Interesting discussion on using social media to connect and collaborate with educators around the world. Educators develop their own PLN they then "take ownership of the learning and it is much more meaningful." Isn't this what we are striving for our students to do?

Interesting article on setting guidelines for limiting the amount of time kids spend on a device. Also brings up issue of parents not really knowing how to help their child use the device for educational purposes. My guess is that most parents defer to their children as the experts on their devices and yield to what they want for apps.

Interesting article - a lot of merit to it - I'm more engaged when doing what I choose to do rather than what I have to do..

Importance of social networking not only for teachers but students as well. Very interesting..

eSchoolNews is a monthly publication that comes to me via email (I'm sure many of you receive it) that is chock full of articles about technology in education. September's issue covered many topics but one in particular stood out to me, Does Research Support Flipped Learning?, intrigued me because the sub title suggests that it might work and improve student learning. A few key points include "Students are actively involved in their own learning.." and in many cases this method "..maximizes time with the instructor and increases the focus on higher-order thinking skills." WOW! Those are two of my favorite skills for students to master. The article also points out four essential elements of a flipped classroom - cleverly calling them the "four pillars of F-L-I-P" (Flexible Environment, Learning Culture, Intentional Content, Professional Educators.) A short article that does a good job of highlights the trend of a flipped classroom.

Made in PicShop, Skitch, and Evernote...
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s205/sh/4289047a-274b-45ea-8782-825c213684fa/74a1d5c35ffb400fcd17d8b58670ac48

Making Simple Sense of iPads in School