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App Inventor goes to MIT (via Darren Murphy)

This looks very interesting. The potential is huge for students to develop apps for the Android platform. How can apple beat this one if they have locked down their apps store? The great thing about App inventor is that it looks like it has been modelled on Scratch 'Blocks' of building scripts. My Grade 5 and 6's (some whiz kids lower) would love to get their hands on this. The potential for them to develop their own apps for perhaps an Android tablet or smart phone is enormous. Rich and authentic possibilities for learning. Have DEECD made a wrong choice in going with the ipad? 

"You can build just about any app you can imagine with App Inventor. Often people begin by building games like WhackAMole or games that let you draw funny pictures on your friend's faces. You can even make use of the phone's sensors to move a ball through a maze based on tilting the phone."

Computing pioneer Grace Hopper, inventor of the compiler, searched for a concrete way to create an intuitive understanding of just how fast is a nanosecond, a billionth of a second, which was the speed of their new computer circuits.

A great introduction to Makey Makey is and some of the potentials.

"What happens when you take a comic book artist, an inventor, and a toy designer? You get Howtoons. Our mission is to provide engaging content that teaches kids how to build things, combining instructions with storytelling. Howtoons has a foundation of science and engineering education, inspiring creativity through art and imagination."

Downloadable pdf or online html version (or buy the book) of *the* reference guide on sustainable energies from David MacKay (Inventor of 'Dasher' - Google it!). V. useful for Science lessons.

Google are "launching a new campaign and website, Start with Code, to inspire our inventors of the future to arm themselves with coding skills today. It's full of resources for parents, teachers, and students, to help people take their first coding steps. And we'll add to it over time as we partner with more organisations in Australia who share our belief in Australia's bright tech future."

"In this TEDx talk, Gary Stager, curator of dailypapert.com will share a lightning fast introduction to the wit, wisdom, and powerful ideas of Seymour Papert; one of the greatest educators of the past half century. Even if you are unfamiliar with Papert, you will be astonished by his lasting impact on children as programmers, the maker movement, 1:1 computing, game-based learning, education reform, epistemological politics, and a whole lot more."