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Florida's Center for Instructional Technology has produced some very useful matrices on the integration of technology. (Hat tip to Richard Byrne - Free Tech for Teachers)

Must read about considerations for the future directions of our schools and developing the 21st Century learner.

The Extraordinary and the ordinary- the projected trajectories of current computer technologies and their application for sustained mind controlling outcomes. It's already here- we will be interacting with computers with our minds. Incredible applications for learning.

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

Collaborative book written by education professionals and teachers with descriptions of a vast array of technology tools for all levels of the K-12 curriculum.  P. 67 - Addresses school filtering and CIPA.

A report by the US Department of Education Technology from February 2013 (anyone know why this is still a draft?) that shares how we should measure and promote non cognitive factors like grit, tenacity and perseverance. This is one paper to share and discuss.

Doug Johnson is a great read for his blunt, in your face honesty and his point about how technology companies are trying to differentiate is a great one. I think, however, we should extend this to schools as well. If your school is great, say why, but dissing the competition is no way to compete. If you think your school has no competition, think again. So, read this in light of the arriving and coming competition on the edulandscape and have an honest take on how you should "sell" the virtues of your school. If you can't talk about how great your school is and have to resort to how bad the other one is, prepare for a day when you'll shutter the windows and wonder how they're going to keep the bugs out of your empty building. Wake up and smell the wires burning their way into your student's computers and tablets, great teachers are just a click away and we've all got to learn how to blend and trend our courses, teaching, and to bridge our classrooms to add real value as teachers. It isn't hard as you think but if you just sit and teach like you've always taught, you're setting yourself up for some unpleasant days. You can't do everything but you can do something to improve yourself. Next practices are an important part of your best practice. Always innovate and never settle. Standards are only the beginning, you must have purpose if you're going to be a great teacher. Doug says: "But what I do know that when competitors trash each other, I tend to tune out. And I flat out hate it when I know they are lying - and I will NOT buy from a liar. A salesman recently promoted his video storage service by stating "unlike YouTube, we don't own your movies." That's just not true. (YouTube doesn't own your movies, GoogleApps doesn't own your Docs, CIPA, FERPA, etc. do not ban social media.)"

Astounding!

Via @pcwoessner on Twitter. Great development of Digital Citizenship/Internet Safety resources. He has combined NETS-S, Ribble & Bailey's Digital Citizneship in Schools, iKeepSafe C3 Matrix, Microsoft's Digital Citizenship & Creative Content, and SimpleK12's Protecting Students in the 21st Century.

Virtual Reality game to learn Spanish language requires students to interact in real place also.

Gamification is one response. By embedding diverse achievements into activities and assessments, learning progress can be refracted infinitely. These systems would be able to more flexibly respond to unique learner pathways and abilities, and would further serve as encouragement mechanics -- instead of one carrot stick, there are hundreds. And not just carrots, but every fruit and vegetable imaginable.

Really 197 channels for learning? Well, there are many, but if you're like me, you're building a subscription list for your content areas and starting to curate (and perhaps create) some channels. Building a good YouTube stream is becoming part of curation and PLN building - so here's a great place to start.