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There is something about human nature that draws us towards dichotomous patterns of thought; an all or nothing, us or them style of thinking in which an option is either good or it is bad. In such a model complexity and subtle nuance with multiple possible outcomes and routes towards a goal are ignored. The field of educational technology is one where such a pattern is evident and recent ban on technology by a Sydney school shows how this style of analysis can have a significant impact on student learning.

As technology evolves and its inner workings increasingly disappear from view, replaced with solid-state parts hidden by glass, aluminium and plastic, our understanding of what makes the world operate is similarly impeded. When machinery from just a few decades ago is viewed a world of moving parts, linkages, cogs and levers is revealed. These mechanical objects contain an inherent beauty and inspire curiosity in ways that modern devices with their pristine surfaces and simplified design language do not. Opportunities to explore devices from the past open our eyes and lead us to new questions of how our devices function, how machines do the jobs we need them to do and how engineers solve problems.

What purposes does education serve? What needs of humanity does education serve? What might the product of our labours be like and how might our efforts contribute to the greater good? These are questions we have long struggled with but with but it seems that in the current times we might need to rethink how we answer these questions.

An interesting search engine for learning things. Find key facts, websites, videos, images and quizzes. Adjust the settings to receive results for different age students. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

Explore an interactive concept map Understand connections between key concepts and facts. Customize your map with facts, links, and more

Spin-off from the Facebook group with the same name which some teachers created last year. Most of us are teachers at Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas, and we like to share ideas, links and debate in Facebook, but we thought that all these posts would be better organized if we had a group so they wouldn't be lost among other entries in our personal Facebook wall. When the group started to grow (there are 92 of us already), we realized that we were missing some kind of categorization, so we thought a blog would do the trick. And here we are. We choose the ideas that are more popular among the posts in our group in Facebook and write a post here.

This is a MUST TRY site. It's not often that I'm amazed be an educational resource, but I am with this one. Pora Ora is a stunning educational virtual world for Primary school aged students. Play truely fun educational games which practise skills in English, maths and many other subjects. The graphics and useably is superb. Online safety is at the heart of this site. The parential admin account can set the student's account to free chat with everyone to completely locked down where they have the world to themselves and everything in between. The site has a language filter and users can report any incidents of trouble. Also, the first task requires the user to complete an online safety task. The site is free with a few premium features coming out later. You have got to try this one! http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

A nice swish looking photo storing and sharing site where many users can upload their own photos to one place. Get three free albums. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Photos+%26+Images

Are your meetings disorganised and always over run? This is a good little site for creating agendas and minutes that will keep everything in one place for your staff to work on together. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

A beautifully made Twitter-like social network for schools that supports photos, videos, files and embed html. The site also has a blog feature, calendar and many other fab features. You can set your class to private or public. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

nd from day one we've built Memrise to embody the very best knowledge about how your brain works, and so help you learn as quickly and effortlessly as possible. We use 'mems' to help you form vivid, sensory memories. We test you continuously, always making sure to give your brain just the right workout. We remind you of what you've learned at scientifically optimized times so your memories are always growing stronger, and never forgotten.

This is a superb site which allows you to make video of a drawing with audio. Combine this with a whiteboard and you can record a lesson quickly and easily and embed it on your site. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

This is a beautifully simple site for sharing files over the web. Just drag the files into the window to upload it. Then share the link to share the page of files. You add or delete files at any time. A sign in is not require, but you get more functions if you register for free. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

21st Century Education is an education where students work with real world applications on inquiry-based, real world challenges, acknowledging the connected digital world they live in, where they can communicate and learn globally, and where actionable thinking, innovation, creativity and problem-solving are actively taught, encouraged and nurtured.

This is the third of the series of four articles about teaching the 4Cs to students, focusing on the third essential 21st century skill, Communication.