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"Behind today's TED-Ed launch Today marks a big new chapter in the TED story, as we unveil the first part of our TED-Ed initiative. Announcement. YouTube channel."

in December they launched YouTube for Schools, a new initiative that strips away non-educational material to give teachers and students access to educational videos; and this week they launched a whole new lineup of educational channels.

"Social media storytelling tool Storify finally untethered itself from the desktop on Wednesday with the launch of a free iPad app. Like the web-based version of Storify, which has been used by news organizations such as the New York Times and Al Jazeera, the app makes it easy to scroll through and assemble Tweets, YouTube videos, Facebook photos and Instagram photos in a social media timeline. Its drag-and-drop interface translates perfectly to the iPad."

"Last January marked the launch of Code.org, a nonprofit that promotes computer-science education. Code.org launched Hour Of Code, a nationwide campaign that urged Americans to learn how to program. President Obama even recorded a video in support of the campaign. Nearly 15 million people responded to the call."

"It's back-to-school time, and Pinterest wants to help teachers find new ideas for how to shape young minds. They've just launched a new hub, called Teachers on Pinterest, that features over 1,000 pins contributed by teachers. "

"We are about to launch our Maker Space in our school library media center - it is going to be what is referred to as a 'soft launch.' Our technology facilitator and one of our classroom teachers are really the driving force behind this initiative, and much more familiar with the items we have purchased. While I'm more than happy to house the materials and provide space for them to be used, I know almost nothing about them. So, I'm hopeful that I will be able to form a team of interested students to help manage the project. Tomorrow after school we will have our 'Maker Team Interest Meeting.' From the students who show up, we're planning on forming a team to rotate being on hand when the maker space is open. They'll be in charge of answering questions, helping students figure out directions, and keeping everything orderly.  Wish us luck!"

"I once heard teaching compared to the act of launching boats.  I love the visual evoked by that metaphor. Could we think of the work we do in our makerspaces a similar process to preparing for, and ultimately taking off on a self-guided journey? Students captain the ship and teachers watch from the shore."

"A couple of months ago Canva launched an education page full of lesson plans built around the idea of getting students to think and express themselves creatively through visual design. Since the launch Canva has added more lesson plans and more design tutorials to their education page. In all there are now thirty design tutorials that students can work through on their own or with guidance from you. I've been slowly working through the tutorials myself. Some of what I've learned has been put to use in the blog post images that have appeared in posts like this one about the pros and cons of using social media for school announcements."

"I am very excited to announce the launch of my new makerspace radio show on the BAM Radio Network!  BAM Radio is the largest education radio network in the world offering programming from the nation's top education organizations and thought leaders and reaching a wide audience of people passionately committed to quality education.  The show is called WMKR, Movers & Makers.  Embarking on this journey with me, I am lucky enough to have a fabulous co-host in educator, Travis Lape.   Each episode of our show, will focus upon expanding upon the chapters of my makerspace book, allowing for readers/listeners to be immersed further in each topic. Show topics will include: The Maker Movement Planning Your Makerspace Setting Up Your Makerspace Creating a Maker Culture in Your School Makerspaces and the Standards The 'Expert' Maker Makerspaces and the School Library Makerspace as a Unique Learning Environment Showcasing Student Creations Makerspaces as Catalysts for Future Change School Leaders Role in the Maker Movement/Makerspaces As of today, our first show has launched.  The topic is the Maker Movement and the show is called Helping Students Learn with the Head, the Heart and the Hand.  Our first guest is the gracious, Sylvia Martinez."

"BROOKLYN, N.Y., -Thousands of educators throughout the U.S. are embracing 3D printing as a new way to teach 21st century skills and prepare students for the jobs of the future[1]. Taking the first steps to introduce students to 3D printing, however, can be challenging. MakerBot, a global leader in the desktop 3D printing industry, conducted in-depth research this spring to better understand how to help educators incorporate 3D printing in classrooms[2]. The research shows that acquiring 3D design skills is a major hurdle for educators and there is no single resource to address this need. To fill that gap, MakerBot today published a handbook designed to provide educators with a wide variety of ideas, activities and projects to get started with 3D printing. Titled MakerBot in the Classroom: An Introduction to 3D Printing and Design, the handbook includes an introduction to 3D printing and a range of hands-on 3D design lesson plans. MakerBot in the Classroom is available as a free digital download for registered MakerBot customers and a sample project chapter is available free to anyone who registers on MakerBot.com. Additionally, MakerBot launched a new MakerBot Education Resource Center with further ideas and resources to support the integration of 3D printing in the classroom, such as real-world MakerBot stories, videos, challenges for teachers and students, and more."

"'Kids Apps on the App Store' is a collection of popular apps that have been hand picked by the App Store Editors and are discounted for a limited time only. iTunes has enlisted smartappsforkids.com to help spread the word about the new promotion, so please 'like' this post and share it around your social network pages, email it to your kids' teachers and pop next door and tell your neighbors about it too!"

"Thousands of schools are participating in Hour of Code, a global initiative to get more kids engaged in computer science. Tynker, a creative platform to help children develop programming skills, has launched 10 new coding activities to support the hour of code. Tynker's unique approach motivates students to learn because they can create their own characters, animate them, and rapidly build their own games and interactive stories, using visual block-based programming. The real excitement is best heard in the voices of students who previewed an Hour of Code with Tynker:"

"Shutterfly, the popular online service that enables users to create photo books, cards, and stationery and share these with their friends and family, has launched a new service geared toward schools using iPads."

" "Even young kids have gotten very adept at Minecraft, so it can be quite intimidating for teachers," said Jason Schmidt, an instructional technologist for Bennington Public Schools who will teach the four-week MinecraftEdu MOOC, in a prepared statement. "If I can help get teachers over that hump, imagine how delighted students will be to have a learning environment tailored to their interests for a change." The other, Minecraft for Educators, "is a course for teachers who are wishing to gamify their learning experiences and deliver a unique pedagogy that will engage, enthuse and keep learners coming back for more," according to information released by the company. Both MOOCs are available through the Canvas Network. Minecraft for Educators will start January 26, 2015 and run through March 9. The company has also released a Minecraft app to allow students to submit assignments to the Canvas learning management system from within the game. Using the app, students can tag what they've made in the game for their teachers to visit, upload books they've written in game directly to the speed grader or use the game's circuitry tool to complete assignments that will be automatically graded. A video demonstration of the app is available at YouTube. Other MOOCs for teachers in the suite include: Digital Literacies 1; Digital Literacies 2; Five Habits of Highly Effective Teachers; Teachers without Borders: Educating Girls; and Tinker, Make and Learn. Among the other MOOC offerings in the new suite is a course designed specifically for parents, Parenting in the Digital Age, which aims to help them address issues such as cyberbullying, digital citizenship, exposure to inappropriate content, media literacy and screentime. Taught by Andrew Swickheimer, director of technology at Noblesville Schools, the self-paced course opens September 22. "Parental involvement in K-12 education has one of the biggest impacts on a child's commitment to learning," said Jared Stein, vice pres

"Microsoft today launched Office Lens, a mobile document scanner app that works with OneNote, for iOS and Android smartphones. The app, which allows users to snap photos of paper documents, receipts, business cards, menus, whiteboards, sticky notes and more, was first launched a year ago as an application designed only for Windows Phone devices."

"Watching a Red Sox game or listening to one on the radio is one of my favorite things to do on a warm summer night like we're having tonight in Maine. During the pregame show this evening the broadcasters were talking about the launch angle of some of the homeruns hit by Red Sox players this year. That discussion of launch angle triggered my memory of some resources that I've shared over the years regarding the math and science of baseball. "