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"Instructional rigor is a concept we can agree is important, despite the debate about the use of the word itself. Rigor is "creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at high levels; each student is supported so he or she can learn at high levels; and each student demonstrates learning at high levels (Blackburn, 2008)." But how does technology relate to rigor? As with any instructional tool, educational technology is critical to increasing rigor in the classroom.  There are five ways technology can be used to increase rigor."

"Until recently, I was like Jane, but with technology. I used tech tools all day with little knowledge of their workings. And, despite my interactions with Jane, I had a typical fixed-mindset explanation for this: "I'm an English teacher. My brain doesn't work that way." What I was really saying was, "I forget how to be a beginner." A year ago, though, I became a beginner, an apprentice, a struggling learner. I decided to learn how to code. Immediately, the experience became less about designing websites and more about experiencing the growth mindset, improving confidence with technology, and learning that failure is part of the process."

"Art has long been recognized as an important part of a well-rounded education - but when it comes down to setting budget priorities, the arts rarely rise to the top. Many public schools saw their visual, performing and musical arts programs cut completely during the last recession, despite the many studies showing that exposure to the arts can help with academics too. A few schools are taking the research to heart, weaving the arts into everything they do and finding that the approach not only boosts academic achievement but also promotes creativity, self-confidence and school pride."

"As educators, we know that learning is not one size fits all, and what's best for some students may not be for others. Yet differentiated instruction (DI) remains elusive as a major part of formal planning. Myths about DI persist despite work by respected advocates such as Carol Tomlinson, Susan Allan, Rick Wormeli, and Gayle Gregory. What follows are prominent misperceptions expressed about DI, presented here so that we can separate myth from truth."

"For about a month in the spring of 2013, I spent my mornings at Lakeside School, a private school in Seattle whose students are the scions of the Pacific Northwest elite. The beautiful red-brick campus looks like an Ivy League college and costs almost as much to attend. The school boasts Bill Gates among its alumni, and its students come from the families of Amazon and Microsoft executives. Unsurprisingly, there is no dearth of technology: Teachers post assignments on the school's intranet; classes communicate by email; and every student carries a laptop (required) and a smartphone (not). In this context, what do parents do when they think their children need an extra boost? I was there as a substitute tutor for students spanning the academic spectrum. A few of them were taking honors calculus. They were diligent but wanted a sounding board as they worked on tough problems. Others, weighed down by intensive extracurricular activities, struggled in geometry and algebra. I would review material with them and offer pointers as they did assignments. Yet another group required no substantive help at all. They just needed some prodding to finish their homework on time. Despite their differences, the students had one thing in common: What their parents were paying for was extra adult supervision."

There are some educational "truths" that we can't change, even if we wanted to. These educational technology resources, annoyances, and condiions are here to stay despite some educators denial, resistance and fast grip on the status quo. The sooner educators, especially tech directors and administrators, accept that these things are a permanent part of the educational landscape, the sooner attention will be paid to using them positively and productively.

"No one likes an inbox filled with spam and unsolicited requests from strangers, but if you give out your email address regularly or display it on a public website, that could be your fate. Despite the hazard of unwanted messages, email remains one of the easiest and fastest ways to connect with people in a professional manner. Luckily, there are ways to maintain your inbox and get the important messages you need, without all the clutter."

"Using Legos in the classroom is not a new concept at all. There are so many different classroom applications for the popular brightly colored bricks, and despite the myriad of uses, the go-to task for Legos is most often math. The handy little nubs sitting atop the bricks offer a chance to teach things like area and perimeter, the different colors lend themselves well to fractions. "

"There's a ton of buzz in the education world about how dwindling school budgets and pressure to improve test scores are taking time away from recess and physical education so that students can spend more time in the classroom. Despite more time in the classroom sounding like something that would drive academic performance, research shows a strong connection that reduced physical activity limits a student's ability to learn. With growing rates of childhood obesity and its associated issues, there's more reason than ever to make sure to include some physical movement into the classroom. The handy infographic below takes a look at some of the statistics about classroom movement (or the lack thereof!) Do you incorporate movement into your classroom on a regular basis? How? Have you encountered resistance or other issues getting the time allocated? "

"Can you imagine not being able to read printed words? What would your life be like if books, newspapers, websites, email, and even signs were all virtually incomprehensible to you? How would you get through the day? For up to one in five people like me with dyslexia these are not hypothetical questions, they are our reality. Yet, thanks to accessibility technologies built into Apple's iPhone, iPad, and Mac, it's a reality that can be challenged. Dyslexia makes reading a simple paragraph, let alone textbooks, a tedious and frustrating process. Spelling and written expression can also be very difficult. ( (Despite this, dyslexia does not impact intellectual ability. It doesn't cause people to read backwards or see words upside down. It does, however, make figuring out what sounds go with which letters difficult. Deciphering unfamiliar words on a page can be extremely difficult, if not impossible. ((So what do people who have dyslexia do when they encounter printed text? Some simply avoid it or give up. Others find methods to help them succeed."

