Follow-up to the BEAR-4 near space video from amateur radio enthusiasts from Edmonton, CA. These students (yes, MIT students) capture still photos from space for $150 worth of equipment. Again, it's all about letting students solve problems, using technology that is available to them, and sharing it! Talk about engaging!!!!!

A group of amateur radio enthusiats launch an HD video camera into space and track it back down to earth. I think it's incredible and a great example of what people with an interest in something can do. What could we do if we gave students goals like this to accomplish? Any thoughts about how we use this incredible example of curiosity with students? Also, note that they send it to space, share their work via YouTube, blog about it, get picked up on the Discovery channel for relatively little cost!

A project called 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast received an appreciation by being hailed as the Best Infotainment 2009 given by the Parsec Award.

Not many books begin with a word of warning. Through the Clock's Workings does. This anthology of literature is not some textual tome, frozen in time and space. It is alive, evolving organically in a constant state of flux. Why? Because each story is available under a Creative Commons licence, giving you rights to share and reuse the book as you see fit. This is a world first: a remixed and remixable short fiction anthology. Buy your copy here or download the electronic version.

Always looking for reading resources to share with the Striving Readers group. Here is a great online resource that has short readings that are applicable and topical. May not be user friendly for students 2 years or more behind grade level, but very applicable to the content area classrooms! Very interactive, combine pictures with text, updated constantly.

I know the Hubble is not new, but the addition of the new spectroscope adds new life to this old tool (yes it's almost 20 years old). If nothing else exposing students to the different pictures that Hubble generates would be an addition. If you can use the pictures to help develop math/science connections then what a powerful tool. Take one picture a day and ask students to calculate how long it would take a human to get to that point in space traveling at 100,000 miles per hour (twice as fast a any human has ever gone) or at 1,000,000 miles per hour (way faster than we can currently travel)...

"While there are still some educators who dispute the importance of technology in the classroom, there is no dispute over the fact that technology is here to stay in schools. Whether you are one of those tech-savvy teachers who can't get enough of technology news and ideas or you are a teacher just learning to embrace technology in the classroom, these blogs offer a wealth of information straight from teachers and other professionals in the education field themselves."

Using an application, like CASA's Image Cutter or the Automatic Tile Cutter, you can create your own map tiles for Google Maps. It is therefore possible to replace Google Maps tiles with other maps.

What is Web 2.0, how to use it, and some great analysis of different tools. In-depth and very comprehensive.

On September 8, the U.S. Department of Education will ask students to respond to the President's Back to School challenge by creating videos, up to two minutes in length, describing the steps they will take to improve their education and the role education will play in fulfilling their dreams. Watch this page for more information about the "I Am What I Learn" video contest for students.

Four Ways to Differentiate Instruction: Differentiation can occur in the content, process, product or environment in the classroom. 1. Differentiating the Content/Topic 2. Differentiating the Process/Activities 3. Differentiating the Product 4. Diffferentiating By Manipulating The Environment or Through Accommodating Individual Learning Styles

Wordle is a great tool for using in the classroom, and this is just another example of how it can be used. I want to point out several aspects of this site- - it uses a wiki as the hosting site (easy to create) - is centered on using a tool called wordle - embeds wordles within the wiki - uses a Google form (go to "Today's Wordle" page) to have people submit information - has created a twitter account to advertise/keep participants up to date with information - has created an RSS for those who want to follow new wordles daily

Great explanation of Voicethread and some very scaffolded examples of how we can use Voicethread in our classrooms. Lee does a wonderful job of developing a compelling reason for using Voicethread and how to accomplish your goals.

A tool for looking at information differently than we've ever done so before. Next step in web browsing? Just remember that things don't always stay the same in the virtual environment.

This article was brought to my attention by Tim Ferree this summer and I thought I would pass it along. It's not necessarily content literacy, but I think it is about good instruction. Happy reading.

Great post about teachable moments and what that looks like when you are an astronaut and your child asks you where you are going for work... beats Hazard! Read through the post and make sure click on the "checked" link for a great way of giving students some perspective on a shuttle flights speed and location.