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" Apple has long touted its device's assistive technology as a powerful tool for the educational development of physically and mentally disabled children. The iPad's touch screen makes it easier to manipulate than more traditional educational tools. For children with autism, "the iPad is not a toy, but a tool that works best when there is a 'team effort' between parents and therapists encouraging its proper use," said Marc Reisner, co-founder of Reach for the APPs. "Our goal is to provide schools with iPads so they can reach every child on the autistic spectrum." Reach for the APPs built their site with an initial donation from Managed Digital. Now, they're seeking out donations of money and/or iPads from both individuals and corporations to propel the program forward. According to reports from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1-in-88 children have some form of autism, up 78 percent from just a decade ago. The demand for augmentative communications devices is growing. But the schools can't meet the demand, so the children are losing valuable time during critical developmental years. Lois Brady, a speech language pathologist and assistive technology specialist, said apps can help develop fine-motor skills, which will in turn make functions like writing and manipulating small objects easier for the students. "I have spent years working with the most challenging students that are considered profoundly disabled," she said. "And I have seen some small miracles when I introduce the iPad into our therapy, as the children have made huge gains in attention, focus, communication, language and literacy skills." Some experts also say that the iPad can lessen symptoms of autistic disorders, helping children deal with life's sensory overload. Brady will be contributing content to the Reach for the APPs website to inform therapists about the latest-and-greatest apps for children all over the autistim spectrum. Apps must be tailor

"If you've been interested in learning how to develop apps for the iPhone and iPad, this may be the best chance yet. Based on Stanford's Fall 2011 iOS development course, the new offering from Stanford gets social and lets you work on assignments with the rest of the enrolled class. "

"With so many great resources on the web, teachers are realizing that they can learn just as much (if not more!) from their personal learning network (PLN) as they can from traditional professional development (PD). Educators are connecting with like-minded individuals across the globe, reading about best practices and new trends in education, and sharing their experiences with friends and colleagues. Through social media, popular blogs and webinars, teachers are taking ownership of their learning and finding PD opportunities that weren't possible a decade ago. Try using these strategies to make your PLN work for you, and take control of your own professional development! "

"We believe in a future where every child leaves school knowing how to code. It's not realistic to expect educators to achieve this on their own, developers and the wider community must help. The amazing thing is that many developers believe in our cause and want work with educators to make this happen- someone just needs to bring them together. That's where we step in. We provide a platform where educators can post code-related projects, request a custom project or pick from our growing base of pre-defined projects. developers can browse projects in their local area and connect with the educators to take discussions further and bring authentic learning opportunities to the classroom. So, we're currently looking for our founding partners to get the ball rolling. If you know anyone or would like to become a founding partner, please get in touch with us (team@codefuture.org)!"

" President Obama announced the "Week of Making" the week of June 12 - 18, 2015, and eleven educators from the Pittsburgh region were invited to the White House on June 15, 2015 to discuss what great makerspaces look like in schools and how we can scale this movement across the country in schools. But not everyone can visit Obama to talk about Making--so how does one lead professional development when introducing a makerspace? EXPERT "MAKER" EDUCATORS FROM PITTSBURGH AT PRESIDENT OBAMA'S "WEEK OF MAKING." At Elizabeth Forward High School, the 2015 Pittsburgh FAB Institute was held June 15 - 18, 2015. Sponsored by the Grable Foundation, the 2015 Pittsburgh FAB Institute provided a rich professional development to 75 teachers across the country focusing on digital fabrication. These educators ranged from beginners to experts, elementary, middle and high school teachers, educators from museums, college professors and school administrators and these educators were interested in what aFABLab looks like in schools."

"The iPad platform provides teachers with lots of good resources to assist in developing children's speech and language. The features of the iPad allows Apps that provide students with the ability to interact with words with all their senses. They can listen, see, touch and record while developing their vocabulary, language, articulation and grammar skills."

12 Habits of Highly Effective ICT-Enabled Development Initiatives The 12 Habits of Highly Effective ICT-Enabled Development Initiatives are a set of best practice guidelines for project management, which aim to ensure the internal health of initiatives harnessing ICT for development. Like the Real Access criteria, the 12 Habits can be used proscriptively for planning, or retrospectively for evaluation.

Professional Development for Teachers & Educators Educator's Professional Development is the largest online database of professional development conferences and workshops for educators and teachers in the K-12 bracket. Painstakingly compiled by three lovers of education, EPD is a free service serving the education community. Search our database by date, education level, location or with keywords.

"In this modern technology-driven world, more and more students need to learn coding skills. Coding is the method that is used to create websites, software for computers, and the apps that are so popular on everyone's tablets and smartphones. Kids are naturally adept at learning this technology because it's been around since they were born. They don't remember a time where this new age of computer savvy didn't exist. There are ways to make learning how to code more interesting and effective with certain projects that expressly promote it. Here are five project places that students can use to creatively develop those all important coding skills. Providing ways for creatively developing coding skills is a great way to get students started in the world of coding. The following tools will even help them in continuing studies and skills practice."

