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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. "

Absenteeism is a topic we need to discuss! "While research shows that attendance is one of three key predictors of high-school graduation as early as sixth grade, 7.5 million students nationwide miss an entire month of school annually. In New York City, the nation's largest school district, 20 percent of students miss a month each year. Until as recently as five years ago, attendance was not even accurately recorded in cities as large as Washington, D.C."

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

This is an excellent resource area for administrators and teachers done by a superintendent of a small school district in NM.

iPad Pilot Project website for the Palm Beach School District. Includes lots of links to Apps being used, challenges and successes, and many other websites and blogs focused on integrating iPads into the classroom.

FIRST tech challenge. A more reasonable approach for smaller districts

Teachers and students in Lamar County can''t be Internet friends this year after the School Board revamped rules prohibiting them from being friends through online social networks. The Lamar County School Board approved the staff policy against online communication and text messaging between teachers and students at its July 7 meeting.

Content filters and firewalls are great for keeping kids away from pornography, as required by the Children's Internet Protection Act, or preventing them from updating their Facebook status during class. But the same filters can stop teachers from accessing cutting-edge widgets and digital materials that have enormous potential for expanding learning.

This wiki was originally created to support a workshop at the Laguna Beach Unified School district using an AVerMedia AVerVision300AF+ document camera.

If you are looking for some subject-specific ideas for document cameras, this is a start

Document camera ideas for all subjects- wiki

school districts across the country hoping to cherry-pick from thousands of California teachers who have been warned they could be laid off because of state budget woes.

CoSN has long recognized that superintendents can make or break technology initiatives. For example, in a 2004 nationwide survey of 455 technology decision makers, CoSN found that visionary technology leadership - and the community support fostered by district leaders - made the difference in districts that were able to bolster their technology plans, budgets and implementation.

Nice site on 21st Century Leadership

Edublogs has it's own "youtube" geared for education. You can import youtube videos directly. Good video source for those districts where Youtube is blocked.

It is about building capacity! That is where leadership on all levels is needed! It needs to happen across districts, in schools, and even 'one teacher at a time'!

Great Collection of sites. I got this link from my friend Elaine Plybon via twitter @glad2be

Our goal is to help classroom teachers integrate technology into their curriculum by identifying and providing interactive Internet resources addressing specific objectives.

A compilation of lessons created by 7 districts in the Houston, TX area.

CoSN Receives MacArthur Grant: Exploring Policy and Leadership Barriers to Effective Use of Web 2.0 in Schools
The $450,000 grant began July 1st and over the coming year CoSN will focus on the following key objectives:
1.Identify findings from existing empirical research relevant to the use of new media in schools and the barriers to their adoption and scalability.
2. Assess the awareness, understanding, and perspectives of U.S. educational leaders (superintendents, district curriculum and technology directors/CTOs) and policymaker's on the role, problems, and benefits of new media in schools within a participatory culture context.
3. Investigate and document the organizational and policy issues that are critical obstacles for the effective deployment of new media.
4. Develop a concise report of findings and construct an action plan for intervention.

Adams County School District 50 in Colorado throws out grade levels and groups students by mastery levlels. Intriguing!

I would like to provide good classroom examples to school principals in our District such as the two I mentioned earlier that are considering a 1:1 "project" with ipod touches. In particular, I'm interested in classroom activities, assessments, methods, etc. that use ipod touches to support student learning connected to curriculum (embedded). I am also interested in things teachers have tried that didn't work.

"Assessment is a huge topic that encompasses everything from statewide accountability tests to district benchmark or interim tests to everyday classroom tests. In order to grapple with what seems to be an over use of testing, educators should frame their view of testing as assessment and that assessment is information. The more information we have about students, the clearer the picture we have about achievement or where gaps may occur."