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"Schools across the country are increasingly starting to use mobile devices like tablets and smartphones as classroom tools. But some educators are still skeptical that devices will distract students as much or more than they enhance the learning environment. Because it's still fairly new, there have been few quantitative studies, but Project Tomorrow and Kajeet for Education recently completed a study of mobile learning among 136 fifth graders at Falconer Elementary School, a Chicago public school where 94 percent of students receive free and reduced lunch. The Making Learning Mobile Project study documents how four different fifth-grade teachers and their students used the tablets they were given both in class and at home once the school day was over."

"Yes, National Computer Science Week is over and more than 10 million students participated in the Hour of Code and the feedback from all over the country is pretty incredible. Chicago Public Schools announced they are adding Computer Science into the core curriculum for all students. Schools and districts that have been promoting coding for years, like Los Altos School District, are getting great press about what they accomplish with students. New apps, programs and teacher training resources are popping up all over. 2014 definitely feels like it is going to be the year of the student coder!"

"Principal Proud to Embrace Longer School Days"

"Coding brings young children rich opportunities for language development and the "notion of learning from mistakes," says Chip Donohue, the dean of distance learning and continuing education at the Erikson Institute in Chicago, a graduate school in child development. "We actually don't do enough of that with young kids." The sequencing and patterns involved in programming reinforce skills that have always been taught in the early years, but now also create "habits of mind that are essential for the 21st century," adds Donohue, also senior fellow at the Fred Rogers Center, which provides resources and information on media use with young children. When children code together, they are also learning from each other. "In the process of learning to code, people learn many other things. They are not just learning to code, they are coding to learn," Mitchel Resnick, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, wrote in an EdSurge article. "In addition to learning mathematical and computational ideas (such as variables and conditionals), they are also learning strategies for solving problems, designing projects, and communicating ideas." Resnick adds that these skills are useful to everyone "regardless of age, background, interests, or occupation.""

"CHICAGO - By the time they reach eighth grade, according to federal tests, half of all African-American schoolboys have not mastered the most basic math skills that educators consider essential for their grade level. A new paper being released Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests a promising approach for helping the most challenged students, who often arrive in high school several years behind their peers."

"goREACT is a new iPad app from the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. This free iPad app allows students to virtually create chemical reactions. To create the reactions students simply drag elements from the periodic table to the "reaction area." The app includes suggested reactions to help students get started. In all there are nearly 300 chemical reactions supported on the app. The app includes pictures and videos related to the reactions that students can virtually create on goREACT."

"What ignites your spark for teaching and learning inside and outside the classroom? What sustains your spark for creativity and innovation? What can be a spark of innovation to encourage teachers who are not early adapter / innovators in our schools? These questions and more are addressed by Wesley Fryer, Rachel Fryer, Brad Wilson, Autumn Laidler, Jess McCulloch, Cheryl Oakes, Amy Burvall, Richard Byrne, Kevin Hodgson, Brian Crosby, Jennie Magiera, Jason Neiffer, Diane Woodard, and Michelle Roundy in this opening keynote presentation for the 2014 K-12 Online Conference. Come travel with us from Oklahoma City to Michigan, Chicago, Australia, Maine, Nevada, Montana, California, New York and Wyoming as we explore the theme of "Igniting Innovation" for this year's conference. Please take the challenge posed by Wesley in this video: Record and share a short (60 second) video answering one of these questions about "igniting innovation!" Share your video on YouTube with the hashtag #k12onlineIgnite under a Creative Commons license. By sharing with a CC license you will permit and empower others to engage in "combinatorial creativity" and make combined remix videos including your ideas!"

"Short Circuit is an after-school experience with a fresh approach to electronics and physical computing for young people. The Short Circuit Curriculum Guide includes seven informal learning activity modules that encourage students to express their creativity and develop DIY digital media skills by exploring innovative uses for physical and digital materials, like circuits, conductive inks, LEDs and the latest programming languages. Short Circuit Curriculum Guide modules include lesson plans and individualized assessment tools based on programs piloted at Quest to Learn, as well as by the Digital Youth Network and YouMedia programs in Chicago."

"You know that Minecraft is massive. But, did you know it is transforming learning? Geeky teachers have brought Minecraft to subjects ranging from history to biology to probability. The game is being rolled out to every secondary school in Northern Ireland this month. If you're a parent, you've noticed Minecraft offerings spawning in your local summer camp listings. The Chicago Architecture Foundation offers a Minecraft camp for budding builders. Ninety-two libraries participated in the International Games Day Minecraft Hunger Games tournament, and crowned a 13-year-old girl as its champion. And, I've helped launch Connected Camps' Summer of Minecraft, a new in-game online camp."

Follow along as a public elementary school in Chicago integrates iPad devices into its first and second grade classrooms."

Project ELITE is organized by the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Department of Libraries to provide professional knowledge and support for CPS librarians to effectively integrate technology in their teaching and educational activities.

"On Saturday, AASL committee members announced the 2017 Best Websites and 2017 Best Apps for Teaching & Learning at ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. In case you missed those big reveals, no worries!  Actually, worry-big time. You are in for a serious summer rabbit hole adventure. Now in its ninth year, The 2017 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning list presents 25 websites that provide enhanced learning and curriculum development for school librarians and their teacher partners."

"My favorite unit to teach the last two years to my middle school students has been on "Fruit Loop Conspiracy Theories." Rather than study and discuss controversial political topics, we focus on the Apollo Moon landings and the skeptics (who are sometimes also "flat-earthers" on YouTube) who believe NASA never landed on the Moon, and the entire historical episode was faked thanks to Stanley Kubrick's moviemaking special effects. This lesson was the result of summer work I did with my Chicago colleague Brian Turnbaugh (@wegotwits) in 2020, which I archived on the website, "Fact or Fiction? Apollo Moon Landings." Brian and I met through the Summer Institute in Digital Literacy in Rhode Island. I've served as faculty for the Institute the past two summers, in 2020 and 2021."