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"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"

"The debates about schools and social media are a subject of great public and policy interests. In reality, the debate has been shaped by one key fact: the almost universal decision by school administrators to block social media. Because social media is such a big part of many students social lives, cultural identities, and informal learning networks schools actually find themselves grappling with social media everyday but often from a defensive posture-reacting to student disputes that play out over social media or policing rather than engaging student's social media behaviors."

aMap is short for 'argument map'. The idea's very simple - to promote the art of arguing by mapping out complex debates in a simple visual format.

This is another great thought and debate provoking article. It brings up the point of how cursive handwriting is not part of Common Core standards and may have little impact on future jobs.

There is certainly not a shortage of places to find educational and inspirational videos online. I've listed a handful of them here. Keen Talks is another entry into that market. Keen Talks is an online catalog of videos featuring educational and thought-provoking talks from people across the academic and entertainment spectrums. While Keen Talks is very heavy on science topics, you can find talks on topics in history, economics, entertainment, and technology. You can search Keen Talks by topic, category, or speaker's name.

This video presents a positive view of progressive education although it begins with a parent complaining that children are not learning the fundamentals. Various educators are seen including famed John Dewey. One skeptic asserts that ideas similar to progressive education caused a collapse of the ancient Greek civilization. Current debates about educational techniques in many respects seem similar to what was occurring in the 1940s.

"he great classroom technology debate is on: Cell phones or no cell phones? Many districts and school administrators laid down rules that cell phones are not to be used in schools. If students are caught using cell phones they are typically confiscated for the day and may have to be picked up "

"Today, the entire public school system of Oregon will embrace Google Apps. 400,000 Students, teachers, and administrators will have access to a common e-mail and chat system, cloud-based collaboration tools, and a robust multimedia streaming service. Traditionally, statewide adoptions of any kind in education are hotly contested, with the most minute details up for extended debate."

"We're a non-partisan, location-independent organization aiming to kickstart a debate around the question: What's the purpose of education? With a 3-year plan, a series of campaigns, and a weekly newsletter we aim to empower people to get involved and make a difference in their neighbourhood, area and country. Get involved. "

(See how one teacher's angry blog sparked a viral classroom debate.)