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While schools have worked hard to integrate computers into the classrMany schools do not even consider teaching the art/science of using a keyboard. This article in Education World provides important insights into teaching keyboarding.

"Finland is planning to phase out handwriting classes in favour of keyboard skills, a recognition that this generation will never write a letter, birthday card or love letter. Instead, they'll text, tap and tweet."

"Finland is planning to phase out handwriting classes in favour of keyboard skills, a recognition that this generation will never write a letter, birthday card or love letter. Instead, they'll text, tap and tweet."

Here's our latest post on web-based keyboarding tools that support the Common Core. Please take a look and give us feedback. We're a new site with a goal to address ed tech tools that support Common Core.

KneeBouncers is a whole lotta fun. Educational games, fun and activities to stimulate your baby or toddler and begin the learning process. Colorful animated graphics combined with great sound effects, excite and entertain babies and toddlers alike. Kneebouncers is educational. Your budding genius will start to understand the cause and effect principle, ABC's, numbers, colors, shapes, but mostly they'll just squeal with delight. So if you have a little one clamoring for the keyboard, plop them on your knee and let the bouncing (and learning) begin!

Asa Spencer of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute writes in the Education Gadfly Weekly: "Traditionalists cringe, tech buffs rejoice: This latest NAEP writing assessment for grades eight and twelve marks the first computer-based appraisal (by the "nation's report card") of student proficiency in this subject. It evaluates students' writing skills (what NAEP calls both academic and workplace writing) based on three criteria: idea development, organization, and language facility and conventions. Results were predictably bad: Just twenty-four percent of eighth graders and 27 percent of twelfth graders scored proficient or above. Boys performed particularly poorly; half as many eighth-grade males reached proficiency as their female counterparts. The use of computers adds a level of complexity to these analyses: The software allows those being tested to use a thesaurus (which 29 percent of eighth graders exploited), text-to-speech software (71 percent of eighth graders used), spell check (three-quarters of twelfth graders), and kindred functions. It is unclear whether use of these crutches affected a student's "language facility" scores, though it sure seems likely. While this new mechanism for assessing kids' writing prowess makes it impossible to track trend data, one can make (disheartening) comparisons across subjects. About a third of eighth graders hit the NAEP proficiency benchmark in the latest science, math, and reading assessments, compared to a quarter for writing. So where to go from here? The report also notes that twelfth-grade students who write four to five pages a week score ten points higher than those who write just one page a week. Encouraging students to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) is a start."

See helps to assessing how well Web resources meet accessibility guidelines. ☐  Can the application be used with only the keyboard? ☐  Do images have appropriate text descriptions? ☐  Do pages have a consistent look-and-feel? ☐  Does text have enough color contrast? ☐  Do pages includes headings and landmarks? ☐ Do form controls and widgets have labels? ☐  When styling and layout is removed, is the document understandable? ☐  Does audio content have transcripts? ☐  Do videos have captions?

fun!

"@POUSDSupt: Exactly What The Common Core Standards Say About Technology http://t.co/WTRFq2LUTt via @zite #ccss #edtech" Nicely presented.

Tech standards in the common core

Or the Elements of Euclid.

"In this research-backed presentation, Travis discusses the impact of technology and its ability to transform the way students think, create and learn, with a particular focus on Microsoft Surface Pro 3." Regardless of the model of the equipment, this presentation is excellent for all of those interested in topics such as: - Impact of technology in teaching and learning - Tablets in classroom - BYOD - Digital vs. handwriting notetaking

"In this research-backed presentation, Travis discusses the impact of technology and its ability to transform the way students think, create and learn, with a particular focus on Microsoft Surface Pro 3." Regardless of the model of the equipment, this presentation is excellent for all of those interested in topics such as: - Impact of technology in teaching and learning - Tablets in classroom - BYOD - Digital vs. handwriting notetaking

This is a fabulous, fun typing game where users must pop bubbles by typing the letters. Steady typing scores more points and earn power-ups for typing well. You can make a free account to save your progress or just play. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

Children are struggling to write their own name because growing numbers of schools are shunning traditional handwriting lessons, academics have warned.

A nice set of English, maths and other resources for Early Years children. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Cross+Curricular