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"I spend a significant amount of time watching Twitter; in particular teachers and educators on Twitter. I call this research although I know I am deluding myself as at best it is usually procrastination. I am beginning to notice with interest that Twitter is causing the power balance in education to be shifted slightly away from the centre with a number of grassroots initiatives that look as if they are influencing policy for example a few high profile Tweachers meeting with Ofsed and the Headteachers Roundtable . Among the many topics currently being debated in this Twibe is evidence informed teaching practice and Random Controlled Trials (RCT). This interest has been particularly apparent over the last 18 months or so. I see the trigger being a presentation given by Ben Goldacre a doctor, academic and author of the Guardian column Bad Science and the book Bad Pharma. "

"When you eat something loaded with sugar, your taste buds, your gut and your brain all take notice. This activation of your reward system is not unlike how bodies process addictive substances such as alcohol or nicotine - an overload of sugar spikes dopamine levels and leaves you craving more. Nicole Avena explains why sweets and treats should be enjoyed in moderation."

"My wife came home the other day and started describing a new problem arising in her school, where students were claiming to be tired of using devices for everything. The students were apparently saying "Can't we just do a lesson on paper today or you just teach us." As she told me this, my wife didn't notice that she was simultaneously picking up her iPad to check Facebook and that made me think. Photo Credit In my observations around my school, it's those same students claiming device fatigue in the classroom that are not hesitating to turn to their device for 'life updates' as they leave that very same room. I would propose that it's not fatigue caused by device use but that caused by the pain of trying to carry out conventional, 20th century classroom tasks on devices that are designed for a world that conducts itself very differently."

"Well it appears that my series of charts comparing ed tech tools is catching on because today I received my first suggestion for a chart topic. The suggestion was for a comparison of website creation tools. In the chart below I compare five popular tools for building classroom websites. You'll notice that the last column of the chart contains links to tutorials on how to use each service. You can find a Google Docs copy of the chart here or download it through the Box.com widget embedded below."

"Tired of your iPhone or iPad running out of storage space? If you're an avid music listener and use your iPhone or iPad as such with an extensive list of songs packed into your device, head on after the jump to check out how you can easily shrink the footprint of your audio files on your iOS device's internal storage. You may already know that higher the bit rate of an audio file, the larger the file size will be. Typically iTunes purchases max out at 256 kbps, with CD rips topping out at 320. On average, a user is likely to find all kinds of bit rates in their library and chances are that the average Joe wouldn't even notice the quality difference, until or unless you have a God gifted ability to differentiate between the slightest change"

"The other day, I noticed one of my daughters playing a puzzle type game on my iPad. It was obviously challenging and often frustrating but she kept at it regardless. The game was direct problem solving and my girl was deeply engaged. It was then I had an idea. If any learner who found themselves disengaged from a school task had permission to select from a list of problem-solving, "brain igniting" games, it might mean they return to the task more energised to tackle it or suggest other solutions."

"I have recently come across this beautiful visual entitled " The Science of Storytelling" and was really taken aback by some of the stats it included. These stats come in the context of highlighting the importance of storytelling in marketing but for me I view them  from an education vantage point. for instance, in comparison with words, the human brain has the ability to process images 60 times faster.This shows how much our brains crave the visual component. Also, a majority of 92% of consumers want brands to make ads that feel like a story. You probably have already noticed this trend  on YouTube, so many brands now are marketing video ads  in the form of stories narrated by a given character. But why do we tend to favour stories and how does storytelling affect our brain?"

"New York City's public school district is gearing up to scrap a controversial policy forbidding its 1.1 million students from having cellphones on campus. The thing is, plenty of students are already ignoring the ban. It turns out some of the poorest kids in the city are the ones who will notice the change most. The decision to lift the ban was prompted by safety concerns. Mobile phones aren't just for snapchatting but a way for kids to let parents know where they are. And with teen cellphone ownership rates so high, an ongoing ban increasingly seemed impractical-if not impossible. Civil rights activists call the move inevitable and long overdue."

Typing a document on a laptop is an annoying and frustrating experience. Perhaps, you may have noticed the cursor moving or jumping randomly, whenever you are going to type some text on a document or on a Web browser or anywhere else. It reduces the typing speed and overall performance.

Facebook offers you a special domain email ID as username @facebook.com. However, with a bid to popularize the Facebook ID, it has taken a stringent action, which may not be acceptable to all. What's that? In the profile page you may notice the replacement of your original email ID with the newly introduced one. If the change doesn't interest you then go ahead.

