Group items tagged

"At GeekDad we are big fans of apps that actually use mobile devices in innovative ways to support children's learning. Motion Math Games are one of those developers who have led the way in thinking about how they can design digital learning environments that provide ways for children to learn math with their hands and minds. Their first fraction/decimals app called Motion Math has become one of the benchmarks against which others should be comparing themselves."

"Over the next four or five posts in this series, I'm going to share with you details about each week's activity and the work involved, components needed, and more. It's my hope that there are others out there who might find this useful for creating their own camp, so I'll do my best to share where I've deviated or modified the project (and why). I'll also include some details about costs and where I ordered stuff as well as give you some ideas for what science-y topics work best for each project. (You don't have to order a book for each student, but a few extra copies might be useful for those who are interested in reading the story or investigating the various projects. The books are around $12 each.)"

"On the morning of Wednesday, February 22, 2017, my cell phone rang at 5:30 a.m. The caller ID told me that the call was from our school district. Even before I swiped to answer, the pop-up notification on my phone told me the nature of the call. School had been canceled for the day. That's not such an odd occurrence in February in southwest Missouri. Snow and ice have canceled school as late in the year as early May. However, we'd been enjoying a stretch of record high temperatures, and while I wasn't really awake enough for my rational mind to rule that out, I knew something was off. There has been a lot of construction to and around a few of the school buildings in our district. In December 2016, I happened to be privy to a conversation regarding low water pressure at one of the schools due to a water main issue at a construction site near that particular school. So, non-functioning utilities was certainly a possibility for canceling school that zipped through my not-yet-awake mind. I was not prepared for what the recorded voice of our district superintendent told me. School had been canceled because of the threat of violence."

"It's no secret among my friends and family that I have an Evernote addiction. Between Evernote and my personal scanner, I cannot decide which one is more important to my work and personal life. I started out with the free version of Evernote, but quickly figured out that the Premium version was the only way to go based on the quantity of documents I store as well as the number of times I must access stuff offline. Suffice to say, if you're not using Evernote, I highly suggest giving it a try - only then will you be able to truly determine if it's a beneficial service or something you can do without."

Describes creation of interactive children's e-books and apps for creating e-books

"If Minecraft has taken over your kids and you hardly know who they are or what they're talking about anymore, you're in good company. But, although you may love that the game helps build 21st-century skills such as creativity, innovation, and collaboration, your kids' obsession can be overwhelming. Perhaps most puzzling is that every waking moment they're not playing Minecraft, they're in front of YouTube watching Minecraft. For fans - and they are legion - Minecraft YouTube videos are a huge part of their enjoyment of the game. There are tutorials (for ideas on new things to create), "Let's Play" videos (footage of people playing the game), challenges (new gameplay ideas to try), mod showcases (which show off cool thing kids can download to modify their Minecraft worlds), and more."