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I know that some of us in our other classes have been discussing iPads and their use in the education space, and I dug this up from my archives as some of what teachers and admins have to say about buying and using the iPad in their schools.

Bridget, The potential for iPad may realize even more with the availability of online textbooks, which may include videos. The availability of various apps will influence the proliferation of iPad. Upside - novelty, excitement, and no back breaking bag packs, downside- penmanship may suffer and teachers may have to do some extra homework! http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/07/11/putting-the-ipad-to-work-in-elementary-classrooms.aspx

Maung - I actually attended Gagliolo's session at ISTE this summer as I, too, am a proponent of this new technology, but as you point out, this means "extra homework" for the teacher. And most teachers I know are already strapped for time and professional development and are not interested in a new device that is "one more thing" they have to learn and use in an overwhelming standards based curriculum environment. The only way (in my opinion) that we can get teachers to embrace this new technology is to have it do something MORE efficiently and easily than something THEY ALREADY do. It cannot be an add-on. It has to replace something overtasking from their plate.

A recent study looking at Facebook use and student grades found some evidence that students who share links and participate in "lurking" had higher grades while students who posted status updates had a higher likelihood of lower grades. 

Kate, Intesting post. Does this take into account of personality or social desirability bias? Sharing links and chatting may not be considered same type of activity.Since it relies on self reporting, there is also margin for error.

Excellent article on Video game model as a learning tool. Useful takeaways for motivation.

Published Online: October 17, 2011 Published in Print: October 19, 2011, as Crafting Your BYOT Policy For the small but passionate minority of school districts that are opening doors to student-owned mobile devices, there's a lot riding on how effective the policy shift turns out to be in improving teaching and learning. I will be looking strongly at this experiment to assist with the charter school district I am putting together.

I can understand a districts hesitance towards the BYOT because of its responsibility for and inability to control the accessing of inappropriate content on such devices. What I would like to see - even if in baby steps (which I know is occurring in small scale all over the country), is the creation and sharing of engaging lessons that encourage this BYOT movement and combat the urge for students to be inappropriate because of the level of motivation the lesson itself provides. And I would also like to see some of the responsibility shift from policy makers to the students for self moderation - they know what is right and wrong in an educational setting - why can't we hold THEM accountable more?

Article addresses policy challenges in implementing BYOT

Published Online: October 17, 2011 Published in Print: October 19, 2011, as When Educational Content Gets Blocked For most of last school year, Nowmee Shehab never thought twice about using school computers to pull up websites of the Trevor Project, the It Gets Better Project, or the Gay-Straight Alliance, as she searched for resources for her high school's own GSA club.

A look at what makes universities special and important. It's interesting that what they note are aspects that require smaller classes and more resources. I thought this is a good article to think about some of the key features of universities, and how they can be replicated in the virtual world.

Published Online: October 25, 2011 Published in Print: October 26, 2011, as 'Blended Learning' for the Little Ones By Jill Barshay, The Hechinger Report Los Angeles 1st grader Lena Barrett clicks through a series of icons and logs on to a laptop under the fluorescent lights of her classroom.

An interesting product for reading and comprehension. Tim McEwen, chairman, chief executive officer, and president of Archipelago Learning. "Once children learn how to read, it's important to keep them engaged in and enlightened by reading. This product offers teachers a way to do this by leveraging a channel that already appeals to them - social networks and virtual worlds. If we can relate the core principles we're hoping students will learn to the areas that already interest them, then we create a mutually beneficial and relatable teaching environment."

Lubbock School District in Texas are investing $28 million in technology. "SMART Document Camera 330 in all classrooms where core subjects, such as science, math, language arts or social studies, are taught. Additionally, the district is installing 75 SMART Height-Adjustable Wall Mounts in pre-kindergarten classrooms to ensure that younger students have easy access to the interactive whiteboard to engage with digital content."

Company called "Knewton" making software similar to what we discussed with School of One - ongoing assessments (short quizzes), online tutoring, etc.

how one school is creating digital culture - cool 4 min video

A principal at one southern public high school discusses the place technology holds in the everyday lives of students, and how teachers, parents, and administrators need to honor this place.

After School officias from Little Falls, Minn., visited Apple HQ, they decided to spend $1.2m on 1700 iPads. Late Mr. Jobs in an interview with Wired mangazine said, "what's wrong with education cannot be fixed with technology." "Mr. Jobs blamed teachers' unions for the decline in education." Walter Issacson, the biographer of Steve Jobs, writes Bill Gates and Steve Jobs "agreed that computers had, so far, made surprisingly little impact on schools - far less than on other realms of society such as media and medicine and law."

Envisioning and exploring classroom and education in the future - the video of a panel session at the end of this article is quite interesting. "Learning communities are growing beyond the walls of classrooms. But before we move too fast into that realm, it is critical that students get the support they need to navigate this frontier. They need to learn to think critically, synthesize information, and communicate their ideas effectively and clearly."

High tech or no-tech - debate continues in Canadian schools. While schools introduce technology from Grades 3 ,4,or 5, Waldorf schools are growing too, 24 affiliated schools with students from K-12, and is growing.

This article lists sites with free content and argues they are democratizing education

Dallas ISD uses cloud computing to keep track of bullying incidents in the district.

Infographic on Knewton's website