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A new analysis of existing online-learning research by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) reveals that students who took all or part of their class on line performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction. Most of the studies examined by researchers dealt with college-level courses, and ED officials cautioned against generalizing the report's findings to the K-12 level. Still, the report could help educators as they seek to create effective learning environments for all students.

Search engine - with readability built in "Twurdy uses text analysis software to "read" each page before it is displayed in the results. Then Twurdy gives each page a readability level. Twurdy then shows the readability level of the page along with a color coded system to help users determine how easy the page will be to understand."

This project was created to inspire teachers to use technology in engaging ways to help students develop higher level thinking skills. Equally important, it serves to motivate district level leaders to provide teachers with the tools and training to do so. Nesbitt, B. J. (2007). A vision of K-12 students today. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

A compilation of math web resources that are appropriate for multiple grade levels.

Resources for math that span many levels. Elementary level focused at http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/elementarymathresources Middle/High school level focused at http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/middle-highschoolmath

In-depth interactive walkthrough of cellular respiration. Easy to use. Suggested level on the website says high school, but it is very detailed--more appropriate for AP Biology or college level biology (or even biochemistry) courses.

Teaching Secrets: Communicating With Parents By Gail Tillery Premium article access courtesy of TeacherMagazine.org. You will face many challenging tasks as a new teacher. Dealing with parents is probably among the most intimidating, especially if you are young and in your first career. While communicating with parents can be tricky, a little preparation will help you to treat parents as partners and to be calmer when problems arise. Here's the first rule to live by: Your students' parents are not your enemies. Ultimately, they want the same thing you want, which is the best for their children. By maintaining respectful and productive communication, you can work together to help students succeed. Second, whenever problems arise, remember that parents are probably just as nervous about contacting you as you are about returning the contact-and maybe more so. I'll confess: Even after 26 years of teaching, I still get a little frisson of fear in my belly when I see an e-mail or hear a voicemail from a parent. But I have seen time and again that parents are often more nervous than the teacher is-especially if their child doesn't want them to contact the teacher. Indeed, some parents may even fear that if they raise concerns, their child will face some kind of retaliation. Remember that parents' tones or words may reflect such fears. In your response, try to establish that everyone involved wants to help the child. Here are some practical tips for communicating effectively with parents: Contact every parent at the beginning of the year. Do some "recon." Telephone calls are best for this initial contact, since they are more personal than e-mail. Ask the parent to tell you about his or her child's strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, etc. Make sure to ask, "What is the best thing I can do to help your child succeed?" Remember to take notes! Once you've gathered the information you need, set a boundary with parents by saying, "Well, Ms. Smith, I have 25 more parent

Gary Toews has put together the below list of useful education apps as recommended by the STaRT Education Department. On this page are nearly all the apps I'd personally recommend to anyone looking to outfit their iPad, iPhone, or other device with free apps perfect for their grade level.

"A superb online whiteboard suite of tools, including a random name picker, classroom sound level indicator, display a QR code, drawing and text tools, traffic lights, timers, clocks and dates, and even a fab exit poll tool. You can even change the background, including your own images to display extra resource information, or use your computer camera to show live video like a visualiser."

"Angry, threatening and highly critical parenting is more likely to result in children with defiant, noncompliant and revengeful behaviour that spills over to adulthood and impacts relationships with all authority figures. Now a study by researchers at UC San Francisco has confirmed this link and found that kindergarten may provide a unique opportunity for these harshly parented children to retool negative behaviour. The study is published in the journal Development and Psychopathology on Nov. 21, 2018. In the study, the researchers looked at 338 kindergartners in six public schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. They found that 10 percent of the children met the criteria for the oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Among this group, 71 percent had been exposed to high levels of harsh parenting, versus 29 percent who had been raised with lower levels of harsh parenting."

"Students from some of England's worst-performing secondary schools who enrol on medical degrees with lower A Level grades, on average, do at least as well as their peers from top performing schools, a new study has revealed. The research also found that students from poorly performing schools who match the top A-Level grades achieved by pupils from the best performing schools, go on to do better during a medical degree."

"Children from disadvantaged backgrounds and certain ethnic minority backgrounds, including from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds, have lower levels of vigorous physical activity, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge. The patterns mirror inequalities seen in levels of childhood obesity, suggesting a need for a greater focus on the promotion of vigorous physical activity, particularly for those children from more disadvantaged backgrounds."

This short video demonstrates different levels of tech. integration using the SAMR model. For more information on SAMR & Bloom's taxonomy, check out this blog post: The Padagogy Wheel … it's a Bloomin' Better Way to Teach @ http://goo.gl/8RTdA

As contemporary learners continue to connect to iconography and visual data in our daily lives, making sense of and creating infographics will become an essential skill. The design features of infographics are listed as critical tools for supporting specific ELA/Literacy standards at all levels.

As contemporary learners continue to connect to iconography and visual data in our daily lives, making sense of and creating infographics will become an essential skill. The design features of infographics are listed as critical tools for supporting specific ELA/Literacy standards at all levels.

Awesome collection of resources, broken down by grade level or grade band.

This website features a collection of free, kid-safe, online resources categorized by subject, grade level, and standard

Report from Ireland on improving Second Level (High School) education.

Saylor.org is a free and open collection of college level courses.

Saylor.org is a free and open collection of college level courses. There are no registrations or fees required to take our courses, and you will earn a certificate upon completion of each course.