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"I came back from my morning run completely energized. I took my headphones out and continued to puzzle over Sugata Mitra's compelling segment on the TED Radio Hour of "Unstoppable Learning," which suggested that in many ways, teachers are getting in the way of learning. A tough pill for me - a teacher of seven years - to swallow. I scrawled some thoughts in my journal: "Students in pursuit of learning," "fostering curiosity," "CHOICE," "unstoppable learning," and grinned as I imagined what this transformation could look like in my classroom. A few weeks later, I told my students we'd be starting "Inspiration Time." I explained this time was designed for them to ask themselves what they are curious about and what they want to pursue."

"More people are living longer these days, but the good news comes shadowed by the possible increase in cases of age-related mental decline. By some estimates, the global incidence of dementia will more than triple in the next 35 years. That grim prospect is what makes a study published in March in The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease so encouraging: It turns out that regular walking, cycling, swimming, dancing and even gardening may substantially reduce the risk of Alzheimer's."

""You may think you are prepared for a post-truth world, in which political appeals to emotion count for more than statements of verifiable fact," writes Margaret Sullivan, media columnist for The Washington Post. "But now it's time to cross another bridge-into a world without facts. Or, more precisely, where facts do not matter a whit." ADVERTISEMENT Because I teach American history, government, and journalism in high school, Sullivan's words hit close to home. I spoke with my students about Mary Beth Hertz's Edutopia post "Battling Fake News in the Classroom," and I sensed that many of my students, while skilled at what Hertz fittingly calls "crap detection," were still deeply troubled by what they characterized as a growing public aversion to the truth. When politicians and thought leaders can't or won't agree on a basic set of facts, how can we motivate students for the noble pursuit of truth and help them see why it still matters?  "

"Touch devices--such as iPods and iPads--represent a fundamental change in computing. They are unobtrusive, powerful, and intuitive devices that support authentic acts of learning through exploration, collaboration, consolidation, creation, and communication. Although the ideal may be a 1-to-1 deployment, even a single device can have a positive impact. "

"More than a decade into the 21st century and we are still keeping learners and teachers prisoners of the analog past by enforcing outdated mandates that ban and block them from using the digital resources of their world. "

"the range of apps available in science, combined with form factor and ease of use of most iOS tools, makes the iPad an amazing tool for scientific investigation and learning. I wish I could show you all of the amazing science you can explore with the tens of thousands of science specific apps available in the iTunes store, but this journal isn't long enough, and I don't want to upset our wonderful editor. So, here are a few apps that can change the way kids learn science."

"Whether you're writing a to-do list, journaling, writing a blog, a novel, or simply a note, there are plenty of great apps out there to make your writing better. But even more importantly, these apps can keep you organized and learning all year long. Make your 2012 resolution to write more, write better, and get your writing organized"

"Digital Learning: What Kids Really Want"