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"Sending small cameras to ultra-high altitudes with weather balloons is a do-it-yourself craze these days and today's activities have more of a "let's see what happens" feel than any rigorous product testing. The team, made up of Google engineers and students from the University of California, Santa Cruz, is mainly curious to see how well the phone's sensors cope with a freezing cold near-vacuum."

Google Nexus now joins the list of iPHones and digital cameras that have been raised into near earth orbit by students. All that remains is to slingshot one into space with a big rubber band .. or for one to land in my back yard :-)

Interesting development - CBS beginning to test HTML 5 for iPad as opposed to Flash.

One of my favourites - Years 7-12 tutorials for all students in mathematical areas with quick videos and tests to check understandig. Created by McDonalds but still really good!

New York City's heralded $75 million experiment in teacher incentive pay - deemed "transcendent" when it was announced in 2007 - did not increase student achievement at all, a new study by the Harvard economist Roland Fryer concludes. "If anything," Fryer writes of schools that participated in the program, "student achievement declined." Fryer and his team used state math and English test scores as the main indicator of academic achievement.

Create and test a mobile app. Author app. Host and promote your app. Link to FB, Flickr, Twitter, Picasa, and other media sites. Create a mobile version of a regular web site.

By Jacqui Murray. User-friendly, kid-tested. Organized by grade and topic-scroll down until you find your grade and subject. Each grade level also has websites for teacher.

"I've been reading snippets of Eli Pariser's book, The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding From You. He leads off the book with a discussion of the effect of Google's "personalization" feature on the ranking of search results. This feature uses 54 signals (what browser version you're using, your prior searches, geographic location, and so on) to customize search results for each user. Pariser was concerned about this and tested it by asking two friends to run the same search at the same time and comparing the results. He found that the results were disturbingly different, and concluded that search engines are "increasingly biased to share our own views. More and more, your computer monitor is a kind of one-way mirror, reflecting your own interests while algorithmic observers watch what you click.""

A tool to check whether a website is down for everyone or just you. Very handy!

Microsoft Corp. on Monday made the latest edition of its Office software suite available for testing and plans to make key applications such as Word and Excel available over the Web -- acknowledging burgeoning competition from Internet giant Google Inc. and others.

"It is a common view that "if only someone could break this down and explain it clearly enough, more students would understand." Khan Academy is a great example of this approach with its clear, concise videos on science. However it is debatable whether they really work. Research has shown that these types of videos may be positively received by students. They feel like they are learning and become more confident in their answers, but tests reveal they haven't learned anything. The apparent reason for the discrepancy is misconceptions. Students have existing ideas about scientific phenomena before viewing a video. If the video presents scientific concepts in a clear, well illustrated way, students believe they are learning but they do not engage with the media on a deep enough level to realize that what was is presented differs from their prior knowledge. There is hope, however. Presenting students' common misconceptions in a video alongside the scientific concepts has been shown to increase learning by increasing the amount of mental effort students expend while watching it."

"It is a common view that "if only someone could break this down and explain it clearly enough, more students would understand." Khan Academy is a great example of this approach with its clear, concise videos on science. However it is debatable whether they really work. Research has shown that these types of videos may be positively received by students. They feel like they are learning and become more confident in their answers, but tests reveal they haven't learned anything."

"Every teacher is taught that back up plans are a must. Things change constantly in education and there are a variety of factors that can make plans change - computer breaks, internet goes out, file is corrupted, forgot your flash drive at home, you finish a lesson early with a class, your class has very low attendance due to a school activity or event (like AP testing, prom, etc), lesson runs long, students don't understand the material, class is interrupted by a fire drill. To deal with these issues, teachers must have back up plans ready to go and be flexible and organized. Here are some tips and resources for backup plans."

A systems model of how ethnic tensions flare into violence has passed a test in Switzerland, where harmony prevails except for one region flagged by the analysis. The model runs census data through an assembly line of high-powered mathematical processes, but at its root is one basic assumption: that community-level violence is primarily a function of geography, modulated by the overlap of political, topographical and ethnic borders.

In Pret homeworks, students practise, recall, extend and think. This homework template is versatile and adapatable. Typically you would follow up a Pret homework in class with a spelling, definition or memory test and a discussion about research findings. Craig Barton shares some ideas on how to use Pret homeworks in this 'Resource of the Week' post. Most of the homeworks on this website can be edited to suit your needs. There are homeworks suitable for Key Stage 2 up to A level.

"In an attempt to uncover what works, I combed through a few hundred apps and analyzed them by asking the following questions: How easy is this app to use for less tech-savvy students and teachers? Is the app free? This is crucial for multi-device or BYOD classrooms. What are other educators saying about this app? How are an array of classrooms using this app? How often should the app be used? Can the app be used out of the classroom? Is it designed to be easy enough to use when teachers or classroom leaders aren't there to help? There are, of course, many other questions to consider when trying out an iPad app (or any other smart device app) for classroom usage. However, I'd recommend taking your deliberate time and spending as much time testing, researching, and trying out as many apps as possible."

"The ChemCollective is a collection of virtual labs, scenario-based learning activities, tutorials, and concept tests. Teachers can use our content for pre-labs, for alternatives to textbook homework, and for in-class activities for individuals or teams. Students can review and learn chemistry concepts using our virtual labs, simulations, and tutorials"

"Post created after a question from a teacher who was looking for a way to impose a time limit on a quiz or test administered through Google Forms. My suggestion was to try using the Google Forms Add-on called Form Limiter. In the video embedded Richard Byrne demonstrate how to install and use Form Limiter."

Online learning is no longer about the technology - off the shelf tech is already good enough. It's now about a series of choices that teachers and education impresarios can make (or shy away from).