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Education Week's new report "Blended Learning: Breaking Down the Barriers" features a story highlighting research on the effectiveness of such techniques.

Work more effectively with this clever little timer site that fits in breaks in to your working time. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

IPads can be wonderful, but are they wonderful for toddlers? Ben Worthen on Lunch Break explains why pediatric neuroscientists and researchers suggest that the iPad differs from TV and video games. Photo: Darcy Padilla for The Wall Street Journal.

ipads vs. tablets, interesting read.

"For some people, being on time seems nearly impossible -- no matter how important the event. They're always running out the door in a frenzy, arriving everywhere at least 10 minutes late. If this sounds like you, have you ever wished you could break the pattern?"

Explains how Japan has responded to the breaking of their real estate market bubble and the effect it has had on Japan's economy

Need to develop a new pedagogical dna for schooling in todays world in order to break from the past

Good article illustrating the fluid definitions of race.

You are right, racial categories do tend to change based on the times as history shows us, but I'll point you to two articles in The Birmingham News which show a little more than just debate about rescinding parts of that bill. http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/09/federal_judge_throws_out_xxxx.html http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/11/immigration_law_amendments_in.html The fringe parts of this law are embarrassing to me as a native of Alabama, so I'd love to have our lawmakers' second thoughts on this seen as part of what's going on with this law.....Thanks, not meaning to nit-pick!

@Elaine, for some reason your message hasn't shown up and I wanted to make sure I responded. I absolutely agree with you that the there are plenty of wonderful Alabamans who are embarrassed by the fringe parts of the law and I certainly don't mean any disrespect by posting this article. In fact, I think this article actually points to the generosity of spirit and kindness I remember most about growing up in the south. I'm also glad to see that there's quite a bit of protest about the worst parts of this law and agree that the protests should also be part of the conversation so I'm including the links you sent me here: http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/09/federal_judge_throws_out_xxxx.html and http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/11/immigration_law_amendments_in.html The articles do report that quite a few legislators and many immigrant rights activists are advocating revisions to the law and I look forward to seeing the repeals. That said, the articles also note that the bulk "of the new law is in effect despite a federal court challenge to it brought by the U.S. Justice Department, church groups and state and national civil liberties groups " and a "federal judge [Blackburn] this afternoon again upheld most sections of Alabama's tough new immigration law." In short, the fight for repeals is just beginning. Once more, I stress that I do NOT mean to offend anyone; rather, I think it's important to discuss the circumstances under which such a restrictive law could be passed as well as the reactions that have mobilized in response to it. I think it's a wonderful "teaching moment" about politics, economics, civic engagement, global economy, etc. Sincerest regards.

"Essentially, digital (and physical) mind mapping allows students to view the entire forest instead of a single tree. As they create a mind map, they capture the wider ecosystem of information by visually connecting short keywords and phrases rather than writing complete sentences. Upon later review-for retention, exam preparation or papers-the mind map is like a CD. You jump right to the information that interests you. In contrast, linear notes are like audio tapes-you waste time wading line by line through the content in hopes of getting to what you want. This more efficient use of space (and time) lets students see how normally unconnected ideas might fit together. Thus, the mind maps doubles as a store of information and an engine of creativity. Using it in the classroom and even giving mind mapping assignments forces students to break the linearity of their earlier education."

on the revolutionary aspect of MOOCs to break down traditional barriers to higher ed as regularly stated by CEOs Koller and Thrun: "This rhetoric is perhaps the most glittery yet in the public discourse about online higher education. But it is also a diversion shifting attention away from the logic of profit-making. For parents, students, and the general public who focus primarily on what education means for people's futures, for social mobility, for a healthy economy and a robust democracy, a dip into the insider talk of MOOCs, their investors, and industry analysts is both instructive and disorienting."

The Institute of Making is a multidisciplinary research club for those interested in the made world: from makers of molecules to makers of buildings, synthetic skin to spacecraft, soup to diamonds, socks to cities. Annual membership of the institute is available to all UCL staff and students. Our programme of symposia, masterclasses and public events explores the links between academic research and hands-on experience, and celebrates the sheer joy of stuff. Its mission is to provide all makers with a creative home in which to innovate, contemplate and understand all aspects of materials and an inspiring place to explore their relationship to making. At the heart of the Institute of Making is the Materials Library - a growing repository of some of the most extraordinary materials on earth, gathered together for their ability to fire the imagination and advance conceptualisation. A place in which makers from all disciplines can see, touch, research and discuss, so that they can apply the knowledge and experience gained to their own practice. Alongside the collection is the MakeSpace - a workshop where members and guests can make, break, design and combine both advanced and traditional tools, techniques and materials."

I think this is a dilemma that many professional educators face. Do we get away from all things school-related for the summer? Or should we stay connected to and continue to develop our personal learning networks and nurture our professional growth?

Great multipurpose maths thinking blocks. Add different colour blocks, change their size and break into fractions. Click the 'problems' button and give lots of maths questions to work out with the blocks. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

15 Crazy Useful JavaScript Solutions for Charts and Graphs Graphs and charts are a great way to break down the information at hand to the user in a descriptive and visually enticing manner. These visual structures allow you to easily simplify complex data and output easier to understand content. Everyone can use a graph or chart, however, not everyone has the right tools to create an effective one. Below we've compiled the best JavaScript graphs and chart solutions. We chose to put a list of JavaScript graphs because of their flexibility and functionality.

A Ning group for English teachers reveals the potential of online social networking to break the culture of professional isolation.

"Technology is always disruptive: Think of the introduction of the printing press, or the combine harvester, or the typewriter. Think of the mechanical looms and the factory system of the industrial revolution that destroyed a way of life for cottage industry weavers. Some of them took to frame breaking and gave us the unfairly derisive term of "luddite" for those who resist technological change"

At Oak Hills High School in suburban Cincinnati, students returned from summer break to learn they were free not only to bring their mobile devices to school, but also to use them-at their teachers' discretion-to connect to the school's wireless network to do their work .. In Chicago, the Mikva Challenge's student-leadership branch suggested in an August report that the city's public schools allow students to use their own smartphones on campus for learning.

Excellent article on using cell phones in class. Links to research, templates for lessons, letter etc. This is a much read!