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The Best Apps for Teaching and Learning is a new recognition honoring apps of exceptional value to inquiry-based teaching and learning as embodied in the American Association of School Librarians' Standards for the 21st-Century Learner.

The 2013 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration. They are free, Web-based sites that are user friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover.

Graphite, a free service from Common Sense Media, helps teachers find, understand, and share the best digital learning products available.

MapMaker Kits offer K-12 students the opportunity to work with key mapping concepts at a variety of scales and to see the world in new ways. Unique large-scale maps allow students to immerse themselves in the exploration of dynamic environmental and cultural aspects of the world. MapMaker Kit activities engage students in the manipulation and analysis of a variety of geographic information sets, helping them build skills in critical thinking, the representation of data, and mental mapping. Each kit enables the user to download, print, and assemble maps of the world, individual continents, and the United States in a variety of sizes. Mega maps occupy a large wall, or can be used on the floor; projector maps give you some flexibility about sizing; the tabletop map is good for small group work, and the one-page outline maps are perfect for individual work.

Students fire off ideas for using digital tools to teach history and current events.

Get instant access to 30 years' of well-respected, proven questions for Math, Science, Social Studies and English. 85,000 of the best questions from NY Regents, State Assessments, Academic Competitions, and more. 

Create a timeline takes minutes, it's as simple as can be.

Want to make the study of slavery come alive? Check out Mission US: Flight to Freedom, a browser-based game that combines linear storytelling with a choose-your-own-adventure feeling. Students warp back in time to 1848 and step into the shoes of 14-year-old slave Lucy King as she runs away in search of freedom. Within each of the five chapters, students have some freedom to visit different locations as Lucy and speak to the characters they find. They can also explore each location, seeking out collectible Smartwords (vocabulary words) that help them understand what they're reading. Kids complete tasks, some of which may have a time constraint or priority. Students also make decisions that affect their character and the story. Some decisions earn badges that represent character traits, and these badges have an impact on the end of the story.

Tiki-Toki is web-based software for creating beautiful interactive timelines that you can share on the internet. Free and Paid options.

SweetSearch helps students find outstanding information, faster. It enables them to determine the most relevant results from a list of credible resources, and makes it much easier for them to find primary sources. We exclude not only obvious spam sites, but also marginal sites that read well, but lack academic or journalistic rigor. As importantly, the very best Web sites that are often buried on other search engines appear on the first page of SweetSearch results.

StudySync is a cross-curriculum solution for grades 2-12 with hundreds of core texts, dynamic video and media guaranteed to inspire and advance reading, writing, listening, and critical thinking skills to prepare students for college and careers. An all in one platform built from the Common Core Standards, StudySync is accessible on all devices, anywhere, anytime.

StudySync is a web-delivered product designed to increase reading, writing, and critical thinking with award-winning lessons aligned to the Common Core Standards for grades 4 - 12. Includes: extensive digital library, weekly writing practice, online writing and peer review, multimedia lessons, etc.

InfuseLearning provides a simple, powerful platform to streamline learning. Engage every student, on any device. Turns the student's device into a connected student response system.

Audioboo is a tool for audio producers to record, upload and share audio. We believe in the power of the spoken word to inspire, inform and connect people across the globe. We also believe in giving everyone the opportunity to air and share, from international broadcasters to individual audio micro bloggers. A boo is made up of any clip of audio, a picture, a location, a title and a description. 

Instant screencasts: Just click record your screen and voice program tutorial.

WatchKnowLearn has indexed approximately 50,000 educational videos, placing them into a directory of over 5,000 categories. The videos are available without any registration or fees to teachers in the classroom, as well as parents and students at home 24/7.

SMARTboard Interactice activities for ages 4-11

Each week HNN features up to a dozen fresh op eds by prominent historians. Our archives, extending over the past decade, include thousands of well-researched pieces.

Films For Action uses the power of film to raise awareness of important social, environmental, and media-related issues not covered by the mainstream news. Their goal is to provide citizens with the information and perspectives essential to creating a more just, sustainable, and democratic society. Their website has cataloged over 1500 of the best films and videos that can be watched free online.

The Department's Center for Best Practice, supported by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, was established to focus on research and reporting related to proficiency-based systems here in Maine. It will serve as a clearinghouse of materials, support and case studies related to learner-centered instructional practices.