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""There's a huge gap between the needs and requirements of the job market of the 21st century and what the education system is delivering," said Vishal Talreja, founder and CEO of Dream A Dream, a Bangalore-based organization that prepares young people from vulnerable backgrounds to succeed in a changing world. Talreja is right -- neither employers nor education leaders (not to mention some students themselves) would argue otherwise. But it is the second point Talreja made before the 2015 LEGO Foundation IDEA Conference that educator-innovators should pay the most attention to: "Learning spaces, which could be physical spaces of learning or just safe environments for learning, are extremely critical." A learning space differs in both look and feel from the traditional classroom. In the past year, we've met social entrepreneurs with an eye on education who are creating cost-effective methods to infuse schools with the type of culture and design that students need to better develop their curiosity, creativity, and imagination, and better achieve desired learning outcomes."

" "Even young kids have gotten very adept at Minecraft, so it can be quite intimidating for teachers," said Jason Schmidt, an instructional technologist for Bennington Public Schools who will teach the four-week MinecraftEdu MOOC, in a prepared statement. "If I can help get teachers over that hump, imagine how delighted students will be to have a learning environment tailored to their interests for a change." The other, Minecraft for Educators, "is a course for teachers who are wishing to gamify their learning experiences and deliver a unique pedagogy that will engage, enthuse and keep learners coming back for more," according to information released by the company. Both MOOCs are available through the Canvas Network. Minecraft for Educators will start January 26, 2015 and run through March 9. The company has also released a Minecraft app to allow students to submit assignments to the Canvas learning management system from within the game. Using the app, students can tag what they've made in the game for their teachers to visit, upload books they've written in game directly to the speed grader or use the game's circuitry tool to complete assignments that will be automatically graded. A video demonstration of the app is available at YouTube. Other MOOCs for teachers in the suite include: Digital Literacies 1; Digital Literacies 2; Five Habits of Highly Effective Teachers; Teachers without Borders: Educating Girls; and Tinker, Make and Learn. Among the other MOOC offerings in the new suite is a course designed specifically for parents, Parenting in the Digital Age, which aims to help them address issues such as cyberbullying, digital citizenship, exposure to inappropriate content, media literacy and screentime. Taught by Andrew Swickheimer, director of technology at Noblesville Schools, the self-paced course opens September 22. "Parental involvement in K-12 education has one of the biggest impacts on a child's commitment to learning," said Jared Stein, vice pres

"A couple of months ago Canva launched an education page full of lesson plans built around the idea of getting students to think and express themselves creatively through visual design. Since the launch Canva has added more lesson plans and more design tutorials to their education page. In all there are now thirty design tutorials that students can work through on their own or with guidance from you. I've been slowly working through the tutorials myself. Some of what I've learned has been put to use in the blog post images that have appeared in posts like this one about the pros and cons of using social media for school announcements."

"Anyone looking to learn more about comprehensive design can read the book Universal Principles of Design, which features more than 200 descriptions in alphabetical order along with images to aid the explanations. For those interested just in those concepts that are most relevant to eLearning design, this post sums up some of the most important definitions."

"In the digital age, you're never too young to learn valuable STEM skills. Explore code, game design, and graphic design at Tech Rocket, an online learning destination for kids and teens launched by iD Tech."

"If you're familiar with the 3D designing, it's unlikely that you are not familiar with Tinkercad. Tinkercad is a user-friendly design platform that allows even the most basic beginners to construct a 3D-printable model. See our Easy Tinkercad Tutorial for Beginners article for a step by step walk-through of how to start Tinkering. Additionally, Tinkercad offers a plethora of learning material and educational videos. Under the Learn tab on tinkercad.com to get you started on becoming a modeling expert. Already a seasoned modeler? Tinkercad is not only for beginners. Tinkercad allows you to upload your model to share designs around the world. This also means you can copy a model that has been uploaded by another user and "Tinker" it yourself. Here we present some insanely cool things that have been modeled on Tinkercad."

"Tracy Fullerton, director of the University of Southern California's Game Innovation Lab, wrote the textbook Game Design Workshop, now in its 3rd edition. Paper prototyping and iterative design is something that The Game Innovation Lab has done for over a decade. Many academic institutions use the methodology to create innovative games. In March 2014 I asked Fullerton how teachers could apply techniques such as paper prototyping and iterative design in the classroom. She pointed out how similar the process was to constructivism, or learning from doing. She said, "It's a version of constructivist education, more focused on systems thinking than just making.""

"Bloom's Taxonomy's verbs-also know as power verbs or thinking verbs-are extraordinarily powerful instructional planning tools. In fact, next to the concept of backwards-design and power standards, they are likely the most useful tool a teacher-as-learning-designer has access to. Why? They can be used for curriculum mapping, assessment design, lesson planning, personalizing and differentiating learning, and almost any other "thing" a teacher-or student-has to do."

"In our three gr. 8 classrooms, students have learned the process of 3D printing using dual extrusion (printing with 2 colours) using a Makerbot Replicator 2X. Last year, due to the large number of students we had using the printer, we needed another to keep up, but this time we chose an AirWolf 3D HDR printer for a few reasons: cloud based slicing via Astroprint, larger print size, and the ability to print with a wider range of materials. Added bonus - the tech support help from AirWolf3D is excellent. While I've posted some examples of how our students design and print using dual extrusion with the Makerbot, my teaching partner, Marc Westra, and I quickly learned the process was quite different using an AW3D HDR - like taking the elevator instead of the stairs. Here's what I learned over the Christmas break, and what we'll be teaching our students…"

"Game jams have been growing in popularity. In a game jam, teams are challenged to design a game in a short period of time. In essence, game jams are a game about making a game. Students apply systems thinking, user empathy, collaboration, storyboarding, and iterative design, while also learning how to tackle broad, open-ended problems. Matthew Farber, author of Gamify Your Classroom: A Field Guide to Game-Based Learning, will discuss his use of game jams in his middle school social studies classes, as well as digital game jams in the after school club he advises. He will share resources from the Moveable Game Jams he attended in the New York area this year, including Quest to Learn, in New York City, as well as the A. Harry Moore School Game Jam Day, in Jersey City, NY, which he facilitated."

