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This article explains why the district chose laptops over tablet and how the community is helping to turn the schools around.

"The teachers that were involved said that if every kid had their own computer, we could do amazing things". It would be interesting to know if the teachers presented some concrete ideas of 'amazing things'. It would also be interesting to know whether they have a bank of spare laptops to loan to the students while the defective ones are getting fixed. I have a feeling that in the not-so-distant future the choice between a tablet and a computer may become a moot point. The hardware that powers a MacBook Air and iPad is very similar. We have laptops that double as tablets and tablets that are paired with a keyboard to be used as a laptop. Eventually these two will merge.

Great overview of the issues -- I agree with Kasthuri -- I think the issue will become moot

"I dig science" " virtual fossil dig environment that teaches science in the context of being immersed in a location that takes into account social and cultural factors...

This is a Facebook page started by parents at our local Elementary school about school.

Much of the conversation seems reasonable enough but it will be interesting to see how adults can model public conversation. I'm not comfortable with having adult conversation displayed for kids within the school environment. I think that this is the equivalent of parents fighting in front of their children. Kids don't process it in a healthy manner and adults who do it I think do so for their own convenience and at the peril of kids. I think if adult in this community can be disciplined in their comments and stick strictly to logistical information with the understanding that kids are watching (FB will never replace parent oversight), it may be a useful tool. I also think the only way teachers can influence this page is by jumping on and using it to communicate because it seems to me that is the real "ask" in establishing the page.

Brings up the interesting issue of physical space in 21st century classrooms. Should schools of the future look like the way they do now (ie. desks and chairs, albeit with iPads/laptops atop desks)? How can we match the shift in pedagogical thinking with what our physical spaces of classrooms look like? On a related note, a colleague at an international school in Mumbai showed me around their new K-12 school recently (K-12 1:1 laptop program, phenomenal tech integration program)... and they no longer have walls to demarcate classrooms across the entire school. Instead of classrooms, they have "learning pods." So, imagine you're a third grade teacher--you have four slidable "walls" that you can open up to collaborate with the adjacent third grade section for social studies. Or perhaps you notice that the fifth grade science experiment seems to align with what you're doing today so you walk over to see if they'd be up for sharing what they're doing. Their idea is that the physical space needs to reflect the same environment of open education and collaborative learning that we're promoting in our classrooms.

Alex Hernandez from the Charter Growth Fund highlights some key topics in blended learning, one of which is 'Can we increase the velocity of learning and create more space for such things as projects, the arts and deep thinking?' While so much emphasis is placed in STEM education, the idea of also utilizing blended learning environments to foster creativity and engage students in artistic processes is one we should also consider.

Thought the list provided is interesting in terms of how they relate to 21st century learning: The new school models in the article "suggests 10 elements most common to all of the models: * Student-centered environments * Personalized learning * Competency-based progressions * Adaptive & engaging components * Deeper learning & character development * Rapid & flexible deployments * Dynamic models evolving with new tools * Platform-centric scaling * Leveraging teacher Leadership * Best Practices & Innovation "

In the beginning, they had a great environment in the classroom using the online software. Later, as more classrooms/users began using online program simultaneously the network failed. Every school is different!

Sugata Mitra, from India, designs a school in the Cloud. It is a self-environment that involves broadband, collaboration and encouragement. Kids learn from each other...

Members of Educational Testing Service's (ETS) Research & Development (R&D) division led the assessment research behind GlassLab's new educational game SimCity™EDU: Pollution Challenge! This new game brings elements of computer gaming to the world of education - providing assessment and learning in an environment that is engaging and exciting. ETS researchers are collaborating with GlassLab on several more educational games.

A web-based database that integrates data worldwide collected by mobile devices.

The article defines and describes the characteristics of authentic learning.

Milton Chen and Tina Barseghian interviewed on KQED's Forum (San Francisco public radio) about using technology and media in the classroom.

To what extent should videogames be used in classrooms, and what is the research support for this?

Note the author characterizes the National Educational Technology Plan as a "manifesto." Quoting this article, "... in March, Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, released a draft National Educational Technology Plan that reads a bit like a manifesto for change, proposing among other things that the full force of technology be leveraged to meet "aggressive goals" and "grand" challenges, including increasing the percentage of the population that graduates from college to 60 percent from 39 percent in the next 10 years. What it takes to get there, the report suggests, is a "new kind of R.& D."

A bunch of especially interesting quotes toward the end: "This concept is something that Will Wright, who is best known for designing the Sims game franchise...refers to as 'failure-based learning,' in which failure is brief, surmountable, often exciting and therefore not scary... According to Ntiedo Etuk, the chief executive of Tabula Digita...children who persist in playing a game are demonstrating a valuable educational ideal.... 'They'll fail until they win.' He adds: 'Failure in an academic environment is depressing. Failure in a video game is pleasant. It's completely aspirational.' It is also, says James Paul Gee, antithetical to the governing reality of today's public schools. 'If you think about kids in school - especially in our testing regime - both the teacher and the student think that failure will lead to disaster,' he says. 'That's pretty much a guarantee that you'll never get to truly deep learning.'"

An article that advocates the use of social media in the classroom. It highlights one pilot program in Oregon.

"Anything that brings language alive, whether that's in the real world or the virtual world, is a good thing."

Scratch isn't the only game in town :-) Note that I've already posted about App Inventor here (which is another "dive right in" programming environ)

Article mentions a 10-year $500 million commitment by Microsoft to transform education systems around the world through technology. "The programme will assist teachers, school leaders and students globally on effective ways to use ICT in the classroom environment." But doesn't really give any specifics. Is this money well spent?

This Microsoft Partners in Learning site (http://www.microsoft.com/education/pil/partnersInLearning.aspx) has good info on this great program. Here's a good video I saw there: http://www.microsoft.com/showcase/en/us/details/5672418a-839d-46e5-9b19-7a68d15d4b09 Btw, thanks for this! It is a perfect addition for my team's wiki project :-)