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The catalyst for this steep Bitcoin fall is the same as all other industry asset classes, i.e., the extreme uncertainty surrounding the spread of Coronavirus. It has led to a global fight for cash. This latest Bitcoin fall happened a day after the U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a 30-day ban on all visitors traveling from Europe. This further propagated the U.S. Federal Reserve, working with U.K., Japan, Canada, Switzerland, and the Eurozone to shore upon financial markets with a massive stimulus.

This research was published by the U.S. Department of Education on the role on Online Communities. Essentially, the research found that online learning Communities of Practice produce a wide range of values for educators, including immediate and potential value. The primary focus of this research was the role of Community Designers and the questions, concerns, and topics that must be addressed when creating a successful learning community involving educators. While member participation is the key to a successful community, there are other factors that play a major contribution in a group's success as a learning community that are addressed in this research.

This is the U.S. national education technology plan. 101 pages with lengthy bibliography after each section. Currently there is no Congress mandated plan scheduled so this plan will be relevant for awhile. Office of Educational Technology, U.S Department of Education (2016). Future ready learning: Reimaging the role of technology in education. Retrieved from http://tech.ed.gov/files/2015/12/NETP16.pdf

The U.S. Copyright Office answers frequently asked questions about copyright, registration, and services.

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology published a 2017 update to their 2016 National Education Technology Plan Update (NETP): Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education: 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update. The Director of the Office of Education Technology at the time, Joseph South, noted in the report, " Feedback from our stakeholders indicates that the previous five year update cycle was not frequent enough. In response, with this 2017 update, we commence a pattern of yearly, smaller scale updates to the NETP to better account for the pace of innovation in the field."

This fact sheet from the National Center for Education Statistics provides a good overview of the prevalence of Internet usage in schools in the U.S.

With primary elections and caucuses underway in full swing in the USA, be it the Democrats, the Republicans or the Libertarians etc. In a new statement made by Adam Kokesh who is the leading libertarian candidate of the 2020 U.S. presidential race, he says that cryptocurrencyis the tool to achieve the 'American Dream'. Keeping this in mind, he aims to develop the AmeriCoin cryptocurrency.

This site has links to historical maps of the US and all states, it's a great resource for social studies standards, especially geography, maps, and changes in communities over time. Of the states I've looked at so far, the oldest map I've found is from Virginia, dating back to 1617.

Smartphones are very prevalent with students and it seems there is a definite split in education on whether they should be used in the classroom. This article points out some interesting ways to use smartphones and to keep it academic. From assessing student learning, to using apps to teach the U.S. Constitution, the author provides some guidelines for teachers interested in harnessing the potential of smartphones.

This study shows a very specific CoP example, using geography teachers in New Zealand as the subject of research. In the introduction, the researcher states "mandating professional development services to several hired geography teachers is impractical...and needs to be voluntary rather than mandatory." This statement is consistent with CoPs having membership of like-individuals connecting because of their learning needs and wants. Furthermore, the study shows a positive result when connecting 'distant' people as a cost effective way to circumvent budgetary restraints for professional development.

Communities of Practice need to be voluntary and non-threatening in order for an individual to join. In this study, I like how they set up their Community of Practice so that the individual could join a topic or subject matter group that was relevant to their situation or needs. As teachers we are often placed in professional development training that has no relevance to the needs of our classroom. I also like how they set up a dialogue for the members of the group. Participants not only posted their own ideas but shared thoughts and ideas through discussion with others in the group. It seemed to be less intimidating because much of the dialogue took place online. One of the factors that impacted the participants was time. Just like educators in the U.S., the educators in this study found it difficult to find the time to fully participate in these Communities of Practice and some did not even finish the modules. As a result, dialogue toward the end of the module fizzled out and was less engaging for some participants. That is one of my concerns with Communities of Practice. Sometimes if one is not being forced to complete a project, it does not get completed. It takes a lot of discipline to be part of a Community of Practice and a willingness to be there for the other group members.

The Described and Captioned Media Program is a free-loan library of accessible educational media for use by teachers and family member of K-12 students with a vision or hearing loss. This U.S. Department of Education-funded program also serves as a clearinghouse of accessibility information and training resources as well as a gateway to accessibility information from partnering organizations.

Since learning of the NETP, I find myself coming back to it again and again. It is clearly presented and we are allowed to use the content, as long as properly attributed.

This downloadable handbook contains background articles and suggested practices on how to best engage families in their children's education. It was published in 2011 with funding and support from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education to the Academic Development Institute and the Center on Innovation & Improvement.

In Dominique Chargois's Spanish III classes, students interact with native Spanish speakers on Livemocha, a social network for learners of foreign languages. Chargois has used Livemocha Active Spanish as a supplemental learning tool in all of her Spanish III sections in order to engage students and inspire them to learn ad so they could work at their own pace. It also helps expand students' horizons by 'chatting' with individuals who live outside the U.S.

Skype Blog that has several success stories of using Skype in the classroom. Have a U.S. Senator speak in class over Skype, talk with mt climbers on Everest, special guest on Skype Classroom.

Online investigations, games, visual aids, and information categorized by U.S. History, World History, and World Religions

This article talks about the benefits of virtual field trips. It also talks about a specific school near Pittsburgh that took a virtual field trip through videoconferencing. The students did an e-Mission to learn about earth Science.