OZ/NZ educators

"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."

"CommonSense Media blog post introducing Lesson Flows, Darri Stephens shares that the framework redefines the traditional lesson plan by integrating digital learning tools and content with pedagogical intent. Quite simply, you can discover tools on Graphite and then align them to each part of your lesson -- the hook, direct instruction, guided practice, independent practice, and wrap-up -- thinking with purpose about your lesson redesign. Lesson Flows are excellent tools for teacher librarians to use as they design technology-rich collaborative projects with classroom teachers."

"CommonSense Media blog post introducing Lesson Flows, Darri Stephens shares that the framework redefines the traditional lesson plan by integrating digital learning tools and content with pedagogical intent. Quite simply, you can discover tools on Graphite and then align them to each part of your lesson -- the hook, direct instruction, guided practice, independent practice, and wrap-up -- thinking with purpose about your lesson redesign. Lesson Flows are excellent tools for teacher librarians to use as they design technology-rich collaborative projects with classroom teachers."

"We are an online community of naturalists who enjoy learning about and sharing our observations of insects, spiders, and other related creatures. We enjoy the opportunity to instill in others the fascination and appreciation that we share for the intricate lives of these oft-maligned creatures"

"Ask A Biologist began in 1997 in the School of Life Sciences as a biology learning resource tool for students, teachers, parents, and life-long learners. The site continues to be developed, and maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers. Ask A Biologist is visited by over 15,000 people every day and has answered more than 34,000 biology questions. This is a SafeSurf site."

"Collaborative, socially-enabled tools can provide excellent opportunities for practice, assessment, better writing, and better communication. In this post are some good collaborative web apps and resources, with social functionality, that can play a valuable role in classroom lessons and assignments:"

"Are you creating a learning space where your students have ample voice, engage frequently with each other, and are given opportunities to make choices.Some guiding Questions to help you reflect on the learning environment you design for students:"

Some good ideas worth exploring here. Includes video and many links .

Some useful tools for educators discussed here

"An infographic created by Mentoring Minds in which they featured 25 ways to develop 21st century critical thinkers"

"Making your notes more interesting doesn't have to be a huge undertaking. If you think sketchnoting looks fun, Some tips in this post to get you started."

A great article about using podcasts for assessment of yr 10 students to demonstrate their understanding of literary concepts

Useful how-to

"PicCollage is one of my favorite Android and iPad apps. It is a free that allows you to quickly arrange pictures, video, text, and stickers into collages. From the app you can share your collage to Google Drive, Instagram, Facebook, Dropbox, and many other file sharing services. In the video below I demonstrate how to use it without creating a PicCollage account."

"Microsoft, which bought the game's developer Mojang for $2.5bn in 2014, has launched a site aimed at teachers, aiming to foster a community of educators swapping lesson plans and other tips based on Minecraft. This site was announced (2015) by Microsoft's vice president of worldwide education Anthony Salcito, complete with a list of some of the ways schools are already incorporating Minecraft into their lessons"

"According to Churches on his wiki Edorigami, "Bloom's Revised Taxonomy describes many traditional classroom practices, behaviours and actions, but does not account for the new processes and actions associated with Web 2.0 technologies …" This means the revised Digital Taxonomy verbs listed below are applicable to you facilitating technology use in the modern classrooms. We hope you find this infographic of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy verbs useful in your classroom practices. Please feel free to share it with colleagues you feel may benefit from having a list of taxonomy verbs!"

"Minecraft is more than a game. It's like having a blank canvas to do and be anything. It's like having a master key to your greatest adventure. The worst thing that can happen if we let kids play is that they will learn much more than our standards sometimes allow. Those who play minecraft know this but the problem is that most people in charge of schools and curriculum do not. So, how can we change that?"