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"When creating materials for professional development with teachers, I always try to ensure that my visuals are clear, well-designed, and easy on the eye. So, when I do iPad training, I often turn to a variety of screenshot apps in order to achieve these goals. The apps below are some of my go-to apps and are ideal for creating tutorials or eye-catching graphics for iOS devices."

"Questioning is a fundamental element of pedagogy, one you could read endlessly around, but the reality is using questioning to challenge and engage all learners is demanding and potentially problematic to get right. Recently I've been working with a team of teachers, shaping our CPD model in preparation for the new academic year. Engaging in dialogue around teaching and learning with colleagues is always a pleasure and extremely informative, and one aspect continually crops up; deep, challenging and engaging questioning. Firstly, I think it's crucial to outline what we are trying to achieve when we think about the purpose of questioning, for me it includes the following: Allowing students to develop a fuller understanding of a concept because they have tried to explain it themselves To easily recall existing knowledge To be able to link the ideas in the lesson with existing knowledge To tackle problems at a deep level and be able to extend their thinking To engage easily with a task because they are clear about what is expected To develop independence in the way they learn and think"

"I was 11 the year my summer camp director transformed the regular schedule, procedures, and lingo that we were used to-into the most memorable, enriching experience I had ever encountered at that point in my life. I had no idea that he had 'gamified' the week; I just knew that it was the best summer ever. Instead of grouping us by numbers, we were named after the Greek alphabet. We competed daily against the other groups in volleyball, softball, kickball, and on the final night -a chariot and Olympic flame opened an epic Olympic Game contest at midnight. The director, or 'game master' as we were inclined to call him, even made everyone reset the clocks and watches-so we never knew what the real time was, the entire schedule was set on some sort of crazy alternate schedule. Now I realize that it probably allowed him to sleep in and us to stay up later, but we were none the wiser. Daily we played games, wrote skits, went swimming, and competed for cleanest cabins. We did all the regular stuff, but it was more fun because there were rules and boundaries and points and collaboration and competition and a clear, mutual understanding of goals and performance and criteria for success. As a student, I got to learn more about the power of 'gamifying' something, and what effect it had on learners."

"Harvard education specialist Tony Wagner has been advocating that we reinvent the education system to promote innovation for years. He's clear that content should no longer be at the center of school. Instead, he says a teacher's main job should be to help students develop key skills necessary for when they leave school. He contends there are seven essential things young people need to be successful lifelong learners:"

"Homework: effective learning tool or waste of time? Since the average high school student spends almost seven hours each week doing homework, it's surprising that there's no clear answer. Homework is generally recognized as an effective way to reinforce what students learn in class, but claims that it may cause more harm than good, especially for younger students, are common. Here's what the research says:"

"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."

"But there's one question we get asked quite often: Where can you find free, good quality images that are cleared to use for your blog posts or social media content? It's a question with a lot of different answers and caveats. Nearly every image created in the last 30 years is still protected by copyright-a protection that gives virtually every author the exclusive right to use or reproduce their work. But you can find a public domain photo, use a Creative Commons image that might need attribution or even create your own image from scratch."

"Skitch is a fantastic tool for annotating images. It enables the user to precisely point to features of interest and add text. There are many ways this could be used. One instance is like the image above where I have added key questions to an image. This provides more focus than merely presenting a blank image and prompts discussion. Following on from this, I have given learners the blank background image and asked them to annotate theirs by answering the questions. Alternatively, a teacher could present a blank image and ask students to identify the key features and annotate it live, based on students feedback. Although this could have traditionally been done by projecting an image and annotating it using a whiteboard marker, the great thing about Skitch is that all of that great feedback is not lost: it's stored in a clear way which can then be distributed to students as a point of reference."

