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"Digital Learning Day is a national campaign that celebrates teachers and shines a spotlight on successful instructional practice and effective use of technology in classrooms across the country. The inaugural Digital Learning Day boasted tens of thousands of teachers representing nearly 2 million students. The second annual Digital Learning Day is gaining momentum with ongoing activities, ideas, and collaboration opportunities leading up to February 6, 2013. Join the wave of education champions who seek to engage students, celebrate and empower teachers, and create a healthy learning environment, personalized for every child. Participation is free and easy. Are YOU ready to change Teaching & Learning? "

"The 2012 Presidential Debates begin tomorrow, October 3! We've created a community full of resources to help you engage your students. Join the Election Insights Community to access: Debate activities for Language Arts, Science, Math and Social Studies teachers Ideas for engaging students through Edmodo Election handouts and lesson plans [Insights] Join & Get Resources"

"Inman USD No. 448 encourages employees and students to be creative and actively engaged in the learning experience. Collaboration and team building among staff is facilitated on a regular basis and everyone in the district is involved in continuously improving the district's programs."

Very solid approaches for the integration of screencasting into classroom learning by Eric Curtis of Control Alt Achieve.

"iSchool: a closer look at Manhattan Beach Unified's iPad pilot program email Does Manhattan Beach Unified's iPad pilot program represent the future of education? Kindergarten students at Grand View Elementary School use iPads two times a week. Photo by Alene Tchekmedyian Kindergarten students at Grand View Elementary School use iPads two times a week. Photo by Alene Tchekmedyian Just before 8 a.m. one recent Tuesday, Andy Caine wheeled a waist-high cart into his second-floor history classroom at Mira Costa High School, as the Beach Boys' "I Get Around" played faintly in the background. On the syllabus for the day: the First Amendment. As the first period bell rang, Caine unlocked the cart. "Come and get 'em," Caine said to his class of seniors, and stood behind his podium, on which he's pasted a sticker reading, "Think for yourself. Question Authority." The students put aside their pens and notebooks and lined up at the cart to pick up an unconventional tool that school districts across the nation have been implementing into classrooms. Each student grabbed an iPad and returned to his or her seat. Caine is one of 43 Manhattan Beach Unified School District teachers chosen to try the $500,000 iPad pilot program, which started last fall. At Mira Costa, two English, math, science and social studies teachers use iPads, along with eight science teachers at Manhattan Beach Middle School and 27 teachers of different grade levels at each elementary school. The district purchased 560 student iPads (32 gigabytes and costing around $700 each), in addition to iPads for pilot teachers and administrators. A quarter of the pilot costs are grant funded, while the district supports the rest. Later this year, the School Board will decide whether, and in what capacity, to continue the pilot. Caine and pilot teachers implement iPads into their curricula two to three times a week, a total of 30 to 90 minutes. "I would use them every day if I had the po

"Ten Bloggers I Read First Yesterday, I was asked for a list of the blogs that I recommend reading other than my own. I published a similar list two years ago, but some of those blogs have become less active in the last year. Here is my updated list of the ten blogs that I go to first when my Google Reader account indicates "1000+ unread items.""

ThingLink interactive images help students develop 21st century skills and enrich their enthusiasm for learning. Teachers can use ThingLink images as interactive learning modules (ILMs) that activate and inspire students with creative and effective learning experiences.

Storytelling continues to gain popularity as an educational activity as it stimulates a deep thinking process, it provides opportunities for reflection and it enhances and enriches the learning experience for our students. Storytelling is a very powerful way of communicating with our peers and portrays to others who we are and what our own stories are. It also provides an opportunity to connect with a group by creating a shared experience. This is vital in any community but more so in an educational setting where we are nurturing and fostering creativity.

Very cool site providing Google Earth in two side-by-side windows allowing for compare/contrast activities. 

A site dedicated poetry fun. Learn how to inspire students to write poetry in class. Read and rate poems written by others. Explore various poetry activities that will engage your students.

NGAkids Art Zone interactives offer an entertaining and informative introduction to art and art history. Featuring a variety of art-making tools that encourage exploration and creativity, these activities are suitable for all ages. Simply select a thumbnail image at the left or click one of the colorful banners above to learn more about each program. Great for elementary students.

