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"Four years ago, TED Senior Fellow Ayah Bdeir founded littleBits "so everyone could unleash their inner inventor - without having to be an engineer." Since then, many people have used littleBits' electronic building blocks to do just that - and two of them happened to speak at TEDWomen 2015. Want to find out how inventor Christina Mercando used littleBits to prototype a ring that connects to the Internet? Or how guitarist Kaki King created her latest show using a littleBits synth kit? Read on …"

"It is a new school year and I'm so excited to see many teachers and schools starting Genius Hour or 20% Projects for the first time! As I mentioned to Joy Kirr on Twitter a few weeks ago, I sense a tidal wave of student choice being unleashed in K-12 schools around the world this year. As someone who is passionate about letting our students choose their own learning paths, this has me pumped to be a part of the movement! I recently had a conversation with two teachers in my school district about start Genius Hour and wanted to share a few of the key takeaways from that talk. When you give students choice, amazing things happen. But it is also difficult as a teacher to support this type of learning. Here are five things to remember before you jump into Genius Hour:"

"Pad is a versatile tool that can be used like a Swiss Knife, you mention it and there is an app for it. One of the cognitive areas we can improve through the use of iPad is creativity. There are several excellent apps out there that are specifically designed to unleash learners creativity, drawing and painting tools are some of them. Having access to apps is one thing but using them effectively is another thing and that's where a practical guide such as the one below comes in handy"

"Digital Student Portfolios are becoming more important now than ever! Students are creating and remixing information like never before - and where is all that amazing work going? At my old school it was wiped off the devices at the end of the year - a heart-wrenching idea that I was personally against. This is why we need to publish student work in one place and let it serve as a home of student reflection, and a become a destination to unleash student pride and curiosity. There are many reasons to begin the journey to digital portfolios - here are just a few."

"Digital books are transforming the way students of all ages learn today. The interactive elements of digital books enhance the learning experience, making it far more informative and interesting than before. Many teachers today are embracing this new media and producing some high quality student-made eBooks in their classrooms. One of the most fascinating ways to create an eBook is using a mobile device, particularly, an iPad. StoryKit, Book Writer, and Book Creator are 3 apps my students have used to create some highly interactive, professionally looking eBooks. All three apps are excellent examples of tools that allow students to unleash their creativity and tell their own stories."

"On Monday August 25, the day after the TechEducator Podcast produced an amazing Google Slides Smackdown (see video above) Google heard our cries and released an amazing addition to the iPad lineup.  Google Slides is a free downloadable app that integrates seamlessly with your personal Google account or your Google Apps for Education suite."

"Consider these words from Peter Gray, author of "Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life:" Free play is nature's means of teaching children that they are not helpless. In play, away from adults, children really do have control and can practice asserting it. In free play, children learn to make their own decisions, solve their own problems, create and abide by rules, and get along with others as equals rather than as obedient or rebellious subordinates. Peter Gray's words remind me of danah boyd's descriptions and analysis of the over-scheduled lives of teens in her recent book, "It's Complicated: the social lives of networked teens.""

"Google is usually one of the first places students turn to when tasked with an assignment. Whether it's for research, real-time results, or just a little digital exploration … it's important they know how to properly Google. Lucky for teachers (and students, of course), Google has a handy set of lesson plans that are just waiting to be unleashed upon the leaders of tomorrow."

"After finding these math hacks, I'm convinced that all those years of being forced to struggle through math class really was just a torture ploy created by evil math teachers everywhere. Check out these amazing math tips and you'll agree! Watch out though, you may just unleash the inner math whiz you never knew was in you..."

"The value of an education system lies in its teachers. That much is obvious. But too often teachers are burdened by the system that they operate in - the confines of the curricula they teach, the need for obvious educational outcomes and the need to show a continuous upward curve on the exam results to show ongoing improvement. In such stressful situations, creativity can be easily stifled, but that creativity is essential is teachers are to engage and inspire their pupils."

