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"You could call it a trashlight, a handy and handsome AA flashlight made out of little more than a soda can and a cereal box (plus a bulb and two AA batteries). Before you say anything, yes, of course you can buy super-cheap penlights like this. But that would be largely missing the point here. This is about making something yourself, something out of nothing. And I guarantee you that if you take the time to do this project, to render literal garbage into an useful everyday tool, you will get the warmest, fuzziest feeling every time you illuminate some dark corner of your world with it."

"For every kid who is caught hiding beneath his covers with a flashlight and a novel at midnight, there is another who has to be begged and pleaded with to read. And the latter might need a little extra-shall we call it encouragement?-to become a great reader. To help, we've rounded up a list of the top apps that not only teach essential reading skills but also motivate kids-even the most book-phobic-to read, read and read some more."

"For every kid who is caught hiding beneath his covers with a flashlight and a novel at midnight, there is another who has to be begged and pleaded with to read.  And the latter might need a little extra-shall we call it encouragement?-to become a great reader. To help, we've rounded up a list of the top apps that not only teach essential reading skills but also motivate kids-even the most book-phobic-to read, read and read some more."

"The humble question is an indispensable tool: the spade that helps us dig for truth, or the flashlight that illuminates surrounding darkness. Questioning helps us learn, explore the unknown, and adapt to change. That makes it a most precious "app" today, in a world where everything is changing and so much is unknown. And yet, we don't seem to value questioning as much as we should. For the most part, in our workplaces as well as our classrooms, it is the answers we reward -- while the questions are barely tolerated. To change that is easier said than done. Working within an answers-based education system, and in a culture where questioning may be seen as a sign of weakness, teachers must go out of their way to create conditions conducive to inquiry. Here are some suggestions (based on input from question-friendly teachers, schools, programs, and organizations) on how to encourage more questioning in the classroom and hopefully, beyond it."

Forgotten in the American tumult is a global flowering of innovation on the simple cellphone. From Brazil to India to South Korea and even Afghanistan, people are seeking work via text message; borrowing and lending money and receiving salaries on cellphones; employing their phones variously as flashlights, televisions and radios.