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"Due to Khan Academy's popularity, the idea of the flipped classroom has gained press and credibility within education circles. Briefly, the Flipped Classroom as described by Jonathan Martin is: Flip your instruction so that students watch and listen to your lectures… for homework, and then use your precious class-time for what previously, often, was done in homework: tackling difficult problems, working in groups, researching, collaborating, crafting and creating. Classrooms become laboratories or studios, and yet content delivery is preserved. Flip your instruction so that students watch and listen to your lectures… for homework, and then use your precious class-time for what previously, often, was done in homework: tackling difficult problems, working in groups, researching, collaborating, crafting and creating. Classrooms become laboratories or studios, and yet content delivery is preserved (http://www.connectedprincipals.com/archives/3367)."

What purposes does education serve? What needs of humanity does education serve? What might the product of our labours be like and how might our efforts contribute to the greater good? These are questions we have long struggled with but with but it seems that in the current times we might need to rethink how we answer these questions.

"The Sustainable Development Goals, otherwise known as the Global Goals, build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets that the world committed to achieving by 2015. The MDGs, adopted in 2000, aimed at an array of issues that included slashing poverty, hunger, disease, gender inequality, and access to water and sanitation. Enormous progress has been made on the MDGs, showing the value of a unifying agenda underpinned by goals and targets. Despite this success, the indignity of poverty has not been ended for all. The new SDGs, and the broader sustainability agenda, go much further than the MDGs, addressing the root causes of poverty and the universal need for development that works for all people. UNDP Administrator Helen Clark noted: "This agreement marks an important milestone in putting our world on an inclusive and sustainable course. If we all work together, we have a chance of meeting citizens' aspirations for peace, prosperity, and wellbeing, and to preserve our planet." The Sustainable Development Goals will now finish the job of the MDGs, and ensure that no one is left behind."

"These days, very little comes out of Hollywood without special effects added in post-production. Our favorite superhero movies, science fiction thrillers and fast-paced action movies just wouldn't be the same without them. However, these video effects are no longer the preserve of video professionals. Technology has advanced quickly, and you can now use green screen effects on your iPad. Here's how."

"Computer Science can sound pretty daunting, particularly if you don't know a lot about the subject, and it is often thought of as the preserve of 'geeks' or particularly intelligent students. The idea that it is particularly difficult can put off students who might actually have a real natural ability for the subject, which is a great shame, so finding accessible tools to help them explore and get to know the subject from an early age is a great way to avoid it becoming something feared! And with everything becoming ever more internet orientated, it has never been more useful to provide students with some simple computer science skills from a young age, which will stand them in excellent stead for the future."

"Learning is about reaching your full potential and can help you achieve self-actualization, the highest need identified by Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. However, traditional education generally has a beginning and an end which culminates in taking tests. Lifelong learning preserves an individual's desire to obtain new knowledge outside of the formal education system. Developing an attitude where you constantly learn is the only way to succeed in the dynamic environment which we live in today. There is so much technology at your fingertips which you can take advantage of to help you learn throughout your life. This means you can follow your passion for languages, improve your craft skills and even develop a mobile app using resources you can find online."

A National Preserve of Documentary Films about American Roots Cultures streamed with essays about the traditions and filmmaking. The site includes transcriptions, study and teaching guides, suggested readings, and links to related websites.

HOME is an ode to the planet's beauty and its delicate harmony. Through the landscapes of 54 countries captured from above, Yann Arthus-Bertrand takes us on an unique journey all around the planet, to contemplate it and to understand it. But HOME is more than a documentary with a message, it is a magnificent movie in its own right. Every breathtaking shot shows the Earth - our Earth - as we have never seen it before. Every image shows the Earth's treasures we are destroying and all the wonders we can still preserve. "From the sky, there's less need for explanations". Our vision becomes more immediate, intuitive and emotional. HOME has an impact on anyone who sees it. It awakens in us the awareness that is needed to change the way we see the world. (HOME embraces the major ecological issues that confront us and shows how everything on our planet is interconnected.)

"iPhone 5 Called ""Gadget off the Year"" by Time Magazine, Apple's iPhone 5 (from $199 on 2-year AT&T, Sprint or Verizon plan) is a serious piece of hardware. Along with its powerful new A6 chip, iPhone 5 works on 4G/Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks for wireless speeds that rivals your home's broadband connection. iPhone 5 also has improved cameras: an eight-megapixel iSight rear-facing camera (3264 x 2448 pixels) and front-facing FaceTime camera with 720p HD quality for video calling. Samsung Galaxy S III The Samsung Galaxy S III (from $149 on 2-year plan with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Verizon) is a true smartphone in every sense of the word -- and we're not even referring to its stunning 4.8-inch display, fast LTE speeds or versatile Android operating system. the Galaxy S III's front-facing camera knows when you're looking at the screen, so it'll give you the bright display you seek, but if your eyes look away it'll dim itself to preserve its battery. It also knows when you want to talk: if you're messaging with someone and want to call them, simply lift the smartphone to your ear and it'll dial for you. Nokia Lumia 920 As the flagship Windows Phone 8 device, Nokia's Lumia 920 (from $99.99 on 2-year AT&T plan), has a lot to offer, including a colorful Start screen with ""live tiles""; familiar Microsoft apps like Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote; and a People hub that aggregates all your contacts into one page per person (so you don't need to close, say Outlook, to see what that friend is up to on Facebook or Twitter). HTC Droid DNA and HTC One X+ A pair of Android-powered HTC devices are also worthy of ""best of 2012"" nods: the HTC Droid DNA ($149.99 on 2-year Verizon Wireless plan) and HTC One X+ ($199.99 on 2-year AT&T plan). Protected by Corning's uber-durable Gorilla Glass 2 technology, the Droid DNA's 5-inch 1080p HD screen was built for video, games, ebooks and web browsing. Integrated Beats Audio - an

