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Forget whining about access, never mind the slow speed of change, get over the obstacles! Go after meaningful results. Engage and empower students. Be a leader and a role model.

This is a cool grant requiring a 100 word essay about how technology benefits and helps education and is one I'll be doing in the fall -- it is only open to schools in the US but it is public and private -- check the website for rules and good luck. Info from their site: "Each year, Samsung's Hope for Education holds a contest where students from schools nationwide can write a 100-word essay about how technology benefits and helps education. In 2008, the top winner receives a grand prize of over $200,000 worth of Samsung technology, Microsoft software and cash grants from DIRECTV, as well as the SCHOOL CHOICE® educational television programming package. Entries are open now. Contest will run until August 31, 2008."

win a $200,000 grant by having your students write essays. This is exciting.

LinkBunch lets you put multiple links into one small link which you can share over IM, Twitter, email or even a mobile phone SMS. Learn more about LinkBunch here. Simply put in a list of links in the box below and click 'Bunch' to get your small LinkBunch

LinkBunch lets you put multiple links into one small link which you can share over IM, Twitter, email or even a mobile phone SMS.

This study breaks a lot of the stereotypes people may have about use of the Internet. It also presents important information for libraries and schools.

Wow -- this longitudinal study shows that all generations show "google generation" traits with over 65 year olds spending 4 more hours a week online than some of the younger ages. It argues that libraries must adapt to the digital mindset AND that young people are lacking in information skills! This is an important study for all educators, business leaders, AND students on the Horizon project. Another reason to remind ourselves that we base practice on RESEARCH not STEREOTYPES!

Wow -- this longitudinal study shows that all generations show "google generation" traits with over 65 year olds spending 4 more hours a week online than some of the younger ages. It argues that libraries must adapt to the digital mindset AND that young people are lacking in information skills! This is an important study for all educators, business leaders, AND students on the Horizon project. Another reason to remind ourselves that we base practice on RESEARCH not STEREOTYPES!

From the site: 1. Teachers now have an unprecedented resource of meaningful science projects to engage their students. 2. Students can work with professional scientists anywhere in the world on real research projects that benefit us all. 3. Students can create their own projects and find collaborators all over the planet. 4. Citizen scientists can find like-minded people to share ideas. 5. Home-schoolers now have a network of science lovers to use as a resource for their children. 6. Professional scientists now have a turn-key solution to promote their research projects, archive their data, find collaborators and reach out to thousands of people they could not reach before.

From the site: 1. Teachers now have an unprecedented resource of meaningful science projects to engage their students. 2. Students can work with professional scientists anywhere in the world on real research projects that benefit us all. 3. Students can create their own projects and find collaborators all over the planet. 4. Citizen scientists can find like-minded people to share ideas. 5. Home-schoolers now have a network of science lovers to use as a resource for their children. 6. Professional scientists now have a turn-key solution to promote their research projects, archive their data, find collaborators and reach out to thousands of people they could not reach before.

Another PA parent opts his child out of PSSA standardized testing as a measure of civil disobedience.  Word of caution:  This can very much hurt a school's Adequate Yearly Progress and ultimately the school may suffer.  But, what if this movement spread amongst parents?  What then?  Would the government take over the school?  

Photo Tricks - Upload Mashable Photo, Over 2,500 Templates. Add Frames/Borders/Mask, WordArt, Novelty Layouts

"The North Atlantic Ocean has spawned more hurricanes and tropical storms over the last decade than it has since a similarly stormy period 1,000 years ago, according to a new study." This article would be excellent for some discussions in science about climate change.

Much of what is called virtual education is really just bad teaching done on the cheap. Most of what I have seen offered as online courses for students doesn't rise to the level of a mail-order correspondence course. There may be no lectures, but there is no deep learning to be found either. Teachers don't know their students and the pedagogical emphasis is on product over process.

