDx talk. He describes feeling more motivated to learn and master new skills because of his eagerness to beat his own high score or finish before the clock runs out. He says he used to be bored in class when his teachers had to slow down to explain concepts, but now each student plays games intended to help him or her with specific skills they're trying to master. He even gives examples!"

"While the introduction of FabLabs and makerspaces into schools tends to focus on the importance of hands-on projects in the STEM or STEAM fields, it's just as important that students engage in maker projects in their humanities and social science classes. History teachers should bring making into the classroom, even at schools that don't have formal makerspaces."

"EdTech is certainly becoming more and more popular in classrooms around the world. There are many different methods of implementation, including schemes like bring your own device (BYOD), bookable class sets or a set number of devices in each classroom. For greatest impact on both teaching and learning, more devices is better: 1:1 allows learning to be more personalised and provides opportunities for teachers to transform their teaching with the aid of technology. However, due to many factors, this is not possible in every school. If you as a teacher own a tablet, can it alone have an impact in the classroom? Here I'll look to share 10 simple, yet effective ways you can make the most of having just one iPad in your classroom."

"Perceptions of people and events are very much dependent upon who you are and what your experience has been. Events in Ferguson and Baltimore, among others, highlight our misunderstandings of each other, and how the same facts can be interpreted entirely differently. What's worse, people of color and underrepresented groups are defined by journalists covering these events, who themselves don't reflect the ethnic composition of our country as a whole. Recent studies have proven that stories can change perceptions and even make people more tolerant. Rather than wait to be defined by others, it's important that students learn to create understanding by sharing their story, their worldview, their concerns, and their triumphs with others. Groups like Youth Radio and Cause Beautiful are empowering teens in poor and minority-majority neighborhoods to become multimedia journalists. Kids in these programs learn how to tell and share their own stories with a local or national audience. No matter your class demographics or grade level, ELA and social studies teachers should integrate similar projects in their own classrooms, because every student will benefit from learning to craft a compelling visual story backed by persuasive facts and ideas."

"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."

"Increasing the gender diversity of the computer science faculty should be a priority for all schools as it would provide female students--as well as students of color--with role-models and mentors. In a study conducted in a suburban area near Oklahoma University, researchers examined the correlation between an after-school engineering mentoring program led by female college students and the perceptions of sixth and seventh grade girls (Holmes, Redmond, Thomas, & High, 2012). The researchers found that high quality mentoring relationships with a female role model led to an increase in the girls' confidence in their mathematics ability (Holmes et al., 2012). Similarly, seeing a confident and successful female computer science teacher could have a positive impact on girls and boys in computer science classes."

"I had just pressed the glowing submit button on my screen. After two and a half years, I finally finished my Masters in Computer Science. As the immediate thrill of being done with my coursework subsided, I had a moment of reflection. How had I gone from a high school student who routinely finished in the back of the class to graduating with a near 4.0 in my second graduate program? I went from a bottom of the barrel student to an elite performer with good study habits. Through this story, I would like to highlight the fundamentals that I find instrumental to improving your learning capabilities."

"One of the most exciting parts of my day as a resource teacher and co-teacher is to spend time with students who are in the midst of thinking through a problem and figuring something out.   One of the most effective thinking and learning environments is MIT's Scratch environment. Late last fall, I was working with students in a grade 8 class. Some of them were taking on the challenge of building a working analogue clock in Scratch. Others were figuring out multiple methods by which circles and disks could be drawn in Scratch.  "

"A recent report  from Adrian F. Ward, Kristen Duke, Ayelet Gneezy, and Maarten W. Bos at the University of Texas at Austin has me questioning my professional decision last year to allow students to bring their cell phones to my classroom."

"Here are some of the free yet overlooked tools that the teachers must use for their classes. They have been designed to suit various requirements such as classroom connectors, information providers, language, presentations, productivity etc."

"The term, Computational Thinking, is being discussed and used a lot in education at the moment, but what does this actually mean and is it something that is worth trying to incorporate into your lessons? Basically, computational thinking is a way of describing the approach that students take to solve problems not just in the classroom, but the outside world too. By introducing and encouraging students to take this approach towards tasks that are set in class, they are developing the skill set to enable them to tackle problems in any domain."

"One of the questions I get asked so often is about the resources I draw on for curating educational apps I share with you here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Well, I am subscribed to over a hundred blogs and websites through both RSS feed and social media and my feed stream is always teeming with hundreds of new things to write about. On average , I spend about 3 to 4 hours of daily sifting, browsing, and curating in preparation for posts to share with you here, I know it is a lot of time but I do love it so much and I feel happy having to share something of value with my fellow teachers and educators."