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Another story about a US-based student's science fair project that uses ICTs. Not as visually appealing as the Hello Kitty video, however, this example does show the use of commercial software as a tool in a science investigation. It also shows how the results of this science investigation was later published in a Journal set up specifically for publish work produced by school students.

Good overview of what is wrong with learning styles.

While perhaps not 100% perfect for use in a school, this is a sign of things to come. A day when those Interactive White Boards are seen as klunky and old-fashioned.

How times have changed since the good old Overhead Projector! I remember the days where the teacher would have folders of plastic with class notes on them and having the now very ancient projector on the table. Whereas now the amazing things that projectors and even whiteboards can do has really enhanced the learning environment.

I read a very interesting article written by Joke Voogt (the Netherlands), Chris Dede (USA).Ola Erstad (Norway), which discusses the importance of ICTs in 21t century learning. They reiterated on the topic that "rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICT) are continuously transforming the way in which we live, work and learn." They explored they skills that are required for living and working in the 21st century: collaboration, communication, digital literacy, citizenship, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, productivity. I agree with Voogt and Dede when they say that "an important change has taken place in the way new digital tools and collaborative environments have enhanced learning, from an emphasis on reproducing information and content to content creation and sharing in virtual environments, which some describe as a remixing culture. There are 3 main literacies that we need to develop: Technological literacy (to be aware of the interplay between technology and society), ICT literacy (the skills needed to make effective and efficient use of ICT) and Information literacy (the capacity to access information efficiently and effectively) (Voogt and Dede, 2011). I think the biggest statement that they make is "using ICT to shift our educational structures from industrial era schools to new types of 21st century formal educational models is important" (Voogt & Dede, 2011). I believe schools are now on the edge of this shift, but some educators are reluctant. I mean to make that shift, to evaluate how I use ICTs in the classroom and how I use them to transform learning, not just to use them as 'add-ons'.

Another article looking at the argument between those who see Khan Academy as "the bees-knees" and those who see some problems. There's a point about "lecture-demonstrations" (the model used by Khan) that is particularly relevant to this cause and the idea of the RAT framework.

The council for exceptional children maintains this blog contributed by several special education teachers in the field. It offers a wealth of ideas, experiences, tips and support for new teachers working in special education.

Matt has opened my eyes to view how education can change by the use of the cloud. His perception seems futuristic, but may be fulfilled in the near future. I have highlighted some information that I found interesting for people to view.

An Australian secondary science teacher who shares lots of interesting science links and has been blogging for quite a few years.

March 4, 2016 Another great Joy of Tech comic .... February 28, 2016 Check out yet another great talk by Al Gore. There is hope on climate change ... February 27, 2016 The process takes merely tenths of a second. But within that tiny amount of time, there's a lot going on.

A Swedish academic writes an open letter raising some concerns about the SAMR model. A common model for understanding what ICT can be used for. Mentioned briefly in the week 3 learning path.

Hi All, I found this article to be very pertinent to this weeks content in EDC3100. I hope some of you can benefit as well: ABSTRACT (Copied from Sciencedirect) Technology integration in K-12 classrooms is usually overly teacher-centered and has insufficient impact on students' learning, especially in enhancing students' higher-order cognitive skills. The purpose of this project is to facilitate science teachers' use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as cognitive tools to shift their practices from traditional teacher-centered methods to constructivist, student-centered ones. This paper describes the outcomes and lessons learned from an application of design-based research (DBR) in the implementation and refinement of a teacher professional development (PD) program that is a key component of the overall project. This DBR study involved 25 middle-school science teachers from 24 schools whose implementation of cognitive tools with their students in science classrooms and virtually through a social networking site were observed over four years. A mixed-methodology was utilized to examine the impact of the cognitive tools intervention on teachers' classroom practices and students' development of new literacy skills. Identifying reusable design principles related to technology integration was another focus of the DBR study. The results revealed teachers' positive changes in their classroom practices by gradually allowing students to take control over the use of technology, and positive impact on students' ICT skills and science learning. Design principles for future professional development programs aimed at preparing teachers to adopt a cognitive tools approach are described.

just a reminder