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"Paul Hamilton presents 'Technology in Education', a creative and artistic look at the challenges edtech faces. Creator of the Science AR App, the critically acclaimed educational app Formative Feedback for Learning and the revolutionary iBook series My Prep Year, Paul is changing the way digital content is being delivered in schools."

"A conversation between four of the early pioneers describing how they brought the Internet to the UK.  This was filmed on 1st July at Google, as part of an event celebrating the UK's computing heritage. Speakers include Roger Scantlebury and Peter Wilkinson, who worked at the National Physical Laboratory and helped develop the NPL network, the first internet like thing in the UK. They were joined by Peter Kirstein, then from UCL and Vint Cerf, at that time at UCLA/Stanford/DARPA. As well as describing what they did, context is given to the NPL's role and to the political and bureaucratic challenges at the time."

"Ed-tech directors share their strategies for meeting challenges such as access, security" from eSchool News

Are you hit with the financial block in the mid of the month? Do you find it challenging to avail the cash help because your credit score is less than perfect? If you run into a situation where you...

Interesting article on the OLPC project and some of the challenges it has faced and continues to face.

It is commonly recognized that our nation's progress depends on improving learning, thereby creating healthier communities and a stronger workforce. In today's world, that requires us to take advantage of new learning tools to ensure that our children's learning is practical and prepares them for the challenges of the 21st century. The advantages of digital media now greatly outweigh the disadvantages and require that schools update their thinking and policies to provide guidance on the use of these tools to improve student learning and achievement.

Great Stats on this site For generations, games have been used to teach concepts, skills, and knowledge. Think Yahtzee, Monopoly, and math; Scrabble and spelling; Mastermind, Qwirkle, and strategy; Clue and problem solving…the list goes on and on. Games are challenging, interesting, and engaging. And with the ever-enhancing technology landscape, games are more immersive than ever. Individual or massive multiplayer online games have grown exponentially in the last few years, and projections only show gaming consumption increasing.

HERE'S a scene in my house: My almost 9-year-old is on the internet doing something or other, and I am not standing over her shoulder or otherwise monitoring her. Is this negligent? Am I throwing her to the wolves? I have no idea how to approach these thorny questions, so I have lunch with the academic and Microsoft researcher, danah boyd (she spells her name in lowercase letters for complicated philosophical and aesthetic reasons), who has studied this cluster of issues in an original and challenging way.

In some ways, the flipped model is an improvement. Research shows that tailored tutoring is more effective than lectures for understanding, mastery, and retention. But the flipped classroom doesn't come close to preparing students for the challenges of today's world and workforce. As progressive educational activist Alfie Kohn notes, great teaching isn't just about content but motivation and empowerment: Real learning gives you the mental habits, practice, and confidence to know that, in a crisis, you can count on yourself to learn something new. That's crucial in a world where, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, adults change careers (not just jobs) four to six times or where, as an Australian study predicts, 65% of today's teens will end up in careers that haven't even been invented yet. We don't need to flip the classroom. We need to make it do cartwheels.

Google Maps for Android is fantastic. Between its free GPS Navigation feature, speedy downloads thanks to vector-based maps, and offline caching, the app is leagues ahead of the Maps app on iOS. Today, Maps for Android is getting upgraded to version 6.0, and it includes a long-anticipated feature that presents a huge technical challenge: indoor maps. Yes, you'll now be able to fire up Maps in some malls, airports, and department stores to get your bearings, complete with that 'little blue dot' that shows you where you are. 

SCVNGR is a unique game app that lets you check-in at locations and participate in scavenger hunt treks and challenges for points. You can also create your own on SCVNGR's website. It is social in that you can track the progress of other Scvngr users who you are connected to through invitations, Facebook and Twitter.

SNApps4Kids is a volunteer community of parents, therapists, doctors, and teachers who share information on how we are using the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and Android devices with children who have special needs. We have found these mobile devices to provide accessibility for children who may have been previously disengaged from the world because of challenging language, motor, or other developmental delays. Given the rising number of apps on the market and the diverse skills of children with special needs, parents have found each other to be one of the best resources for choosing apps to enhance everyday life for our children. While our group is primarily parent-driven, our efforts are naturally collaborative with the people who help our children develop particular skills - therapists and educators.

Professional Development for me used to be about going to sessions on specific days and then trying to 'bring back' what I've learned and incorporate it into my daily practice. Sometimes this was very challenging, I would get inundated with new information and find it very hard to apply what I learned into what I did on a day-to-day basis. Often my notes would be filed away, not to be seen again.

The post offers information about some engaging presentation tools available for teachers who could start using them in the classroom to better engage students. The teachers are then challenged to find ways for their students to create projects using these tools. 

Learn the basics of computer programming with Daisy the Dinosaur! This free, fun app has an easy drag and drop interface that kids of all ages can use to animate Daisy to dance across the screen. Kids will intuitively grasp the basics of objects, sequencing, loops and events by solving this app's challenges.

Great video about the challenges of US copyright policies and how repressive they are. Check it out.

The future after physical existence ends. Great video  for challenging student thinking about the future.

Blog Post from Tom Whitby who is concerned about the apparent lack of learning by many in the teaching profession. Provocative, but much to challenge us.

"Quandary is a free, online game that engages your students in ethical decision-making and develops skills that will help them recognize ethical issues and deal with challenging situations in their own lives. This page brings together all the information you need to successfully implement Quandary as part of your teaching, including a handy teacher guide, classroom implementation video, lesson plan and worksheet. We've also mapped the game to the Common Core standards. And don't forget to head over to the teachers' forum to share your own ideas and discuss tips and techniques from other educators."