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This blog post provides links to some of the best online collections of information Web 2.0 tools to use in education. It is a not to be missed blog posting, with links to websites, etc. to find excellent information and resources.

"Teens who choose to spend time alone may know what's best for them, according to new research that suggests solitude isn't a red flag for isolation or depression. The key factor is choice, say researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Wilmington College: When solitude is imposed on adolescents and young adults, whether as punishment or as a result of social anxiety, it can be problematic. But chosen solitude contributes to personal growth and self-acceptance, they found."

The Great Books Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization based in Chicago, IL. 

Discussion of business research, why it's not so great and how it could be improved

FACT: Students do not need marks to be motivated. Most of the best work I have ever seen came from students who were not worried about evaluative handcuffs.

This is a comprehensive checklist of best practices for online instruction.  The resource was build by Joan Vandervelde and Jim Erbe from the Online Professional Development program at the University of Wisconsin Stout.

"Schools are inherently full of different characters. With a mix of personalities, students and staff can often clash with each other, using different strategies to gain the upper hand, or simply to avoid conflict and live a quiet life. Yet, there are those characters who can be sneaky, back-stabbing, manipulative or darn right confrontational. It's these people who know how to play politics to win friends, influence and possibly to gain the upper hand in climbing the next step on the career ladder."

Review and consider your classroom rules. My best advice is to keep them simple and few and if you want to go into detail, let the students collaboratively write out the details in a google doc or using post it notes as you talk about what kids should and shouldn't do in the classroom. It is great to talk about these things up front because you will understand the "pet peeves" that drive kids crazy about each other (saving yourself time.) I find that spelling out my bare minimum and involving kids in the detaiils gives them ownership.

Since I've been exploring the @TESConnect site as part of the work I'm doing highlighting the best resources of TES that apply to US teachers, I've been drawn to some of the World War 2 footage from the site. This video is Children in World War 2 and I think it is especially helpful to pull video footage from other countries when talking about wars, etc. to gain multiple perspectives. What about drilling down to look at other wars as well?

Every day we feature the best information design and data visualization from the internet. If you share our love for data-filled illustrations, you've come to the right place. We spend countless hours searching the web for the most interesting, visually stimulating, mind blowing infographics. We curate our findings and choose one infographic to publish every week-day. Get free infographics delivered to your inbox, once a day!

Welcome to the Quizmoz GED Practice Tests. Quizmoz offers one of the Internet's largest collection of quizzes for you to tease your brain and pit your mind against the experienced Quizmoz quiz masters. Go ahead and find out what you know about your self and the world around you. Search for a quiz by clicking on the quiz name. Best of luck!!

We invite you to the American School of Bombay, Mumbai on Feb 25, 26, and 27 to immerse yourself in the world of learning with laptops and tablets. ASB Un-Plugged 2010 is for those who wish to understand how students and educators have embraced innovation, change, and leadership in education for the 21st century. Hear educators and students sharing their best practices, strategies and techniques, ideas and applications that have proven to be successful in a one-to-one environment. Learn about the administration of the program-launching a laptop program, professional development, classroom management, responsible use policies, community support, resources, and support structures.

via http://freetech4teachers.blogspot.com/2008/12/secret-builders-virtual-world-for-ages.html\n\nSecretBuilders is a virtual world for children 5 to 14 years old powered by a web 2.0 community of children, parents, educators, writers, artists and game developers. On SecretBuilders, children will explore virtual lands, undertake quests, play games, maintain a home, nurture a pet, and interact with their friends. Three features which form the backdrop for SecretBuilders distinguish it from other online worlds:\n\n * Children learn through immersing themselves in the stories, themes, and concepts from the best in literature, arts and humanities. They will interact with famous historical and fictional figures and be introduced to content and characters from world civilization and the great thoughts and ideas of human creativity. \n\n * Children will create this site, not just consume it. They are directly involved in creating this world with their ideas, critiques and contributions on virtually every aspect of the site and many of their ideas will be implemented!\n\n * Children publish their works - writings, art, videos - making SecretBuilders their own personal store of creativity. They can invite friends and family to view their works, and comment upon them. Seeing their works published and enjoyed by others instills tremendous for self-confidence as well as motivation to do more.\n

Free book for teacher and librarians -- it is supposed to be a good book, available to download free.

If you want a free copy of this book and are a teacher or librarian, follow the instructions on this page. Interesting idea. This book is by Cory Doctorow about altnernate gaming and this is a novel that argues that hackers and gamers are the USA's "best hope for the future." Download the book for free here, or you can request the book for your school. I haven't read it yet -- have any of you?

I choose to sign this declaration because: I wish to take responsibility for upholding the goals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in my daily life and in my community. I will do my best to speak out to protect the freedom and rights of others in my community. I affirm the following principle: "Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status." I believe Every Human Has Rights.

The Mobile Learning Institute's film series "A 21st Century Education" profiles individuals who embrace and defend fresh approaches to learning and who confront the urgent social challenges that are part of a 21st century experience. "A 21st Century Education" compiles, in short film format, the best ideas around school reform. The series is meant to start, extend, or nudge the conversation about how to make change in education happen.

Why teachers should not ever publicly talk like this online.  Period.  Find the good and talk about that.

"I have access to an incredible wealth of credible resources, and I am given as much time as I need to synthesize information and determine how to best leverage it. I have opportunities to collaborate and learn with, and from, experts all over the world. I have the chance to participate in challenge based learning projects where I work to find solutions to a variety of real world problems, and I do it with individuals in locations that I have never been to." "You may be wondering where this amazing classroom is, and my response is unique given the time of day: at home, the gym, my car, the gas station, a school, a picnic table, a friend's house, my back deck, a restaurant… and that is just a few of today's locations. "