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They may look like jumbled and messy flowcharts for the insane, but mind maps are actually extremely useful and perfect tools for brainstorming. You essentially take a flow of ideas and translate them into interconnected webs designed to help clarify your thinking (or mind, as it were). I love mind maps and am always impressed at the amount of care that goes into the creation of one. They truly resemble the crazy way our brains work as we link together somewhat illogical thoughts to form a cohesive idea. In other words, these following mind maps are actually how are brains all work whether you like it or not. There are thousands of mind maps out there and even some snazzy tools to help you make your own. The following maps are some of my favorites and hopefully won't scare you too much. Hopefully they'll inspire and educate!

"This event takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, 1 to 2 p.m. ET. The flipped classroom model-in which students watch video lessons for homework and receive more direct, individual instruction from teachers during class time-is rapidly gaining popularity in K-12 schools, with websites such as Khan Academy offering thousands of free video lessons. Some teachers see flipped learning as a way to spend more time working with their students and less time lecturing. But critics of the approach have called it nothing more than a high-tech, time-shifting tool that often leaves students confused about the content they're supposed to be absorbing at home. Our guests will discuss the pros and cons of this approach and highlight the best methods for making a flipped classroom successful. "

While I'm strongly in the camp of 'everyone should use Twitter because we all use it in a different way,' this humorous Twitter flowchart was just too interesting to not post. It's basically a visualization that helps you critically think about why you should or shouldn't use Twitter.

"This is the age of tablets, says Julie DeNeen's in her article, "25 Ways to Use Tablets to Enhance the Learning Experience." Of late, many educators are redesigning the curriculum to fit on a tablet. "

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%.

"This site was created out of a desire to network in an inclusive way with all teachers who wanted to find iPad, iPhone, and iPod resources that can be useful at the secondary level.  Many on-line articles say things like "The 10 best reading apps", but many of the suggestions are aimed at primary and junior students. Hopefully the suggestions on this site will put intermediate and secondary teachers in touch with a few resources that apply more directly to them and their students. "

Tablet computing and mobile devices promise to dramatically impact education. This Ning network was created to explore ways iPads and other portable devices could be used to re-imagine the process of education and re-kindle students' innate desire to learn.

A common question that we get with regard to technology projects is "how do I grade it?" The 21st-century communication and collaboration skills which are used with most technology based projects are, in many ways, real-world problem-solving skills. The standard, multiple-choice type tests simply are not going to be able to assess students' learning. Instead of thinking of the assessment itself as the measurement, we are going to need to examine our students' performances of understanding. In other words, the assessment is the tool through which we can gauge how much our students have learned.

"Reusing existing Open Educational Resources (OER) can save significant time and effort. The OPEN partners recommend TAACCCT grantees invest up-front time finding OER to reuse rather than starting development of new educational resources right away. A significant benefit of OER is that they provide source material to build your development efforts around. No need to invest development effort in creating something that already exists. OER come in a wide variety of types. Many educators are simply looking for individual media elements to use within their courses, such as photos, graphics, videos, and audio, that are openly licensed in a way that freely permits education use. The page below will help you find openly licensed media elements to use within your courses. To jump directly to what you are searching for use these links:"

Another reat way to keep track of the best tweets in your network

Unlock creativity with our free Mind Maps. Easy to use maps allow you the freedom to express ideas intuitively and quickly. Learning becomes fun and engaging with Flashcards. Study information & quickly test your knowledge in a fun way. Increase your motivation with ExamTime. Set goals and review progress with your study timeline.

"Digital bookmarking is a pivotal learning skill. It does not only allow you to organize your information into one single platform accessible from anywhere with an internet connection but can also help you in your professional growth. Web2.0 technologies have made it way easier for us to control and curate the content we come across online. I definitely believe that without the power of bookmarking we would never be able to manage the huge influx of information Internet provides."

"What about using comic tutorials to help with the integration of technology in your teaching, have you ever thought about it ?In today's post I am sharing with you some REALLY great comic tutorials created by The Daring Librarian. I have spent a couple of hours going through her work and I am really impressed by what she has been designing. I love her creative ideas and how she has represented them in such a visually appealing way .There are over 60 comic tutorials in her Flicker page but I have chosen only the 4 most relevant ones."

"Did you know you can add your own keyboard shortcuts on the iPad or iPhone? How about some faster ways to reject suggested auto-corrections as you type, or write contractions, or a single-tap method to magnify and select text? This free eBook from Michele Ballard is jammed full of handy, cool techniques like these."

"A fresh, highly visual approach to sharing challenge-based informal learning activities that puts mentors and youth on the same level Off the Wall is a project to present challenge-based activities directly to the learner in a way that creates new and richer opportunities for interaction between informal learning mentors and youth."