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"What Makes a Great Teacher? Image credit: Veronika Lukasova Also in our Special Report: National: "How America Can Rise Again" Is the nation in terminal decline? Not necessarily. But securing the future will require fixing a system that has become a joke. Video: "One Nation, On Edge" James Fallows talks to Atlantic editor James Bennet about a uniquely American tradition-cycles of despair followed by triumphant rebirths. Interactive Graphic: "The State of the Union Is ..." ... thrifty, overextended, admired, twitchy, filthy, and clean: the nation in numbers. By Rachael Brown Chart: "The Happiness Index" Times were tough in 2009. But according to a cool Facebook app, people were happier. By Justin Miller On August 25, 2008, two little boys walked into public elementary schools in Southeast Washington, D.C. Both boys were African American fifth-graders. The previous spring, both had tested below grade level in math. One walked into Kimball Elementary School and climbed the stairs to Mr. William Taylor's math classroom, a tidy, powder-blue space in which neither the clocks nor most of the electrical outlets worked. The other walked into a very similar classroom a mile away at Plummer Elementary School. In both schools, more than 80 percent of the children received free or reduced-price lunches. At night, all the children went home to the same urban ecosystem, a zip code in which almost a quarter of the families lived below the poverty line and a police district in which somebody was murdered every week or so. Video: Four teachers in Four different classrooms demonstrate methods that work (Courtesy of Teach for America's video archive, available in February at teachingasleadership.org) At the end of the school year, both little boys took the same standardized test given at all D.C. public schools-not a perfect test of their learning, to be sure, but a relatively objective one (and, it's worth noting, not a very hard one). After a year in Mr. Taylo

"The use of the internet by younger children, from 0 to 8 years, may have both benefits and risks. Research into how the Internet is used by young children and the effects on children's development is relatively uncommon compared to research about older learners. However, more and more young children are using the Internet yet so little is understood about the impact on their growth and development."

Cybersmart Detectives is an innovative online game that teaches children key internet safety messages in a safe environment. Children work online in real time liaising with community professionals to solve an internet-themed problem. The activity is based in the school environment, and brings together a number of agencies with an interest in promoting online safety for young people, including State and Federal Police, internet industry representatives and child welfare advocates.

Cybersmart Detectives is an innovative online game that teaches children key internet safety messages in a safe environment. Children work online in real time liaising with community professionals to solve an internet-themed problem. The activity is based in the school environment, and brings together a number of agencies with an interest in promoting online safety for young people, including State and Federal Police, internet industry representatives and child welfare advocates.

By Kelsey Allen. "Gone are the days of children sneaking comics past diligent parents and teachers watching out for sub-par literature. The comics of today not only have plenty to offer, they are gaining well-deserved recognition and awards. Take advantage of the natural affinity children have for comics and use them as a powerful teaching tool in your classroom. The post contains links to tips, tools, and resources.

The explosive growth of social media, smartphones and digital devices is transforming our kids' lives, in school and at home. Research tells us that even the youngest of our children are migrating online, using tablets and smartphones, downloading apps. 

In these times of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA), in this Post Truth era, what do our children most need from their education? How do we best prepare them for their future?

FEARFUL parents are unnecessarily sending pre-schoolers to early learning classes to give them an academic edge.

"OLPC Australia is a dynamic, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping children enjoy learning. By making technology an integral part of education, we've already opened up a world of opportunity for countless children. And the best part? We've only just begun. "

"OLPC Australia is a dynamic, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping children enjoy learning. By making technology an integral part of education, we've already opened up a world of opportunity for countless children. And the best part? We've only just begun." "

Aiming to help 1 million children learn to read by 2014, LitWorld supports literacy and educational programs in communities from Harlem to Baghdad. "LitWorld's mission is to cultivate literacy leaders worldwide through transformational literacy experiences that build connection, understanding, resilience and strength. We work with teachers, parents, community members, and children to support the development of literacy and the redemptive power of story in the world's most vulnerable communities."

A cyberbullying 'epidemic' has hit our shores and threatens to contaminate our children through emails, chatrooms, blogs, mobile phones and social networking sites. The Bullies are nasty, highly contagious viruses that lurk in cyberspace, infecting young cyber citizens with unacceptable online behaviours. And unfortunately, something seemingly innocent such as forwarding an unpleasant email to someone can cause instant contamination. But help is at hand. SchoolAid, in partnership with the Vodafone Foundation, has launched a national campaign that identifies and personifies the different types of cyberbullying behaviours, and in particular, bystander behaviour, to raise awareness of this crucial issue, while encouraging open discussion among children and adults alike.

Article summarizing recent finding that shows students using technology especially for writing have better core literacy skills. "Children who blog, text or use social networking websites are more confident about their writing skills: - The National Literacy Trust.

The purpose of this Resource Sheet is to provide information on resources available for parents regarding online safety for their children. For another NCPC Resource Sheet relating to online practices see: Images of Children and Young People Online (Horsfall, 2010).

Using the Download PDF button on this page you can download a really interesting pdf guide for parents about talking with children about working online. The guide looks at children of different ages and stages and offers sensible and commonsense advice. Though it is written for the American context the underlying advice is relevant to all.

 If the young people of today are to thrive beyond the walls of the classroom they will need to be able to cope with a world characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. The children of todays Kindergarten will enter the workplace in the fourth-decade of the 21st Century. We debate the merits of teaching 21st Century Skills and what they might be while teaching children who have lived their entire lives in that very century. The challenge is how will schools and individual teachers respond to this drive for urgent change.

How might we prepare our students for an unknown future? If we accept that we are living in times of rapid change and that the world our children will inhabit is likely to be very different from the world of today, or perhaps more importantly, different from the work our current education system was designed to serve, what should we do to ensure our children are able to thrive?

Smories has "a continuous flow of new stories, read aloud by kids...... showcasing unpublished stories" that can be accessed via the web or iPod.

world are embracing and developing new "ingredients" of learning: superclasses of 90 to 120 students; vertical learning groups; stage not age; schools within schools or "Home Bases;" [all education concepts Stephen talks about more later] project-based work; exhibition-based assessments; collaborative learning teams; mixed-age mentoring; children as teachers; teachers as learners

Site to help young children learn about staying safe on the net. Links to related sites for older age groups.

"A growing number of educators and advocates in the online safety field are now embracing the term 'digital citizenship' to describe education about privacy, safety, security and responsible use of information and communication technologies (ICT). There is also a growing understanding of the importance of beginning this education when a child first starts their use of ICT. "