Indevjobs Provides Information on Jobs in NGOs, International Development Sector, and UN Agency. Job Seeker and Consultant can upload their profile in the portal. It also has Article on Career in Development Sector. Information on Funding Opportunity is one of the Unique Service.

"Pearson and the Flipped Learning Network have joined forces to offer new and exciting blended professional development for educators looking to switch to the new "flipped learning" teaching model (See the Press Release). Through this partnership, and based on the pioneering work of Flipped Learning Network's founding members, Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, highly skilled trainers from Pearson and the Flipped Learning Network are now available to help you personalize professional development training for teachers so they can make a seamless transition to flipped learning."

"Teachers sometimes describe twitter as an excellent professional development tool and sometimes say that twitter is the best CPD they have ever had… I think this is deeply problematic and here's why. "

"Unity 3D Student is a new way to learn game development with the Unity Game Engine. By following 'bitesize' tutorial Modules, and combining them in our Challenges, you will learn all the skills you need to pickup game development and also get an understanding of how to research further info as you work."

"The final post in a 6 part, "Better PD" series. See parts 1-5: PD Sucks. Is Edcamp the Solution?, Pairing Teachers for Better Professional Development, Hacking Your Classroom, Moving The Conversation From Bullying To Climate, and 6 Tips For Finding Inspiration In Your Teaching"

"I think that "Is MY Professional Development Up-To-Date?" is the first question which you need to ask yourselves! You can ONLY give BEST and QUALITY courses when knowing about the latest knowledge in a 21st Century Education. But ===> HOW TO know this? Life Long Learning!

"Filmmakers are using virtual reality to make the problems of the developing world seem more ... real. But how can you see their work? You could buy a headset, but you might end up in virtual debt. Prices range from $200 to $500 for devices from big players like Oculus Rift, Sony and Samsung. And forking over that much cash is a problem since there's not a lot of content yet. MindMaze Software Engineer Nicolas Bourdaud demonstrates a virtual reality system at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday. All Tech Considered Developers Continue Push To Make Virtual Reality Mainstream An attendee at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles plays Sony's Project Morpheus London Heist video game with a virtual reality headset and Move controllers. All Tech Considered Gaming Industry Pushes Virtual Reality, But Content Lags "You're in a store ... and here's all the head-mounted displays and then it costs $200 or $300. Why would you ever buy it when you don't know why you're buying it? You wouldn't," Tony Christopher, CEO of Landmark Entertainment Group, told NPR last month. But there are inexpensive options that require only your smartphone and some cardboard. Google Cardboard, a project of the tech giant, offers instructions and templates to build your own cardboard virtual reality headset. Grab a pair of scissors, X-Acto knife and some glue. Then find some cardboard at home, print out the templates, trace and cut out the different pieces and assemble your goggles. The instructions can get confusing, so our multimedia editor Ben de la Cruz suggests following a how-to video like this one from the tech site, CNET."

"Last summer at the Apple developer conference, WWDC, we learned that there were more than 1.2 million apps in the Apple App Store alone. That's a lot of choices. In a sea that large, understanding how to find apps for the classroom can be challenging. In speaking with numerous educators, we learned that most app downloads result from a colleague's recommendation (i.e., word of mouth) or from choosing the first app in the search results. These are both sound strategies given the limited time educators have to explore each new app. But a larger point has become clear: learning to swiftly evaluate apps has become an essential skill in the fast-growing, ever-changing mobile classroom. The Great App Checklist, go.sas.com/MobileLearning. We offer this checklist to help educators zero in on the app they need and to judge how well it performs key functions. This rubric can help developers understand how educators choose apps, what information would help someone in this audience, which details to mention in the app store summary, and what is the essential functionality. The checklist's themes - Purpose, Alignment, Pedagogically-based, Personalization, Sharing, Ease of Use, Privacy, App Citizenship, and Access - are those discussed throughout Mobile Learning: A Handbook for developers, Educators, and Learners."

"Your time is limited, and perhaps so are some of your skills. As a teacher, it's important that you improve your abilities regularly, whether you're learning how to better manage your workload or discovering how to use technology in your classroom. It may seem impossible to find a time for this professional development, which is a stress in-and-of itself. However, you don't need much extra time to develop your skills-just one hour a week. Here's how."

"It's not especially easy to quickly demonstrate your education technology skills when you're not in the classroom. Sure, you may know how to effectively integrate Google Chromebooks or Apple iPads while simultaneously leveraging a project-based learning approach to STEAM subjects, but how do you actually convey that when chatting with colleagues or others? It's not easy. That's why many teachers are turning to professional development from the major tech companies like Apple and Google."

"Educators are creating their own professional development opportunities on their own time without compensation, acknowledgement, nor credit."