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"TouchDevelop is a handy tool I have been exploring for about a year or so. What I loved about it initially was that it is browser based and HTML5 meaning it works on all tablets and devices - yes, ALL devices…even you Mr. iOS. Did I mention is it web based? No bugging your IT people for app installations!"

Mentions Evergreen SD in the article too.

"Game-based learning is an educational trend that has gained so much popularity in recent years. At its core, game-based learning involves the use of the learning principles underlying games' play in learning situations. In his book " What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy", James Paul Gee mentioned a number of these principles all of which are geared towards improving learners' critical thinking skills  and  enhancing their problem solving competencies. Marc Prensky is another thought leader in this field and his book "Digital Game Based Learning" provides a very good explanation of the basics of game based learning. For those of you using iPad in their teaching, here is a set of interesting apps you can use to incorporate the ethos of game-based learning in your classroom.   These are some excellent educational games  to engage students in different learning scenarios. We invite you to check them out and share with us what you think of them. Enjoy"

""There's a huge gap between the needs and requirements of the job market of the 21st century and what the education system is delivering," said Vishal Talreja, founder and CEO of Dream A Dream, a Bangalore-based organization that prepares young people from vulnerable backgrounds to succeed in a changing world. Talreja is right -- neither employers nor education leaders (not to mention some students themselves) would argue otherwise. But it is the second point Talreja made before the 2015 LEGO Foundation IDEA Conference that educator-innovators should pay the most attention to: "Learning spaces, which could be physical spaces of learning or just safe environments for learning, are extremely critical." A learning space differs in both look and feel from the traditional classroom. In the past year, we've met social entrepreneurs with an eye on education who are creating cost-effective methods to infuse schools with the type of culture and design that students need to better develop their curiosity, creativity, and imagination, and better achieve desired learning outcomes."

"Last year I started Makerspaces in my library as a way to give my students more opportunities to be "hands-on" in their learning.  (You can read about my Makerspace beginnings here.)  I definitely learned a lot by jumping right in, and as with most things, found that some parts worked great while others needed some tweaking.  At the end of the year, I did an informal survey with mainly 3rd through 5th grade asking them "What lesson/activity did you enjoy the most in the library" and MANY of them mentioned our Makerspace activities.   I was super happy to hear that, and planned on continuing Makerspaces again this year."

"I've collected 10 of the latest surprising, revealing studies on social media here in this post, with takeaways and insight into social media timing, Instagram sharing, Facebook users, and more. If you've seen a recent study worth mentioning, I'd love to hear from you!"

"It is a new school year and I'm so excited to see many teachers and schools starting Genius Hour or 20% Projects for the first time! As I mentioned to Joy Kirr on Twitter a few weeks ago, I sense a tidal wave of student choice being unleashed in K-12 schools around the world this year. As someone who is passionate about letting our students choose their own learning paths, this has me pumped to be a part of the movement! I recently had a conversation with two teachers in my school district about start Genius Hour and wanted to share a few of the key takeaways from that talk. When you give students choice, amazing things happen. But it is also difficult as a teacher to support this type of learning. Here are five things to remember before you jump into Genius Hour:"

"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."

"My all time education hero, Sir Ken Robinson has been discussing the lack of creativity and that standardized does not fit all students. We were remiss back in 2012 when we did not mention him in our blog Apps to Foster More Creativity in the Classroom!  We made up for it by writing about him numerous times since, and in 2014 I had the honor of seeing, hearing and writing about him Live from ASCD 2014. He has been writing and speaking about the sad state of the fact that we are still running our schools under the Industrial Age, and our students have been educated on the standard of routine testing, using the multiple choice test model. With all the opting out going on in 2015 I would think that by know some of the administrators and government leaders would have come across his wonderful TED Talks and realized he has it all completely right. When I read this Commentary Q & A from Education Week - Sir Ken Robinson, I wanted to once again give him a shout out as he urges us all to start thinking of the future of our children's children."

