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These are the elements of functional design, the process of responding to the needs or desires of the people who will use an item in a way that allows their needs or desires to be met. Functional design is both an outcome and a process. As an outcome, it describes products that work well to perform their assigned tasks; as a process, functional design is a set of practices guided by the principles that produce that positive outcome.

"Most of us know you should read something out loud when proofreading, but we may miss critical errors. We insert words we think are there, but aren't, because we wrote it. Using the text-to-speech function on your device will help prevent your internal autocorrect from missing errors. Over at TUAW, they suggest using the Mac's and iOS's built-in text to speech function. Windows, Android and Chrome have text-to-speech too, though, so this tip works anywhere. You'll hear words that are missing and punctuation that's off when the text doesn't sound right. It's no replacement for a human, but can help in a pinch."

"There's no shortage of research around the benefits of sleep and its critical relationship to learning. So how much sleep is enough? Researchers have looked at the differences in cognitive function of people who have slept four or six or eight hours and how their brains function. This AsapSCIENCE video demonstrates what your capabilities are after those various amounts of sleep."

"Carol Dweck's work on "growth mindset" has caught the fancy of organizations the world over, and why wouldn't it? The core supposition of a growth mindset is that an individual's talents and capabilities can evolve over time; at its core are the underlying beliefs that people hold about intelligence and learning. It is with deep sadness that we report that the function charged with building this growth mindset in most organizations remains hostage to deeply "fixed mindset" thinking. Although the idea of a growth mindset is commonly discussed in corporate learning programs, many leaders adopt a fixed mindset when it comes to envisioning the learning function's role and capabilities. To quote Dweck, "Our work environments, too, can be full of fixed mindset triggers." Business leaders need to shift their views of what the learning function is and what it can do."

"With the prospect of returning to face-to-face instruction or hybrid constructions, what can we learn that works in our digital spaces that can readily transfer to our in-person classrooms? How do teachers motivate students to share ideas and risk "being wrong" in the digital space or the public space of the in-person classroom? How can we catch that lightning in a bottle? Well, there is the chat function built into many of the digital tools we use. There is power in the chat that can be intentionally put to use now and in the future."

"Bloom's Taxonomy is a useful tool for assessment design, but using it only for that function is like using a race car to go to the grocery-a huge waste of potential. In an upcoming post we're going to look at better use of Bloom's taxonomy in the classroom, but during research for that post it became interesting how many variations there are of the original work. While a handful of the charts below only show aesthetic changes compared to others, most are concept maps of sorts-with graphic design that signifies extended function (power verbs), detail (clear explanations), or features of some sort (Bloom's Taxonomy tasks by level)."

"One of the justifiable criticisms of the iPad was that it was difficult to impossible to transfer files between many apps or networks. With the addition of some apps like PocketCloud and FileBrowser, and the improvement of the Open in… function in later systems , especially iOS 6, this has become even less of an issue. Still, I'm terms of downloading files on web based apps, you were often limited to photos from the camera roll. This was the case with the Edmodo app. An Edmodo app update earlier in the year allowed access to the Camera Roll and Google Docs. This however, was still too limiting to use the Library/Backpack feature of Edmodo to upload, store and download most files. Today that changed. The latest Edmodo iPad app now adds File Sharing functionality, both uploading and downloading to Edmodo' s Library (for teachers) and Backpack (students)."

"n iOS 6, Apple decided it was time to remove the podcasts function of the Music app and replace it with a standalone app, available for free in the App Store. Properly titled Podcasts, this app released in June of this year, but has been under much criticism for its half-baked design, lag and lack of functionality. Since then, there have been three updates to the app, the last of which arriving the day of iOS 6's release. All the same, is this app even worth the trouble Apple has gone to thus far?"

"I love it when I find a new app or extension that does something cool. Whether it's a new function, a more efficient workflow, or it will block spoilers for Star Wars, a good extension is a powerful tool. As I often write about, there's not enough time in education to waste, so I'm particularly fond of the tools that help save clicks and make our work more effective, both for students and teachers. Lately, I've been exploring new online tools to add functionality to Google Chrome and improve the way we are using presentation tools. I wanted to explore better ways to screen shot (RIP, Snagit), annotate, and work smarter within the G Suite ecosystem. Here are three extensions that are new to me that have had a big impact on my practice, along with some practical ideas of how I use them in my classroom and coaching. The images are courtesy of the Chrome Web Store, and each link will take you directly to the extension for more information"

"The shift toward applying more executive function (EF) within learning and assessment will cause some discomfort in teachers and students. The transition will not eliminate the need for memorization, as automatic use of foundational knowledge is the toolkit for the executive functions. Memorization, however, will not be adequate as meaningful learning becomes more about applying, communicating and supporting what one knows. "

"Because this book's main focus is on the day-to-day classroom applications of brain-based research, I will not attempt to provide you with a thorough description of the physical brain and all its functions. However, it is beneficial for teachers to have at least a general awareness of how the brain physically functions. This knowledge can help teachers understand their students' needs or reactions and may provide a physiological basis for certain instructional decisions. So, let's take a quick walk through the brain."

