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"Today there is no longer such a thing as a job for a life - only a life of jobs - and whereas your own organisation will provide you with training, e-learning and other learning opportunities, it can't possibly provide you with everything you will need throughout your career. It is ultimately your responsibility to take charge of your own lifelong learning - that is your own continuous self-improvement (for the now) and self-development (for the future). To do this you need a new learning mindset as well as a new toolset and skillset."

"Glide is a free tool for making your own mobile apps. It's a tool that has quickly risen to the top of my list of favorite tools for teachers and students. It's a tool that we'll spend time using during the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp. With Glide anyone who can make a spreadsheet in Google Sheets can make his or her own mobile app."

"Please, No More Professional Development! By Peter DeWitt on April 17, 2015 8:10 AM Today's guest blog is written by Kristine Fox (Ed.D), Senior Field Specialist/Research Associate at Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations (QISA). She is a former teacher and administrator who has passion for teacher learning and student voice. Kris works directly with teachers and leaders across the country to help all learners reach their fullest potential. Peter DeWitt recently outlined why "faculty meetings are a waste of time." Furthering on his idea, most professional development opportunities don't offer optimal learning experiences and the rare teacher is sitting in her classroom thinking "I can't wait until my district's next PD day." When I inform a fellow educator that I am a PD provider, I can read her thoughts - boring, painful, waste of time, useless, irrelevant - one would think my job is equal to going to the dentist (sorry to my dentist friends). According to the Quaglia Institute and Teacher Voice and Aspirations International Center's National Teacher Voice Report only 54% percent of teachers agree "Meaningful staff development exists in my school." I can't imagine any other profession being satisfied with that number when it comes to employee learning and growth. What sense does it make for the science teacher to spend a day learning about upcoming English assessments? Or, for the veteran teacher to learn for the hundredth time how to use conceptual conflict as a hook. Why does education insist everyone attend the same type of training regardless of specialization, experience, or need? As a nod to the upcoming political campaigns and the inevitable introduction of plans with lots of points, here is my 5 Point Plan for revamping professional development. 5 Point Plan Point I - Change the Term: Semantics Matter We cannot reclaim the term Professional Development for teachers. It has a long, baggage-laden history of conformity that does not

"One of the things I love most about BreakoutEDU is how freely its creators share resources. There are tons of people creating and sharing digital breakouts that are for you to use with students. And if you can't afford the fabulous official BreakoutEDU boxes, (which run $125 each), they generously provide you with links for purchasing your own materials. Still, putting together a few sets (and you will need a few) can be a little pricey. That said, recently I received a question on Facebook about how I put together my own BreakoutEDU boxes - each of which cost me around $35.00. Depending on the number of locks you purchase, you might be able to put them together even cheaper. The document below lists all the items I purchased for my own boxes and how much they cost."

"As parents, we all want to raise kids who are smart and focused, especially in a world where digital distraction seems to be inescapable. (Even tech titans like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have strategies for limiting their children's screen time.) Why? Because in the future, there will be two kinds of people in the world: Those who let their attention and lives be controlled and coerced by others and those who proudly call themselves "indistractable." Becoming indistractable is the most important skill for the 21st century - and it's one that many parents fail to teach their kids. After years of studying the intersection of psychology, technology and how we engage with it, one of the biggest mistakes I see parents making is not empowering their kids with the autonomy to control their own time. Allowing them to do so is a tremendous gift; even if they fail from time to time, failure is part of the learning process. Parents need to understand that it's okay to put their kids in charge, because it's only when they learn to practice monitoring their own behavior that they learn how to manage their own time and attention. Teach them at a young age"

""It is not about instruction or technology. It is about the learner owning and driving their learning." Barbara Bray / Kathleen McClaskey"

"I have been doing a lot of apps review here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning but I have never posted about the tools you as teachers and educators can use to create your own apps. Just lower your eyebrows down, you can do it without any coding knowledge. Of course Android and Apple do provide tech savyy guys with the tools necessary to create their own apps but for us who know nothing about SDK and app development skills, platforms like the ones below will serve the purpose. You can create your app in less than a minute and the process is completely free. Here are some of the apps I learned from Steven Anderson and which you can use to create your customizable apps. Enjoy"

" What are MakerSpaces? Makers build, fix, and create. They are students, teachers, tinkerers, cooks, technology buffs, architects, crafters, performers, hobbyists, builders, artists, engineers, scientists, and writers. They use the MakerSpace to solve real life problems with access to tools and materials. A MakerSpace is not confined to a school setting but can also be a community space like a public library where community members off all ages, means, and abilities can design, prototype, and create original works. On March 18th and 19th, we celebrated New Jersey Makers Day, and I had the opportunity to visit a number of different Maker events in various communities. These are some themes and big ideas that I noticed in my travels. Perhaps these big ideas will inspire you to create your own MakerSpace makeover in your own classroom, school, or local community."

