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This community is devoted to providing an opportunity for those who care about education to share their voices and ideas with others. It's a place for thoughtful discussion on an incredibly important topic. Right now we're in pre-launch phase in order to answer the "Carol Broos" questions! The official launch will be at the end of January

The participation and active contribution of users is what makes these networks powerful, "purposeful communities." My organization, the Denver-based Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), believes these communities can have a powerful effect on student achievement in our 21st century schools.

There are three main educational goals for the game: * Teach players about how everyday residents of New Orleans acted heroically to help each other. This is a celebration of New Orleans residents and their culture. * Emphasize what are perhaps the two most important priorities in any disaster: communication and use of local resources, needs, and knowledge. The relief effort in Hurricane Katrina was severely hampered by the poor communication between government agencies and through most media outlets. Top down disaster management also led responders to ignore local resources and knowledge that could have saved many lives. Even in the aftermath, local needs and wishes are largely being ignored during rebuilding. * Draw attention to the continuing struggle in New Orleans as residents fight for housing in 2008. The city was destroyed by negligence, and, unfortunately, it is now being rebuilt without homes for many of its most loyal residents.

"Reflection" is a vital component of service-learning. This manual was designed for educators and leaders of service groups who have an interest and a commitment to provide reflection opportunities for students and community partners alike. College professors, K-12 teachers, community organization leaders, and leaders of service organizations have all found, "Facilitating Reflection: A Manual for Leaders and Educators," a useful supplement to their work.

TKI is a bilingual portal and web community which provides quality-assured educational material for teachers, school managers, and the wider education community. It is an initiative of the Ministry of Education NZ

"Based on Guy Claxton's statement that "schools should become communities of practice where … the 'elders' of the community are themselves exemplary learners" (Claxton, 2002), this presentation explores the importance of Classroom-Based Teacher Development and Reflective Practice as essential professional development practices for the 21st century. "

The mission of the International Children's Digital Library Foundation is to excite and inspire the world's children to become members of the global community - children who understand the value of tolerance and respect for diverse cultures, languages and ideas -- by making the best in children's literature available online.

Our Mission The mission of the International Children's Digital Library Foundation is to excite and inspire the world's children to become members of the global community - children who understand the value of tolerance and respect for diverse cultures, languages and ideas -- by making the best in children's literature available online.

For the second year in a row, we're bringing Santa closer to you! Help someone you care about receive a personalized video message from Santa Claus himself using the PNP console, a technological breakthrough that makes real-time communication with the North Pole possible!

"This report introduces connected learning, a promising educational approach that uses digital media to engage students' interests and instill deeper learning skills, such as communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. The report lists four elements constituting connected learning's emphasis on bridging school, popular culture, home, and the community to create an environment in which students engage in and take responsibility for their learning."

"Want to use Google+ to connect with other education and technology enthusiasts, but not sure where to start? Set aside 20 minutes and you too can be a part of the vibrant EdTech community on Google+."

"One by one, in a room just off the gym floor at Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland, Calif., seventh graders go on the interview hot seat. Kyle McClerkins grills them on aspects of adolescent life: "What is the biggest challenge for middle school girls?" he asks. "What has changed about you from sixth grade to now?" Some 80 students have applied to be "peer leaders" in this school's new, alternative discipline program. Called "restorative justice" this school and the Oakland Unified School District are at the forefront of a new approach to school misconduct and discipline. Instead of suspending or expelling students who get into fights or act out, restorative justice seeks to resolve conflicts and build school community through talking and group dialogue. Its proponents say it could be an answer to the cycle of disruption and suspension, especially in minority communities where expulsion rates are higher than in predominantly white schools."

"Video conferencing is a wonderful technology that has helped change the way both business and personal communication is conducted. It not only provides a more personal, intimate way to communicate compared to a phone call, but thanks to additional services like document sharing and multi-point capabilities, the technology is by far the most effective and productive way to conduct important meetings outside of actually being face-to-face. But its effectiveness is so close to what a face-to-face meeting can give that it completely negates the need to travel to any sort of in-person meeting. Video conferencing isn't just a useful tool for businesses and personal use, it's also a wonderful tool teachers can use to enhance a student's learning experience in the classroom, whether that classroom is in an elementary school, middle school, high school, or university."

