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Apps that will help you learn a new language.

Augmented reality is dazzling when used appropriately. The Science Museum in London's exhibit on the Making of the Modern World looks to be a wonderfully educational experience about how specific technologies have propelled human history forward.

A good collection of digital teaching tools.

Following increasing amount of disruptive technologies in Higher Ed, and announcement of MIT/Harvard EdX platform, author claims to check in with students. Does not really live up to the title (as he does not write enough about conversations with students), but it is a question that does need to be asked. Here is part one of "Did Anyone Ask the Students?" http://chronicle.com/blogs/next/2012/05/01/did-anyone-ask-the-students-part-i/

Many adults have little idea of how children use technology in their everyday lives. Out of fear that it will be used to engage with non academic content, we want to keep schools the same good old way - very different from the rest of their lives.Addressing both school culture and issues of inequity would be important in enabling students to learn with tools they are most familiar with.

Salman Khan (graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Harvard Business School) talks about the flipped classroom and how tech changes the shape of future "classrooms" in an Education Week interview.

Here is the latest volley from NYC in its maneuvering with the teachers' union. No particular relevance to technology, except that I guess this loan repayment offer would attract young teachers with loans hanging over them.

Is computational thinking a fundamental skill that should be added to every student's analytical ability?

As I read this article, I thought about how many friends I have that are in non-technical professions, but who have been asked to take on technical tasks as part of their roles (managing databases, building organization websites, etc.) They've all been able to figure out how to do these things, but have found it very challenging to do so on their own and without any prior experience/contextual knowledge. So while I'm not sure that it's an absolute necessity, I do think that an increasingly broad range of vocations expect some level of technological fluency that could be built upon a computational thinking foundation. (There was a nice quote from a librarian in a NY Times article posted by Tom Keffer that illustrates this as well - the librarian says that all librarians rely upon software now, and that it's up to them to become technically empowered if there is something IT-related that their library needs.)

Discussion of productivity in university education, and Obama's comment on controlling tuition costs. Reference to Baumol's disease and the possible role of technology in modernizing the traditional approach.

This paints a picture of what a whole-school approach to educational technology-use could look like. Interesting to think about what can motivate teachers to use technology consistently and effectively...

Not available online - link to Journal of Technology and Teacher Education/SITE; 7 articles, I have copy if someone is interested. Franklin, T. & Annetta, L. (2011). PREFACE Special Issue: Digital Games and Simulations in Teacher Preparation. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 19(3), 239-242. Chesapeake, VA: AACE.Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/38515.

thoughtful ideas about what types of problems technology can address

Data from Project Tomorrow's Speak Up Survey outlining what kids really want when it comes to technology and digital learning

This is great! Teaching kids at a very young age that computers are not just smart but are programmed to be smart can be very valuable. So many new tools and technologies these days are completely abstracting how they actually work, which makes me worry that kids just think computers are magical.

So true! Clearly, it's the people who create the technologies that are magical. =p

Teaching that provides Motivation, engagement, and a way to combat budget cuts.

Nice CHE article featuring 12 tech innovators who are transforming college campuses.