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"Inquiry-based learning is more than asking a student what he or she wants to know. It's about triggering curiosity. And activating a student's curiosity is, I would argue, a far more important and complex goal than the objective of mere information delivery. Nevertheless, despite its complexity, inquiry-based learning can be somehow easier on teachers, too. True, it's seemingly easier because it transfers some responsibilities from teachers to students, but it's really easier because releasing authority engages students. Teachers who use inquiry-based learning combat the "dunno" -- a chronic problem in student engagement.  Let's face it, when you ask a student something like, "What do you want to know about _______?" you are often met with a shrug, or a, "dunno." Inquiry-based learning, if front-loaded well, generates such excitement in students that neurons begin to fire, curiosity is triggered, and students can't wait to become experts in answering their own questions."

"Soundplant turns your computer keyboard into a versatile, low latency sound trigger and playable instrument. Via drag-and-drop, easily assign sound files of any format and length onto 72 keyboard keys, creating custom soundboards that put hours of instantly-playing audio at your fingertips with no extra hardware needed. Soundplant is used for live music and sound effects, as a drum pad, as a unique electronic instrument, as an educational aid, and just for fun - in radio, television, theater, podcasting, presentations, studios, classrooms, arenas, clubs, museums, and churches - by DJs, musicians, engineers, sound designers, composers, teachers, magicians, puppeteers, comedians, public speakers, gamers, and more."

"Words are the primary tools we use to convey meanings , of course there are non verbal tools as well but particularly in formal educational settings like schools and classrooms, words take the lion share of our language.  Can you imagine yourself delivering a lesson with no words in it ? will it work? Well Peterson has an answer." Peterson is a guy who used to have dyslexia when he was young and he did not learn how to read till he was in grade five. As an adult now, he designed some great applications to help teachers teach students without having to say a word. These are basically interactive learning games based on formative feedback. Watch the 8 minutes video to see the revolution Peterson triggered by the use of his free-language teaching approach. Enjoy

"Science is one of the areas where the impact of technology has been markedly observed. It triggered an unprecedented revolution and reshaped people's knowledge about the world. It has also enhanced the way science is being instructed inside schools and colleges. Experimentations are being facilitated by the use of technology and students are able to learn and get engaged in simulated experiments that mimic the real life problems. This revolution is being carried on to the mobile platforms. There are now several science apps that students and teachers can use to perform a wide variety of science tasks. Below, for instance, is a set of apps that enable students to explore the human body in 3D. Check them out and share with us if you have any additions. Enjoy"

"We recently completed a biography unit for which my students researched famous Americans and wrote five paragraph biographical essays. They attached a photo to their essays to serve as the trigger for their auras. The overlay was a video they recorded speaking in the first person about their famous American. Click the video below to see an aura of Barack Obama."

"For many years New Milford High School was just like virtually every other public school in this country defined solely by traditional indicators of success such as standardized test scores, graduation rates, and acceptances to four year colleges. These indicators have become so embedded in the minds of those judging our schools and work that we, like everyone else, worked hard to focus only on initiatives that would hopefully produce favorable outcomes in those areas. If we were doing well we continued down the same path allowing the status quo to reign supreme. The mentality of if it ins't broke than why fix it resonated so profoundly with us that we would not have even considered changing our ways. If results were not what our stakeholders wanted this would then trigger meetings leading to the development of action plans to get us back on course. "

"Augmented Reality (AR) is cutting-edge technology that allows for a digitally enhanced view of the real world, uncovering hidden images, videos and texts to the user when the 'trigger' (or 'marker') image or item is scanned by a camera, adding layers of digital information directly on top of objects around us."

"Though iPhone and iPad apps are generally very stable, sometimes you'll encounter an application that crashes at random. In iOS, a crashing app usually presents as an app that seems to quit itself immediately, returning back to the Home Screen of the device without user intent. An app crash can happen immediately upon launching the app, crash randomly in the middle of using the app, or sometimes a crash can even be triggered predictably by a particular action that is attempted within the application. Regardless of when the iOS app is crashing, we're going to review a few solutions that nearly always work to remedy the problem and should get you on your way to a trouble-free app usage experience again."

udefn is a SMS service which lets you define keywords or shortcuts to your favorite bots. It turns your phone into a remote control. Just text your command. Customize your profile to read the latest news, see RSS updates, or even trigger your backup.

"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. "

"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."

