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In an environment where global economy, global collaboration, and global 'knowledge' are  the aspiration of many countries, the understanding of the complexities of plagiarism becomes  a global requirement that needs to be addressed by all educators and learners. This paper  considers a simple definition of plagiarism, and then briefly considers reasons why students  plagiarise. At Unitec NZ, Te Puna Ako: The Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation  (TPA:CTLI) is working closely with faculty, managers, student support services and library  personnel to introduce strategies and tools that can be integrated into programmes and  curricula whilst remaining flexible enough to be tailored for specific learners. The authors  therefore provide an overview of one of the tools available to check student work for  plagiarism - Turnitin - and describe the academic Professional Development (PD)  approaches that have been put in place to share existing expertise, as well as help staff at  Unitec NZ to use the tool in pedagogically informed ways, which also assist students in its  use. Evaluation and results are considered, before concluding with some recommendations. It  goes on to theorise how blended programmes that fully integrate academic literacy skills and  conventions might be used to positively scaffold students in the avoidance of plagiarism.  Conference participants will be asked to comment on and discuss their institutions' approach  to supporting the avoidance of plagiarism (including the utilisation of PDS and other  deterrents), describe their own personal experiences, and relate the strategies they employ in  their teaching practice and assessment design to help their learners avoid plagiarism. It is  planned to record the session so that the audience's narratives can be shared with other  practitioners.

"Summer is a time when many of us are thinking about and planning professional development workshops for our schools and for other schools. I've always found that a short 3-5 minute video can be a good introduction to a PD sessions and or make for a nice thought-provoking break during a PD session. Here are seven videos that I think serve those purposes well."

Over the years we have seen little time or funding devoted to professional development (PD) that might equip teachers with the skills required to make smart and productive use of new technologies. What little PD we have seen was devoted mainly to the learning of software and how to operate the latest toys. We have too often placed carts before horses. Managing learning in the laptop classroom requires considerable savvy. This article explores the dimensions and characteristics of such classrooms, identifies the chief challenges facing teachers in such space, and suggests moves, tactics, strategies, tricks and scaffolding designed to optimize student learning.

"An education-technology scholar discusses the current state and promise of online teacher PD. Chris Dede, a professor of learning technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is a leading authority on online teacher professional development."

A couple of weeks ago, Megan Allen, a fifth-grade teacher in Tampa who blogs at transformED, wrote a post entitled "I've got my teacher evaluation. Now what?" In her post, Allen shared six suggestions that would help link teacher evaluations to effective professional development. The following post is our response to Megan.

Self paced professional development courses. 90 days for 10 act 48 hours.

SAS login required.

Teacher self-reflection and self-assessment using tablets.

Educators explore gaming in their own classrooms via a gamified professional development experience.

"The ISTE Classroom Observation Tool (ICOT) (XML) provides you with a convenient platform for recording observations of technology use in classrooms. Checkboxes and pull-down menus allow you to easily record and time a variety of classroom characteristics. ICOT automatically aggregates your data into a table for analysis and presentation. You can work with your records right in ICOT or export them to any software that can read tabular data. Use ICOT to record information on classroom groupings, teacher roles, time and types of technology use, and the NETS for Students. The ICOT is a macro-enabled Excel workbook that automates many data recording and management tasks. The Visual Basic macros work with most versions of Microsoft Office for Windows and with Office 2011 for Macintosh. Users of eCOVE observation software can obtain a toolset that will allow them to record ICOT NETS and Computational Thinking items on iPad, iPhone, and Android devices. Contact eCOVE directly for information on the NETS/CT toolset. The ICOT methodology has been successfully adapted for use in a variety of contexts, including projects involving mathematical thinking and cyberinfrastructure research skills. For information on how ISTE evaluation might meet your needs, contact research@iste.org."

Penn States Faculty Development Ning for Online and Continuing Education

"This collection of tools are designed to assist in the development and understanding of coaches, teachers, and administrators. We hope you will find them helpful."

Cache of links to some yummy instructional coaching resources.

"CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS Introduction to three coaching models that provide highly effective professional development 10 tips for leveraging technology, coaching, and community 5 key benefits that result from the integration of technology, coaching, and community Introduction to the NETS*C"

"What is the value of a coach?"

A treasure trove of downloadables to assist the instructional coach!  Grab these. Now.

Thoughts and a few great printables for hiring instructional coaches

Optimize use. Promote  adoption. Maximize success. That's what best practices are all about. Here are some resources to help you make the most of the Blackboard Collaborate™ platform at your academic institution.