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"If you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch and a Mac, you can now record a video of your device's screen thanks to a new feature in Mac OS X Yosemite. Android users can also record an Android device's screen. This feature was designed for app developers, but it can be used by anyone else. Record a tutorial and upload it to YouTube, or capture a video of your mobile gaming prowess and share it with your friends."

"There is no denying that coding is snowballing in importance across schools all around the world. Whether it's Scratch, Programming Games or the Hour of Code, an understanding of software and the ability to code is fast becoming an essential skill for all 21st century learners. At a recent TEDx event in Jackson Mississippi, Professor Marina Bers discussed her research into the design and study of innovative learning technologies to promote children's positive development. How does this research manifest and present itself in the real world? Well programming robots of course!"

"I'm now a little over a month into my new role as the coordinator of our brand-new makerspace in my PS-8th grade school here in Seattle, and I'm honestly loving it every bit as much as I expected! Over the course of this month, 450 students made prototype boats for their stuffies (PK), built "doodle bots" (K and 1),  "hacked" their notebooks with surface-mount LEDs (2), made dioramas powered by Hummingbird Robotics kits (3 and 4), designed and laser cut labels for their new classroom spaces (5), made postcards using the greenscreen of themselves visiting exotic locales (5 French), built casino games for math class (6), and built symbolic representations of their personal core values (8). 7th grade will be building turbine-driven generators next week! And, that's not even a comprehensive list… In the process of collaborating with my colleagues to develop and implement these projects with our students, I've figured out a few tips to pass along to educators at other schools initiating similar programs."

"Brain fitness is just as important as physical fitness for staying healthy. There is a growing body of scientific literature on the importance of cognitive workout. For instance, a study featured in CBS News found that 'people who kept their brains active most of their lives by reading, writing, completing crossword puzzles, or playing challenging games were a lot less likely to develop brain plaques that are tied to Alzheimer's disease.' Technology and the mobile one in particular offers various potent ways to train your brain muscles and sharpen your cognitive abilities. In this regard, we have curated a collection of some of the best iPad apps to use with kids as well as adults to help with brain workout."

"The iPad 2 is Apple's longest supported iDevice. Even though it was released in 2011, it still runs the latest - albeit stripped down - version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 9. A lot has changed since the iPad 2 was first released. Apple has developed faster processors, Retina screens, an entirely new cable, dedicated graphics chips, and a whole lot more. The iPad 2 uses an A5 chip while the latest iDevices use an A9. It doesn't have a retina screen and requires an old 30-pin iPod-era cable. The iPad 2 really can't handle the latest and greatest apps or games. In fact, it can struggle just running iOS  9. What was once a zippy tablet is now pretty slow to use. This isn't a problem if you stick to a single app, but jumping between them or launching new ones can take what feels like an age. This doesn't mean an iPad 2 is useless, it just means that how you use it has to adapt."

" Looking for a little old timey computer nostalgia with a dose of espionage and a taste of geographical flavor? Well, gumshoe, you are ready for your next assignment from the ACME detective agency. This time Carmen Sandiego is sneaking around the world via Google Earth. The Crown Jewels Caper is the first of a series of new Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego? games being developed by Google Earth in partnership with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Yup, you still fly around in chase, question local witnesses, and, of course, respond to questions about geography, history and culture as you gather intel about Carmen's location. But this time you get the way-better-than-DOS ability to zoom in and explore the sites. Coming soon are The Tutankhamun's Mask and The Keys to the Kremlin capers."

"If "children grow into the intellectual life around them" (see L.S. Vygostky's Mind in Society), then what kind of intellectual life are we providing to the students in our classrooms and schools? Teachers all over the world have had to accept the compromise of focusing more on delivering prescribed curriculum than developing understanding - test-taking rather than learning. This, among other reasons, is why strategies focused on ingraining cultures of thinking have been such game changers in many of today's classrooms. One good example of this that I've worked with is the Cultures of Thinking Project, led by Ron Ritchhart as part of Harvard's Project Zero. The Cultures of Thinking Project focuses on two main ways of moving towards cultures of thinking: the eight cultural forces that act on a classroom, and documentation. Curious as to what that means? Continue reading for more."

