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The "flipped classroom" was being discussed in social lounges, in conference sessions, on the exhibit floor, on the hashtag and even at dinner. People wanted to know what it was, what it wasn't, how it's done and why it works. Others wanted to sing its praises and often included a vignette about how it works in their classroom and how it transformed learning for their students. Still others railed that the model is nothing transformative at all and that it still emphasizes sage-on-the-stage direct instruction rather than student-centered learning. I engaged in a few of these discussions offline and online, and while I'm still on the fence about my feelings toward the model, I can offer some insight and interpretation."

Are you getting measurable, timely, benefits from your IT investment? Are your IT resources fully and effectively deployed? Are your information resources well managed? Are you driving your IT strategy, or is it driving you? This web, known as the "Information Management Body of Knowledge", is a collection of ideas and tools intended to assist anyone who is concerned to get the best out of their investment in information technology and the information systems that make it work. It emerged from research work undertaken in a partnership between the University of the Western Cape, and Cape Peninsula University of Techology (previously the Cape Technikon), both located in Cape Town, South Africa. It has been used in the context of business, public administration and community informatics, and the IMBOK has been adopted as a standard course text in South Africa, Europe and North America.

This free online course will help you switch to Excel 2010 from a previous version of the software, and will give you a thorough knowledge and understanding of Excel and its applications if you have never used it before. You can use Excel to analyse data, for example, in accounts, budgets, billing and many other areas. You learn how to navigate this revised version of Excel, exploring the menu bar and the different tasks that can be done with it. You will work on sample spreadsheets doing basic math, adding and deleting columns and rows, and preparing the worksheet for printing. You will learn how to represent your data visually to show trends, patterns and comparisons between the data in a chart, table or other template, and how Excel 2010 will automatically do all the calculations for you once you add in the formula. This course will be of great interest to all professionals in business, finance and many other areas that need to analyse data in accounts, or keep records of stock or schedules, and to anyone trying to keep track of their personal finances at home. Excel and spreadsheet use has found its way into daily life that few of us would ever have imaged just a few years ago. If you have done previous ALISON courses such as our Microsoft Excel 2003 course or ABC-IT, our comprehensive free introductory computer course, you will find MS Excel 2010 is the perfect next step to bring your spreadsheet skills to the next level.

"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it" said Peter Drucker a long time ago. With TweetStats, you have a powerful tool to measure all your Twitter behavior in one place. It shows you your Tweet timeline to understand how much you are Tweeting each day and each month. It also dives deep into analyzing your best times to Tweet via a Tweet Density report and follower comparisons. Pro Tip: What I like best is the @reply and Retweet analysis. It gives you a clear picture if you hit the right balance of engagement and content Tweets."  http://blog.kissmetrics.com/transform-your-tweeting-experience/

"We hear a lot about what things are popular in terms of technology, the cool new devices that are coming out, and trends that are happening with classroom technology integration. But just because something is a trend (or even a requirement) doesn't that it is popular or liked. It doesn't mean you won't hear people grumbling about it. Often times, trends become trends because a lot of people like them, but in the case of education, trends can happen easily in the following scenario: administrators like the idea and think it is great, and teachers have to implement said idea regardless of if it is a great fit with their classroom and students. So what common education technology trends are really supported and loved by teachers, and which ones make them want to bang their heads on their chalkboards/desks/smartboards/laptops? The handy infographic below brings together data from European and North American teachers to get their points of view on the subject"

"What encourages students to do well in school? Often, it comes down to grades. Many students will work harder in order to earn a higher grade. Colleges want to see good grades. Parents want to see good grades. Grades are good, right? Of course they are, but the grades should not be the only goal. Learning for the sake of it should be a goal, including what they learned, how long they remembered it, and how they applied it to new situations."

Have you ever found that you are on a website and you want to quickly print the page or a portion of the page? When it prints it is lopsided because it was meant to be on landscape, it is 16 pages long which you didn't realise plus you have wasted ink with a whole lot if unnecessary pictures and words (not to mention unwanted ads!)?

The current state of technology in the classroom is somewhere between its infancy and bold experimentation. For every 1:1 tablet program or BYOD-pioneering district, there is a teacher in a poor urban district struggling to get her "smart" board thinking again, or another in a rural district dancing a little dance for his new document camera. The infographic below illustrates this point by offering statistics on what how many teachers are using what, and how they feel about it all. One interesting stat? 65% of teachers say technology let's them demonstrate things they could not show any other way. That one makes sense, though I'd think it might be closer to 100%.