"One of the many things that we tried today in my Future Schools workshop was creating whiteboard instructional videos. Someone in the group suggested using those videos as layers in Aurasma that would trigger when students scanned a geometric shape. Even if you don't use Aurasma to showcase your videos, whiteboard videos can be helpful in helping students understand a process or concept. Here is a handful of tools for making whiteboard videos."

"For a while now I have ben exploring the use of technology to bring interactive information to our students. This has involved QR codes, uBleams, Augmented Reality and eBooks. There have been some successes but it was a long process that meant the initial trigger usually looked fairly boring so made a very poor 2D presentation of work. I have since been looking at using Layar to create augmented reality magazines and posters."

"Make your very own interactive pixel pet with this Raspberry Pi Sense HAT tutorial. Learn how to program with python to make a moving pixel avatar that is triggered when you shake the Raspberry Pi. Suitable for beginner coders!"

"A new whitepaper from personalized learning nonprofit KnowledgeWorks explores how wearables, augmented reality and virtual reality could play out in education. Take one example shared in the report of a fourth-grader: She's wearing a Hello Kitty "smart sleeve" and toting her tablet in a matching knapsack as she heads into the homework center after school and begins to tackle a writing assignment. After 10 minutes of staring at a blank screen and experiencing a rising heart rate, her wearable triggers a "nudge" from an app that reminds her that it's OK to ask for help. She clicks on an icon and receives a holographic image of her coach in a corner of her device, calmly and clearly offering her immediate help."

"The digital revolution, globalisation and demographic changes are transforming labour markets at a time when policy makers are also struggling with persistently slow productivity and wage growth and high levels of income inequality. The new OECD Jobs Strategy provides a comprehensive framework and detailed policy analysis and recommendations to help countries promote not only strong job creation but also foster job quality and inclusiveness as central policy priorities, while emphasising the importance of resilience and adaptability for good economic and labour market performance in a rapidly changing world of work. The key message is that flexibility-enhancing policies in product and labour markets are necessary but not sufficient. Policies and institutions that protect workers, foster inclusiveness and allow workers and firms to make the most of ongoing changes are also needed to promote good and sustainable outcomes. "The OECD's latest Jobs Strategy is a smart and sensible updating and rethinking of how countries should advance the goal of shared prosperity. I hope policymakers around the world not only read it but take its important advice." Jason Furman, Professor Harvard Kennedy School and former Chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers   "Inequality, economic insecurity, economic exclusion, are making the headlines.  Anger is high, populist rhetoric is on the rise.   What can be done?  What strategies to adopt?  These are the challenging questions taken up by the new OECD Jobs Strategy report.  I hope the report triggers the very serious discussions these issues deserve."    Olivier Blanchard, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute, Emeritus Professor at MIT and former Chief Economist of the IMF "

"You saw the pictures in science class-a profile view of the human brain, sectioned by function. The piece at the very front, right behind where a forehead would be if the brain were actually in someone's head, is the pre-frontal cortex. It handles problem-solving, goal-setting, and task execution. And it works with the limbic system, which is connected and sits closer to the center of the brain. The limbic system processes emotions and triggers emotional responses, in part because of its storage of long-term memory. When a person lives in poverty, a growing body of research suggests the limbic system is constantly sending fear and stress messages to the prefrontal cortex, which overloads its ability to solve problems, set goals, and complete tasks in the most efficient ways. This happens to everyone at some point, regardless of social class. The overload can be prompted by any number of things, including an overly stressful day at work or a family emergency. People in poverty, however, have the added burden of ever-present stress. They are constantly struggling to make ends meet and often bracing themselves against class bias that adds extra strain or even trauma to their daily lives."

"Watching a Red Sox game or listening to one on the radio is one of my favorite things to do on a warm summer night like we're having tonight in Maine. During the pregame show this evening the broadcasters were talking about the launch angle of some of the homeruns hit by Red Sox players this year. That discussion of launch angle triggered my memory of some resources that I've shared over the years regarding the math and science of baseball. "

"Carol Dweck's work on "growth mindset" has caught the fancy of organizations the world over, and why wouldn't it? The core supposition of a growth mindset is that an individual's talents and capabilities can evolve over time; at its core are the underlying beliefs that people hold about intelligence and learning. It is with deep sadness that we report that the function charged with building this growth mindset in most organizations remains hostage to deeply "fixed mindset" thinking. Although the idea of a growth mindset is commonly discussed in corporate learning programs, many leaders adopt a fixed mindset when it comes to envisioning the learning function's role and capabilities. To quote Dweck, "Our work environments, too, can be full of fixed mindset triggers." Business leaders need to shift their views of what the learning function is and what it can do."