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Here's a complaint you often hear: We spend a lot of money on education, so why isn't all that money having a better result? It's because we're doing the same thing over and over again. We're holding 40 or 50 million kids prisoner for x hours a week. And the teacher is given a set of rules as to what you're going to say to the students, how you're going to treat them, what you want the output to be, and let no child be left behind. But there's a very narrow set of outcomes. I think you have to open the system to new ideas.

ORBITER is a free flight simulator that goes beyond the confines of Earth's atmosphere. Launch the Space Shuttle from Kennedy Space Center to deploy a satellite, rendezvous with the International Space Station or take the futuristic Delta-glider for a tour through the solar system - the choice is yours

visual solar system simulatioin

The Open University's peer reviewed Journal of Open and Distance Learning, Open Learning, has devoted its first issue of 2009 to the theme of Open Educational Resources (OER).The issue provides an introduction to the emerging OER movement and its implications for education systems and institutions, educators and learners. The articles describe a range of initiatives and issues, and articulate the vision of some of the most committed and passionate champions of Open Educational Resources. Together they communicate the energy and dynamism associated with this new movement, and its potential to extend learning opportunities worldwide.

They are called standards-based report cards, part of a new system flourishing around the country as the latest frontier in a 20-year push to establish rigorous academic standards and require state tests on the material.

Build an Online Debate Community for Your Classroom! Host debates and assign effective homework. Students evaluate, analyze, and synthesize topics on a deeper level through intellectual interaction with their peers.

Build an Online Debate Community for Your Classroom! Host debates and assign effective homework. Students evaluate, analyze, and synthesize topics on a deeper level through intellectual interaction with their peers. I learned of this product at either NECC 09, or the Sloan Consortium Meeting in San Francisco. I was impressed with the ideas underlying an online system that promotes the great critical thinking tools of debate. Just got a trial account. Hope to delve deeper soon. Early adopters can probably get the free 90 / 10 seat deal I was offered. This is a startup and I was impressed by the young thinkers behind this idea.

A very good example of how Learning Management Systems such as Moodle can be used to enable teachers to create their own online 'textbooks'. How cool!

In Finland, Mr. Lankinen said, "people dream to be teachers."

Great article with many things people should know.

Cool article that covers a lot of things that people should know - whether you mind being called a geek or not. Very interesting reading.

Let's face it, a school where text books, classroom book collections, and the "term paper" as the only means of student communication don't need much of a library. A small popular book collection and a word-processing lab with access to Google may actually be all that such a school needs. If the librarian and technology staff are viewed as not having knowledge that is sufficiently relevant to implementing and teaching IL/IT skills, the book room can be staffed by clerks and the techs can keep the e-mail server and student information system up and running from a small hidden office until those applications are outsourced. At the same time, if a school truly decides they want all their students to graduate having mastered a sophisticated set of IL/IT skills, having learned how to solve real problems creatively, and having experienced the power of global communications and collaboration, then a lack of resources - physical plant, equipment and human expertise will truly undercut this effort. Such an undertaking will require 1:1 laptop programs, well-stocked print collections, productivity labs, a fast and powerful network, good online materials, and, of course, a crackerjack professional staff to support both staff and students. 

"Education is about unleashing one's confidence. Education is learning from failure. Education is growing from experience. Education is discovering your passions then pursuing them. Education is not rote memorization. Education is not analyzing books that have no meaning to you. Education is not wasting your time on subjects you hate. Education is not being paralyzed because your afraid to fail."

Finally, a way to implement Response to Intervention in high schools. This model incorporates Professional Learning Teams and data analysis to establish a system for the delivery of interventions.

Understanding what GIS is and what it can be used for. With a GIS application you can open digital maps on your computer, create new spatial information to add to a map, create printed maps customised to your needs and perform spatial analysis. In this worksheet we explore the basic concepts behind Geographical Information Systems.

Barnes and Noble's response to the Kindle: The Nook. It uses the Android operating system (Google's mobile OS) and can install 3rd party Android Apps. It also has an MP3 player but does not have built in text to speech (so no UDL here) - If you use the free wifi at Barnes and Noble you can read any ebook for free - otherwise it is something that you need to buy.

Interview and chapter from Dr. David Barr, founder of the 21st Century Information Fluency Project. This Google book article from Joyce Valenza & Reva Basch's book Super Searchers Go to school reaveal some of David's thinking about the knowledge, skills and dispositions for successful searching. Anyone who knows David Barr recognizes his amazing understanding of 21st century information systems. This is a gem. Don't miss it.

"Fully hosted and fully managed course management system with an integrated social network for K-12 and higher education"

SchoolTool: free gradebook, attendance, calendars and more. What is SchoolTool? SchoolTool is a suite of free administrative software for schools. Since it can be installed easily and used with no licensing fees, SchoolTool can be used by schools for a single purpose, by individual teachers or small teams within schools, or as a whole-school comprehensive student information system, encompassing demographics, gradebooks, attendance, calendars and reporting.

This blog supports Screenr, a desktop video system tied to your twitter account. After capturing the video (max length 5 minutes) you have the choice of tweeting the video url, posting the video to YouTube, downloading the video as an MP4, or using an embed code for webpages. Screenr is similar to Jing in many ways. However, it does not live on your computer, it's completely online or 'in the cloud' if you prefer. Also, screenr gives you functionality you'll have to pay for with Jing. This blog will show you a lot of things that Screenr will go. If you have a need for desktop video, give Screenr a try!

Great, though provoking article