For those of us who have had the pleasure of spending some time with Dr. Lodge McCammon, we know all about these paper slide videos. For those who have not, here is a brief introduction. Paper slide videos are exactly what the name says. Students create slides on blank paper, write scripts that explain the slides, and then the teacher videotapes the students delivering the script while moving the slides in time with the script. The filming, though, takes place over the shoulder of the student sliding the slides, and the rest of the group is out of the shot delivering the script. Still confused? Have a look at this short demonstration of some paper slide videos my students made. This should clear things up.

"I have the pleasure of working with educators who get to use iPads and iPod touches with students. Wherever I facilitate workshops, I find there are some myths floating around about Apple's iOS devices, and I'd like to clear up some of the misinformation."

"As an advocate of BYOD, I've always talked to colleagues about the benefits of different devices and approaches within a "mixed economy" digital learning space (or "classroom where everyone's phone is different", as it's more commonly known). Largely, what you want to do should dictate the type of device you use, and I'm quite happy to work in a multi-device environment. Until I walk into my Media classroom. I should make it clear that I have no particular beef with any other individual device, or operating system, or anything else at which you think I may be showing signs of beefage. But the iPad has always been, and remains for the moment, the device with the most power in terms of Media and Film teaching. Think about it in terms of the skills you are trying to teach, and you'll see why:"

" The challenge for educators, especially directors of educational technology, is not to limit how our teachers teach, but to focus on the foundational skills and provide a clear and concrete formula for how different technological devices and applications will enhance these skills in order to give a learner the ability to create a product that will change the world."

"I recently had a pleasant back and forth with Michael Petrilli of the Fordham Institute on what ails the high school. He was reviewing the recent disconcerting NAEP results that once again show high school achievement is resistant to reform. On this he and I agree. But then he proposed some diagnoses, the latter of which I think is totally off base (an E D Hirsch diagnosis). I strongly agree with his conclusion: it's high time we better understood the problem of the high school. (Hard to believe that after 30 years of reform that started with me working with Ted Sizer in the Coalition of Essential Schools, we still lack clear answers.) After going back and forth collegially, we agreed to do some walk-throughs together next school year."

"After spending a few weeks looking at the visitor vs resident notions it became clear today why it's such a big deal. During a unconference today in Halifax a group of teachers were discussing and exploring Project Based Learning. Specifically one of the participants had been looking at the Buck Institute's resources and for implementing PBL. I told them as a kind of "fun fact" that I knew the latest consultant and that she happened to be from Canada. While that fact was mildly interesting I realized what would be more significant would be a more formal introduction. I messaged Shelley who happened to be online and she agreed to an impromptu session with this group. Within minutes she was sharing with them her own story and some advice for beginners. While the day was filled with lots of resource and idea sharing, the most impactful moment was sharing and finding new people."

"For years Jenny Eather's A Maths Dictionary for Kids has been a favorite resource of mine and many other teachers for years. Maths Charts by Jenny Eather is the iPad companion to the website. Math Charts by Jenny Eather provides simple and clear definitions of math terms. Each definition includes a diagram to illustrate the term's definition. You can print any and all of the visuals included in the app."

"So the other day I tweeted out this comment, "I am amazed each day to see so much educational progress in my Twitter feed. This should be the norm, not the exception." Many people in education talk a great game when it comes to the effective use of technology, but the results (lack there of) speak for themselves. I constantly see and hear about leaders who tout themselves in a way that makes others develop a perception that they actually know something about the effective integration of a variety of technology tools to improve professional practice. However, once you get past the rhetoric you quickly realize that it is just talk with a clear lack of substance.  This is not to say that they are unwilling to learn or embrace significant change in this area.  It just hasn't happened yet, at least from my view.  Thus, the use of social media in schools by educators continues to be an uphill battle.  "

"Ring of Technologies is a beautiful visual wheel that displays a host of learning goals together with some examples of web tools to achieve them. To me this work  (created and shared by UAF eLearning Faculty Resources) represents the core of digitally-based learning. It also chimes in with what we have said about purposeful use of technology in instruction. Having clear goals about what you want to target in your teaching using technology will definitely help your learners make the best of that technology."