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Students want more control over their own learning experiences through technology and want to define their own educational destinies and determine the direction of their learning. "This free agent learner is one that is technology-enabled, technology-empowered, and technology-engaged to be ... an important part of driving their own educational destiny. To some extent they feel ... it's a responsibility. They also feel it's a right to be able to do that. So technology has enabled this free agent learner. We have the opportunity in education to make sure they're on the right track and to be supportive of their learning experiences." Ive been waiting for this! This is exciting it points to the idea that students will co-create their curriculum. In my mind it will become imperitive that individuals choose their highest bliss-subjects and projects that reflect their passions. In the new collaborative work environments students will be more highly valued for their contributions to areas that they are most naturally motivated to explore. Their resulting contributions will result in inventiveness and cutting edge investigations via passion, self motivation and peer inspiration and direct access to thought leaders/mentors in the field. Teachers might become guides to ensuring students intentions are achieved- teachers as arbiters of human potential. Students will no longer be compared to each other. They will score according to their own self affirmed destinations-allowing of course for reviews and changes of destiny.Teachers might also need roles in law and ethics to ensure students are safe in their online world activities, monitoring students and their online peers, intercepting or prompting inside the conversations?

Of those who have some interest in gaming, responses were varied as to its value in education. Sixty-five percent said it appeals to different learning styles; another 65 percent said it increases student engagement. Others said it allows for student-centered learning (47 percent), helps develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills (40 percent), helps develop creativity (39 percent), allows students to gain experience through trial and error (37 percent), and helps students visualize difficult concepts (35 percent). But perhaps the most significant trend in education technology, Evans said, is the emergence of the student as a "free agent learner": Students want more control over their own learning experiences through technology and want to define their own educational destinies and determine the direction of their learning. "This free agent learner is one that is technology-enabled, technology-empowered, and technology-engaged to be ... an important part of driving their own educational destiny. To some extent they feel ... it's a responsibility. They also feel it's a right to be able to do that. So technology has enabled this free agent learner. We have the opportunity in education to make sure they're on the right track and to be supportive of their learning experiences."

Yesterday I sat down and built a new guide, Google Documents for "Teachers. The 40 page guide (embedded below) is designed to help teachers who have never used Google Documents" (Richard Byrne, 2012.04.09, ¶1).

"12 Awesome EdTech Tools for 2012-2013 is designed to share what I think is a selection of free tools that can be used in almost every K-12 setting. I intentionally kept this document short because the intended audience is teachers who are new(ish) to using technology in their classrooms and I didn't want to create something that would be overwhelming. You'll also notice that I left out iOS and Android apps. Those will be featured in future documents." (Bryne, ¶2) "Please feel free to download, print, and distribute this [embedded document] in your school." (Byrne, ¶3)

From Richard Byrne Free Technology for teacher, quoted below:Listen and Read - Non-fiction Read Along Activities Listen and Read is a set of 54 non-fiction stories from Scholastic for K-2 students. The stories are feature pictures and short passages of text that students can read on their own or have read to them by each story's narrator. The collection of stories is divided into eight categories: social studies, science, plants and flowers, environmental stories, civics and government, animals, American history, and community. Applications for Education Listen and Read looks to be a great resource for social studies lessons and reading practice in general. At the end of each book there is a short review of the new words that students were introduced to in the book. Students can hear these words pronounced as many times as they like. Listen and Read books worked on my computer and on my Android tablet. Scholastic implies that the books also work on iPads and IWBs"

Med Kharbach has "compiled a list of some of the best free mapping tools for teachers and students to use" (¶1, retrieved 2012.06.25).

free screen capture tools for teachers

This year my school district in Vermont ventured into a sort-of BYOD/1:1 hybrid program. We realized the importance of allowing our students access to technology to enhance their learning, but the infrastructure wasn't in place to tackle a traditional BYOD. .. Instead, we chose to be creative with our technology and professional development.

"a great one sheet guide for Moodle using teachers. The guide is essentially a chart of things that you can do with Moodle and how those things can help you reach your pedagogical objectives."

Royalty free music for Education!

10 ways to get free money and supplies for your classroom.

TeachersFirst offers this model for elementary (or middle) schools to build skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening systematically in a schoolwide model including students, teachers, and parents. The free web 2.0 tools suggested here are by no means the only tools that might work. These exemplary tools were chosen by the TeachersFirst Editors for ease of use and versatility in classroom and home use, and could easily be implemented at grade levels other than those suggested here. As students and teachers master a new tool at each grade level, they develop rich literacy skills and vital technology skills, all in the context of reading, writing, speaking and listening across the curriculum.

8 Great Free Digital Presentation Tools For Teachers To Try This Summer

His dream is to have a laptop computer in the hands of every student. While he's not quite there yet, Paul Bogush has come very close using the resources at his disposal. For Bogush, the use of technology has become the backbone of instruction. The Moran Middle School teacher was awarded a spot at the Google Teacher Academy last month, but was already immersed in the Web's free portals to engage his eighth grade class and prepare students to communicate in a digital world.

Screenpresso is a new screen capture program for Windows. Screenpresso has all of the features such as image resizing, annotation options, and format variety that you would expect from a screen capture program. Screenpresso also features like Twitter integration which are not always found in screen capture programs. The most unique option in Screenpresso is the ability to stitch together multiple screen captures. Stitching allows you to include scrolling in your screen captures. The scrolling option could be very useful for showing people how to work through a large page that doesn't fit into a typical screen capture. For example all of the front page of Free Technology for Teachers doesn't fit into a typical screen capture. Using Screenpresso you could create a screen capture of the entire front page. Applications for Education Screen captures, particularly annotated screen captures, can be very useful for giving directions to students and colleagues about how to use a piece of software or how to navigate a website. Using Screenpresso you can make annotated screen captures then post them to Twitter, email them, or post them on your blog or wiki.

"In this book there introductions to more than six dozen web tools for K-12 teachers. Additionally, you will find sections devoted to using Skype with students, ESL/ELL, blogging in elementary schools, social media for educators, teaching online, and using technology in alternative education settings. Here's the list of contributors to The Super Book of Web Tools for Educators: George Couros, Patrick Larkin, Kelly Tenkely, Adam Bellow, Silvia Tolisano, Steven Anderson, Cory Plough, Beth Still, Larry Ferlazzo, Lee Kolbert, and Richard Byrne. "

Engrade is a free set of web-based tools for educators allowing them to manage their classes online while providing parents and students with 24/7 real-time online class information. It's private, secure, truly free, and unbelievably easy to use - so join over 150,000 teachers and start using Engrade today.

via Free Technology for Teachers blog

Med Kharbach introduces 15 online file storage sites that are free at least for basic service plans.