"5 Free Ways to Never Miss a Twitter @Reply"

"s mentioned in last week's post, Affordable ISTE 2011, I attend a lot of conferences. I always bring my laptop, but when I'm on the road my mobile devises are indispensible. My cell phone (an iPhone 3) is usually stuffed in my back pocket and I carry my iPad around in my small conference bag. At most conferences, I leave my laptop in my hotel room and use it at night to answer lengthy emails and maybe write a blog post or two. "

"As we mentioned, the App Store is loaded with these kinds of apps, and many of them are quite good. To help narrow things down, we've rounded up five of the best ones, focusing on apps that are either free or have a freemium pay model."

"Apps in Education has recently shared two visuals featuring two examples of classroom activities done through the use of iPad apps. You can do the same with your students using different classroom tasks for the procedure applies to different content areas. Upon checking these two documents I found out that they the app icons are not hyperlinked and I am sure some of you are not familiar with all of these icons therefore I am providing you with a short review together with the link of each app mentioned in these visuals."

"Pad is a versatile tool that can be used like a Swiss Knife, you mention it and there is an app for it. One of the cognitive areas we can improve through the use of iPad is creativity. There are several excellent apps out there that are specifically designed to unleash learners creativity, drawing and painting tools are some of them. Having access to apps is one thing but using them effectively is another thing and that's where a practical guide such as the one below comes in handy"

"I've had many failures this year (which I will be outlining in some near future posts, I promise), but one message I definitely seemed to get across to my students was that I am done with ho-hum slide presentations that make everyone yawn. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the awesome presentation that some of my 4th graders did recently. This past week, we had some great ones from my 5th graders. My consistent theme this year, when it comes to Genius Hour presentations, has been The Golden Rule. If you wouldn't want people standing in front of you for 20 minutes reading slides to you in a monotone, then why on earth would you subject your classmates to the same torture? I haven't outlawed slide shows, but I've shown the students that they are ineffective unless you are a passionate speaker with engaging slides. After I gave them a peek at 101 Ways to Show What You Know, things got a lot more interesting."

"Today I want to share with you this awesome read I came across in Global Citizen Education. The article is entitled " 21st Century Fluencies" and is basically based on Crockett et al.'s book Literacy is Not Enough. The main argument in this paper is that 21st century fluencies are process skills that students need in order to thrive in a rapidly changing world. These process skills include things such critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and innovation to mention but a few. "The 21st century fluencies", as the authors of this work state, "are not about hardware, they are about headware and heartware"."

"Using Google Apps on the iPad can get sticky! Historically, Google and the iPad have not played well together. But we have come a long way in the last couple years! There are now tons of apps for iOS devices that integrate well with Google, and Google has release several official apps for the iPad. There is hope, Obi Wan, Google and Apple can play nice! The infographic embedded below details the most useful Google apps for the iPad. These are the apps that I find most useful not only for teachers, but any Google user. Take a look, download, and explore the wonderful possibilities of using Google Apps on the iPad! (Note: There are a few apps that were designed for the iPhone, but worth mentioning for the iPad as well.)"

"As I mentioned in my article, "The Research Behind 20% Time", there is a lot of support for this type of inquiry-based learning in schools. However, I want to point out a few important pieces of information in this post on why many of the folks talking about the demise of Google's 20% time and whether or not Genius Hour is enough…are simply missing the point."

"Here is another great find today from Google Apps Action. Davis created this excellent visual illustrating how to integrated SAMR model using Google Apps. She made use of two main apps: Google Docs and Google Hangout, and for each of the SAMR levels (substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) she provided an example of a task together with the app to do it. To me, the strength of this work lies in the task samples mentioned here. Teachers can repurpose them and try them with their own students in class. I also find the simple explanation of each of the SAMR levels quite helpful and  would help those new to SAMR better understand the philosophy underlying this conceptual framework."

"That said, the handy infographic below takes a look at 4 ways technology is changing how people learn. The things that I find striking - and important- about this particular graphic is how simple the concept is. These four general concepts can be applied across the board: to learners of all ages, in all subjects, in any area of the world or for any type of learner. Take a look and see what you think: are there any other very general principles of how technology is changing learning that can be widely applied? Weigh in by leaving a comment below, mentioning @Edudemic on Twitter or leaving your thoughts on our Facebook page."