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This 2020 Forecast is a tool for thinking about, preparing for, and shaping the future. It outlines key forces of change that will shape the landscape of learning over the next decade. The forecast does not predict what will happen, but rather serves as a guide to the as-yet-unwritten future. It is designed to help you see connections among things that once seemed unrelated and to help you consider the changes and challenges that you are facing today within the context of wider patterns of change. Ultimately, the 2020 Forecast aims to provoke your own thinking about what role you want to play in creating the future of learning.

"I'm currently teaching first year university students and require them to blog. There are many benefits for having them blog but I've found it to be one of the greatest ways I've been able to get into the thinking and process of my their learning. Asking them to describe their learning and thought process provides me with insight not only to appreciate their efforts but to inform my instruction and decide on what further supports I can provide to take them to the next level. This technology remains a powerful way for learners to reflect and share their thinking on a variety of endeavors. As much as teachers and schools say that process is as important as product, this often is more lip service than practice. Process takes time and talking about learning can be tiresome. The transparency of blogs make this a shared experience that no doubt can provide all students a greater opportunity to learn from each other. The advent of blogs in schools often is deployed as a way to bring technology into schools. That's the wrong reason. I recently read this quote on Doug Johnson's blog: At a conference last week, Mark Weston from Dell computing stated that asking the question, "Does technology improve student learning?" is the wrong question. The question should be, "Does technology support the practices that improve student learning?"

This is a fun song to share with your class. It prompts the students to do these three things: stop, think, and connect. It will help remind them to save safe on the Internet.

Solid collection of resources addressing the 4 C's (critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication) 

"Intel® Teach helps K-12 teachers of all subjects learn to engage students with digital learning, including digital content, Web 2.0, social networking, and online tools and resources. Intel Teach professional development empowers teachers to integrate technology effectively into their existing curriculum, focusing on their students' problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration, which are precisely the skills required in the high tech, networked society in which we live."

I think this is a great article to go over with your students before you begin your Internet use in the classroom.  The wording is kid friendly and an easy read.  This would be an awesome article to send home with students so that parents can read and discuss with their children as well.

"...the latest National Atlas includes electronic maps and services that are delivered online. We are using information presentation, access, and delivery technologies that didn't exist 30 years ago to bring you a dynamic and interactive atlas. But we have held fast to our tradition of producing the finest maps in the world. We think nationalatlas.gov™ is more useful than any bound collection of paper maps." Work with multiple map layers

Lesson Plan Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12 Think like a journalist and examine what it means to ask the right questions of politicians and public figures to make sure the public learns what they need to know about leaders in the community and the nation.

I was taking a look at all the resources that I had collected during 2008 in my LearnTech Library as well as those that I had posted in the LearnTech News, to identify those that I particularly enjoyed, that inspired me, made me think and/or I just found useful. There were many, but I finally narrowed my list down to 100 (see below).  I then fed all the titles into Wordle to generate a word cloud and identify trends in this collection of my favourite resources.  Here it is -my review of 2008 - click on the image for the full-size image.

Social collaboration for teens and their education counterparts. Free resource for education to share, create, and connect projects by teens with teens.

Very clever vocab builder that is flash based. I only wish that it would have a built-in audio file for each word (I don't think I saw one -- could have missed it).

Flash games and tools for teachers. The random name-picker alone makes this site a winner. Graphic organizers and custom quizzes put it over the top. [via Vicki Davis] NOTE: These activities alone will not encourage higher order thinking