"In Square Peg, Todd Rose tells the story of how a high school dropout became a Harvard professor in educational neuroscience. Diagnosed with ADHD in middle school, Rose was always in trouble. From his study of complex systems and neuroscience, he makes four points: variability is the rule: perceptions and reactions are much more dynamic and diverse than previously thought; emotions are important: emotional states influence learning; context is key: circumstances affect the behavior; and feedback loops determine success or failure: small changes making a difference. In Todd's TED talk on the Myth of Average, he makes the case that schools are designed based on the average. But the problem is that no student is average on every dimension, "Every student has a jagged learning profile." Rose said, "We blame kids, teachers, and parents, but it's just bad design.""

"Today, students have more homework than the generations of students before them. They also have plenty of distractions in and out of the classroom like social media, social media marketers, online gaming and online streaming. With countless distractions and piling assignments, holding students' attention in the classroom can be challenging. Helping them to absorb and retain new information requires more and more creative approaches. Research shows that presenting information visually makes a huge difference. Visual content gets processed faster and remembered for longer periods of time (as opposed to plain text). That's why using visuals in the classroom is a great approach to helping your students learn effectively, and even enjoy what they're learning. So it's time to step away from traditional teaching materials, and embrace an arsenal of visual content. Equipped with the right online design tool, you can create engaging visuals easily and without any design experience at all. We'll cover 10 different kinds of visuals that can help you engage your students in the classroom: Process infographics Informational infographics List infographics Comparison infographics Research reports Lesson plans Mind maps Progress reports Charts and graphs Posters"

"The difference between differentiation, personalized learning, and the individualization of learning sometimes seems like a matter of semantics, but that could be that terms are used interchangeably when they're actually not the same. The biggest difference really is the starting point. Personalized learning starts with the learner first, where differentiation and individualization take something designed for masses and attempt to adapt it for individuals-a monumental to consistently do well."

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm quite a fan of the iPad (the Lollipop Nexus 9's not too bad either). Not because of its design or because its by Apple or any of that, but because of its keen heritage in the learning arena. Any one who knows me will tell you that I am not one for using tech for tech's sake, despite my evangelist moniker. Use of technology in a cross curricular sense should be measured and done with consideration for the best potential learning outcomes. With all that said, I've been doing this for quite some time now and I thought it time that I shared some of the Apps that have stuck by me or have struck me for their ease of use and impact upon learning in the classroom. Rather than blog about each one however or write in depth about each one either, I've done this in the form of a small poster, with the apps icons on."

"I just learned from Tony Vincent that Math Tools iPad app is now free for a limited time. It used to cost $4.99. Math Tools is a great Math app that is designed specifically to cater to the math needs of kids and preschoolers. Math Tools comprises a collection of familiar math learning tools that allow young learners to: Learn to count Practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and times tables Develop an understanding of number ideas and number values Create number bonds Learn to use and practice multibase and number bond theories Challenge themselves through setting numbers and operations to create complex equations"

"There's no doubt that students find making to be a creative and engaging activity. But as they tinker, design and invent, are they actually learning anything? Making is too young a phenomenon to have generated a broad research base to answer this question. The literature that does exist comes from enthusiastic champions of making, rather than disinterested investigators. But there are two well-established lines of research within psychology and cognitive science that can inform how we understand making and help us ensure that making leads to learning. Taken together, these two strands of empirical evidence provide the best guide we presently have for maximizing the learning potential of maker activities."

"Educational games, or "edutainment," can sometimes be presented as "chocolate-covered broccoli"-that is, learning sugarcoated with fun.  An example is a game that tasks players with reducing fractions to destroy aliens.  Here, the mechanics of play (actions taken in a game) are misaligned with the learning goal. In the past few years, innovative designers smartly began marrying game mechanics to learning goals.  One example is The Land of Venn, in which the mechanic of drawing points, lines, and shapes clearly correlates to the game's goal.  Players draw lines to learn about line"

"Learning to code prepares kids for the world we live in today. There are tons of jobs and occupations that use code directly, like web designers, software developers and robotics engineers, and even more where knowing how to code is a huge asset-jobs in manufacturing, nanotechnology or information sciences. However, for most kid-coding advocates, reasons for learning to code run much deeper than career prep."

"At the Kensington Library making a learning environment that is accessible, friendly, and interactive has been the most effective way of reaching the most "difficult" children. When school is over and children flock to the library, the last thing they want is to sit still and be told what to do. For some, art activities and creativity come naturally but for others beginning a project is just another task to do in a day full of instruction. I think it is important to provide these children with a space where learning is just part of the environment. On of our first additions to the Kensington's Maker space was an interactive velcro wall where children design, build, and re-build a marble slide made from cardboard paper towel rolls and plastic bottles. Children often enter the Maker Space and start tinkering with the wall with out even thinking about it.  A wall of tools has also helped to inspire projects. The visibility of the tools can be a great motivation for a child to learn to hammer, use an electric drill, or a needle and thread."

"If we look at our students' learning stories as shared journeys that we take an active role in, then we are more than a guide on the side. We are guides on the ride. We are active participants in this adventure, and learn just as much as our students do throughout the process. When students are empowered to craft their own learning stories and go on shared learning journeys, they'll often take the chance to dramatically impact their own life (and the lives of others) through what they make, create, design, and explore."