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"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

"In the face of the "new normal" of decreased budgets and increased expectations, many administrators are turning to technology to enhance teaching and learning while mitigating the consequences of consecutive years of budget cuts. Mobile learning, in particular, has attracted a great deal of attention for its potential to engage students by leveraging the technology environment they have grown accustomed to in their non-school lives; its potential to scale personalized learning and reduce the digital divide; its potential to extend learning beyond the four walls of the classroom and the limited hours of the school day; and its potential to enable new pedagogies based on the affordances of these devices that students already carry at their fingertips.Still, the field of mobile learning is still emerging and there are many questions to be addressed when contemplating a mobile learning implementation. How do we create a program with a sustainable impact on teaching and learning, rather than a superficial adoption of the currently "hot" technology? What are the steps involved in implementing a mobile learning program? How do we optimize the investment of our technology dollars? How do we choose devices, networks, and software for our implementation? What are the security considerations in implementing a mobile learning program? What are the policy considerations for a mobile learning program? What are the professional development considerations? What are the teaching models associated with mobile learning? What are the options for funding a mobile learning program?"

"Hopscotch allows kids to create their own games and animations. Kids unleash their creativity with this beautiful, easy-to-use visual programming language. Inspired by MIT's Scratch, the Hopscotch programming language works by dragging and dropping method blocks into scripts. When you're done with a script, press play to see your code in action! As you get more advanced, you can add more objects and use custom events, such as shaking and tilting the iPad, to run your code. Why coding? By the year 2020, there will be a projected 1.4 million computer jobs but only 400,000 CS students. Computer Science is among the highest paid college degrees and programming jobs are growing at 2x the national average. Many of the best coders fell in love with programming as kids at the age of 8, 10 and 12 years old. With Hopscotch, kids can build and perfect their own creations while while obtaining an understanding of the fundamentals of computer science. Learn more about us at http://www.gethopscotch.com and read our blog at http://blog.gethopscotch.com. "

Computer program helps students with music, literacy skills Students at a Florida middle school are enhancing their musical literacy through SmartMusic, a software program that scores students' attempts to play along with sheet music on a computer screen. Teachers can review the students' work and type in feedback and grades. The program does more than just improve musical knowledge, the school's band director said. "I have seen the results of their growth academically alongside what they are doing musically," he said. The Tampa Tribune (Fla.)

Different approaches to teach programing in High School

"So Much to Read . . . So Little Time! ZAP Reader is a web based speed reading program that will change the way you read on your computer. Current beta testers report reading twice as much in half the time-that's a 300% increase in reading speed, without any loss in comprehension! There is nothing to install, it works with most popular browsers, and it's totally free! Reader - If you have some text that you want to read fast, copy it onto your computer's clipboard, click this link, and follow the instructions to Zap read that text. Settings - By default, Zap Reader allows you to read at 300 words per minute, one word at a time. Use the settings feature to configure Zap Reader with your own preferences. Tools - Zap Reader is designed to be easy to integrate with other programs. Find out about browser bookmarklets, program ad-ins, and other integration tools here. Click the "Play" button below for a quick 2-minute tutorial on how to use Zap Reader. "

Effective Induction and Onboarding are crucial for both, employees and the business. In this article, I highlight the challenges of ILT delivery and pick 5 examples that demonstrate the impact of blended/fully online Induction and Onboarding programs.

Teaching programing from grade 1 ? Why ? As any college tutor in math would say, because it teaches good habits...

Tutorials and ideas to teach Python programing language to students as young as 9.

"Kansas Online Learning Program (KOLP) is an online public school open to all full time kindergarten through 12th grade students living anywhere in Kansas. The program is provided through Centre School District and is tuition free for Kansas families. KOLP also offers an Adult Learning that is open to all Kansas residents who have not received their high school diploma. Students enrolled in the KOLP receive:"

"How to Roll Out a 1:1 iPad Program "

A few reasons on why choosing Python to teach programing instead of other languages such as C#, Java, etc.

A research article about using Python to teach High School students programing.

"Regarding our 1:1 iPad Program commencing at the beginning of 2012 in our year 6 and 7 cohorts, i have attached all relevant documents which have been part of informing parents and our community about our iPad happenings so far. All documents are in PDF format and can be downloaded. "

"A raccoon with the word "why" Phylo is a project that began as a reaction to the following nugget of information: Kids know more about Pokemon creatures than they do about real creatures*. We think there's something wrong with that. Apparently, so do many others. picture of a bird with the word "what" Phylo is: (1) a card game that makes use of the wonderful, complex, and inspiring things that inform the notion of biodiversity; (2) an exercise in crowd sourcing, open access, and open game development; and (3) FREAKIN' AWESOME! picture of a plant with the word "who" The phylo project is the product of the kind and (frankly) amazing contributions of many many individuals who have given art, science expertise, gaming advice, programming chops, and more. A card usually begins its life by someone submitting art to this Flickr pool, but you can also develop new games, help out with programming, or providing general feedback by leaving comments on the blog or forum. picture of a lady bug and the word "how" You can Start quickly by printing yourself a starter deck and checking out a set of rules. Alternatively, you can just collect and print the cards by going to the card section and "select"ing the ones you like."

A very short article to convince anyone to use Javascript in the classroom/

Kid tools for learning about programming.

A comprehensive tutorial on Javascript, by the people over at W3C - quality assured!