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"Ever since I was young I've always loved thinking of ways to fix things, build products and make money. And, over the years, I've been fortunate to have worked with so many creative and innovative people. I'm talking about people like Whitepages' Alex Algard, Cheezburger's Ben Huh and BuddyTV's Andy Liu. These guys are absolute masters at drawing profitable conclusions from problems and ideas from totally unrelated fields. The businesses that these new ideas trigger speak for themselves. So I thought I would put down on paper what it is that makes these guys innovative thinkers and leaders, and tips that you can use to help you reach their kind of success, too. Here are 10:"

In a recent webinar, more than 90% of school leaders responded that they were leading an innovative school as a result of the implementation of technology. At the end of the webinar, when polled again, only one leader claimed to be leading an innovative school. The complete reversal was due to a presentation of the Six Questions that you will read about in this article.   This list of questions was developed to help educators be clear about the unique added value of a digital learning environment.

IBM reveals five innovations that will change our lives within five years The era of cognitive systems: when computers will, in their own way, see, smell, touch, taste and hear

"Chatting with students in Pakistan, reporting high school football on the fly, and supplementing classroom discussion are just a few of the great ways high schools have made use of Twitter. Read on, and we'll explore 20 innovative ways high schools are making use of this great social media tool."

"The new building blocks for learning in a complex world This important resource introduces a framework for 21st Century learning that maps out the skills needed to survive and thrive in a complex and connected world. 21st Century content includes the basic core subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic-but also emphasizes global awareness, financial/economic literacy, and health issues. The skills fall into three categories: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills. This book is filled with vignettes, international examples, and classroom samples that help illustrate the framework and provide an exciting view of twenty-first century teaching and learning. Explores the three main categories of 21st Century Skills: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills Addresses timely issues such as the rapid advance of technology and increased economic competition Based on a framework developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) The book contains a DVD with video clips of classroom teaching. For more information on the book visit www.21stcenturyskillsbook.com."

"Adding some technology to the educational process is one thing, but truly revolutionary learning experiences take a deeper sort of innovation, which you can see at a program at Duke working for change in Haiti."

"Advancements in online collaboration are rapidly changing the way in which we learn, and Google is pioneering the field with Google Docs . The development team continually adds new features and enhancements to the free online productivity suite, similar to Microsoft Office, which now includes applications for creating and editing text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, and forms. Students and teachers are leading the parade of enthusiastic users, finding innovative ways to enhance education using Google Docs."

"High Tech High began in 2000 as a single charter high school launched by a coalition of San Diego business leaders and educators. It has evolved into an integrated network of schools spanning grades K-12, housing a comprehensive teacher certification program and a new, innovative Graduate School of Education. "

"High Tech High began in 2000 as a single charter high school launched by a coalition of San Diego business leaders and educators. It has evolved into an integrated network of schools spanning grades K-12, housing a comprehensive teacher certification program and a new, innovative Graduate School of Education. "

"The new wave of educational technology will leverage our greatest natural resource: the curiosity inherent in every child."

"We want a team to think about action research as a collaborative endeavor, where principals and teachers work together to improve something over time. It's not just about gathering data, it's about working hard to improve something. Maybe you see a need to improve writing in the building, and you're going to figure out whether there's a way to take a techno-constructivist approach to strengthening students' writing skills. Maybe you feel the culture of your school is very mired in antiquated approaches to teaching and learning, and you want to build a new culture of innovation and collaboration, so you're going to develop your project around that goal."

"This past year has been one of my biggest learning spikes as a teacher since my first year in the classroom. I have been working with other teachers who are at all stages of their teaching careers and we have been focusing on innovative teaching practices within a school-based inquiry. I have embraced not being the expert, being uncomfortable with not knowing all the answers, and being unsure about how a strategy or a lesson will go. I have found myself increasingly trusting my learners. I am learning like crazy (just like my students) and trying not to burst with excitement! The key has been working with my amazing school staff, along with other dedicated teachers and mentors in our district and throughout the province. I have been collaborating with my colleagues, and I have been implementing new ways of teaching. We are doing wonderful things here in Delta and we need to encourage our colleagues to share their successes with others."

edWeb.net is a highly-acclaimed professional social and learning network that has become a vibrant online community for exceptional educators, decision-makers, and influencers who are on the leading edge of innovation in education. edWeb members are teachers, faculty, administrators, and librarians at K12 and post-secondary institutions. edWeb is a place where educators who are looking for ways to improve teaching and learning can gather and share information and ideas with peers and thought leaders in the industry. Any educator can use edWeb for free to create a personal learning network or professional learning community to make it easier to collaborate, share ideas, and move forward faster with new ideas and initiatives, particularly those than leverage technology to accelerate improvement.

"Paper.li will make a daily newspaper following the Tweets of those a Twitter user follows, a Twitter hash tag or a list. The newspaper is delivered in a very reader-friendly format using the Twitter updates and links to bring readers stories, tweets, videos, photos and more"

""The reality is that to survive in a fast-changing world you need to be creative," says Gerard J. Puccio, chairman of the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State College, which has the nation's oldest creative studies program, having offered courses in it since 1967. "That is why you are seeing more attention to creativity at universities," he says. "The marketplace is demanding it." Critical thinking has long been regarded as the essential skill for success, but it's not enough, says Dr. Puccio. Creativity moves beyond mere synthesis and evaluation and is, he says, "the higher order skill." This has not been a sudden development. Nearly 20 years ago "creating" replaced "evaluation" at the top of Bloom's Taxonomy of learning objectives. In 2010 "creativity" was the factor most crucial for success found in an I.B.M. survey of 1,500 chief executives in 33 industries."

While some of the ideas that follow may seem a bit trendy, it's never hurts to model ways to interact with all this new media as a covert way of teaching digital literacy and citizenship.