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I saw this on Fran Drescher's Twitter account from the Cincinnati Business courier and am quite floored by it. Am I the only one who doesn't know this? How about all of the little kids I see where parents are handing them their ipad and smart phones for play purposes. I jusst need to know more but it is based on a study presented at the Pediatric Academic societies meeting in DC. Of course, they recommend hand washing. But pregnant women should be careful - a 10x increase in maternal PBDE's is associated with a 4 point IQ deficit. Of course, we also have the age old question here of causation or correlation.  I do think we need to know more and also if the equipment we're purchasing to use with young children has PBDEs in them.  If you know more, please leave comments. It does say that some manufacturers are voluntarily phasing these out. "Small children should not touch electronic items such as TVs, mobile phones, computers and other products, according to University of Cincinnati researchers. Chemicals found in such items and in many other products, including older carpets and furniture, can cause behavioral and cognition problems, they have found."

An interactive White Board (IWB) or SMART Board has the potential to deliver content better than traditional methods of teaching. Why? Because it provides multi-media functional interaction across audio, video, and computer media. It is also ideal for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. These qualities of an IWB also promote the dynamic delivery of content (if used to its full potential) in an engaging manner, which allows students to interact with science or math content their self. Examples include: * data manipulation * responding to data * even creating data So with all these attributes - "How are interactive white boards unsuccessfully used in science and math classrooms?" For the most part - not effectively!

Use your smart phone to digitise your student's work and make an online assessment record. Use images, files or Videos from YouTube. Add comments and much more. You can also upload images of work through the website. Why not get your class to upload their own? Really excited about this! http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Planning+%26+Assessment

A well made, child friendly flash site with videos, interactive games and other resources about Internet safety and smart thinking online. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

A great set of videos explaining how various pieces of technology work. See hard drives to touch screen smart phones. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Video%2C+animation%2C+film+%26+Webcams

This is the only way I've found to access Google calendar on Windows 8. The two companies, Microsoft and Google, aren't working together. This is not smart for either of them, I think, but I'll work around it for now.

Fascinating article on design thinking and an attempt to catalog all of the schools using design thinking. I do predict that STEM, design thinking, and creativity are going to become increasingly valued by parents and many who are disenfranchised with a testing environment that is rapidly driving everyone involved to the edge - particularly the students. "Mapping a global movement. A global movement is unfolding, and in response to the overwhelming interest around design thinking in schools, IDEO and the d.school have created a new directory - Design Thinking in Schools - to highlight the network of institutions that are at the forefront of this movement. The directory, launched in mid-October, already features a wide range of programs and resources. There's a mix of learning environments, from charter and district public schools to museums and summer camps. The programs are diverse, including after school "lab" environments and schools that use design thinking as the basis for subject-matter courses. "

Students across the country have already started working on their IWitness Challenge project sponsored by the USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education, but there's still time for youngsters in your community to enter this free online program geared to all secondary-school students. The deadline to enter the Challenge is Dec. 2, 2013. The winning student, along with their teacher and a family member will be brought to Los Angeles to showcase their work as part of the 20th anniversary activities for the Shoah Foundation, which was founded by director Steven Spielberg in 1994 after making "Schindler's List." Tthe IWitness Challenge (iwitness.usc.edu) connects students with the past in a very personal way that spurs them to take action to improve the future. With access to many of the Shoah Foundation's 52,000 testimonies of survivors, liberators and rescuers, students experience history in a way that hits home. Instead of reading facts from textbooks, students feel the emotions and build relationships with those who lived through seemingly impossible situations. But students do more than watch the testimony. The IWitness Challenge compels them to think, to make smart choices and to create their own project and video from what they've learned. By encouraging teachers and students to create their own lesson plans, IWitness allows them to expand on practically any subject they wish to pursue. From civics, government and history to poetry, art and ethics, educators can tailor lessons appropriate for their classrooms. And by using the embedded editor, participants not only learn valuable searching and editing skills, but also how to make ethical editing decisions that ensure their finished assignments are a fair and accurate reflection of what they've seen. All work is kept safe inside the IWitness site and not accessible to the public. Using IWitness is free, but teachers or homeschool parents must register at iwitness.usc.edu.

This has got to be the funkiest instant poll, quiz, response site around. Create questions, quizzes and polls with optional uploaded images for participants to complete in real time from a computer or mobile device. The users access the quiz by using a pin code. The 'question master' gets the data back instantly and it is stored on the site or can be downloaded. This is superb for checking the knowledge of children in your class or that your audience is still awake. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

Got this email from a teacher Hi Vicki- I love your blog, tweets and contributions to flipboard! I am a teacher at a local school district charter high school and appreciate your zeal for teaching and learning. I am not sure if you have heard about Kahoot! but wanted to ask you to check it out by following it on Twitter or watching a few youtube videos of Kahoot in action. I have no financial investment in it or any reason for recommending it other than how much we are enjoying using it at our school and how valuable a tool I believe it to be. Questions can be entered by students or teachers and pictures can be uploaded to each question to add visual appeal. The students can use computers, smart phones, tablets and don't have to have an account- they just log in to kahoot.it and then join the interactive quiz. Everyone gets so involved and passionate and it is great for reviews before tests or for supplemental instruction. The results can be viewed on a spreadsheet and provide formative assessments. It can be used for any ages and any subjects. I am so jazzed about this great new tool and hope you will be too. https://getkahoot.com Kathryn Lewallen Payson, AZ Payson Center for Success High School

A simple multiplication practise site where learners can choose from 6 difficulty levels and answer all the questions as quickly as they can. Players answer the questions using changing buttons, which means no typing is needed, making it idea to use on interactive whiteboards. Because it is designed using html the site also works on most tablets and smart phones. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

The pupils of a special needs primary school in Kitwe, Zambia will receive tablets and smart boards to help them channel their creativity and stimulate them to work on activities together.

A superb e-safety resource with separate sections for primary and secondary students to work through. Choose to sign in to save progress or use without signing in.

But a growing body of research-and a new study from the trenches of the New York public-school system-strongly suggests it might be the other way around. Giving kids the label of "smart" does not prevent them from underperforming. It might actually be causing it.

Really cool searchable database of IWB resources by subject/grade/reading levels

Really cool searchable database of IWB resources by subject/grade/reading levels

Mr B's List is a directory of the best *free* educational websites, (with emphasis on interactive sites) to use with your SMART Board or other interactive whiteboard, etc. Regardless of where your classroom technology comes from I hope you can benefit from quick and easy access to valuable websites for your subject and grade level.

He's young, but he has a lot of smart things to say. Most importantly: my schooling was interfering with my learning.

I knew a lot of very smart, very academically successful kids when I was growing up. I went to CTY which was a rather humbling experience, and then I went to pretty high-powered college.

This is an absolutely incredible blog post regarding the influx of stimulus money for 21st century classrooms and how it will (or won't) impact student learning without attention paid to instructional practices.

Social networking sites are not inherently bad. In fact, they can be quite useful for you to stay in touch with friends and to make new ones. Used wisely, social networking sites do exactly what the name implies - allow you to network with colleagues both personally and professionally. Too many college students and young professionals, however, allow their online profiles to get out of control.

Kent School District informational technology resource page. The site provides tutorials, guides, SMART Technology assistance, and other resources.

Excellent tips for SMART blogging!