"As society anticipates a future filled with artificial intelligence, experts are theorizing ways that we humans can outperform the computers that are being programmed to perfection. Some believe educators should focus on building soft skills like empathy and interpersonal communication so humans and robots can complement one another. However, other education thought leaders are ready to beat computers at their own game by teaching people to think like intelligent machines. Why do so many of our kids struggle with math problem-solving? Because they don't know where to start; they don't know how to decompose the problem. Heidi Williams The term for getting humans to think like computers has been coined Computational Thinking, and the idea is taking off. Author Heidi Williams can attest to its popularity after her book on the subject, No Fear Coding Computational Thinking Across the K-5 Curriculum, sold out at the International Society for Technology in Education conference. Inside the book, Williams breaks down computational thinking standards into four parts: 1. Formulating problems through data analysis, abstract models and algorithmic thinking; 2. Collecting, analyzing and presenting data; 3. Breaking down problems into parts and extracting information to understand the system in place; and 4. Using algorithmic thinking to develop sequences and testing automated solutions."

"How do you ensure students who excel at math remain engaged? Heidi Williams intended to solve that challenge by starting an after-school coding club while she was a gifted-and-talented teacher at Bayside Middle School near Milwaukee. Instead of using pen and paper, her students created an interactive children's book on Scratch, the MIT Media Lab coding suite that lets users create games, stories and simulations. And the more of this kind of coding activity they did, the better their math test scores got. Now a computer science curriculum specialist at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Williams researches this correlation. One possibility is that the computational thinking skills developed while coding help students break down complicated problems-on and off computers, she says."

"Below is a collection of some new educational websites we unearthed from the accumulated  piles of emails in our inbox. These are tools that you can use for a variety of educational purposes including: provide students with engaging arithmetic exercises to practice multiplication tables, easily create animated and explainer videos to share with students, develop educational apps appropriate for your own students or kids, upload and share large files, enhance students critical thinking and spacial awareness skills using a number of challenging puzzle games, and many more."

"Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around for decades; however, with the introduction of generative AI, such as ChatGPT, there has been a newfound focus on how technology tools can impact the educational landscape. The AI revolution in industry is upon us and is beginning to establish itself as a permanent part of educational practice as evidenced by Lucarillo, Nagel, Hardman, and others. Therefore, it is crucial to equip teachers with the skills to use AI in ways that ensure a high-quality education for the students in classrooms across the globe. The urgency to upskill teachers is highlighted by the gap in skills that already exists in classrooms today, underscoring the digital divide. Just as in any content area, students come to classrooms with varying readiness levels and educational needs; using AI is no different. For example, there are preschoolers who play games on an iPad with empowered intelligent tutors. My prereading granddaughter uses AI predictive text programs, dictation technology, and iconography to text me from her mother's phone and to locate videos and programs she wants to watch. Some children, like her, have access, while there are many others who have no exposure or use of AI. Educators are encountering students at different AI literacy levels, and this divide will continue to grow. Therefore, teachers need to build the skillsets to increase their AI literacy and integration to develop more digital equity, serving students who are at a low readiness level, as well as those who are using AI as a writing partner."

"ll the conversations about technology and education lead to 1:1, and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives. Each concept has its benefits and challenges, which creates a spirited debate among educators. Add to this debate the ever expanding list of educational apps, programs and services being developed for teachers, students, parents and administrators, and you begin to feel the urgency to innovate in your school. Before you take the plunge consider these five essential questions:"

"We really enjoy it when a developer takes advantage of the fantastic technology we have today while still grounding an experience in our own physical space. Osmo does just that and does it nicely. The Osmo system uses an angled mirror clipped over the front-facing FaceTime camera alongside a stand, and coupled with free iPad apps to make the area directly in front of the iPad an active virtual and real-world play space. The combo is a very simple way of going about it, but the results can be magical."

Innovative math skills development programs

Twitter could not possibly be further away from the concept of a computer game or a three dimensional visually rich virtual world. Suddenly instead of learning to fly and exchanging our money for Linden bucks (the currency of Linden Labs' Second Life) we were exchanging grammatically correct sentences for status updates of less than 140 characters! Who could have seen it coming? Perhaps Gartner, who also predicted that "90 Per Cent of Corporate Virtual World Projects Fail Within 18 Months".