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"As a teacher, delving into the world of education technology can be daunting. There is SO MUCH out there. How is a busy teacher to know where to begin? Fortunately, Glenda Stewart-Smith of Surrey School District #36 in Canada has put together this collection of essential teaching tools. Each has been shown to be effective in the classroom. There is no need to dive in head-first. If you are drowning in a sea of edtech, wade in this proven pool first."

"Google Earth is a great tool for students to use to explore the world. Building tours in Google Earth and Google Maps is one of my favorite activities for students to do to tell a story. It can take a while to understand all of the nuances of creating tours in Google Earth. Fortunately, Google recently introduced Tour Builder which makes it easier than ever to create tours in Google Earth"

"Nowadays, a lot of students study with a computer or tablet device. Access to the Web gives them a tremendous amount of knowledge, though much of it isn't actually useful, relevant, or even correct. Fortunately, art teacher Kelly Little curates a collection of classroom-tested "study buddies" to help your students filter the flood of information out there. What apps do your students use to help them study?"

"iPads can be powerful devices in education - they are mobile, they are personalized, and they are intuitive. At the same time, sharing content between apps or devices can be a challenge. Fortunately, iPads in conjunction with Google Apps can create a powerful medium by which to input, edit, share, and publish multimedia content."

"Here's a tip we published almost four years ago, but seeing as I used it quite recently at work, I thought I'd give it a refresh. Now that iPads are infiltrating the office space and boardrooms, I see more and more co-workers wanting to take videos and other files into meetings with them. This isn't a problem on a PC or Mac because they can just use USB drives, but iOS 7 devices like the iPad aren't as easy to transfer files to (iOS 8 will change this a bit with iCloud Drive, but it's not here yet). Fortunately, as long as you have a computer running a recent version of iTunes, it's fairly easy to transfer files to an iPad using the USB cable (30-pin or Lightning, depending on your device):"

"The Maker Movement is a technological and creative revolution underway around the world. Fortunately for educators, the Maker Movement overlaps with the natural inclinations of children and the power of learning by doing. Embracing the lessons of the Maker Movement holds the keys to reanimating the best, but oft-forgotten learner-centered teaching practices. New tools and technology, such as 3D printing, robotics, microprocessors, wearable computing, e-textiles, "smart" materials, and new programming languages are being invented at an unprecedented pace. The Maker Movement creates affordable - even free - versions of these inventions, and shares tools and ideas online, creating a vibrant, collaborative community of global problem-solvers. "

"It's a familiar classroom ritual - every June, teachers assign summer reading. And every September, students come back to school having read too few books. This is frustrating for teachers, and challenging for students. When kids aren't in school, they forget crucial skills they learned during the year - at least a month of reading achievement, on average. This so-called "summer slide" is particularly pernicious in children from low-income families. Low-income students often walk through the door of their kindergartens already behind their more fortunate peers because of a mix of poverty, poorer health, less parental education, and higher rates of single and teenage parents. With limited access to books and other academic opportunities in the summer, these children experience the summer slide threefold. Over time, this adds up. By third grade, children who can't read at their grade level (a whopping 73 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) begin to struggle with other subjects. Students living in poverty who cannot read proficiently by third grade are 13 times less likely to graduate from high school. By ninth grade, some have estimated that two-thirds of the reading achievement gap can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. There is good news: Stemming the summer slide isn't impossible. Students who read just four to six books over the summer maintain their skills (they need to turn more pages to actually become better readers.)"

"Just eight years ago, in MAKE Volume 03, Saul Griffith provided a detailed list of "The Maker's Ultimate Tools" that would allow a maker to "make pretty much anything." Unfortunately, only a real-life Tony Stark could afford every item on that list, which included a $1,000,000 excimer laser cutter, a $150,000 NC (numerically controlled) lathe, and a $100,000 water jet. Fortunately for kids today, prices have dropped, tools have become easier to obtain (and use), and fundraising has never been simpler. Let's take a look at what tools, options, and pricesare a good fit for a kid-focused makerspace, and how schools and other organizations can achieve funding to get more of these kids into the workshop and making things."

"Choosing a telescope for a child should take all of those aspects in to consideration, and a few more things. A child's telescope should be easy and uncomplicated to use. An overly complicated telescope just won't be as much fun. Compact size is important. A smaller child is not going to enjoy using an enormous telescope. Durability is a necessity for kids' telescopes; lots of small, fragile pieces can easily get lost or broken. Fortunately, there are plenty of telescopes perfect for young astronomers."

"The choice of that theme also speaks to a fundamental of getting children interested and invested in learning: It helps when it's fun. Fortunately, there's a growing universe of Web-based resources, many of them available free of charge to students, parents, and teachers alike. We've rounded up eight fun sites (in no particular order) for early STEM learners here, from programming to engineering to cybersecurity to outer space."

