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ePals and th Smithsonian are sponsoring their third Invent It challenge where students address real world problems with inventions. The projects are due on April 11. Sign up now and plan this authentic project into your classroom this spring.

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."

Challenges for using hopscotch in the classroom by Wesley Fryer. This is a great app to use with ages 8 and up.

NEA Foundation and the US Department of Education Challenge to Innovate contest is requesting classroom teachers to identify and solve the current pressing issues regarding education. Smallish grants designed to help implement small pilot projects.

Interactive Science experiments and challenges for your class. The latest is how to make a mud battery.

The global film on the fly challenge. There was a challenge on March 14th - it is a mobile phone filmmaking contest.

Children are among the most frequent users of the Internet, yet searching and browsing the web can present many challenges. Studies over the past two decades on how children search were conducted with finite and pre-determined content found in CD-ROM applications, online digital libraries, and web directories. However, with the current popularity of the open Internet and keyword-based interfaces for searching it, more critical analysis of the challenges children face today is needed. This paper presents the findings of an initial study to understand how children ages 7, 9, and 11 search the Internet using keyword interfaces in the home.

This from my email: "This is Natasha Dantzig for the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Conference. I'm writing to let you know that organizers of the TED Prize have announced an open challenge in support of author and philanthropist Dave Eggers and his 2008 TED Prize wish to collect 1,000 stories of private citizens engaged in their local public schools. Each year, three individuals are granted the TED Prize, which provides winners with a wish to change the world, $100,000 in seed money, and the support of the TED community in making the wish come true. As an extension of Eggers initial wish, the open challenge asks individuals to design and implement new projects for local public school students. The three winning entries will receive a pass to the sold out TED2009 Conference to be held in Long Beach, California on February 4-7, 2009. " Good luck with sharing. I find it interesting that the projects that are emerging between public and private schools and crossing the lines and boundaries between us (which is what we should be doing) could only be submitted by a public school person and then, may not be considered because it can only be for public school students. In some ways, the writing of the proposal itself is limiting because it doesn't see the vision of what is truly happening in education.

Vocab Genii is a new site offering challenging vocabulary games. The basic purpose of Vocab Genii is to offer games that require players to unscramble letters to create a word that matches the definition provided.

So, want to join in the challenge - looks like a lot of fun!

In this discussion, we will be looking at how teachers can leverage the use of mobile devices to help students learn and the challenges they and their students face in making this happen.

"aroundtheworldwith80schools * Join this WikiJoin this Wiki * Recent ChangesRecent Changes * Manage WikiManage Wiki 1. Home 2. After Skype Calls 3. Curriculum Integration 4. During Skype Calls 5. Journey Around the World 6. Obectives & Standards 7. Preparing Skype Calls 8. Signing-Up 9. Skype Rituals 10. Technical Know How 11. Time Zones 12. Your 2BJourney 13. Your ASMadrid Journey 14. Your Journey edit navigation * home * pagesubmenu o Details and Tags o Print o PDF o Backlinks o Source o Delete o Rename o Redirect o Permissions o Lock * discussion (8) * history * notify me Details last edit Nov 6, 2009 3:14 pm by langwitches langwitches - 11 revisions hide details Tags * none * Type a tag name. Press comma or enter to add another. Cancel Protected I am Technology Integration Facilitator and 21st Century Learning Specialist from Jacksonvill e, Florida/ USA . I am taking on the challenge to connect my students and teachers with at least 80 schools in different countries and continents. We want to circle the globe. Will you connect with us via Skype to complete the challenge? All it takes is a 5-10 minute Skype call. Interested? Sign up for the project to be added to a growing list of over 200 interested teachers from around the world. around-world3.jpg"

"In the book, Atwal challenges the more traditional means of providing professional development for teachers - usually involving the implementation of government imposed initiatives, rather than individualised professional learning opportunities. The challenge is finding space to deliver a more dynamic learning environment for teachers - a thinking school that is fundamental to improving children's learning experiences."

"re you a bright spark with a brilliant educational technology idea that could change the way we teach and learn in schools and drive up educational outcomes? If so Cool Initiatives wants to hear from you! Cool Initiatives, premier early stage investor in education and edtech, has just launched The Cool Initiatives Education Challenge 2019 . It's giving away a total of £17,500 - no financial strings attached - to students, teachers or early stage start ups that offer an innovative edtech solution to change the face of education as we know it today."

"Making Every Maths Lesson Count is underpinned by six pedagogical principles - challenge, explanation, modelling, practice, feedback and questioning - and presents 52 high-impact strategies designed to streamline teacher workload and ramp up the level of challenge in the maths classroom. Throughout this book, Emma McCrea (through extensive research and practice) explores how to manage mathematical misconceptions with practical ideas on many areas of the required curriculum. The six pedagogical principles mentioned above form the heart of the book, with metacognitive questioning given space in developing cognitive strategies with pupils. "

Good model for introducing video conferencing to your school district and creating a positive atmosphere for bringing virtual experiences into classrooms.

The Kids' Science Challenge is a nationwide competition for 3rd to 6th graders to submit experiments and problems for REAL scientists and engineers to solve. Play science games, watch videos, and enter to win awesome prizes and trips!

"The biggest challenge we're presented with right now is how to take advantage of all the things the Internet has to offer without compromising our students' security or giving them access to things that are inappropriate,"

Many students across the country aren't prepared for the more rigorous math, a think tank has found, posing potential challenges to the education system.

Business people and management should read this article about the transformation of business by using workplace communities. "Workplace communities are designed to solve workplace-related challenges" -- they focus on tasks. I would find it interesting to see a business REALLY use technology to change things. Having the business in a business network (OK a NING) and let people tag their posts with the business related PROBLEMS they are having and blog, video, or photograph it-- the tag cloud would tell the business IMMEDIATELY what the problems are in the company. The problem with this model is that there are few corporate executives who REALLY want to know the problems within their organizations. They don't want to be problem solvers, just opportunity creators. However, when managers open their eyes (and I'm a former General Manager myself) and see that two things give business opportunity: problem solving and innovation. And they are directly related. True innovation solves problems. Read this article and think about how you may solve problems using the networks you may now create. If you don't want everyone to know, keep it private and only allow people in your company in.