There are a tremendous amount of websites out there now (usually referred to as web 2.0) which allow users to create content. You're actually on one right now…a blog. With all of these resources, they offer tremendous promise for classroom application. The trick is to pick a few and begin to infuse inside your class. From time to time, you will see our TCI bloggers refer to, or even use, sites. For techies, web 2.0 is like breathing. They can't imagine life without it. For many teachers though, it can be overwhelming. We've worked to create a quick guide to some of the more popular web 2.0 sites out there. This guide will give you basics on how to get started and how they can be used in a great TCI activity. Feel free to download and share this document with colleagues. If there's another site you feel we should really take a look at, please let us know! We're always on the hunt for great new tools for teachers

What is the Technology Integration Matrix? The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) illustrates how teachers can use technology to enhance learning for K-12 students. The TIM incorporates five interdependent characteristics of meaningful learning environments: active, constructive, goal directed (i.e., reflective), authentic, and collaborative (Jonassen, Howland, Moore, & Marra, 2003). The TIM associates five levels of technology integration (i.e., entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion, and transformation) with each of the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments. Together, the five levels of technology integration and the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments create a matrix of 25 cells as illustrated below.

Related Posts Delicious Finally Jumps on the Mobile Web Fad Delicious, Yahoo's highly popular web bookmarking service, has finally launched a mobile version. They're calling it a beta production (or more accurate, a... Yahoo MyWeb Shuts Down, Becomes Delicious Yahoo announced the imminent closure of its bookmarking service MyWeb this weekend...and yet it seems unlikely the product will be missed by many. ... Dwellicious: Do You Want a Delicious for Real Estate? Delicious remains the most recognisable name in social bookmarking, but does it serve niche markets as ably as specialized tools could? Boca Raton,... Delicious Sidebar for IE is Here. Almost as Cool as Firefox. Even though many of you were excited about the Delicious add-on for Firefox 3, there are still some Internet Explorer users that would like... * View my o My Posts o Facebook o Twitter o MySpace o Digg o Delicious Toolbox: 80+ Updated Tools and Resources February 20th, 2009 | by Sean P. AuneView Comments delicious-logoDelicious (Delicious), a powerful social bookmarking tool, has been around for what seems like forever, and while it may not get as much press as Digg (Digg), it still has an extremely active and loyal group of users. There are a number of tools out there that cater to these users, some of which still even stick by the old del.icio.us moniker. Here are over 80 tools for everything from your mobile device to your blog, and more, that can help you view your bookmarks in new and unique ways, backup your bookmarks in a secure location, take your bookmarks with you on the go, blog about your most recent saves, and then some.

There's a lot of misinformation out there about legal rights and responsibilities in the digital era. This is especially disconcerting when it comes to information being shared with youth. Kids and teens are bombarded with messages from a myriad of sources that using new technology is high-risk behavior. Downloading music is compared to stealing a bicycle - even though many downloads are lawful. Making videos using short clips from other sources is treated as probably illegal - even though many such videos are also lawful. This misinformation is harmful, because it discourages kids and teens from following their natural inclination to be innovative and inquisitive. The innovators, artists and voters of tomorrow need to know that copyright law restricts many activities but also permits many others. And they need to know the positive steps they can take to protect themselves in the digital sphere. In short, youth don't need more intimidation - what they need is solid, accurate information.

Touchcards is an iPhone app that supports loading cards from Quizlet and StudyStack, two of the most popular flash card sharing sites on the web. Thousands of great free sets are already available, and you can always create your own. You get the benefits of the hard work you or other people have put into creating sets on Quizlet and StudyStack, but also have the freedom to study the cards on your own. If the flashcards are edited and changed after you've imported them, you can easily re-sync them with Touchcards, so you'll always be up-to-date. If you need to create your own flash cards and don't want to use Quizlet.com or StudyStack.com, you can create a simple spreadsheet in Google Docs, with one column for questions (the front of a card) and one column for answers (the flipside of a card). Publish your spreadsheet as a web page and tell Touchcards where to find the set. Touchcards is easy to use and interactive, relying on swipes, taps, and shakes to study a flash card set. You can make your own cards in Google Docs or through Quizlet and StudyStack (both sites are free to use and have active communities). Thousands of free flash cards are already available, covering topics in math, Spanish, French, English, music, anatomy, the GRE, MCAT, SAT, LSAT, weather, body parts, history, algebra, geometry, chemistry, accounting, and many more. Flashcards can be an integral part of learning new material. It's important to mentally anticipate the answer or definition to a given card. Doing this increases retention of knowledge and facilitates building a mental model around the material. In short, you'll do better on tests.

This collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help teachers and students learn about the United States Constitution and to plan projects and classroom activities so students can experience the Constitution as a "living document." Whether you spend one class in celebration of Constitution Day or an entire unit on the Constitution, the ideas included in the "In the Classroom" portion of reviews will launch discussions and projects your students will not forget.