OZ/NZ educators

"Google Earth is a great app to have on an Android tablet. It can be used in many ways in schools. Google Earth for Android now has an upgrade in the form of 3D and aerial imagery. The update will allow you to navigate in 3D through different areas. There are short tours of places. Much like a tour in the desktop version of Google Earth, the tours on the Android version of Google Earth include snippets of information about the places that ymanyou virtually visit."

"Google's Chrome browser is packed full of an incredible amount of extensions that add all sorts of functionality. It's tough to sift through the store to find what's useful though, so Lifehacker has put together a collection of the best Chrome extensions."

"Classrooms are infused with technology. Many lessons ask students to use for online or digital tools. Accomplishing this so it serves educational goals isn't as much about knowing how to use the tools as constructing knowledge in an organic, scalable way. To prepare students to make the cerebral leap between tools used for a particular project and tools available as-needed requires preparation in eight areas discussed in this post."

"Educators weigh in on their schools' favorite Google Play for Education apps."

"The flipped classroom allows the class to dig a little deeper into active learning. It's a big misconception that the flipped classroom is about making videos and placing them online, sure that's one part of it. It's an important part of the puzzle as its forces you to focus on the explicit content you would like students to know. Making a 5 - 8 minute lesson isn't easy, but it certainly makes you consider what your learning objectives are . The real power of the flipped classroom is what happens the next day in class. The flipped classroom opens up opportunities. My main goal is to go deeper and have students participate in a richer active learning experience where I become more of a coach to guide their learning. The classes become much more collaborative in nature where students are solving complex problems with an emphasis on higher order and critical thinking skills."

"Explore Code the Future's first code club. David, a software engineer, and Kate, a teacher at Clifton Hill Primary School in Melbourne, Australia, show us around their weekly code club."

"The annual list of apps that educators favor this year shares some commonalities with last year's favorites. Teachers tend to drop apps if they become too expensive or sometimes if the updates are so overwhelming that they no longer know how to use the product. It's a delicate balance:"

"A gamified classroom has many benefits. Students are required to think critically, problem-solve, consider alternative solutions, and analyze information from multiple sources. Gamification, though, is no easy chore and you may need a lot of support along the way. Our best advice is to smart small, dive in, see what works, and tweak your plans along the way. We'd love to hear about your experiences with gamification in the classroom"

"Technology, as an instructional tool, can be especially powerful when used to conduct formative assessments because technology has the ability to provide feedback in a very timely manner"

A very useful summary of some of the available technologies

When research is widely available and effectively communicated, people can put it to use in their everyday lives. Making education research more accessible helps both teachers and ed tech developers make informed decisions based on the scientific evidence of how people learn. In this post the author shares suggestions gathered from researchers, developers, and educators at a recent Research Summit on how to increase access to academic research, and communicate it more clearly to the public.

This infographic sets out some very good reasons to support the case for teaching coding in schools.

Technology tools are being brought into classroom to enhance learning experiences and engage students. All teachers need expand on the set of rules to their classroom to help students understand appropriate behaviors and use of these technologies. The rules suggested in this post give students the freedom to use these new tools without abusing the privilege.

"How do we know our students have really mastered the standards we are supposed to teach? In this post assessment coach Garnett Hillman helps us understand how our assessments need to change. Discussed here are some tools and tips to help us with assessments."

"21st century learning isn't a trend as much as a reality. It's 2015 (almost 2016), so whatever you're doing in your classroom right now is technically 21st century learning. Semantics aside, we all can improve, and many of us are being held accountable for improvement by administrators, blogs, and the local PLC to "bring the next generation into the 21st century."  With that kind of pressure-and constant district walk-throughs-it may be necessary for you to fake a 21st century thinking and learning environment to make the right kind of impression with the right people, and give the appearance of forward-thinking."

Tom Murray's post about creating more stimulating and creative learning spaces