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When you read a really great book, don't you want to make sure everyone knows about it? That's how Seth Cassel felt. That's why he started FLAMINGNET, a site where teens can tell other teens what they think about the books they read. .

Emmanuel was a baby born in a war zone. His is physically disabled. Here he sings 'Imagine' on the x-factor. It is very humbling and provides an example of responding to conflict for students - both from the point of view of emmanuel, his mother, the audience and the judges. This performance provides a good discussion starter, Tissues may be required.

This guy used to be my singing coach- amazing to see what he does now!

"Jon Bergmann talks with Vicki Davis (CoolCatTeacher) about flipped learning by which he means moving direct instruction to the individual space so the classroom space can be freed up for collaborative projects. Listen now to find out more about this pedagogical method."

This blog post from Scott McLeod talks about the lessons he has learned via digital storytelling. "I've been working with digital storytelling for a couple of years now, first as a learner, and then as a facilitator. I find the process to be transformational, not only for me but for my students. I learn something new every time I work with students and teachers in this process."

"The Leap Ahead LLN ePortfolio and eSystems pilot report carried out by the Centre for ePortfolio Development is now complete. The project ran trials of over 1000 ePortfolio licences in schools, FE, HE and employees from 2007 to 2009. http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/eportfolio/leapahead/ePFLLN.shtml  The following are available now:* Executive SummaryMain points from the full ePortfolio and eSystems report* Five PilotsePortfolios compared, evidence-based, postgraduate PDP, different sectors and levels, raising employees' aspirations* XCRI ReportThe LLN XCRI implementations in Notts & Derbys The full report will be available early July."

"The principal of Northern Beaches Secondary College, Steve Pickering, and his colleagues were inspired to introduce this project-based learning after visiting progressive schools in Adelaide and the US a few years ago. He believes working in groups on real issues improves student engagement, especially in middle years, by leveraging team loyalty and promoting a sense of achievement. It also moves education towards student-centre learning and lets children make unique contributions they would not be able to on their own."

An article that describes and discusses the ebook, looking at what it is, and what it is not. He discusses fiction versus non-fiction, reference material and textbooks, and how the ebook can enhance usability.

Enhancing Students' Learning Experiences Through the Use of Digital Storytelling

he Networked Student was inspired by CCK08, a Connectivism course offered by George Siemens and Stephen Downes during fall 2008

There is increasing discussion about whether Twitter's "real time search" could pose a threat to Google. While Twitter may or may not pose a threat to Google, it is clear that real-time search such as leveraging Twitter is becoming increasingly important. Mark Carye at MTHacks decided to get realtime twitter search results on Google so he created a Greasemonkey user script that does exactly this. It displays the most recent 5 tweets for the query that you are search for, giving both real-time Twitter search results and Google results on the same page. This entry also has some interesting links to the Google/Twitter search debate as well as other ideas related to searching via Twitter.

Video clip synopsis - After spending some time observing an Aboriginal tribe, Cook commits the most controversial act of the voyage: he claims the entire east coast of New Holland for Britain, without permission from the local inhabitants.

The presentations on this site were originally inspired by Tom Barrett's 'Interesting Ways' presentations. These Google Docs presentations were created by Tom, with lots of contributions from the fantastic teachers who read his blog and are part of his Twitter network. Mark Warner decided to try something similar, based upon 'Amazing Ways to Inspire Writing'. He was really pleased with the response, in terms of contributions from others, and positive comments about the idea and thought that it was worth making a site to host the presentations, rather than relying on people to remember long and complicated Google Docs addresses. Tom, Doug Belshaw and Joe Rowing have also kindly given their permission for their 'Interesting Ways' presentations to be embedded here for others to see. If you have any amazing ideas to add to the presentations on the site, or you can suggest a new topic, please get in touch, via email or Twitter.

George Siemens was gracious enough to be our guest in EC&I 831 on January 20th, 2009 where he gave us an overview of the changing views of knowledge in society, talked about Connectivism, and described the recent CCK08 course.

Great video of 'How to create a great PowerPoint presentation without breaking the law' by Alvin Trusty (via Wes Fryer's Blog). Quite long (40-odd minutes), but very good messages throughout. I particularly liked the way he talked about creative commons and the use of www.compfight.com as a means of obtaining high quality images.

Tom Barrett explains how he set up Google Docs in his classroom. It includes a checklist as well as an embed of 21 interesting ways to use Google Docs

The content and technology are continually changing. This article reminds us that learners are also changing. For the past decade, faculty who won awards for teaching expressed concern that they could no longer hold the attention of their students. John Seely Brown, Chief Scientist at Xerox and director of its Palo Alto Research Center, hired 15 year olds to design future work environments and learning environments. He observed that the students did not conform to the traditional image of learners as permissive sponges. It requires us to rethink and redesign education for the Digital Age.

Andrew Churches extrapolates from ancient Rome in this excellent discussion on 6 tenets of Digital Citizenship. As he says, "The internet is a little like the proverbial elephant that never forgets. Our digital footprints are not like the footprints on the beach, washed away by the next wave or rising tide. Rather they are like footprints left to dry in the wet concrete of the footpath."

Students are using a dual-boot machine with UbuntuLinux and Windows XP. I love this account of how he got the change going at a Technology magnet school...note the focus is on bringing innovative experiences to students rather than making it easier for District Technology Department staff to do their job, which unfortunately, is what keeps GNU/Linux out of many school districts: The Rudd laptop scheme damaged the use of linux in schools in Aus. Maybe this will help.

"Bill Murray approaches the teaching-learning system as a game in which students, teachers, and others play various roles. He wonders whether the game itself encourages cheating, and suggests that teachers could restructure the game so that cheating is less rewarding and less likely."

Fascinating essay about assessment and cheating, and how teachers have created this situation.