"Something that bothers me so much is when I read articles that talk about how libraries are becoming makerspaces.  Our makerspace is one component of the participatory culture that runs through our space.  Anyone who knows my story knows that my point of entry into the Maker Movement was through literacy, so for me, literacy and making have always gone hand in hand.   When I began as the Library Media Specialist at New Milford High School, I walked into a library that was similar to many school libraries in older schools.  It was very traditional looking, with tall stacks and lots and lots of books that students simply did not check out, nor have an interest in.  The collection was out of date and had not been weeded in decades.  One of the tasks for me was to weed the books.  During that weeding process, I decided that traditional nonfiction that made it through the weeding process would be sent to classrooms to build up their classroom research libraries.  I decided to keep any memoirs or narrative nonfiction that we had in our collection, since those were the kinds of books I discovered so many of our students did enjoy reading and would check out.  Amongst the vast fiction collection, we did find a few gems, but mostly we either discarded books that were no longer relevant to our students, gave them to classrooms who wanted them, or to individual students who showed an interest.  In the end, I was able to preserve just a few shelves of books.  As a result, I was tasked with rebuilding our collection."

"FEBRUARY 22, 2018 -From the instant replay that decides a game to the bodycam footage that clinches a conviction, people tend to trust video evidence as an arbiter of truth. But that faith could soon become quaint, as machine learning is enabling ordinary users to create fabricated videos of just about anyone doing just about anything. Earlier this month, the popular online forum Reddit shut down r/deepfakes, a subreddit discussion board devoted to using open-source machine-learning tools to insert famous faces into pornographic videos. Observers say this episode represents just one of the many ways that the this technology could fuel social problems, particularly in an age of political polarization. Combating the negative effects of fabricated video will require a shift among both news outlets and news consumers, say experts.  "Misinformation has been prevalent in our politics historically," says Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., who specializes in political misperceptions. "But it is true that technology can facilitate new forms of rumors and other kinds of misinformation and help them spread more rapidly than ever before." So-called fake news has been around long before Macedonian teenagers began enriching themselves by feeding false stories to social media users. In 1782, Benjamin Franklin printed a falsified supplement to the Boston Independent Chronicle maligning Seneca Indians in an attempt to influence public opinion during peace negotiations with Britain."

"To quote Bob Dylan, the times, they are a-changin'. We wonder, though, if teachers have the dispositions needed to make fundamental changes to their teaching practices in order to respond constructively to our changing times, especially when those changes reveal that what they were doing was less effective than their egos thought they were. The way we teach is often a statement of who we are. If someone questions our practices, it's like they're questioning our value as teachers. Our classroom instruction, including assessment and grading, technology integration, student-teacher interactions, and more, are expressions of how we see ourselves; they are our identity. Can we navigate these frequently troubled waters without invoking self-preserving egos and drowning in resentment?"

"The internet doesn't come with an instruction manual, but it should-to give users the skills to separate truth from falsehood so they can distinguish between propaganda and the indisputable and confirmable. And colleges should be the place leading students through this reference book. That's the argument of Michael Caulfield, director of blended and networked learning at Washington State University Vancouver, and it isn't just some "hot take" designed to be provocative. He actually wrote the manual. And he has already convinced more than a dozen colleges to adopt it (and more than 100 college libraries to prominently link to it). Recently, he's started research in an effort to prove that it works (and can help preserve American democracy). Plenty of people are talking about the importance of information literacy these days, and many educational institutions see it as part of their mission. And yet it's more complicated than it seems. Earlier this month researcher danah boyd gave a provocative keynote speech at SXSW EDU arguing that media-literacy efforts at colleges are "backfiring," turning out graduates that are good at questioning everything, and selectively believing what their gut tells them is true."

"The new information landscape is a product of algorithmic data collection used by social media platforms, like Facebook and YouTube, news sites, and even our cellphones. Companies use invisible computer codes to track users' interactions in order to personalize their web experiences and influence their buying and viewing behavior, leading to concerns about privacy, accuracy of information, the preservation of shared norms, and authenticity. Data is collected everywhere. Even schools, from elementary schools to higher education institutions, collect data on students through learning management systems (LMS), thrusting schools directly into debates that consider how these companies, like Canvas, protect or use data. While the ethics and impact of algorithmic-driven content on platforms like Facebook or an LMS are murky and just emerging, the Project Information Literacy study raises immediate flags."

"It's important for people to tell you what side they are on and why, and whether they might be biased. A declaration of members' interests, of a sort. So, I am going to be talking to you about reading. I'm going to tell you that libraries are important. I'm going to suggest that reading fiction, that reading for pleasure, is one of the most important things one can do. I'm going to make an impassioned plea for people to understand what libraries and librarians are, and to preserve both of these things."