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Just finished a really fun two weeks programming with kids using Scratch. Here are the photos.

Photos from the first programming for kids camp at Mediatech.

Weekly Topic for 1/25/2012: Mobile Devices in Early Childhood Settings 1) Is your program using or can you envision using mobile devices in your program? 2) Have you found great apps or special devices? Share them with us! 3) What are the challenges and opportunities of using mobile devices with young children and their teachers? 4) How to you manage access to mobile devices?

Simple program for creating animated drawings - appropriate for early elementary and older.

You know, it's OK, but it's pretty basic and it has very seductive in-program ads with graphics which are likely to get kids to click.

I wrote this for Early Ed Watch yesterday as an explainer of RTL, but also to highlight the research that is underway. Thought that the members of this group might find it useful. There is a desperate need for good research (with sound methodology from independent evaluators), and RTL isn't enough. But at least it's something and we should be paying attention to what this program can tell us so far.

Gail Lovely's list of Top Ten Web 2.0 tools for young learners. Should be interesting to check this out.

#6. Glogster EDU- This is a great way to incorporate the school into the home. This program allows teacher to show caregivers what is being done in the classroom (i.e. uploading class calendars, posting students' projects, etc.). If teachers post educational practice links, students are able to practice certain skills learned in the classroom at home. This program also allows parents to connect with the teacher, it will allow parents and teachers to communicate via blogs.

Wonderful that someone put together a list of the top ten tools for young children,their parents and teachers. Several sites would be helpful in working with young children or counseling are: 1. Wordle - students could create a poster of words they know and continue adding new words. 2. Yola - a user friendly software that allows teacher, parents, student to create a web site.to share information with others. 3. Blogs - the KinderKids Blog published class projects that could be view by parents or serve as means of communicating with classrooms around the world.

Site for creating artwork and images ideally for children ages 3 to 12. Anyone can access and download the application for free from the website (tuxpaint.org). The application has special features to engage children, including sound effects when tools are selected and used, and a cartoon displayed in the corner to give help and hints. The drawing tools that are available for children to use are paint brush, rubber stamp, line tool, shape tool, text tool, special effects (magic) tools, eraser, and undo. Also, teachers and children can easily open, save, and print creations.This program could be used in an early childhood setting to help children work on fine motor skills by using the mouse on the computer. It can also foster creativity because the children are allowed to create whatever they want, however they want, and there is no limit on the amount of pictures that can be created. I would use this program in centers in the early childhood setting so that children could get equal opportunity and assistance, if needed.

Jooners is a free Web site focused on communication and collaboration between schools and parents. Its e-mail and scheduling Web site allows parents to have immediate online access to school-wide information, such as calendars, events, after-school programs and field trip information. Parents and teachers can arrange sign-up lists for any event that needs parental support, such as book fairs or PTA fundraisers, and coordinate classroom volunteers.

This is a blog written by John Funk who "has worked in the early childhood field since 1979. He has taught preschool, first and second grades, and he spent the largest part of his teaching career in kindergarten. Mr. Funk was named "Utah Teacher of the Year" in 1996. He has worked as an early childhood specialist for a large school district and has managed early childhood services for Salt Lake CAP Head Start. He is past president of the Utah AEYC. As an early childhood, reading, and literacy consultant for the last decade, he has written on early childhood subjects and products for McGraw Hill and Leap Frog. He served on the editorial panel for Young Children magazine published by NAEYC. Currently, Mr. Funk is the Manager of Educational Programs for Excelligence Learning Corporation, and he teaches courses in children's literature and early reading at the University of Utah."

The New York Times is proud to be working with prestigious educational institutions to bring you a series of stimulating and engaging learning programs.

The purpose of the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) is to help learning organizations continually improve quality, scale, and breadth of their online programs according to their own distinctive missions, so that education will become a part of everyday life, ac

One stop source of information about University of Wisconsin Distance Learning courses, degrees, and certificate programs. Information about distance learning, admissions, registration, financial aid and student services.

Blog on early education policy by the New America Foundation. According to their website, Early Education Watch "provides analysis, reporting, and commentary on early education, with a focus on policies that affect children's access to high-quality, aligned educational programs from ages 3 through 8. I haven't explored the blog well enough yet to see whether it contains information about technology and young children, but it's a good example of using technology to connect early childhood educators with public policy.