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Award-winning educational futurist David Thornburg discusses classroom design and four learning models he has written about extensively in his book, "From the Campfire to the Holodeck: Creating Engaging and Powerful 21st Century Learning Environments" Is your classroom designed primarily for the traditional lecture? For using technology to do the same old things better than differently? Give out too much information vs. using more open-ended approaches? Transform the way information is learned and used? This article helped me to reflect on the way I encourage the use of technology and how to make its use an experience more reflective of what is presented in the CCSS and 21st century learning. What is your response to the article? Agree, disagree? What model(s) do you see yourself using? What movement would you like to make in your approach?

Whether or not you realize it, you probably have philosophical discussions with your students. But if you use the term "Philosophy", it would probably be met with blank stares. This website, developed by a college philosophy professor, provides an easy to understand, engaging introduction to philosophy for middle schoolers using FILM. I think it could also be used with high school students and used as a tool for how students could engage each other in a variety of discussions across the curriculum.

Innovative use of blended learning, using a  rotating centers approach: Teacher instruction, Group work, Technology group. They are able to do more differentiated instruction within this model and looks like they're using some digital curriculum or an LMS. 

"At Reebok, the cushioning in a best-selling basketball shoe reflects technology borrowed from intravenous fluid bags. Semiconductor firm Qualcomm's revolutionary color display technology is rooted in the microstructures of the Morpho butterfly's wings. And at IDEO, developers designed a leak-proof water bottle using the technology from a shampoo bottle top. These examples show how so-called "peripheral" knowledge -- that is, ideas from domains that are seemingly irrelevant to a given task -- can influence breakthrough innovation. "The central idea of peripheral knowledge really resonates," says Wharton management professor Martine Haas. After all, who can't think of examples when ideas that seemed to bear almost no relation to a given problem paid off in some unexpected way? By bringing peripheral knowledge to core tasks, it is well known that work groups can recombine ideas in novel and useful ways. But the problem, Haas notes, is primarily one of attention: How do you get workers focused on a particular task to notice -- and make use of -- seemingly irrelevant information?"

Krista Moroder, Director of Learning & Instructional Tech. (former teacher) provides some insight into these two tech. integration frameworks and their strengths & difficulties. "I'm going to preface this post by saying that I think both TPACK and SAMR are incredibly useful frameworks- and I use them a lot in my work with education technology. While I don't want to completely discount either framework in this post, I do want to start a discussion- and explain why I am currently not finding them completely effective in my work with teachers. Worth the read....

Kyle Pace, Google Certified Teacher and Instructional Tech. Specialist shares his insights into creating workflows in Google Drive with students. The most common methods used are #2 and #3 (Doctopus is another popular script that I like). However, another teacher shared another on you can view here ( http://goo.gl/Kuy3b9 ) that utilizes the idea of a digital portfolio. Using one of these methods is KEY to helping you and your students more effectively leverage Google Drive...and keep your Inbox a bit leaner from all of those file sharing notifications.

"how educators use blogs with students and the blog platforms they use (and why) here"

Richard Byrne helps readers clarify how to use blogs in teaching practice, including the use of blogs with students. It will help give you some ideas of how to meet your objectives with some different approaches. 

Wonderful reflective expression on ETMOOC using adjectives and research that connects with each. Certainly supports the learning environment and outcomes so many of us have experienced. 

Example of how a school librarian is using Pinterest to share resources with students and teachers in her middle school. Teachers, school counselors, students, etc. could use it in a similar way.

Learn how to build websites using html & CSS, the building blocks of the Internet. Also, here is instruction in writing Java script, PHP, API's, etc. There is s growing movement to teach students how to create using code.

An excellent description on how to use diigo.

Kirsten Wilson (@teachwiki) shares how social media has provided the platform for educators (& others) to share, collaborate, & communicate, moving us from just being social to a community of learners. Curation is an important part of that process. She shares apps she uses to collect and share with others. I like how she includes several good questions to consider in the process.

Great visual and description of how to use Google Drive in creative, effective ways with students. Don't forget, Google Apps also export in MS Office formats.

"Coding In The Classroom: 10 Tools Students Can Use To Design Apps & Video Games" gives some of the best sites where students can learn code for design work. This is a must skill for students who have an interest in computer programming and developing games/apps.

Excellent introduction to the practice of Curation for Professional Learning. Engage in curation by using the steps of aggregation, evaluation, and organization. Use these resources to support all aspects of your teaching practice.

Jonathon Wylie put together some nice steps to using green screen effects on iPad.

Online portfolio for teachers - FREE. I would encourage especially pre-service teachers to consider using a tool like this to help provide something more engaging than the standard resume. One of my goals this summer is to use something like this or a blog resume to document my work, experience, skill sets, and learning. 

Linda Yollis, an award-winning 3rd grade teacher, made this video with her students to share how they have used blogs to learn the importance of connecting online with others online, about Digital Footprints and Internet safety, and sharing their voice. I think you'll enjoy it and hopefully think about the ways you encourage students to make their writing/learning visible and connect with others, whether it be a blog or an interactive online discussion. 

This short video demonstrates different levels of tech. integration using the SAMR model. For more information on SAMR & Bloom's taxonomy, check out this blog post: The Padagogy Wheel … it's a Bloomin' Better Way to Teach @ http://goo.gl/8RTdA