"I've been traveling the country speaking on the power of a student's voice in his or her own educational experience along with the need for transforming learning spaces in today's schools.  Both topics are very important to me not only for my own passion as an educator, but as a parent of two children.  I've personally seen the impact a learning space can have on a child's experience within the classroom.  Additionally, I've been fortunate to have my children surrounded by caring educators who value the importance listening to students.  This week I have the pleasure of speaking at Blackboard World in D.C.  When I arrived at Blackboard World, I knew the first stop I had to make, the student maker space.  Blackboard invited students from all ages to participate in a day of creating their ideal learning environments.  The company partnered with the Smithsonian to provide resources and guides to help facilitate the activities.  Children would rotate between 5 stations throughout the day - each station lasting roughly thirty minutes.  "

With so many good teachers out there, it's fortunate they can share their knowledge via video on the Internet. From the funny to the poignant, these glimpses into the lives of teachers and their students will keep you entertained while learning a little something as well. Whether you are a new teacher storing up tips and tricks or an experienced teacher who could just use a fresh perspective, you are sure to find something helpful among these videos.

"For nearly 30 years, personal computers as we have known them have been the drivers of the technology engine. From Intel to Microsoft to Dell to HP to Micron Technology - many fortunes were made on the back of the PC. But the rise of mobile computing is upending the technology business and is simultaneously redefining what is a personal computer and how we use it. On Thursday Hewlett-Packard, one of the oldest companies in Silicon Valley with deep connections to the PC ecosystem (they paid $25 billion for Compaq in 2002) and the world's largest seller of PCs, confirmed it is looking to sell off its personal computing business. "

"Many people have asked with the iPhone, iPad or iPod multi-tasking, is it possible to stop a background apps? With iOS 4, the iPhone, iPod and iPod Touch gained the ability to multi-task. Unfortunately while multi-tasking, the iOS devices keeps applications that you don't use in the background. These background apps are managed by the iOS device which keeps them in memory unless it runs out of ram. But these backgrounded apps can be a pain if you want extra memory for another app or if you want to stop an app that is running a service in the background like playing music. Fortunately, there is a way to stop any app running in the background on your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch."

"For the past couple of years I've been really fortunate to have access to iPads in my classroom. The increased access to this mobile technology has provided my students with that many more individualized opportunities to show and share their learning. Now if you're new to this blog you may not realize that student choice and voice is something I believe very strongly about. Very strongly. This means I am constantly looking for apps that allow my students to learn, show, and share their knowledge in innovative ways. As a result I purchase and download many, many iPad apps for my work iPad. I take them for a test drive sort of speak before they make their way onto the iPads my students have access to. The reality is very few apps I test drive end up on my student's iPads. But why? Below you will find some of the questions I ask (and why) before an app will make it on my students iPads. I am hoping this information will be of benefit for both teachers purchasing apps for their students, and developers creating apps for students. Here are my top eight questions."

"In the 2008 animated film WALL-E, Pixar depicted a light-hearted but dystopian world of obese, immobile people whose needs are met by a bustling horde of robots and computers -- a world that hardly seems like science fiction as we witness the precipitous decline in physical activity over the last generation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 80 percent of Americans don't get the recommended amount of exercise they need each week for optimal health. So, did Pixar predict the future of humanity or is there a way for us to course correct? Sedentary behavior is an intractable issue. Seemingly benign forces make it easier and easier for many of us to conduct our work, school and social lives from the comfort of a chair and an internet-connected gadget. Unfortunately, sedentary lifestyles are a driving force behind burgeoning health care costs, and they pose an alarming threat to the health and well-being of our children. Fortunately, there is cause for hope in lessons from the tobacco control movement and efforts to change smoking behavior. "

"Everyone likely has a few photos sitting on their iPhone they'd rather nobody else see, whether it's embarrassing selfies, poorly filtered or edited pics, a picture of a receipt or personal paperwork, or anything else in the realm of private photos. Those pictures can make showing someone another picture on your iPhone (or iPad) an awkward experience, as you're hoping they don't start flipping through your Camera Roll to discover that terrible photo of you after winning the pie eating contest. Fortunately the newest versions of iOS include a new way to mitigate that potential awkwardness by hiding select photos."

"Primary teachers (and in fact all teachers) are always on the look out for quality reading options for their students.  This is true for digital format books as well as more traditional book forms. When my six and seven-year old students read independently on their iPads, I want to offer them good options as well. Fortunately, I have found three worthwhile options for my six and seven year olds."

"Students are not perfect, and we spend much of our time correcting their mistakes. Our challenge is in correcting these mistakes in a useful rather than in a discouraging manner. Fortunately, as Dr. Richard Curwin argues cogently in his recent Edutopia blog post. There are ways that we can structure our classrooms and change how we view and talk about mistakes that will actually encourage learning.  Here are a few ways to do just that."