Love this response, bonus opportunity by Suzie Nestico. When she emailed and asked for a response and the first would get bonus - 5 replies - listen to what DID get them to respond: "I sent a message to my students via our Google Group around 8:00PM on Sunday night. This message said, "Need any more bonus? Respond to this message for two points. If you tweet it, text it, call your friends, post as you FaceBook status, and another student mentions they got word from you, you get FIVE points." Guess what? By 11:00PM on Sunday night, I gave out bonus points to over THIRTY of the ninety students. By 8:00AM today, I gave out bonus to an additional eighteen students. In just changing one thing I did, I just reached nearly half of my students. I could have said, "the first ten students to respond will get bonus," in order to foster competition. But, I tried a bit of that several weeks ago. In Heidi's words, "Competition 0, Collaboration 1." "

This is an amazing site which allow up to 4 people to collaboarate and play virtual instruments over the web in real time. Play a variety of guitars, drums and drum machines and keyboards. There is no sign up needed and you just invite other 'musicians' by sharing the link and begin jamming. Set to 'pro' mode to play using your computer keyboard. Requires Google Chrome. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Music%2C+Sound+%26+Podcasts

This is my favorite Evernote "help" shared notebook tha I've found from spgscott. I've subscribed to peruse and learn about these things. I almost wonder if we're seeing the evolution of the textbook. What would happen if we could subscribe to the current research and thoughts of a leading scientist? Are we ready for that sort of messy insight into the minds and thoughts of a person who is turning over ideas in their mind. I"m not sure that we are.

Twitter has new photo filters powered by Aviary (an incredible tool that you can add for free, the last time I checked, to your school's Google apps for education account) it is easy to use. This article from mashable covers the changes but wonders if it is enough to pull people away from Instagram, who pulled the "twitter cards' feature earlier this week as more social media organizations try to claim "mine mine" over their users and don't want to share. Meanwhile, those who benefit, tend to be those who share the most.

This is an excellent example of a passion based or personal interest project. Riya is the daughter of a prominent pediatrician and wants to be one herself. She's been making videos since Fall of 2011 for her Pediatric Video channel on Youtube. Her CAT Scan machine video has received over 40,000 views. Wow!

Take time to read this PEW research about teachers and how they are using technology in their classrooms. It is shocking that 73% say they or their students use cell phones to complete assignments. I wish they had separated out this number to know exactly how many let their STUDENTS use their cell phones. To me, this number shows the tide has turned.  Some of the highlights of the research: "Mobile technology has become central to the learning process, with 73% of AP and NWP teachers saying that they and/or their students use their cell phones in the classroom or to complete assignments More than four in ten teachers report the use of e-readers (45%) and tablet computers (43%) in their classrooms or to complete assignments 62% say their school does a "good job" supporting teachers' efforts to bring digital tools into the learning process, and 68% say their school provides formal training in this area Teachers of low income students, however, are much less likely than teachers of the highest income students to use tablet computers (37% v. 56%) or e-readers (41% v. 55%) in their classrooms and assignments Similarly, just over half (52%) of teachers of upper and upper-middle income students say their students use cell phones to look up information in class, compared with 35% of teachers of the lowest income students"

In a recent PEW study, National Writing Project (NWP) and Advanced Placement (AP) teachers said that "a top priority in today's classrooms should be teaching students how to 'judge the quality of online information.'"  Furthermore, teachers are concerned that students don't get past Google, Wikipedia, and YouTube into deeper (and more accurate) ways of collecting information. If you want to discuss research sources, social bookmarking is the best way to do this. We should see more classrooms using Diigo (the most superior bookmarking service, in my opinion) or Delicious as they discuss and share the documents they will use in their research papers.  I've found when topics need deeper research or when the sources of research are in dispute, that social bookmarking is the best way to facilitate those discussions. It is a powerful form of pre-writing for students. If they can begin the conversations around research articles and sources, then more accurate information will emerge in their final document. Often students don't verify the sources of information and should learn to view all online information with skepticism and a critical eye as they converse over what makes a good source. Social bookmarking is a key source of discussion, data collection, and citation in the modern classroom.

If you're on the prowl for great math apps (or any app), crawl over to App crawler - a site that has a lot of apps and ideas for you. There are some very interesting apps here. It is about time, however, for apps to come packaged with textbooks.

You can help them think deeper but it takes time and sharpening the saw. Great article. "A common occurrence in classrooms is that the teacher, when he or she sees the students struggle mightily to "think out of the box" will precipitously step in and give the students the answers, or throw the deeper learning activity out all together, thinking that the students aren't ready for it. What these students and the teachers need is to be patient, practice and build those mental muscles over time. One thing that helps teachers and students is a better understanding the nature of the advanced thinking tools."

I am a 2nd grade teacher from OHIO who is WILD about technology! This fall will be my 17th year of teaching! I have enjoyed sharing my ideas and supporting teachers who have attended my technology sessions. We have traded many ideas and given support to each other over the years through email and Facebook. This blog is a new adventure to share ideas and to learn from a new community! I hope to inspire teachers to use technology in their classrooms. I hope to motivate parents/community members to use technology in their homes and in their daily lives!