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"Here Be Dragons is a free 40 minute video introduction to critical thinking. It is suitable for general audiences and is licensed for free distribution and public display. Most people fully accept paranormal and pseudoscientific claims without critique as they are promoted by the mass media. Here Be Dragons offers a toolbox for recognizing and understanding the dangers of pseudoscience, and appreciation for the reality-based benefits offered by real science."

Here Be Dragons is a free 40 minute video introduction to critical thinking. It is suitable for general audiences and is licensed for free distribution and public display. Most people fully accept paranormal and pseudoscientific claims without critique as they are promoted by the mass media. Here Be Dragons offers a toolbox for recognizing and understanding the dangers of pseudoscience, and appreciation for the reality-based benefits offered by real science.

In this section, we take a similar approach as with our Great Tech Tools. In order to help educators integrate iPads effectively, we have compiled a list of apps focused on learning goals consistent with the CRCD framework. While many of these apps have also appeared in our iPads in the Classroom section, this list is driven by specific learning goals that promote critical-thinking, creativity, collaboration, and the creation of student-centric learning environments.

In this section, we take a similar approach as with our Great Tech Tools. In order to help educators integrate iPads effectively, we have compiled a list of apps focused on learning goals consistent with the CRCD framework. While many of these apps have also appeared in our iPads in the Classroom section, this list is driven by specific learning goals that promote critical-thinking, creativity, collaboration, and the creation of student-centric learning environments.

A Ning to help you get the most out of storybird. The Storybird Ning is a place for teachers to get together and share ideas and information on using Storybird.com effectively in the class.

Australian outfit Bridge 8, who have the admirable mission of devising "creative strategies for science and society," and animator James Hutson have created six fantastic two-minute animations on various aspects of critical thinking, aimed at kids ages 8 to 10 but also designed to resonate with grown-ups. Inspired by the animation style of the 1950s, most recognizably Saul Bass, the films are designed to promote a set of educational resources on critical thinking by TechNYou, an emerging technologies public information project funded by the Australian government.

"Lately, I have discovered many cool free apps that are incredible for creating digital stories, reading stories, and interacting with stories. These apps are incredibly engaging and meet the needs of our diverse learners. They allow learners to interact with the plot, characters, and even design of the story. They also support multiple learning styles because they are visual, have sound, and animation. Students can even begin to craft their own stories using their voices, drawings, images, videos, and so much more!"

What it is: What makes technology SO great is the way that it can make life (and teaching) more productive and fun. Over the years, I have found so many ways that technology can make reading more rewarding for both kids who love to read, and kids who dread reading. Today, I created an "Extreme Speed Booking" website for @michellek107′s class at Anastasis. I created the site quickly using Weebly, an awesome WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) website editor. Drag and drop website building is where it is at! The idea behind the site is to introduce students to a variety of books and form classroom book groups. How does Extreme Speed Booking work? A whole lot like speed dating. :) Students spend a little time with each book and then rate them accordingly with "I want to read more", "Interesting", "Not for me", or "I've already read". Students can also make a note of how interested they are in reading the book (maybe a 1-10 scale)? This process introduces students to a variety of books, genres and authors. Students may come across titles and authors they wouldn't otherwise find. It also helps teachers form classroom book groups that are of high-interest and investment to students because they had input.

EdTech in PYP "A collection of links to help promote educational technology use within the PYP framework" RSS Worth a look and then some!

The use of word clouds in the classroom is quickly gaining pace because of the number of different ways in which they can be used to promote student learning. However, Wordle is not your only choice in this field, because a number of great alternatives have recently been released to rival it. Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/75426.aspx#ixzz0sD0FVkH0

Revision is a critical piece of the writing process-and of your classroom curriculum. Now, Google Docs has partnered with Weekly Reader's Writing for Teens magazine to help you teach it in a meaningful and practical way. The sharing features of Google Docs enable you and your students to decide exactly who can access and edit documents. You'll find that Google Docs helps promote group work and peer editing skills, and that it helps to fulfill the stated goal of The National Council of Teachers of English, which espouses writing as a process and encourages multiple revisions and peer editing. On this page, you will find several reproducible PDF articles from Writing magazine filled with student-friendly tips and techniques for revision. You'll also find a teacher's guide that provides you with ideas for how to use these materials with Google Docs to create innovative lesson plans about revision for your classroom.

"The brain training learning games at ProProfs are a great way to engage your students in some higher level thinking skills. Currently they have 26 games and they represent a good variety of the kind of skills you would expect in this genre of learning software. So, it's no wonder that ProProfs is often rated among the best online games for gifted children. The 60 Second Brain Game is an intense visual and audio test, while Double Bubble and Colour Balls are equally challenging, and get harder the more you play them. There are also a whole collection of other educational games on this site, so if you haven't been here before, you should definitely check it out, because there is a lot to like on this site."

Brain training games are a great way to promote higher level thinking skills in students, but finding the right activities to practice these skills can be difficult. So, if you are looking for the best brain training learning software programs online, you have come to the right place. Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/106947.aspx#ixzz1EGc7gHc5