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"In our #bigmakerbook, I suggest crafting with paper circuits to learn about simple and parallel circuits before delving into sewing circuitry. Last year, my GirlsinTech campers had a great time with paper circuits, but when we began to explore sewing circuits, they ran into many roadblocks. Some had never sewn before, some couldn't thread the needle, some had pre-conceived ideas about sewing that led to disastrous short circuits, etc. (Note: I did have great success with teaching a parallel circuit bracelet at the DPL, but I also had 3 extra helpers for that workshop!)  So I wanted to try something new this year to get students started sewing and creating circuitry knowledge, but still keep the project simple. I wanted to share that project with you, and give you a list of some of my favorite sewing electronics books that aided me in my own journey to learning about creating and debugging soft circuits."

"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."

"So, you're wanting to learn how to code but not sure where to start? Or perhaps you just want to know what the fuss around computer science is about? Or is it that you know you need to help your students figure out programming? Here are some ways to get started."

"When I wrote the lesson plans for Makey Makey, I really had to push my thinking about how I could take this invention kit and really make it educational. I'd seen enough lessons driven by technology and not by educational concepts and did not want my lessons to feel forced or feel like technology for technology's sake. I wanted the educational necessity to drive the lessons and not the other way around. My first step in creating lessons was to do a little crowdsourcing for research. I had to look at the ways other people were using Makey Makey as a way to get myself beyond the banana. But I think the reason I really like the term "invention literacy" is because after spending last summer pushing myself to create, make, and dream up projects with Makey Makey and make all those things- well it changed me."

"Why is it that sometimes we only see the extremes in our work? Picture your strongest lessons, activities, and projects juxtaposed against ones that just didn't work, and that's how it's been so far with our Digital Shop capstone projects. Some experiences make me want to high-five the entire class all at once. Others deserve an epic facepalm. As of this writing, we still have a month of school left. How will the remaining capstones go? What have we learned in the process? Can we "fail up" and finish strong, sending kids into summer vacation with school-year memories that will last forever? As I explained in my April post, I wanted the capstone projects to: Be genuine design thinking experiences. Allow kids to showcase the skills and dispositions they worked to acquire all year. Be based on and help people from the community and the world. The results have been mixed, as this post will illustrate."

"Have you found an Instagram picture you want to save to your iPhone? You have probably noticed that Instagram doesn't offer a direct way to download photos, but if you want to save a picture for sharing, backing up, or setting as a wallpaper, there are a few ways to accomplish this in iOS."

"You've read about the maker movement. You've seen the posts with 3D printers, laser cutters, and three-axis mills in shiny new labs. And you want your students to start making, too. But you've got one big problem: you don't have a full lab -- or even a 3D printer -- because, like many educators, you don't have the biggest budget. Maybe you have no budget at all. But what if you could get started making tomorrow and didn't need all the fancy tools to join this movement? Making starts with a mindset, and simple materials are all that you need to get started. There are resources all around you, materials hidden in plain sight, tools just waiting to be used for a creative purpose. And with a little dose of ingenuity, you'll have your students making in no time. One perfect way start making on the cheap is through upcycling, the intentional transformation of hard-to-recycle materials into new products, thus saving them from the landfill. This type of real-world project not only teaches making skills but also helps you integrate making into your subject area. Study material science, explore industrial design, or dig into environmental education. As an added bonus, a project like this ignites your students' entrepreneurial spirit. Here's the five-step strategy that I've used to get my students making products out of hard-to-recycle materials. These steps could be done in one class period each, but if you want more time for ideas and iteration, feel free to expand the timeline as you go. Expect a beautiful mess, a bit of chaos, and a lot of fun as your students start to save the landfills -- by design."

" recently had a chance to visit a local high school that offers a music technology course. The course focuses on GarageBand and its many resources for Mac. I want to create a course similar to that course, but I want to use the iPad instead."

"If you're a lover of math and want to know more about the ways that math has shaped our world throughout history, then IBM's new app, Minds of Modern Mathematics, is an app that you will want to check out."