"Technology is changing not only the instructional methods we use to teach our students, but it is changing the classroom and learning experience. Digital learning communities - virtual spaces where students can collaborate, assist in each other's learning, and build relationships - are integral to 21st century learning. With it being January and a time for New Year's Resolution, we thought these apps might be something to try out in the new year! To support teachers, this month's Roundup is a compilation of App Ed Review's favorite learning communities apps that support students asking and answering questions, collaborating on work in real time, and creating their own lessons."

"It's a controversial topic: do you introduce social media in the classroom or ignore it? Whether you use traditional social platforms or social-focused tools, many educators find that this technology helps increase engagement and excitement with students, many of who are already very familiar with it. "Students communicate, research, collaborate, create and publish online with or without the help of parents or educators. These same students then hop on social media to promote, discuss and share their thoughts with the world. The digital environment is offering us some of the greatest learning opportunities that young learners have ever had," says Gail Leicht, an 8th grade teacher. Bringing social networking into the classroom gives quiet students a chance to shine; sharing their voice online is often easier than speaking out in class. It also opens the doors for collaboration and communication between peers, both inside and outside of the classroom. Not to mention, it gives teachers another opportunity to connect with students. Despite the benefits, many educators still shy away from using social networking in the classroom because they are unsure about how to integrate it successfully. In fact, fewer than 20 percent of U.S. teachers use social media in the classroom, according to USNews.com. Luckily, the process isn't quite as daunting as it seems. Not to mention, you don't need to use traditional social networks to take advantage of social networking in the classroom. Follow these simple steps and watch as your students start sharing, commenting and publishing while learning important lesson material."

"ner Driven Community," a disruptive approach led by self-directed learners, in a community tightly bound by personal covenants and contracts, using the full power of the internet to craft a transformative, personalized learning path."

"When you are lucky enough to travel and visit with librarians all over the world, you realize the power and the talents of our community. One thing is clear to me: as librarians, we haven't yet leveraged our true power as global connectors.  Lately I've been thinking about our yet-to-be-realized opportunities and how we might realize them. You see, I see convergence. Never before have we had truly effective tools for synchronous conferencing and media-rich asynchronous group discussion. Never before have we been able to leverage our emerging online communities of practice.   Never before has participation been so possible.  Never before has our world been so flat. Never before has it be more obvious that the prefix geo might amplify themes in any curriculum. One of the titles in Heidi Hayes Jacobs' recent Contemporary Perspectives on Literacy series is Global Literacy.  This video introduction describes how the author/editor sees the intersection of three critical literacies: digital literacy, media literacy and global literacy"

"One of the most versatile and easiest-to-use platforms I've used over the past several years is ThingLink. I've used the interactive poster tagging tool to create and embed media-rich image maps, to annotate and evaluate the claims infographics make, as a portfolio and as a curation tool. This summer, educator, consultant and ThingLink Education Community Manager, Susan Oxnevad invites educators to share their creativity and push the envelope with a ThingLink Teacher Challenge on a Google+ Community. In her blog post, Susan explains the rationale for this free self-paced summer challenge: This challenge invites teachers to learn to use interactive images to redefine learning in the classroom. Learn how to connect audio, video, images, and text in one cohesive presentation during this self-paced professional development opportunity. "

"I sometimes learn more about my own practice in the classroom from the questions I am asked than I do from my own reflection. There is something about the lenses through which others see our work that helps us to see ourselves more clearly.  That was the case earlier this month at the Building Learning Communities Conference in Boston. At the end of the first day of a two-day session I was leading on Building Learning Communities in elementary classrooms, I asked the participants what they specifically wanted to talk about on the second day. One of the attendees asked me to address the way I introduce the idea of digital citizenship in my classroom. What a great question! Unfortunately, I didn't have a great answer. I did though, have the evening to think about my response."