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This is a wonderfully designed site to learn Mandarin Chinese. It uses a huge collection of Chinese TV programmes and movie clips with interactive and dual-language subtitles. Click on a Chinese character is see the translation and hear the pronunciation. You can set your ability level and also what sort of media you are interested in. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Mandarin+%26+Chinese+culture

A fabulous site for creating and finding online children's books. Design your 'bestseller' by uploading images and using the bank of media to drag and drop your story to perfection. Then share with a link. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/English

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.)"

A superb history tool which combines timelines, maps, text and media, such as videos and audio. A great way to add depth to the story of past events.

A great site and iOS app for creating location or QR Code triggered treasure hunts and digital 'breadcrumbs'. Create cards of text, images and other media which users can find and view based on their location or when scanning a QR code using a iOS device.

In a world where anyone with an internet connection can access, create and share information, opinions and beliefs, it has become increasingly important that students are not only able to assess the credibility of sources but also to look more deeply at the underlying motivations, beliefs and bias of the creator.

Back in 2011 I was working in the Middle East when a colleague introduced me to Twitter as a tool for professional development and connecting with fellow educators. Prior to this I was aware of Facebook and Twitter, however I considered both as being about nothing more than apps for sharing cute cat videos and status updates. I had a Twitter account for years, however hadn't thought about how it might be a powerful tool to help me become a better educator and provide me with a wealth of new ideas and resources which I previously had not had access to. I had barely used the account beyond the initial setup...

"Warning: Surfing the internet in class is now linked to poorer test scores, even among the most intelligent and motivated of students. Michigan State University researchers studied laptop use in an introductory psychology course and found the average time spent browsing the web for non-class-related purposes was 37 minutes. Students spent the most time on social media, reading email, shopping for items such as clothes and watching videos."

"Children often seek answers from parents, friends and media to better understand their racial identity. Middle school boys who feel secure about their race during this ongoing information gathering will likely befriend diverse people, according to a new University of Michigan study."

This site provides a stylish way to produce instant media rich web pages, polls and invites in seconds. Just choose the text, images, videos and link you want to show and publish it. Give out short link to share with others. You can also set an expiry date for your site. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

Make a sleek looking flash webpage easily in minutes with Flavors Me. Just upload your media and click and drag the items you want in to place. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

Using ipads to teach vocabulary. In this mainstream media article, students are using Toontastic to create stories and learn new vocabulary. My students enjoy Puppetpals, another great one to use.

60 Ways To Use Twitter In The Classroom By Category

There are so many ways that you can use Twitter in the classroom but even if Twitter is blocked, you'll find many ideas that you can use on Edmodo or whatever educational networking tool you're using with your students. Great read.

"I"m a modern day abolitionist." "It just isn't enough to have emotion." This video is a phenomenal portrayal of a boy who has taken up a cause. Loose change to loose chains is his nonprofit. Consider sharing this video with your students. Do you realize that modern day slavery exists? Come on. This is ridiculous. This holiday season, I'm asking that you give a tweet, a facebook status update a day to the cause to #endslavery. What can all the teachers do if we bring awareness to this important issue. The slaves aren't on twitter or social media -they can't speak for themselves. Speak out. Watch this video.

This is a twitter template. Another tool for offline use for those schools who don't get a lot of access but would like to bring some fun social media style activities into the classroom. You do need to join the free TES site to access these, but it is a great site and I'm finding lots of things to use.

A collaborative photo and video sharing site. Create your page and share the link to allow others to add their media to the canvas in real time. It's a great site to share ideas and plan things out. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Photos+%26+Images