"Instagram is a hugely popular social network for photo sharing. Though the use of social media in the classroom may have skyrocketed, Twitter and Facebook definitely reign supreme as the key social media tools for schools and teachers. Somehow, despite the widespread popularity of Instagram, few teachers are employing it in the classroom. We've heard from a few of you that your concerns lie in the privacy arena. Since sharing photos that may be of students in your classroom should obviously be a concern - make sure your classroom account is private. You can choose to have a single account for your class, which would be the 'safest' way of approaching these privacy concerns. The teacher should be the only one who can vet followers - and they should only be associated with the class (parents, students, other classes in your school). Using a group hashtag for a particular project or theme is a good way to keep track of what they're doing, eg: #edudemicclassproject14."

"Although American University student Cooper Nordquist, 21, uses his laptop most of the day, he still likes to read from the printed word for enjoyment. Despite that fact that most college students do a majority of their socializing and school work electronically, many still like to read from actual hard copy printed books. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)"

"Code.org sums up the situation nicely: Computer science drives innovation in the U.S. economy and society. Despite growing demand for jobs in the field, it remains marginalized throughout the U.S. K-12 education system. There are many reasons for this. As you well know, teachers are already stretched pretty thin, and often it seems like there's just no bandwidth to add something new to a very full schedule. Additionally, some schools have few or no computers and/or tablets for classroom use. But the earlier we introduce children to coding, the more comfortable they will be when presented with more in-depth learning opportunities in middle and high school. Also, early exposure to coding helps teach children how important it is to understand computers as the valuable tools they are rather than merely fun playthings."

"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."

"One of the great advantages of the internet is the convenience of cloud based services where you can store documents, pictures, bookmarks or notes and access them on any device with an internet connection. Despite this level of convenience it is still important to maintain backups of your data in the case of unforeseen circumstances, such as your account being hacked or a service shutting down. Here we will take a look at a few ways to backup your online data from some of the most popular services like Diigo, Google and Evernote."

Despite updated operating system, browser, browser add-ons, installed firewall, and acute computer security settings, clever viruses, spyware or Trojans may find loop-holes to slip into your system. Not only in terms of performance, but in terms of stability and security too, these malicious software push you on back-foot. What to do next?

Despite the glamor of Windows 7 and Windows 8, the legendary Windows XP remains the favorite of 37.74 percent of computer fraternity. Hence, being a tech support vendor, we can't underestimate its presence, and have come with the idea to speed up Windows XP by managing the Windows XP Services Configuration.

"In a somewhat surprising move this week, it was announced that Microsoft will be partnering up with cloud storage company Dropbox to make Office on the iPad much more convenient for everyone. I say surprising, because Microsoft already owns Dropbox competitor OneDrive, which boasts a lot of the same features. Is Microsoft realizing the vast popularity of Dropbox, despite recently giving unlimited storage just a week ago to its subscribers?"

"rt has long been recognized as an important part of a well-rounded education - but when it comes down to setting budget priorities, the arts rarely rise to the top. Many public schools saw their visual, performing and musical arts programs cut completely during the last recession, despite the many studies showing that exposure to the arts can help with academics too. A few schools are taking the research to heart, weaving the arts into everything they do and finding that the approach not only boosts academic achievement but also promotes creativity, self-confidence and school pride."

"Some Mac users who upgraded to OS X Yosemite have discovered a variety of wireless network connectivity issues, ranging from dropping wi-fi connections, to an inability to connect to the outside world despite being connected to a wifi router, even suddenly and strangely slow internet speeds. These network issues seem to occur most often on Macs that have updated to OS X Yosemite from Mavericks rather than those who performed a clean Yosemite install, which could suggest the issue has to do with improper network setting and preferences, or even a corrupted file somewhere. That's a good thing, because it should mean a resolution is fairly easy to implement, as we're about to show you."