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Here's just a quick demo of AirPlay Mirroring - from the iPad 2 to my MacBook Pro, using the Air Server app on the Mac. Air Server has just been updated to include this functionality - so after what seemed like an eternity waiting for this to be possible, this week we suddenly have two Mac apps that offer this capability.

Is it possible to be both a wired and unwired educator at the same time? Sounds like someone trying to explain Schrödinger's cat (the cat is both alive and dead at the same time, Google it).  I'm talking about being "an untethered teacher."  Sometimes, we end up tethered to the technology in our classroom.  To me, this is most evident with the interactive white board at the front of my classroom (I've intentionally omitted any particular brand name devices). Fortunately, I've been using AppleTV to untether myself from the front of the room.

Search faster with Heapr.com I'm serious. Just try it. It's faster. It's like 38% faster than the standard Google.com search. No, I did not just pull that statistic out of my ass. Ok maybe I did. But here's why it's faster: Searching on keypress One page load. Aggregation of results from Google, Twitter, Wikipedia, WolframAlpha, Flickr, and other sources. Other neat features: View Google Images alongside Flickr at images.heapr.com No ads. Zippo. Zero. Easily view YouTube, Hulu, and Vimeo videos without ever leaving the page at videos.heapr.com Download YouTube videos for free with just the click of a button. Just search for your video, and click Download. Real time tweets at twitter.heapr.com Just plain Google. With search on keypress. Insanely fast. At lite.heapr.com Get a super fast browser toolbar plugin so you can use that little search box in the top right of your browser

"I have embarked on a completely new approach to teaching three Year 10 classes the dreaded and much maligned OCR Nationals ICT course .. Here is a step-by-step outline of the approach to teaching of this. In my opinion, with the right approach, ICT can and will be an essential part of your students' learning."

Mobile learning is in the air, almost everyone realizes the potential, and some companies are now taking tentative first steps. While I haven't blogged in a while, I continue trawling through my RSS feeds, seeing more and more references to mobile learning, mlearning, performance support, 'just-in-time' and so many other terms that make sense in that context. Here are some interesting links I've come across recently, mostly about mobile learning and some about learning in general that I found interesting. Do note some of these link up to dated articles.

"How to integrate less distracting YouTube videos into the classroom:  This one is really a no brainer: want to use YouTube? Clean it up!  I find great content I find on YouTube (as do my students). All of the "extras" around the videos can be SO distracting as a searcher and viewer.  These options are outstanding for making videos less distracting so that your students can focus on the learning happening."

"This movie has been put together as a summary of what I see as my role as a teacher. It includes some of the highlights of teaching over the last 12 months. It will be shared with participants at the ICTEV conference in Melbourne on May 26th where I will be honoured with the ICTEV Teacher/Educator of the Year Award 2012"

There are plenty of Google search cheat sheets floating around. But it's not often you get to hear advice directly from someone at Google who offers you his favorite search tools, methods and perspectives to help you find the impossible. Here are some of my favorite tips shared by Russell at the 2012 Investigative Reporters and Editors conference. Some of these techniques are powerful but obscure; others are well-known but not fully understood by everyone.

Will be the start of my game design unit, a lead in to Scratch

" A recent study at Illinois Wesleyan University found that fewer than 25% of students could perform a "reasonably well-executed search." Wrote researchers, "The majority of students - of all levels - exhibited significant difficulties that ranged across nearly every aspect of the search process." That search process also included determining when to rely on Google and when to utilize scholarly databases, but on a fundamental level, it appears that many people just don't understand how to best find the information they seek using Google. Thanks to the folks at HackCollege, a number of my "secrets" are out. The infographic below offers a helpful primer for how to best structure searches using advanced operators to more quickly and accurately drill down to the information you want. This is by no means an exhaustive list of search operators and advanced techniques, but it's a good start that will help set you on the path to becoming a Google master."

Easy way to get a hold of a Google Music account (up to 20,000 songs in the cloud).  I went through all the steps and it worked a treat. Grabbed the Google Music App for Android off the XDA website just searched for google music apk and downloaded it to a dropbox folder and installed. Make sure you sign up for google music first before installing the App. Let you know in 20 days how I go uploading my entire library.

FYI XDA Developers link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1072655

"Spongelab Interactive is a group of scientists, teachers, animators, artists, and programmers passionate about science education. We believe that cutting-edge technology and stunning interactive media should be available to everyone, regardless of fiscal constraints. Most of the content on our site is free. Like what you see? It's yours. To use anything identified as premium (usually full games, interactives or case studies) you can: Redeem the credits you have earned while using our site - each piece of premium content is marked with a "P" and can be redeemed when you select it from the search results page Buy a bank of credits through our PayPal ordering system - In the My Profile area, order blocks of credits in the Buy Credits section. Purchase a Site License - Get access to all content, unlimited student seats, all for $600 CAD, contact us and we do the rest. "

My presentation notes for SK12!

In short; being able to accurately visualise networks has big implications for influencer mapping, identification and outreach. If you can discover who the idea starters, amplifiers or adapters are, you are at a distinct advantage (check out 'The Fire Hose, Ideas, and 'Topology of Influence' by my Edelman colleague, Jonathan Hargreaves for more information on influence).

Post fron Richard Byrne "Both Diigo and Jing have been written about on numerous occasions here at the Free Technology for Teachers blog, but I wanted to share my experiences using both tools when grading assignments. I teach an information literacy course for the college where I work as a librarian"

ClassDojo makes it easy to keep my students alert and on-task. Improve specific student behaviors and engagement by awarding and recording real-time feedback.

"Have you heard the phrase "That's true because I saw it on TV" at some point? It was often the truth in the old days when people only had the TV or newspaper to relate to. What you saw or read was the truth, although it obviously wasn't always so. Today, thanks to the Internet, we consider ourselves much more enlightened. We can discuss and examine the source in a way that was not possible in the past. But are we really aware of all information flowing up over the net? What is really true and what's not? When someone presents a bit of loose facts on Twitter, I usually respond with something like "64% of the facts on the Internet is 48% incorrect according to 52% of respondents", completely made up numbers out of my head, but it makes people think a little extra. It is somewhat disturbing at times when the bandwagon takes of and speeds up, without people being critical. People stand up for situations that may never have happened, and spin on it which ultimately results in that it will be trated as facts, or a faktoid."

"Google Docs is a fantastic tool for professional and student collaboration. After using Google Docs for an extended period of time, it becomes evident to most Google Docs users that your inbox can become a cluttered, hectic and confusing mess. Magnify that confusion X 100 when you start to have students share their documents with you for evaluation and grading and you can have a colossal mess on your hands. Based on my experience using Google Docs for the past two years, I have come up with a strategy that I think may help anyone who plans on using Google Docs with students next year. "

Nowadays teachers and students have a variety of ways to show what they know and to express themselves. Take a look at some of the hottest online and mobile tools for showing, explaining, and retelling in my infographic, "Show What You Know Using Web & Mobile Apps." These tools can turn students into teachers and teachers into super-teachers! Furthermore, most of the apps listed in the infographic are free of charge.