"Shelley Wright is not afraid to admit that she made a mistake when it came to embracing the popular concept of flipped classrooms. About two years ago she gave the approach a try in her own classroom, saying at the time that in the hands of the right teacher, it could be a completely revolutionary approach to education. Since then, she has flipped back, and in an article for Ed Tech Magazine she explains why."

This guide examines the use of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) models in schools. It looks at the potential opportunities and benefits, as well as the considerations, risks and implications that arise when schools allow students and staff to use personally owned devicesin the classroom and school environments. Strategies,tips and techniques are included to address the considerations and manage the risks. The guide is NOT a step-by-step manual for implementing  models that enable students to use personally owned devices in school. While teachers, parents, community members and other stakeholders may find the guide informative, it is written with school and school authority administrators and leadership teams in mind. It is meant to inform their decision making and strategic planning should they decide to support a BYOD model in their schools.

Education begins and ends with the relationship between the teacher and the student. While this idea is nothing new and has existed for thousands of years, it has undergone substantial change for better or for worse. Technology can help us, however, create an enviornment where teachers can impart more of their wisdom to more students, allowing more children to become better members of society. Social Media in the Classroom: How Teachers Can Use It Effectively http://t.co/hzxiolGs

"Nowadays it is hard to not see QR codes printed in advertisements, on products, and everywhere else. QR codes are one of the biggest trends in marketing right now, and you might wonder: can QR codes be of any use for academics? I say yes, and I urge you to use your own QR code everywhere it makes sense. That is, whenever there is an opportunity to supply an offline audience with additional online information including, but not limited to, your personal webpage, a research paper that accompanies your talk, or web resources that supplement your lecture. This post is about the basics of why, where and how to use QR codes in your research and teaching. In addition, it will also suggest a few design tweaks that allow you to blend QR codes with the surrounding context (e.g., the keynote slide or a poster). And if you invest some time you can even closely integrate a QR code with your overall self-branding efforts."

"There is a remarkable difference between using and interesting technology in education. Several teachers who think that they are integrating technology into their curriculum are simply using it because they still haven't questioned and identified the reasons behind using technology. Integrating technology is different  and as Kip Rogers writes in his wonderful book "Mobile Learning Devices ", I've also experienced schools and classrooms where: True integration of technology happens ... where technology is accessible and available for activities as they are initiated. True integration of technology happens when form supports function when the tools support the goals of the curriculum and assist students in reaching their instructional goals. It is not about technology, it is about what you can do with this technology that matters."

Using Google to look for text is simple enough, but not until recently did I realize you could use it to search by reading level. And it typical Google fashion, it's slightly more convoluted a process than it needs to be, but is otherwise dead simple.

For students there are two distinct benefits of using Evernote. First, bookmarking online with annotations helps students not only keep track of websites they find useful while researching, it also helps them remember why they bookmarked a site. There's nothing worse that looking at your bookmarks a week or two later and wondering what it was about a website that prompted you to bookmark it. Second, by writing course notes in Evernote students can access their notes from any device that is connected to the web.

There is a growing controversy over the use of Facebook in education.Some argue for its integration  and others disfavour  it. I believe that the main reason behind this controversy is the lack of solid empirical researches about the overall value of not only Facebook but all other popular social networking in education. There are , however, some researchers ( like Crook and Harrison ,Charnigo, Barnett-Ellis, Hewitt and Forte, Mathews, Mazer and Murphy ) who have written about the potential of social networking in education, yet only few studies have specifically addressed its role in pedagogy.

Popplet is one of my favorite web 2.0 tools , it is dedicated to having a creative work space for hundreds of ideas, combining sticky notes , a breeze mind map , presenter and a multimedia tool, all in just one platform that can present visual ideas in a multiple work spaces. It is an easy tool that even a kid can use it! . popplet is similar to various tools like stickynote and mind maps ones

This conference aims to stimulate debate and elicit thought provoking responses from the design community, both in academia and in practice, that will help develop the dynamic discourse of design, its processes and development, its intent, its dilemmas and outcomes. 

Every piece of information we encounter was put before us by someone who worked to create it, discover it, or bring it to our attention. Attribution is about acknowledging that labor. Attribution is about acknowledging that and simply saying 'thank you."

Earlier this morning I was asked for a list of alternatives to Picnik for editing and adding effects to photos. I had this list handy, but I have another good photo editor to add to the list. I learned about PicMonkey from one of Jim Sill's Tweets last week and I finally gave it a try this morning. My initial impression is that it is a lot like Instagram except that it functions on the web instead of as an Android or iOS app.