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Brain Stuff - How Stuff Works

"Unfortunately, the way computer science is currently taught in high school tends to throw students into the programming deep end, reinforcing the notion that code is just for coders, not artists or doctors or librarians. But there is good news: Researchers have been experimenting with new ways of teaching computer science, with intriguing results. For one thing, they've seen that leading with computational thinking instead of code itself, and helping students imagine how being computer savvy could help them in any career, boosts the number of girls and kids of color taking-and sticking with-computer science. Upending our notions of what it means to interface with computers could help democratize the biggest engine of wealth since the Industrial Revolution."

"The Education category of the App Store features an overwhelming number of apps, great for both parents and teachers. Each subject search displays a diverse and colorful selection of apps to cover just about anything you'll be adding to your digital curriculum. However, with so many choices, it's hard to discern a download-worthy app from the next. (A simple search for math apps yielded well over 200 results.) Here is a list of educational iPad apps by subject matter that you may not have heard of before, but are certainly worth a look."

"So it's no surprise that we found the following Bloom's taxonomy poster (located on one of Erin Klein's pinterest boards) interesting. It features a simple grid column layout with easy-to-understand language, vivid colors, and even traditional Bloom's power verbs for each category."

"This episode of ITT features the Sphero 2 robots and how the innovative educator, Sam Patterson, is using them in a robot club as well as when working with classrooms of students. From the Sphero Website: Control Sphero from your smartphone or tablet, change colors, complete challenges, earn tricks, and more. Sphero is waterproof, pet-proof, and ready to roll. Educationally savvy: Download free SPRK lessons and learn the basics of programming. Then unleash Sphero's inner robot and program like a pro. The more you play, the smarter you get."

"Today at the OTA / EncycloMedia 2016 Conference in Oklahoma City, keynote speaker Shannon M. Miller (@shannonmmiller) shared a wealth of apps, websites, and project ideas in her breakout session, "Igniting Innovation and Creativity in Our Makerspaces With Digital Tools and Apps." One of the apps she shared is "MusiQuest - Music & Beat Maker." The same Denver-based app developer, Edify Technology (@EdifyTechnology) has also published the amazing musical creation app, "Sketch-a-Song Kids." The tagline of this second app is, "Compose in Color." Both of these are FREE and amazing! My wife, Shelly (@sfryer) has been playing with Sketch-a-Song tonight on her iPad, and it's remarkable! Here are a couple tutorial videos which introduce some of the basic elements of both apps."

"Earlier this year, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York, visitors paraded through the fifth floor to see a retrospective dedicated to the abstract expressionist Frank Stella. Although many of the works on display were four or five decades old, in some ways the show felt tailor-made for the Instagram age: a riot of vibrant colors and textures, 20-foot-long reliefs, and sculptures as jagged and dynamic as 3-D graffiti. Visitors one busy Saturday afternoon stopped in front of artworks, lined up shots on their phones, snapped a few photos, and then moved on to the next piece. Some paused briefly to consider a particular painting; more stared down at their screens, furiously filtering. Few noticed an elderly gentleman sitting on a bench in one of the smaller rooms, watching the crowd engage with his work. The only visitor in the gallery not clutching a phone was Stella himself. Museum directors are grappling with how technology has changed the ways people engage with exhibits. But instead of fighting it, some institutions are using technology to convince the public that, far from becoming obsolete, museums are more vital than ever before. Here's what those efforts look like."

"I'm very privileged to be on the BETA testing team for the Green Screen app from DOINK. Today I tried forcing an interaction between my pre-recorded green screen footage and the drawn animation layered before a solid color field. Here are the pieces: Picture This app will allow you to combine live footage and drawn animations. I film before green screen and draw an animation in DOINK Below is a look at the interface of the new GREEN SCREEN app by DOINK."

"Think about dreaming, like building stilts. Think about designing, like collaborating in a flexible space from funky-colored chairs on wheels. Think about testing, like crafting conductivity testers needed for your classmates. Think about making, like programming and assembling a security card system for the space. Above all, think. Schools now are thinking a lot about maker spaces, and the term can mean many things, as shown in the examples above, from Brandywine High, St. Elizabeth, Newark High and Tatnall schools, respectively."

"Today I'm sharing what is easily the BEST playdough recipe ever. Once you have the recipe, you'll want to find out about the 3 essential play dough tools (that you probably already have). If you've been here for the recipe before, scroll down for a July 2016 update -  you will LOVE it, I promise. My plan was to make a simple batch of play dough to replace the sparkly dried out purple stuff that happily met our cookie-making, glitter infusing, practice cutting, snowman-making needs over the past two months. I asked my daughter what color she would like this time around, and she answered with…"

"Students in Cathy Hunt's art classes are constantly blurring the lines between physically created art and digital creations. In one project, students created fish out of clay using old pinch-potting techniques. But the project didn't stop there. They then took photos of their creations and used digital tools to paint on the photos, adding color and design without fear that an unknown glaze would ruin their vision. Once they designed their fish, they developed a storyline featuring their creations for a stop motion animation created by the whole group. When the project was completed students had artfully blended the physical world with the digital one, using the best of both, and creating a finished product that can be put online and shared with the world. The impact of that project goes far beyond a shelf full of clay fish."

"Driving past the local "cash-strapped" high school's humongous color jumbotron the other day (the one in violation of zoning laws and with a larger carbon footprint than Toledo), I was reminded that I haven't written about one of my favorite subjects in a while - summer reading. The jumbotron's ominous message warned students not to forget their summer reading "assignment." Let me first state on-the-record that I am for reading. I'm a big fan of it and suggest that others try it occasionally. What I am against is hypocrisy and coercive teaching practices."

"For my series of instructional videos I have a green screen as my background. I then use software to replace the green color with different backgrounds. This chromakey effect allows me to place objects behind and in front of me. I think it helps my videos look slick and puts the focus on my content. I'm often asked about the set up I use to film my videos. Here's a 360 spherical photo that I've annotated. Feel free to scroll and zoom around to check out my setup."