How to Ensure that Making Leads to Learning http://t.co/jqjmk9NJlo #makered

"The Maker Movement is a new trend based on old school traditions in which the philosophy of doing, building, and creating prevails over just simply buying. Instead of going to the toy store, people are learning how to design and 3D print their own toys. Instead of shopping for furniture, people are going to local community workshops like TechShop and building their own custom chairs and tables. The Maker Mentality creates a powerful paradigm shift by eliminating the separation between consumer and producer. By looking at the benefits and upsides of the Maker Movement and analyzing why it has reemerged, we can use it productively in the classroom by intertwining these new techniques with the classic methods such as lecture, reading, and so on."

"Help teens 'own their space' online. Whether you are a parent, caregiver, or educator, you can keep up with the latest computer and online safety issues and help kids learn to avoid them. In partnership with security expert and author, Linda McCarthy, we offer a free downloadable version of her new book, "Own Your Space - Keep Yourself and Your Stuff Safe Online." Written for Internet savvy "tweens" and teens specifically, this book is also a useful resource for the adults they rely on."

How To Create Your Own Cryptocurrency: In the cryptocurrency market, you can be not only a trader or holder but also the owner of your coin. The chance of making a profit is not very great, but many interesting tasks are easier to solve if you have the author's currency. We will tell you how to issue your cryptocurrency, what problems you will face, and how to solve them.

How To Create Your Own Cryptocurrency: In the cryptocurrency market, you can be not only a trader or holder but also the owner of your coin. The chance of making a profit is not very great, but many interesting tasks are easier to solve if you have the author's currency. We will tell you how to issue your cryptocurrency, what problems you will face, and how to solve them.

"So you have tried many iPad educational games but still did not find the one that perfectly meets your students needs. Well you will never find a perfect one for your particular students because each group of learners have their own idiosyncrasies and only their teachers know them . That being said, using TinyTap you can now easily create your own games based on pictures of your choice. "

"In theory, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs in schools are a great idea; students can use their own tablets, laptops and smartphones in the classroom, and can take advantage of a wider range of apps and programs than they might be able to normally access in school. There is a case to be made that doing so can make schools more cutting edge and capable of engaging students through methods that they're comfortable with. However, there's also a risk that BYOD could lead to bullying and inequality within schools. How, then, can BYOD be successful without causing these kinds of problems? "

"We have been noticing that more and more students have been bringing their own iPads to school and thus the decision was made to purchase 20 iPad Minis instead of 30 with the anticipation that enough students would fall into the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) category to make it work."

"A Guide to Hosting Your Own ParentCamp"

"Education must move with the times. What can be done to reach a technology-savvy generation that relies on media every free second of their time? BYOD-Bring Your Own Device, a trend that is catching on quickly. Bring Your Own Device has transformed the classroom by creating new opportunities for learning. Studies find that Generation Y is highly reliant on wireless devices and phones. And rather than fight it, educators can use this to their advantage."

"A couple of weeks ago I wrote about using Little Story Maker to create your own short books on your iPad. After publishing that post a bunch of people asked me to review Book Creator too. Book Creator is not a free app ($4.99 as an individual and less with volume purchasing) but I think that it is well worth the money that I spent on it."

"Whether you teach KS1 or KS2, there are apps that will have your class totally enthralled as they create their own iPad games. As a great cross curricular tool, these apps will have the creative juices truly flowing as your children design their own games. "

"When I was a kid, I dreamt about our school desks as computer screens. How cool would it have been to be able to draw, write, and learn directly onto my own computer? As the years went on, people theorized that laptops would take over the classroom, but the price of these devices was too high for a 1 to 1 ratio. It never quite caught on in lower grade schools. Now, it is the age of the tablet. We have affordable high-powered computers that can provide all sorts of enrichment through an intuitive touch screen interface and the education world is taking notice. More and more classrooms are imagining the curriculum in the context of each child having his or her own tablet. Yet, some educators are still skeptical. How can a piece of technology truly enhance the learning process, without causing distraction?"