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Award-winning educational futurist David Thornburg discusses classroom design and four learning models he has written about extensively in his book, "From the Campfire to the Holodeck: Creating Engaging and Powerful 21st Century Learning Environments" Is your classroom designed primarily for the traditional lecture? For using technology to do the same old things better than differently? Give out too much information vs. using more open-ended approaches? Transform the way information is learned and used? This article helped me to reflect on the way I encourage the use of technology and how to make its use an experience more reflective of what is presented in the CCSS and 21st century learning. What is your response to the article? Agree, disagree? What model(s) do you see yourself using? What movement would you like to make in your approach?

Video created by Wendy Drexler (see her blog - http://goo.gl/FeudM) What could a 21st century student look like? This excellent video helps build our paradigm of 21st century learning. We've got some work to do!

"The PLN Matures. The Progression of the 21st Century Personal Learning Network" - learn how some educators are growing in good educational practice & collaboration and the process that is taking place in that development. Excellent post!

Helpful dictionary of terms you will see in 21st Century learning models.

"In Project Based Learning (PBL), students go through an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem, or challenge. Rigorous projects help students learn key academic content and practice 21st Century Skills (such as collaboration, communication & critical thinking)."

Fascinating book on a new pedagogy for the 21st century teacher and learner. Will we continue to ask students to work in an environment of scarcity, both in resources, but also in the learning process, which is locked up by testing and standards? Check it out!

Edutopia post on Project Based Learning & embedded video of Yong Zhao presentation at ISTE 2012, June 26, 2012.  "What makes someone successful in the 21st century is definitely not your ability to memorize facts. What will make someone successful is your relentless capacity to innovate, to create. It's your ability to network, to make friends from your own circle and from other countries. It's your ability to see through challenges, to look for opportunities in problems, and to take action to change things instead of waiting for someone else to do something, Meanwhile, he added, the U.S. is focusing on the wrong goal by aiming for higher standardized test scores. "Fixing the horse wagon won't get us to the moon," he said, referring to the current educational system as a holdover from an outdated era. 

Does your research teaching embrace the 21st century learner? This blog post has great information/lessons on strategies for helping students curate (finding/evaluating/managing) information.

These are good tools for any admin. Haven't had any experience yet with Microsoft Live Writer, but will be looking into it.

This list is considered the "best of the best" by AASL and is comprised of free, user-friendly sites that encourage a community of learners to explore and discover. They also provide a foundation to support AASL's Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. The sites offer tools and resources in content collaboration, content resources with lesson plans, curriculum sharing, digital storytelling, managing and organizing, and social networking and communication.

Ready for the next generation of textbook creation that utilizes good pedagogy? Imagine a living, breathing, dynamic textbook that offers different assignments for each individual based on their learning styles, allows for student-created work to be posted and featured based on accuracy/creativity votes and having students all around the world discuss content and share resources in real time through an integration with Google's new social networking service Google +.  Imagine all of this in a new dynamically changing interactive living 21st Century textbook ecosystem. Brain Mannix  would like to use the Blackboard/Collaborate platform as an engine to bring students and teachers around the world together to make this happen. Check it out!

"What Is Transformational In Your Educational Vision?      Part of the challenge in educational reform is that not everyone defines learning or education the same way.  Sure, we all refer to things such as literacy, college and career ready, 21st century skills, etc.        However, what is the core purpose of one's education?  Beyond specifics related to employment skills, literacy skills and standards mastery, I offer up this idea: Education is meant to transform one's life.  In other words, education has to dramatically, or even radically, transform the person into a new, improved person that is more emotionally, socially, and intellectually ready for any challenge the world has to offer."

"As learners, we are sometimes challenged (not often enough fortunately) to think big.  We are able to ask the question 'what if' when looking at a challenge.  We are tasked with redesigning, recreating, reimagining or rethinking the entire thing.  Maybe these are more 22nd century ideas. Well, when it comes to our high school system and overall student experience, here are my suggestions:" (Get ready for some out of the box ideas)

An award-winning English teacher and tech. coach/trainer, Alice shows how the CCSS recognizes the importance of technology in the classroom and gives specific ideas for meeting a number of standards. Definitely worth checking out!

"Building the independence of learners through thoughtful uses of technology" This website is AMAZING. You have to check it out!