"iPads can be powerful teaching tools. In classrooms around the world iPads are mainly used by teachers and students for consumption, curation, and creation of information. Naturally, due to its simplicity, consumption of information is the most common way in which iPads are used in and out of the classroom. Also, many people use iPads for curating and organizing content. However, creation of information is one of the most powerful ways students can use iPads in the classroom because it allows them to unleash their creativity and illustrate their knowledge in multifaceted ways."

"In my new book, "The Innovator's Mindset", one of the things that I discuss is understanding that we are not able to change others, but are able to create the conditions where change is more likely to happen.  Instead of  pointing fingers at others, it is important to recognize what we have the ability to do, and develop conditions where innovation is more likely to happen. Below are five focuses I share in the book on how to "Unleash Talent", with a quick synopsis and some questions."

"Below is a collection of some of the best iPad and Android apps to use with kids and young learners to enhance their creativity and boost their imaginative thinking. From doodling and sketching to drawing and digital storytelling, the apps below are particularly designed to unleash the creative gene from within. We invite you to check them out and share with your students. Enjoy"

"The "maker movement" can play an important role in getting kids interested in innovation and design, and littleBits-which makes easy-to-use electronic building blocks-is finding itself at the center of this movement. Until now, the company has focused mostly on the consumer market, but during a March 8 keynote session, littleBits founder and CEO Ayah Bdeir announced a new kit made specifically for schools. "We want to unleash the inventor in everyone," Bdeir said. In a conversation with Education Week, Bdeir said schools need to find ways to make science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education more fun, engaging, and accessible for students. "I studied engineering, and almost on a weekly basis I wanted to quit," she said. "We need to find ways of approaching STEAM education differently." Bdeir said her experience in learning engineering as an undergraduate was "completely hands-off; as a result, many other students and I were turned off to it." But when she arrived at the MIT Media Lab for her master's of science degree, "it was the exact opposite. Every week was a new project, a new learning challenge. It was very scary, but also exhilarating and engaging." That's the experience her company is trying to replicate for students at all levels with the new STEAM Student Set."

"With all the hoopla in regards to maker education and makerspaces I wanted to take a minute to share that this is not a new concept. Has it evolved - definitely! The process of making has been in our DNA since the dawn of human civilization to create tools for hunting and survival.  For many of us who grew up before the Internet, we spent countless hours playing with popular toys such as LEGO's, Lincoln Logs, Construx, and Erector Sets.  It has also been the livelihood for many people and a focus on hobbies or passion projects.  Now we have 3D printers, Arduino's, Raspberry Pi's, Little Bits, Makey-Makey's and an array of other innovative technologies to unleash the maker in all kids.  Regardless of the tool, the process is rooted in constructionism, which can be traced back to constructivism. Jonan Donaldson sums it up nicely: Terms such as collaborative learning, project-based learning, metacognition, inquiry-based learning, and so on, might be new to some audiences, but they have a relatively long and well-documented history for many educators. The most widely-known and promising pedagogical approach is constructivism grounded on the work of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner. Constructionism brings creativity, tinkering, exploring, building, and presentation to the forefront of the learning process."

"One of the most powerful learning tools human beings employ is the story. See how the story-form can unleash imagination and creativity in your teaching."

"Step right up to see impressive iPad and iPhone tips and tricks! Learn stunts like annotating photos without an app, compelling Siri to flip a coin, conjuring up keywords on a page, hearing highlighted text, making clutter on web pages vanish, closing all Safari tabs in the blink of an eye…the magic at your fingertips seems limitless. So many secrets are unleashed below!"

"Here is a list of some useful iPad apps students can use to unleash their creative thinking and engage in hand-son learning activities. The apps, curated from iTunes App Store's collection called 'Explore Your Creativity', will enable students to create short movies, edit and share visuals and photos, tell stories using a wide variety of multimedia materials, create and learn about music, and draw beautiful sketches to share with others."