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Great article about the importance of Computer Science. This is one of those that superintendents and principals should email their curriculum directors, school board members and PTO's to support and encourage this kind of education. "This is not about helping the tech industry. It's about the tech industry helping the rest of America. Today, 67 percent of software jobs are outside the tech industry. If hiring computer programmers is challenging for Silicon Valley, it's an even greater challenge for every other industry in America. Tech jobs aside, teaching kids basic computer science is valuable no matter what career path they might choose. Every child can benefit from a strong foundation in problem-solving. As software is taking over the world, a rudimentary grasp of how it works is critical for every future lawyer, doctor, journalist, politician and more. American schools are struggling to teach basic math and English, and skeptics may worry that we can't afford to teach anything else. We'd argue that computer science is part of the solution: it motivates kids to learn other subjects. If a school can afford to teach biology, history, chemistry and foreign languages, it should teach computer science too."

The Taboo show talks about things that are hard to discuss. The most recent show talks about how to teach with a broken heart. I know I've been broken hearted enough to quit at least twice in my short 12 year career and most teachers I know have been there. This is an important topic with lots of great discussion from one teacher who is there and some who've been there. If this is you, take a listen and I hope this helps. "Even the best teachers feel disillusioned about teaching at times. However, some are brokenhearted and dispirited about what teaching has become, yet continue teaching because they have limited alternatives. Is there a solution? Follow:@blairteach, @JessedHagopian @coolcatteacher, @bamradionetwork"

We say we want our kids to be problem solvers, but all too often, when faced with the challenges of a changing educational landscape, we don't offer solutions. Instead, we offer excuses as to why we shouldn't solve the problem, why it's better to just keep on keepin' on. And solving these problems is getting easier and easier,

Civil War Augmented Reality project -- just in my inbox. You civil war buffs and history teachers may really get a "kick" out of this. Speaking of "kick" they are trying to get a grant that requires people to vote for them. Take a look: "This message is from a group of educators in Pennsylvania who have developed a Social Studies project that is in the process of raising a modest amount of money to build prototypes for gathering additional partners. Our project, the Civil War Augmented Reality Project, is intended to enhance the experiences of students visiting Civil War sites. It is also intended to increase attendance and revenue for historic sites by offering both "high" and "low" tech experiences to best reach the majority of the population. We feel that our project is fulfilling a need that educators, park workers, technology enthusiasts, and Civil War enthusiasts have discussed in the past: How can historic sites both raise educational value and public interest in their institutions though technology, while not alienating the non-technical history fans? We have worked hard on the answer, and are interested in promoting our creative solutions. We would like to make clear that the project is not intended solely for Pennsylvania. It is our hope that the project will expand to other venues, as we feel that we have the ability to use our ideas to enhance the experiences of all students at historic sites."

Empathy, Not Technology, Is Core of the Problem and the Solution My thoughts here: http://daily-ink.davidtruss.com/empathy-not-technology-is-core-of-the-problem

A discussion of, and model for how interactive your classes are - with a bias towards technology but the feet firmly in teaching in general.

Website will permit you to create a tutorial for displaying the websites you like or how to explore. It will even display notes on different pages that you may have left for future reference.

JogTheWeb is a simple, ergonomic solution which allows you to create, read and share a new online media: the WebBOOK; the necessary tool to providing real turnpage briefs or binders including both personal input and dynamic pages from the web.

Technology Problems of the Week (tPoWs) are freely accessible problem-solving challenges modeled on our Problems of the Week that take advantage of interactive mathematics tools such as Java applets, TI-Nspire™, The Geometer's Sketchpad®, Fathom™, or spreadsheets. Students are invited to use the link "Submit your answer" to share their solutions, and then "self-mentor" using specially designed hints, checks, and suggestions for extensions.

A great student-created video to show students.

The task was simple: Have your advisory pick an issue in the school and then create a video that promotes awareness of the problem and/or a solution to the problem.

High tech-low budget solutions

The list is compiled from the contributions of 155 learning professionals (from both education and workplace learning) who shared their Top 10 Tools for Learning both for their own personal learning/ productivity and for creating learning solutions for other

The Imagine Cup is a global student technology competition focused on finding solutions to real-world issues. It's the dawn of a new Imagine Cup. Are you ready to change the world?

Instructables is the Biggest How To and DIY community where people make and share inspiring, entertaining, and useful projects, recipes, and hacks.

a comprehensive database of do-it-yourself videos and articles.  The site is packed with homegrown tips, expertise and instructions on how to undertake thousands of useful activities.Want to turn an old NES cartridge into a functioning external hard drive with just a soldering iron and a screwdriver?  How about retrofitting your original 1984 Mac so it can run the current Apple operating system or training a guinea pig to play dead? It's all there for you to discover.You can also find solutions to problems that aren't quite answered by the array of videos.  Just post a query in their answers forum and one of the site's regular users (or "pros" in their lingo) will likely answer it (and turn the answer into a video).If you've got knowledge you want to contribute, click on the Submit button to post your own article or video. (You know, in case you want to give back a little).

Problems posed, money offered for solutions by business. The way of innovation in the 21st century.

"The modern American school faces rough challenges. Budget cuts have caused ballooning class sizes, many teachers struggle with poorly motivated students, and in many schools a war is being waged on distracting technologies. In response, innovative educators are embracing social media to fight back against the onslaught of problems. Technologies such as Twitter and Skype offer ideal solutions as inexpensive tools of team-based education."

Student questions and questioning become a major focus of classroom activity as teachers demonstrate and then require effective searching, prospecting, gathering and interpretation techniques while students use the tools and information to explore solutions to contemporary issues.

For those that don't work with an LMS, Engrade looks like a fine tool for educators.  It integrates some interesting power tools. Discussions, wikis, quizzes, messaging.  This might be an LMS substitute for those teachers looking for a free blended tech solution.  Worth investigating!

"25 August 2011 Last updated at 02:17 GMT Help People who are deaf or hard of hearing have long complained that going to watch a film can be an unsatisfactory experience, with subtitled films on at unsociable times and often suffering from technical problems. But a solution could soon available in the form of special glasses which allow the wearer to see subtitles directly in front of their eyes, giving them the freedom of choice afforded to hearing people. Graham Satchell reports."