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" Inspired by ideas like project based learning and #20Time, I decided to take a stand against "Google-able questions." Instead of students only finding information and curating content, they needed to create the learning for themselves. Our students live in a world of Web 2.0, social media, and content creation, and I needed to bring this into their learning. And together, we did. Halfway through this school year, I explained that we will no longer produce work that is forgettable and can be left in a backpack. Instead, we will create content that we can be proud of, will remember, and will help each other learn. I wanted to push students to develop more meaningful and diverse skills to prepare them for their futures by creating work that matters to them. To do this, we needed to produce for an audience; all learning was now public to the world. Suddenly, the learning was visible, the technology was more purposeful and complex, and class was more fun. Students' work wasn't hidden in their notebooks, but shared, produced, and even live-streamed, like the argument videos below. "

"The list of apps that educators favor this year shares some commonalities with last year's favorites. Teachers tend to drop apps if they become too expensive or sometimes if the updates are so overwhelming that they no longer know how to use the product. Luhtala explained it's a delicate balance: "If it doesn't feel different than it did a year ago, that's alarming. It should feel the same, but better.""

"At the NACTE 2011 conference, I was selected to present on using the iPad and Google Apps in the classroom. The presentation can be viewed here. Since the presentation is mostly graphics and minimal text, I thought that I would use this space to explain my presentation. I use Google Apps and the iPad to solve/improve three issues that I see frequently in classrooms. These three are communication, feedback, and excessive paperwork."

"A "traditionalist" school, founded with the explicit intention of bringing the values of private education to a deprived corner of north-west London, has decided to stop setting pupils homework. Michaela Community School was set up by Katharine Birbalsingh, the headteacher renowned for receving a standing ovation at the 2010 Conservative Party conference, after she decried the state of English education. But now Michaela's assistant headteacher, Joe Kirby, has explained that the school has decided to "replace…setting, chasing, checking, marking and logging homework with revision, reading and online maths"."

"iPads are hugely popular in the education environment, but lots of schools are still not getting the best out of their devices. This is mostly due to poor installation and the myths that still seem to cloud iPads, their deployment and their use in classrooms. In this article we will look at the most common myths, explain the real situation and talk about how we can help you to get the most from your tablet devices."

"Adafruit has delivered another in their fantastic educational electronics series called Circuit Playground. They're working their way through the alphabet, explaining the principals of electronics in ways that even children can understand. These videos are a great way to introduce kids to the basics (and safety information) involved with electrical components."

"Welcome to your new classroom. I am sure you are going to explain and teach in a way that I might never understand. You see, I come from a day of filmstrip projectors that beeped, ditto paper that left my fingers blue and the students enjoying the scent, bells that really did ring out a mechanical melody, 16 millimeter films that, if in color, amazed the kids. In fact, if these films were shown backwards it provided bonus entertainment. In recent years I have heard words that are so strange to me. These words include foreign terms such as twitter, blog, wiki, Skype, web 2.0, clickers, and interactive whiteboards. I have heard all this talk about 21st century skills and I am not even sure if I can tell you what they are. So there you have it. I am not one of those digital natives, nor am I a digital immigrant! I may not even be an analog native or immigrant. So, even though I do not know all the new terms, I thought that I might give you a list of ten items I feel just might ensure success no matter what century it is."

Short video narrated by a student explains the advantages of Google Wave (1.41 min)

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.

"History of the Internet" is an animated documentary explaining the inventions from time-sharing to filesharing, from Arpanet to Internet.

Welcome to the Everything Wiki, Wiki. Here we explain what wikis are, the best uses of them, and share some of the top wikis available on the Internet. Please feel free to share information, tips, and techniques about creating and managing a wiki.

Free online lesson planbook program for teachers of all grade levels. It's possible to share, save plans as pdf or Word documents, attach files, etc. A video on the site explains the features.

smartphones

e5 = Engage, Explore, Explain, Evaluate, Elaborate

"Here are this week's most popular posts: 1. A Technology Integration Matrix with Video Examples 2. Guest Post - Sources of Funding and Free Stuff for Teachers 3. Zondle - Games to Support Learning 4. Computer Viruses and Threats Explained by Common Craft 5. Free eBook for Learning the Basics of xHTML 6. The Science of Hitting a Baseball or a Softball 7. Boom Writer - Collaborative Publishing for Kids"

"Benjamin Blooms' second stage, "understanding" occurs when new learning connects to prior knowledge. At this point, students have the ability to make sense of what they have read, viewed, or heard and can explain this understanding clearly and succinctly to others. This particular learning stage balances precariously between communicating understanding and expressing opinion. Here the student demonstrates the ability to identify the main idea, generalize new material, translate verbal content into a visual form, transform abstract concepts into everyday terms, or make predictions."

Amazing list of resources compiled on every educational topic ever for primary schools. (Compiled by a South australian librarian) Includes animations to help explain topics, websites for kids to research, webquests- everything!

"Search Pad is a note-taking application that automatically tracks and organizes sites" There is a video available to explain how to use search pad. Search Pad (beta) was released in July, 2009