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"littleBits are ingenious snap-together magnetic elements used to create whimsical machines and prototype complex electronic circuits. It's impossible to short-circuit the littleBits or create a syntax error in your physical "program" since they only snap together the "correct" way. Kids from 5-85 love inventing with littleBits. We recently created two "Quick Start" guides for the trickier aspects of working with littleBits. You may download them here: littleBits Quick Start Guide littleBits Arduino Bit Quick Start Guide (for programming your littleBits-based machine) littleBits Cloudbit Quick Start Guide (for Internet of Things) Download our complete 20+ page workshop kit"

"Sometimes it feels crazy overwhelming to keep assessing students and know exactly what they do/don't understand. That's where these quick and easy formative assessment ideas comes in! My school district sent us a monthly newsletter from the GATE department. This was a particularly helpful chart, so I kept it. But the image was too small, so I've remade it into an easier to read version (see below)."

"Google has boosted Gmail storage space by a factor of 15 since it debuted in 2004, but power users may still find themselves bumping up against the limit (and you now have to share it with Drive and Google+ Photos too). Here are some quick, easy tips for clearing out a significant amount of room in your Gmail account."

"I spend a lot of time sharing the benefits of scannable technology with teachers.  QR codes and augmented reality triggers make it easy for students, teachers, and school visitors to find a web resource by using a scanning app on their device.  Another option for quick website sharing is a URL shortener like goo.gl or bit.ly."

"Whether it is to record an interview or to send a quick note to yourself, having a voice recording app on your phone or tablet can prove to be helpful. Here are some of the apps that I have had success using on my iPad and on my Android phone. "

"Infuse Learning is a new assessment service which works very much like Socrative. It allows teachers to set up quizzes which the students can answer via any device which can connect to the internet - whether that's a laptop, netbook, iPod, iPad or other tablet device. Like Socrative it is a fantastic addition to a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom. As well as the quizzes you can set up and save, you can also add Quick Assessment questions which can be given to the class at any point in a lesson. These can be quick True/False, Multiple Choice and Numeric answers and Likert Scale answers. There's also the option for students to draw a picture as their response to a question, which is an interesting addition which would work well for students with touchscreen and tablet devices."

"Capturing information quickly and efficiently in a classroom is an important skill. So much of what we do in the classroom needs to be documented either by you, the teacher or by the students. Apps that make this process quick and easy are therefore vital. Here are a quick list that might work in your classroom - some are quite expensive but they do offer a vastly different product depending on who will be the primary user. "

"Quick, before the school year ends, share this app with your teens and maybe their parents. Quick, before the school year ends, download this app yourself. You're going to want to start using the genre search to support readers' advisory tomorrow!!!"

" Apple has long touted its device's assistive technology as a powerful tool for the educational development of physically and mentally disabled children. The iPad's touch screen makes it easier to manipulate than more traditional educational tools. For children with autism, "the iPad is not a toy, but a tool that works best when there is a 'team effort' between parents and therapists encouraging its proper use," said Marc Reisner, co-founder of Reach for the APPs. "Our goal is to provide schools with iPads so they can reach every child on the autistic spectrum." Reach for the APPs built their site with an initial donation from Managed Digital. Now, they're seeking out donations of money and/or iPads from both individuals and corporations to propel the program forward. According to reports from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1-in-88 children have some form of autism, up 78 percent from just a decade ago. The demand for augmentative communications devices is growing. But the schools can't meet the demand, so the children are losing valuable time during critical developmental years. Lois Brady, a speech language pathologist and assistive technology specialist, said apps can help develop fine-motor skills, which will in turn make functions like writing and manipulating small objects easier for the students. "I have spent years working with the most challenging students that are considered profoundly disabled," she said. "And I have seen some small miracles when I introduce the iPad into our therapy, as the children have made huge gains in attention, focus, communication, language and literacy skills." Some experts also say that the iPad can lessen symptoms of autistic disorders, helping children deal with life's sensory overload. Brady will be contributing content to the Reach for the APPs website to inform therapists about the latest-and-greatest apps for children all over the autistim spectrum. Apps must be tailor

"I think that "Is MY Professional Development Up-To-Date?" is the first question which you need to ask yourselves! You can ONLY give BEST and QUALITY courses when knowing about the latest knowledge in a 21st Century Education. But ===> HOW TO know this? Life Long Learning!

"As part of my research for updating my Makerspace for The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, I went straight to a source that I knew had done a large amount of the work for me already: The Robot Test Kitchen. At RTK, a group of librarians have evaluated a wide variety of technology tools that are typically incorporated into library Makerspaces as part of an iLead project. I highly recommend looking through the side and reading each individual post. However, for my purposes I wanted to create a quick comparison chart to help guide conversation and my own decision making. I used in the information from RTK and put it into a quick reference spreadsheet."

"I've only just found Arvid's YouTube channel, so I'm still playing through the 40 or so iPad GarageBand tutorials on offer, including Photograph by Ed Sheeran, as shown above. I really like Arvid's method of teaching, it's quick, but not too quick. There are few better ways of learning how to use GarageBand than to create a complete cover track. It may not satisfy that creative urge, but it will help you become proficient enough with GarageBand to help you on your way. Plus you'll learn something about the structure of the song you're covering, no bad thing."