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"Although instructional design as a discipline has been around for decades (and probably was at its height in the 1970's and 1980's as a profession, its application and use has diminished in the age of easy to use software and access to and use of Internet. This is partly because it is so easy to create a course of almost any type, add as many "bells and whistles" as you like and then widely distribute it to a given audience. But in paying less attention to instructional design than we should we have lost something important and it is therefore high time we recognized that it is more important than ever in the modern world. After all, instructional design is the approach which helps to keep the process of training, coaching or development of any kind (on or off line) to be well-targeted and on track to meet the needs of the individual(s) at which it is aimed. Good instructional design therefore needs to appreciate that we are open to learning but find the best ways and moments to intervene in which to package it or parcel it up so that it can be successfully delivered. Although the approach is relatively straightforward, there is a best-practice way to conduct effective instructional design and this is shown in the 10-step infographic shown below:"

"The first day that the students receive their iPads is very exciting. While distributing iPads to students it is good practice to let them have about 20 minutes of exploration time to check out apps and share with each other things they discover. A lot of the learning that happens in the classroom is based on sharing amongst the students. This exploration time should happen daily for the first few days so students can have time to acclimate to using the device."

Teenagers' habit of distributing nude self-portraits electronically - often called "sexting" if it's done by cell phone - has parents and school administrators worried. Some prosecutors have begun charging teens who send and receive such images with child pornography and other serious felonies. But is that the best way to handle it?

E-literate Video We appreciate your interest in the e-literate? video! After distributing more than 6000 videos to schools, libraries and colleges around the country, we are pleased to offer you a streamed version on this site.

Advancing Excellent Teaching in American Schools Annenberg Media uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. It is part of The Annenberg Foundation and advances the Foundation's goal of encouraging the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge.

"Certain schools are beginning programs in which students -- sometimes particularly young ones -- are given iPads for classwork. This has raised questions about whether something capable of games and entertainment will be an effective educational tool. A certain amount of goofing off is an inevitability for kids in classrooms. But iPads really do draw kids' attention. The only problem is distribution."

The opportunity we now have is to use technology to move from an event-based learning model that we know to be ineffective, to a more distributed and contextualized environment that elegantly spans the continuum from formal learning to performance support. And this is not science fiction - we have the tools we need now. Even if we didn't, we should be preparing our thinking for this capability."

"ArkGIS is a customizable map developed by the World Wildlife Fund for the purpose of visualizing historical data about sea ice, marine life, and oil and gas exploration in the Arctic. To create custom visualizations of data layers on the ArkGIS map simply select a data category then select data layers to display. For example, I chose the "marine mammals" category then selected the "beluga whales" and "walrus" to view their distributions."

"Teachers, as humans, are a kind of mix between Google, pinterest, and YouTube-searching the world, saving what fits, and distributing it in compelling ways. "

"Sending attachments via email is practically second nature for most computer users. Create a set of documents that need to be distributed to your colleagues an off they go as attachments. On desktops and laptops its easy to send multiple attachments. On Android and Windows Phone devices you can also easily attach multiple files to an email. On the iPhone and the iPad, not so much. In iOS, sending multiple attachments in an email is not something for the faint of heart. The word cumbersome gets new meaning when applied to this process. In fact, for those who like or need to quickly send multiple attachments on an iOS device the lack of an easy way to do this is enough to make you wonder where all the talk about iOS devices being used for business and the enterprise comes from."

"Check out the visual writing idea for the first week of school. This set comes with both a curriculum and a set of visual ideas (as .png). Simply click on the icon above and it should download. Click on the .zip file (most likely in your Download folder of your computer) and everything should work. The resource is Creative Commons, meaning you can print, display or distribute it as you wish.  "

"Skaffl is a free iPad workflow  app created by Rita (a former instructional technology specialist at a 1:1 iPad district).  Skaffl allows teachers to plan, teach and grade using a collaborative iPad workflow solution. It also allows  teachers to seamlessly distribute and collect assignments from students. "

"Even though I'm not a music teacher (nor have I ever been, or will I be), I tend to find technology in music classrooms to be some of the most exciting ways that technology is being put to use in classrooms overall. While there's lots of time-saving-efficient-cool-useful stuff happening in all types of classrooms, there's something particularly awesome about making music and integrating some awesome digital technologies into the process. There are a million and one ways to use an iPad or other tablet in your music classroom, but it definitely doesn't stop there! The handy infographic below takes a look at how technology is revitalizing how musicians compose, record, perform, and distribute music - both in and out of the classroom."

"Here's one way to get kids excited about programming: a "robot garden" with dozens of fast-changing LED lights and more than 100 origami robots that can crawl, swim and blossom like flowers. A team from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and the Department of Mechanical Engineering has developed a tablet-operated system that illustrates their cutting-edge research on distributed algorithms via robotic sheep, origami flowers that can open and change colors and robotic ducks that fold into shape by being heated in an oven."

The final round of government funding is currently being distributed to schools all around Australia. So far over 967,000 computers have been bought, infrastructure built and (most) teachers up-skilled to benefit from the acquisition. But as the funds come to an end, many school principals are wondering if the process has been beneficial, and how can they continue to support and progress the Digital Education Revolution?

"If you use iPads in your classroom, you've likely been faced with the challenge of workflow-how work, data, and thinking are distributed, collected, and aggregated."

"Lisa Yokana recently shared a useful rubric in her post on "Creating an Authentic Maker Education Rubric." As this post was making the rounds on social media, Edutopia staff received a number of requests to distribute a modifiable version of her sample maker rubric that educators could adjust to the particulars of their own settings."