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"THERE are two kinds of motive for engaging in any activity: internal and instrumental. If a scientist conducts research because she wants to discover important facts about the world, that's an internal motive, since discovering facts is inherently related to the activity of research. If she conducts research because she wants to achieve scholarly renown, that's an instrumental motive, since the relation between fame and research is not so inherent. Often, people have both internal and instrumental motives for doing what they do."

Many mobile users in India have been receiving missed calls from premium international numbers, or calls related to winning lotteries, prompting them to call back and waste a much of their prepaid balance. TRAI (telecom industry regulator in India) has asked all operators to stop ISD calling on prepaid numbers until especially asked for by customers. TRAI says that it has been receiving complaints that people are getting missed calls (wangiri calls) and calls relating to winning prizes or lotteries from international numbers. These are often premium numbers charging high tariff, prompting consumers to call back such numbers. By responding to such calls/SMSs consumers have to pay unintended charges.

Galaxy Computer Scrapes: All types of computer related scrapes

"Earlier today on the FreeTech4Teachers Facebook page someone asked if there is a way to create a mind map of Wikipedia entries. WikiMindMap.org does exactly that. On the site you can enter a search term and almost instantly see a web of related topics. In the video embedded below I provide a short overview of WikiMindMap.org"

"Makers-in the broadest sense, those who make things-and the maker movement have gone mainstream. Featured in articles from the Smithsonian to The Atlantic to The New York Times, today's makers are just as likely to be armed with traditional tools like hammers, anvils, and yarn, as they are with conductive paint, 3-D printers, and computers. They are participating in a movement marked by community norms of sharing, collaboration, and experimentation. They are gathering in libraries, garages, summer camps, and makerspaces. Cities and towns across the United States are paying attention, responding to the buzz with maker-related growth and development: Downtowns are outfitting digital workshop spaces, also knowns as "fablabs"; municipal libraries and church spaces are designating space for making; and now schools are getting on board. It is no wonder that school ears are perked. As businesses, libraries, and organizations lobby for ways to bring making into their domains, schools across the country are building innovation labs. Makerspaces are being carved out, 3-D printers are being brought into classrooms, and hacker/tinkering/maker/tech-ed teachers are being hired-and sometimes trained. There is clear enthusiasm around the tools and the sociocultural impact of maker-related values. Attend a school board meeting where a makerspace is on the agenda and the familiar selling point rings out: Maker education boosts STEM-science, technology, engineering, and math-learning, which will ultimately generate a cohort of innovative, inventive, entrepreneurial-minded young people. But we may be getting ahead of ourselves. The limited research around the cognitive benefits of maker-centered education is only recently emerging. Maker classes, maker curriculum, and maker teachers are being incorporated into educational settings in what appears to be a response to popular media and based, in part, on the hype."

"With Star Wars mania upon us all this week, I thought it would be a good time to share a few education-related resources I've shared in the past."

"A few months ago, we started a section here in EdTech and mLearning where we feature resources related to the use of Minecraft in education. Besides the collection of books we recommended in this regard together with the newly released Minecraft platform for educators, today we are sharing with you some of the best iPad apps to help you learn everything you need to know about Minecraft. These are basically guides covering a wide variety of topics related to Minecraft play from how to craft items to guides on how to defeat the new dungeons."

"Concussions are a serious public health concern. One in five Canadians report a sport-related concussion in their lifetime and an estimated one in 10 youth sustains a sport-related concussion each year. To improve concussion prevention, detection and management, the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary has developed a course for parents, coaches, teachers and administrators of school and sport environments, health-care professionals and those who have experienced a concussion.  "This course demystifies concussion and explains how everyone can play a role to prevent, identify and manage this type of traumatic brain injury," says Dr. Kathryn Schneider, PT, PhD, an assistant professor and clinician scientist (physiotherapist) in the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre in the kinesiology faculty. "This program also demonstrates how a concussion management protocol can be adapted to the characteristics and resources of different sports and settings." A concussion management protocol is a detailed process that outlines how to prevent, detect and manage concussions in a specific context."

"I am a big fan of music in the history classroom and I have created a number of Spotify Playlists for this purpose. Often this is merely to help create a calm and purposeful working atmosphere, when a bit of Chopin or Debussy sets the tone perfectly. Occasionally it's even possible to have calming instrumental music directly related to the topic in question: for example, Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor, which was inspired by the composer watching British troop ships heading off to France in 1914. However, some songs are better used to stoke up some energy during lessons, whilst the very best of all are historical sources in themselves, combining musical feeling with powerful lyrical content. What follows is a list of songs I regularly use in class, organised in broadly chronological order in terms of the topics they relate to, with a brief explanation of how you could make use of them with your own students. What follows is a list of 25 principal songs, but with links to others on similar themes or by similar artists, bringing the total up to over 50. If you have any other suggestions, please contact me (@russeltarr / @activehistory on Twitter) and I'd be delighted to add them to the list (as long as it isn't "We didn't start the fire" by Billy Joel. Which I admit is superb, but we all know this one, surely?)."

"Our students are reading all day long-text messages on their phones, emailed directions about homework, apps from advertisers. They read what interests them and what helps make their world a more real, relevant, and relatable place to live. And we can tap into their interests to embed speaking, listening, reading, and writing in classes to help achieve content objectives."

"One of the core principles of good iPad usage that my EdTechTeacher colleagues have developed is the idea that educators should focus on creation apps rather than content apps. Most apps that are designed to teach specific content are terrible, so educators shouldn't think of iPads as repositories of apps but rather as portable media creation devices. Thus, educators don't need to review and master the hundreds of education apps that come out every year; rather, they should consider how a small suite of apps related to annotation, curation, and image, audio, and video production could support diverse student performances of understanding. "

"Before the advent of the uber-popular show Mythbusters or the push for more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in schools, parents and their kids were doing at-home science experiments. Now, the trend continues to blossom, although many of the experiments have remained somewhat the same…and always awesomely exciting! If you're a parent and you want to do something with your kid that isn't related to cleaning the toilets or forging through homework, check out these 20 great science projects that you can complete in the confines of your humble abode. Most of them use around-the-home items that you probably have on hand, although some will require a little bit of shopping ahead of time. To help you decide which are best for your children's needs, the 20 have been divided into projects for younger students and projects for older ones."

Click an element from the list to the left or the Periodic Table below to read original poems about, inspired by, reminiscent of or otherwise related to that element

a range of educational technologies and consider their affordances and limitations in relation to your learning goals. Making decisions about educational technologies can be tricky. Faculty sometimes ask if a specific technology will enhance student learning.

a range of educational technologies and consider their affordances and limitations in relation to your learning goals. Making decisions about educational technologies can be tricky. Faculty sometimes ask if a specific technology will enhance student learning.

"The province is drafting plans to make coding a part of the curriculum in every grade. Education Minister Karen Casey told a room of more than 600 students at the Big Data Productivity Congress in Halifax on Wednesday that learning coding will help prepare them for future careers. "We know that coding promotes problem-solving, teamwork, critical thinking, innovation and creativity," Casey said. "And we also know that those skills are directly related to industries like computer programming, manufacturing, communications and more. And those are the industries that you will be going to." The Education Department will finalize its plans over the course of the 2015-16 school year, and will introduce formal coding instruction in some grades in September."