"Math teacher Laura Kretschmar gave students a rubric with specific goals around collaboration, communication and instructions to use various functions in the program, but not a lot else. She's intentionally giving them a lot of freedom to play with the program, create cool designs and figure out what the functions do. "I think "y" means, like, going up," says Juritzy Maldonado. "So to pull it up, I'm going to try to change the number." She punches in 200 for "y" and watches the image she's creating shift upward. Another group discovers that if they hit "repeat" multiple times, they can create a parachute-like design that they've figured out how to color in various ways. That wasn't their original plan, but they're running with it now."

"Last summer at the Apple developer conference, WWDC, we learned that there were more than 1.2 million apps in the Apple App Store alone. That's a lot of choices. In a sea that large, understanding how to find apps for the classroom can be challenging. In speaking with numerous educators, we learned that most app downloads result from a colleague's recommendation (i.e., word of mouth) or from choosing the first app in the search results. These are both sound strategies given the limited time educators have to explore each new app. But a larger point has become clear: learning to swiftly evaluate apps has become an essential skill in the fast-growing, ever-changing mobile classroom. The Great App Checklist, go.sas.com/MobileLearning. We offer this checklist to help educators zero in on the app they need and to judge how well it performs key functions. This rubric can help developers understand how educators choose apps, what information would help someone in this audience, which details to mention in the app store summary, and what is the essential functionality. The checklist's themes - Purpose, Alignment, Pedagogically-based, Personalization, Sharing, Ease of Use, Privacy, App Citizenship, and Access - are those discussed throughout Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Developers, Educators, and Learners."

The series covers the key roles and functions of ODL systems from the practitioner perspective. The purpose is to give practitioners advice and guidance about their tasks, functions and roles, and to enable practitioners to reflect on the critical issues they face. In this way, the series aims to model good ODL study materials and to provide key study materials for ODL training. In developing this series, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) seeks to address the needs of ODL for accessible and practical training materials for professional development.

"Read and Write for Google is an excellent Chrome app that provides text-to-speech functions from your browser. They have just released a free iPad and Android app. The apps provide text to speech functions, which are great for ESL, learning disabled, visually challenged and struggling readers, on your device, just like the web app does in the Chrome Browser and Chromebooks."

"If you have sometime this weekend, you might want to check this list of TED talks on the human brain. The original list curated by TED contains only 9 talks but we also added our favourite talk which is that of Jill Bolte.   Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist and brain scientist,  who one morning woke up to a massive stroke that was gradually paralyzing some of her brain functions including speech, movement, and understanding. In her popular talk "Stroke of Insight", Jill shares her story of what she went through in the process of regaining her brain functions."

"ome widely held ideas about the way children learn can lead educators and parents to adopt faulty teaching principles Jan 1, 2015 Credit: Kiyoshi Takahase segundo MYTH HUMANS USE ONLY 10 PERCENT OF THEIR BRAIN FACT The 10 percent myth (sometimes elevated to 20) is mere urban legend, one perpetrated by the plot of the 2011 movie Limitless, which pivoted around a wonder drug that endowed the protagonist with prodigious memory and analytical powers. In the classroom, teachers may entreat students to try harder, but doing so will not light up "unused" neural circuits; academic achievement does not improve by simply turning up a neural volume switch. MYTH "LEFT BRAIN" and "RIGHT BRAIN" PEOPLE DIFFER FACT The contention that we have a rational left brain and an intuitive, artistic right side is fable: humans use both hemispheres of the brain for all cognitive functions. The left brain/right brain notion originated from the realization that many (though not all) people process language more in the left hemisphere and spatial abilities and emotional expression more in the right. Psychologists have used the idea to explain distinctions between different personality types. In education, programs emerged that advocated less reliance on rational "left brain" activities. Brain-imaging studies show no evidence of the right hemisphere as a locus of creativity. And the brain recruits both left and right sides for both reading and math. MYTH YOU MUST SPEAK ONE LANGUAGE BEFORE LEARNING ANOTHER FACT Children who learn English at the same time as they learn French do not confuse one language with the other and so develop more slowly. This idea of interfering languages suggests that different areas of the brain compete for resources. In reality, young children who learn two languages, even at the same time, gain better generalized knowledge of language structure as a whole. MYTH BRAINS OF MALES AND FEMALES DIFFER IN WAYS THAT DICTATE LEARNING ABILITIES FACT Diffe

"The Lock screen exists in between states, when your iPhone or iPad is no longer asleep, but is also not yet open and fully functional. It can protect your device from unauthorized access and actions by a simple slide-to-unlock gesture, by a 4 number pin-code, by a strong alpha-numeric password, or Apple's Touch ID fingerprint identity scanner. Yet the Lock screen can be functional as well. If you want to, you can access Notification Center and Control Center, the Camera, and Siri. On the iPhone, you can even make emergency calls. Yes, the Lock screen can be secure or it can be convenient, it's entirely up to you!"

"Science, Technology, Engineering, Math. Teach coding, get girls interested in all of these subjects. However you slice it, there's a lot of focus on the logical and analytical brain functions these days. Many schools are cutting the 'extras' like art and music. While I firmly believe that students need to be well rounded and really need subjects like those to be considered more than 'extra', and while there are many people fighting to keep these programs in schools, you can't deny that the international economy and jobs outlook is demanding more focus on STEM. But does that mean we should drop all focus on the other stuff? The handy infographic below takes a look at why focusing on the skills of half our brain is not enough. It explores the functions of all parts of the brain (however simplified) and gives some insight into how the creative skills can help you a lot."