"My students have noticed that I often say "You'll never see that in a math book". Some of the topics we explore take a twist and some of the methods I use to teach are a little unorthodox (but they help). Students affectionately call this a "Yencafied" lesson strategy, and often add a hashtag (#yencafy) in their notes! Come the end of this school year, I mentioned to my classes that I'd been thinking about this "never-see-that-in-a-math-book" theme, and I decided perhaps some of these strategies should show up in math books… and that these books should be authored by them. They loved the idea!"

"With the amazingly powerful tools students have at their fingertips, creating rich and interactive media is no longer a novelty, it's a must. Bringing together words, images, audio and video from every corner of the web, students are building real digital masterpieces. But making sure all those pieces are legal, referenced and attributed correctly can be a minefield of licenses, copyright notices and terms and conditions."

"Rationale: The opportunities for learning in our world today are immense and we need to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to us.  We not only have access to all of the information in our world today, but we have access to one another.  This has a major impact in our learning today. What I have started to notice is that you can see some major benefits of being connected in the classroom for the learning environment of our students. Access to one another can accelerate and amplify powerful learning opportunities."

"At the Denton mini-maker faire, I noticed Trey of Denton Public Library was teaching young children to solder! I was so excited about this empowering activity, I asked if he'd collaborate with me and come teach my high school students to solder during one of our makerspace lunch events. So for two days last week, Trey brought 10 soldering stations, some Makey badges, and a whole lot of knowledge.  I loved how Trey told the students, "It's tool, don't be afraid of it, just respect it.""

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm quite a fan of the iPad (the Lollipop Nexus 9's not too bad either). Not because of its design or because its by Apple or any of that, but because of its keen heritage in the learning arena. Any one who knows me will tell you that I am not one for using tech for tech's sake, despite my evangelist moniker. Use of technology in a cross curricular sense should be measured and done with consideration for the best potential learning outcomes. With all that said, I've been doing this for quite some time now and I thought it time that I shared some of the Apps that have stuck by me or have struck me for their ease of use and impact upon learning in the classroom. Rather than blog about each one however or write in depth about each one either, I've done this in the form of a small poster, with the apps icons on. My periodic table of Apps that I developed from Sean Junkins' original is always well received however it really is a bit on the large size. This poster will feature Apps that hold stock in every classroom and can have an impact upon learning."

"When I put together this list of top-rated games of 2015, I noticed that though the tools varied in target grades and subjects, they shared some key things. As Mitch Resnick of the MIT Media Lab has argued, if you want to know if a tool is good for learning, first look to see if it aids kids' creativity and expression. I think many (if not all) the tools on this list get kids there, but they don't all take the same path. Some of these tools explicitly help kids make things while others foster thinking and reflection skills that complicate and expand their understanding of themselves and their worlds. They show us how great games can be for learning and inspire others to follow their lead."

"If you have run updates on your iPad or Android tablet in the last 24 hours you might have noticed some new commenting options in Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets. If you haven't run updates, you will want to after learning about the new commenting features. Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets for iOS and Android now have instant mentions in comments. Simply start typing a contact's name in a comment box and you will see a list of suggested names to mention in your comments. Anyone you select from that list will be notified of being mentioned in your comment."

"But when you're new at something, it's slow. It's painful, even. You suck at it. And when you realize you suck at it, you feel defeated. You second-guess every move. You are thinking so intentionally about every step that you sometimes feel like you are going nowhere. Over time, though, it becomes the backdrop. You've moved past the mechanics and you know what you're doing. It's a bit like driving a car. Remember when you sucked at driving? Remember when your heart would race if you went on the freeway? Remember when you had to tell yourself to turn on the turn signal? Well, that's what it's like when you are new at a creative process. You're suddenly the pimple-faced new driver trying to avoid an accident. I mention this, because I notice students who have never hit a place of creative fluency. They have no creative endurance. They give up quickly. They get frustrated too easily. They need too many instructions. But, honestly, it's because creativity has always been icing on the cake (which, honestly, is precisely what makes carrot cake a cake and not a loaf of zucchini bread). It's always been a "when we get to it" activity. It's been the culminating project. Then suddenly you have students who struggle to get anything done. However, it's not laziness. It's actually the byproduct of rarely getting the chance to make anything. "