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"These days, very little comes out of Hollywood without special effects added in post-production. Our favorite superhero movies, science fiction thrillers and fast-paced action movies just wouldn't be the same without them. However, these video effects are no longer the preserve of video professionals. Technology has advanced quickly, and you can now use green screen effects on your iPad. Here's how."

"How are you making connections between your English Language Arts instruction and the work happening in social studies? Incorporating social studies reading passages into your instruction can help you address learning goals in both subject areas. If you are teaching a lesson about the American Revolution you might share a short selection of informational text so students can discuss cause and effect in a reading passage in the context of that moment in history. If you are reading a historical fiction novel you can use short reading passages to provide additional information on notable figures or events that pop up during the course of the story. Earlier this year I shared some favorite online resources for science reading passages (see the post here). There are a handful of great social studies reading passages organized on websites and available in mobile apps. Locating just-right resources for your classroom can be a struggle, especially when it comes to reading materials. As you begin the search for content to share with your students, you'll want to check out the range of resources featured on this list. Make sure to scroll to the bottom for a special link to reading response tools that students can use in combination with the resources on this list."

Use these photos as stimulus for writing. This Flickr group offers eccentric and experimental images produced by the Flickr community's aspiring creative minds. Surrealism, in all mediums of art, is a constant source of inspiration due to its limitlessly artistic nature and photography is no exception. The style allows photographers to visualize their wildest dreams and conceptualize their strangest nightmares. Photographs in this group spark new insight on creativity and perspective, welcoming the unusual crossroads where fact and fiction converge.

"WIRED today announced the reissue of its iconic inaugural issue on the iPad as a free download on June 1. Launched nearly twenty years ago in January 1993, the premiere issue featured science fiction author Bruce Sterling on the cover and quickly became a sought-after collectible. "

"I love TED talks and I always look forward for their new releases. You can learn as deep and profound insights from these talks as when reading a non-fiction book. I know we all have our time constraints that would not allow us to sit in front of an iPad or computer for 20 minutes watching a talk but there is always snatches of time to do it particularly in the weekends. Create a list of what to watch , as I do, and bookmark the talks that interest you and watch them later when you have time."

"For students who dread writing class, a blank page can look a lot like a ten-foot monolith; an imposing, empty slate towering over their homework list. Visual storytelling is one way to break students out of writer's block, and storyboarding apps are a pre-packaged strategy you can use to bring images to the narrative. Whether your students are afraid of writing or you're simply looking for a way to break up a brainstorming session, these 10 storyboarding apps for iOS and Android devices can help inspire-and organize-students of any age. The best part might be the flexibility of these apps. While they can be used for strict storyboarding in the creation of fiction, they can also be used for other tasks, including documenting project-based learning, sharing assignments, or capturing research notes."

"Is it possible for our students to be both digital natives and digitally unaware? Young people today are instant messengers, gamers, photo sharers and supreme multitaskers. But while they use the technology tools available to them 24/7, they are struggling to sort fact from fiction, think critically, decipher cultural inferences, detect commercial intent and analyze social implications. All of which makes them extremely vulnerable to the overwhelming amount of information they have access to through the digital tools they use-and love!-so much."

"It has me thinking about my own experience with creative work. When I first got into drawing, I copied the styles of other artists. When I first got into poetry, I copied the style of my favorite poet. When I first wrote a novel, it was essentially fan fiction -- albeit at a time when no one knew that term. I have noticed similar trends among students. They often go through a phase of copying and mash-ups that occur before creating something truly original. I see this trend in art class, wood shop, in writer's workshops, and in STEM labs. So, this has me thinking about stages that I notice as students move from consumers of media to creators of media. I admit that this is not very scientific. There might be a better model out there that explains this phenomenon. However, here are seven stages I see students go through as they shift from consuming to creating: "

"Have you ever watched an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where they used a Replicator to make something out of thin air? Have you ever thought it would be cool to have that technology, but never thought that it would be achieved in your lifetime? 3D printers have made this a possibility and bridged the gap between reality and science fiction. There's even a few build it yourself and DIY printers that are on the market as well. Transforming the Food Industry In terms of Food 3D Printers for consumers, there are plenty of options available. Right now the technology isn't as advanced as what was shown on Star Trek, but this is just the early stages. "

What is SecretBuilders? SecretBuilders is a site that can be used to supplement the teaching of various topics, including literature, arts, sciences and humanities. The site gives children an opportunity to interact with famous historical and fictional figures from world civilization, making learning more enjoyable and effective. We can provide teachers with examples of how to incorporate SecretBuilders into their school curriculum. A few examples are provided in the Classroom Activities section below.

classic, non-fiction, philosophy, kids audio books

This research began with the premise that video game play, especially as it relates to participation in persistent virtual worlds, provides fictional spaces where players engage in cognitive and communicative practices that can be personally transformative in prosocial ways. Players' experiences with these worlds are as much defined by the technical design and construction of these spaces as they are influenced by the socio-cultural arrangements that develop. In support of this belief, we collected data on children's experiences with a range of technologies germane to the Digital Age, including their participation in the Quest Atlantis environment, an immersive space for learning that is intended to engage children ages 9-12 in a form of dramatic play comprising both online and real-world learning activities. By enlisting this innovation to nonintrusively collect data about children's participation as well as their engagement with media more generally, the research team was able to move beyond an ethnographic study of what already exists in the world and develop a grounded appreciation for what an innovative technology-rich context might make possible in the future.

Tony Stead is an Australian educator who has taught in elementary schools and lectured at the University of Melbourne. He is the past president of the Melbourne Chapter of the Australian Reading Association and the author of many publications. His latest include Is That a Fact?: Teaching Nonfiction Writing and the video series Time For Nonfiction. which highlights his recent work with several teachers at the Manhattan New School.

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."

"3D printing really does sound more like a plot point in a science fiction film than an implementable educational tool, but it's swiftly becoming an accessible option to educators everywhere. In fact, MakerBot, a leading manufacturer of 3D printers, has recently announced the MakerBot academy, which is seeking individual investors to fund an initiative to get 3D printers into every public school in the United States. Other 3D printing start-ups have followed in other parts of the world as well."