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"Google has announced that Google Docs are now included in Hangouts on Google Plus. When in a Hangout, you just click on the new "Docs" button and you can add an existing document, upload a new one, and switch between and collaboratively edit multiple documents at once. This is another great feature of Google+ Hangouts for education. Teachers and/or students can hold study groups, help sessions, or work on other projects using Docs in Hangouts."

New Online Partnership Brings the Library Deeper Into the Digital Age. (Description from Emerging Ed Tech, 10/1/13) The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) officially opened to the public on April 19, 2013. Though still in its infancy, the DPLA is a mightily ambitious undertaking that strives to give free access to the best of America's libraries, museums and archives. Launched with the support of multiple partners such as the Smithsonian, the New York Public Library, the National Archives, and an array of highly respected institutions of learning including Harvard, the DPLA opened with more than two million items on display. According to executive director Dan Cohen in an article featured online by the Huffington Post, this is just the beginning, and the public can expect "tens of millions (of additional resources) to come in the years ahead."

"Personal 3-D printers are getting more powerful and more advanced every year. The latest models, on display last weekend at New York's annual Maker Faire, can crank out everything from model Eiffel Towers to wearable high-heeled shoes"

"By 2015 more end users will access the Internet through a mobile device than a PC, according to a new report from the International Data Corporation (IDC)."

Case study of a School who used Google Hangouts for teacher observations. Summary of "pros" follows: "Maynard, the observing teacher in whose class Grubb worked, believes Google+ Hangouts offers a lot of potential for student teachers. "They could sit down with professors and supervising teachers and analyze lessons much easier," she says. "I like how multiple people can be invited as well. In the past there has been just one professor from the university sitting in the classroom observing." With Hangouts, multiple people could participate in the observation--including other student teachers. Plus, she added, the recordings could be useful for new teachers; they could simply take it to a job interview and share it. "That could be a huge part of interviews in the future.""

ZebraZapps has partnered with the eLearning Brothers to produce high quality photographic character packs available in the Gadget Shopp. Conveniently integrated in the ZebraZapps cloud, these new character packs help authors instantly connect with their audience. Starting at just $3.50 you can choose from several multi-pose sets of unique characters. There's no need to search for and download art online, as the character packs live in the cloud with your account and can be used in every project.

Tagxedo turns words -- famous speeches, news articles, slogans and themes, even your love letters -- into a visually stunning word cloud, words individually sized appropriately to highlight the frequencies of occurrence within the body of text."

Applications for Education With Wideo's new voiceover tool you could really have your students creating explanatory videos in the Common Craft style. The art of Common Craft videos is the way in which confusing topics are boiled down to a concise explanation. If your students can do the same with a topic in your class, they can prove that they know the material.

"ePortfolios Never Went Away-They Just Became Standard Practice " ePortfolios are still a key component to getting into the schools you want and getting hired for the jobs you desire. In fact, it's safe to say that they matter just as much now as they ever did, if not more. The reason we've stopped seeing as many articles about ePortfolios is because they've approached standard practice in the education and employment fields. It's taken for granted that today's students will know how to create one by the time they complete their college degrees and seek new employment opportunities, if they didn't already create one as they prepared to apply to colleges."

DimDim is a fairly new, streamlined online seminar application with support for chat, slide sharing, emoticons, white-boarding, VOIP voice conferencing and video conferencing. Only PC desktops can be shared, but DimDim supports Mac and Linux users for other features. Participants can enter meeting rooms using almost any system or browser, typically without a download. A free, ad-supported version allows up to 20 people to participate; a version without ads starts at $99 per year for up to 20 people.

"The phrase "Death by PowerPoint" has become increasingly popular. Most people have experienced Death by PowerPoint at some point while attending meetings, conferences, or seminars. The irony is that PowerPoint, which is supposed to make presentations more powerful and effective, can also be a weapon of mass destruction. This white paper documents the symptoms of Death by PowerPoint, and, more importantly, details the cures. There is no one cure, but rather many techniques. The good news is that the techniques are simple; you just need to implement them."

"Idealware's new report, Infographics for Outreach, Advocacy, and Marketing: From Data to Design, is a guide to help you think through the process of understanding and creating infographics. In it, we cover what defines an infographic and help you create one that presents your data in a compelling and easy-to-understand way. We've also included a number of examples of infographics, both good and bad, to make the point clear."

"The Department of Justice's revised regulations for Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) were published in the Federal Register on September 15, 2010. cover of Justice Department's 2010 ADA StandardsThe Department has assembled this official online version of the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design (2010 Standards) to bring together the information in one easy-to-access location. It provides the scoping and technical requirements for new construction and alterations resulting from the adoption of revised 2010 Standards in the final rules for Title II (28 CFR part 35) and Title III (28 CFR part 36). "

As "nontraditional" students gradually become the majority, professors must adjust their thinking and teaching methods.

From Yvonne-Hi, you all probably already know about this blog, but just in case, FYI.

From NTEN-This is a subscription-based online infographic creation tool that provides users with the ability to create and publish a variety of different infographics. The site currently offers five templates to use as a starting point, or you can create your own from a blank page. While there are a number of options for customization, there are fewer backgrounds than Easel.ly. Venngage does provide the ability to choose from a variety of chart types, and you can upload data as a CSV to create charts. The finished product can be embedded on a blog or website, downloaded as an image, or accessible online. The company provides a variety of pricing plans, along with a 14-day free trial for new users.

Last month, without warning, Facebook and Twitter killed-off access to RSS feeds. With the launch of the new Twitter interface, you could only access RSS feeds on Twitter if you were logged out of your account. Now, it seems you can't access them at all. To access the RSS feed of any user, use the following link: http://api.twitter.com/1/statuses/user_timeline.rss?screen_name={USERNAME} So for example, if you want to access the RSS feed of The Next Web's Twitter account, you would use the following link: http://api.twitter.com/1/statuses/user_timeline.rss?screen_name=thenextweb

Storify offers educators several easy to use features for designing multimedia assignments, since it allows both technology novices and professionals to create auditorily and visually rich news articles or "stories" without web design skills. Storify can be used for students to gather resources from the web, evaluate these resources, and write enticing synthesis essays based on research.