"Over the holidays we received an iPad. While I don't want my son to use it very often, I certainly don't want to deny him the opportunity to become familiar with the technology tools that will be such a huge part of his world and reality. After doing some research I realized that they are not all that bad and that there are some simply amazing iPad applications out there for children. "

"Just got an iPad for the holidays? You lucky sod! You scored the crown jewel, the Big Tamale - the most marvelous gadget Apple has ever made. Yes, go ahead, pick up its slim aluminum frame and dive right in - Steve knew that's what you wanted to do, and he designed the iPad so you could do just that. We want to make sure you get everything right though, and we know there are a few key setup tricks along the way that new (and even some not-so-new) iPad users miss. So take a look at the short list of steps we've lined up here. They won't take long, and they'll make sure you get the best out of your iPad 2. Ready? Here we go."

"I had high hopes when I handed out iPads to students in my graduate seminar this semester. I wanted to explore the possibilities of tablet computing and see firsthand how tablets might be used in higher education. I also wanted students to see for themselves where the iPad might fit into their lives and their careers - and into the future of media and communication."

"Digital Learning: What Kids Really Want"

"It's hard work to parent a teen. In a recent New York Magazine article, Jennifer Senior writes, "It's dicey business, being someone's prefrontal cortex by proxy. Yet modern culture tells us that that's one of the primary responsibilities of being a parent of a teen." Of course, it's no surprise that the last thing teens want is to have a parent looking too closely into their lives. It's a constant push-pull phenomenon for parents and for teens. One minute, a teenager can descend into grumpiness, isolation and solitude, and in the same breath, that teen wants a hug, affection and a laugh. And, when we throw social media and texting into the mix, the equation does not always balance out. "

"One of the first reasons behind me buying iPad was to be able to access and read my PDFs anytime anywhere I want without having to always depend on my Mac for that. However, my experience with reading PDFs on iPad has taught me many things and over the time I came to discover a wide range of great apps to use on my PDFs. These are particularly apps which you can use to annotate, highlight, add notes, record, and comment on the content of your PDFs. I have compiled these apps in the list below and want you to have a look."

"When I looked deeper into the site, I saw a few interesting things. First of all, the site is growing and growing, and pretty soon you will be able to learn about what you want. From "art" to "home and garden", there are a lot of options for a site that I am assuming that not many people know about. Some are free, and some you pay for, but the interesting thing is that if you wanted to learn to play the guitar, you may pay $60 an hour, but there is also travel time, travel cost, and other elements. Many will look at that and choose to stay at home and learn in their pajamas."

"If you go to the Getty Images website, you'll see millions of images, all watermarked. There are more than a hundred years of photography here, from FDR on the campaign trail to last Sunday's Oscars, all stamped with the same transparent square placard reminding you that you don't own the rights. If you want Getty to take off the watermark, you'll have to pay for it. ""Our content was everywhere already."" Starting now, that's going to change. Getty Images is dropping the watermark for the bulk of its collection, in exchange for an open-embed program that will let users drop in any image they want, as long as the service gets to append a footer at the bottom of the picture with a credit and link to the licensing page. For a small-scale WordPress blog with no photo budget, this looks an awful lot like free stock imagery."

"Next year will be a full-out iPad year for me (as opposed to the BYOD work-around I've been employing) , so I've been thinking a lot about the reading tools I can use to help my middle school students develop fluency and critical thinking skills. I want to continue to develop their love of reading through sharing with other readers, and I want to reinforce their capacities for comprehension, inference, and interpretation. Until now, I've only had those students who can bring their own devices to school to test some of these tools for use in the classroom. Next year, I look forward to having everyone on the same digital page."

"Want to Amplify Student Voice? Write a Book Together"

"In the quest to build capable readers, promoting independent, self-selected reading remains key. Creating ravenous, lifelong readers doesn't just happen, it takes a schoolwide culture to help reach that goal. We want kids to read more. We want them to enjoy reading. We know that reading builds vocabulary, fluency, and background knowledge. So let's do our part to promote and encourage independent reading across our schools. Listed below are 25 tips and ideas to help your school or district create a schoolwide reading culture that supports independent reading."