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Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share.[1] The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons licenses free of charge to the public. These licenses allow creators to communicate which rights they reserve, and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators. An easy-to-understand one-page explanation of rights, with associated visual symbols, explains the specifics of each Creative Commons license. Creative Commons licenses do not replace copyright, but are based upon it. They replace individual negotiations for specific rights between copyright owner (licensor) and licensee, which are necessary under an "all rights reserved" copyright management with a "some rights reserved" management employing standardized licenses for re-use cases where no commercial compensation is sought by the copyright owner. The result is an agile, low-overhead and low-cost copyright-management regime, profiting both copyright owners and licensees. Wikipedia uses one of these licenses.[2]

We do not need to teach creativity, but rather inspire its daily practice. Somewhere along the way, we simply forgot to honor this innate gift and how to access its power. Our role as educators is to encourage learning experiences that increase the ability to recognize and listen to our inner voice.

Storytelling is an age-old art form. With Web 2.0 and the tools already available on most computers, students can use text, music, sound effects, videos, and more to create a multimedia presentation that links them to the world beyond the classroom. Storytelling has the potential to unleash creativity, engage, and motivate. Applicable across the curriculum, digital storytelling teaches students to work collaboratively and use new technologies, skills they will be required to have in the workforce of the future. This book offers an overview of digital storytelling as well as its variations, including e-portfolios, digital photo essays, and scrapblogs. The many recommendations, overviews, and explanations of digital storytelling tools, along with lists of additional digital storytelling resources, will help educators to apply this exciting technology in their classrooms. Educators will also discover the ways digital storytelling can be used for their own professional development. Digital Storytelling Guide for Educators provides detailed directions to preparation, production, and presentation, and rounds out with a discussion on creating rubrics and evaluating student work. Readers will come away with an understanding of digital stories and the tools needed to create them.

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. The animations - which are part Minute Physics, part The Dot and the Line, part 60-Second Adventures in Thought - are released under a Creative Commons license and cover the basics of logic and the scientific method, as well as specific psychological pitfalls like confirmation bias and Gambler's Fallacy.

Integrating digital storytelling with instruction becomes a creative opportunity for both novice and technologically experienced educators when using Jason Ohler's Digital Storytelling in the Classroom. Ohler links digital storytelling to improving traditional, digital, and media literacy, and guides teachers on how to empower students to tell stories in their own native language: new media and multimedia. Aligned with NCTE standards and covering important copyright and fair use information, this text provides information on integrating storytelling into curriculum design and using the principles of storytelling as a measurement of learning and literacies. Implementation tips and visual aids abound, giving teachers an exciting new resource.

"What is it? Here's an article by BIE, updated from its original appearance in the September 2010 issue of Educational Leadership magazine from ASCD. Good for general audiences as well as educators, it explains the essential elements that make rigorous PBL different from "doing projects." Why do we like it? This article was written because some teachers say they "do projects" already (so why learn more about PBL) and some educators and members of the general public may have negative stereotypes of PBL as merely a "fun" or "hands-on" activity. How can you use it? Share this article with anyone, from teachers to parents to administrators, to explain PBL and provide a common framework for projects. The 8 Essential Elements are the basis of BIE's Project Design Rubric and PBL 101 Workshop."

Jennifer Wagner, creator of ProjectsByJen, has been succesfully encouraging teachers since 1999 to use online projects in their PreK-6 classrooms. Using various ideas, Jennifer will help you understand how online projects will help you make the most of your time in a variety of ways. Winning numerous awards for her creative ways in encouraging teachers to collaborate, her teaching style is very user friendly, creative, and personable.

When people ask about the inspiration for our style of videos, I often say that our videos reflect the way that I wish I had learned in school. My learning style wasn't a good match for the way I was taught. Recently we completed a custom video project with the Buck Institute for Education (BIE) that focuses on a Project Based Learning or "PBL", and boy did it open my eyes. I can now see that I needed teachers who put PBL to work. I needed to get up from my desk and engage. I needed to work on a real-world issue and use creativity and problem solving - what are known as 21st century skills these days. This video is an introduction to PBL and how it impacted a science teacher's students and helped their community.

In this first three-part post, John Larmer describes how he and co-author Susie Boss answered the question in their newly published book, 'PBL for 21st Century Success: Teaching Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity'. In the next post, Deborah Esparza will review the book from "the field". For the final post, co-author Susie Boss has been invited to explain why she and John choose this topic.

1st of 3 articles introducing Larmer & Boss' new book published by BIE

It's a practical guide to building 21st century-student competency in the "4 C's" - critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity/innovation. The book is designed for middle school and high school teachers, instructional coaches, and school leaders. It also shows how the 4 C's in a PBL context align with the Common Core State Standards. Sample projects, CCSS-aligned 4 C's rubrics, tips for technology in projects, notes for school leaders on building support for 21st century learning with PBL. Authors: Suzie Boss, author and BIE National Faculty, and John Larmer, Editor-in-Chief, BIE

Bihu is a festival celebrated primarily in the Indian state of Assam, which marks the beginning of the Assamese New Year and the arrival of spring. The festival is celebrated three times a year: Rongali or Bohag Bihu in mid-April, Kongali or Kati Bihu in mid-October, and Bhogali or Magh Bihu in mid-January. Rongali Bihu, also known as Bohag Bihu, is the most important of the three Bihu festivals and is celebrated with great enthusiasm and fervor. The festival typically lasts for seven days and involves various traditional rituals, cultural programs, and feasting. During Rongali Bihu, people clean and decorate their homes, wear new clothes, and prepare traditional delicacies such as pitha (rice cakes), laru (sweet balls made of rice flour), and fish curry. They also perform traditional folk dances such as the Bihu dance, which is performed by both men and women in groups. The festival of Bihu 2023 is a time of joy and celebration, and people come together to share their happiness and strengthen their bonds. It is a significant cultural event in Assam and is celebrated by people from all walks of life, irrespective of their caste, religion, or creed. Three Types of Bihu There are three types of Bihu festivals celebrated in the Indian state of Assam: Rongali or Bohag Bihu: It is the most popular and significant of the three Bihu festivals and is celebrated in mid-April. Rongali Bihu marks the onset of the Assamese New Year and the arrival of spring. It is a seven-day festival that is celebrated with great enthusiasm and involves traditional rituals, cultural programs, and feasting. Kongali or Kati Bihu: It is celebrated in mid-October, which is the time when the fields are empty as the paddy is not yet ripe. This festival is more somber and subdued compared to Rongali Bihu and is focused on prayers and rituals to seek blessings for a good harvest. Bhogali or Magh Bihu: It is celebrated in mid-January, which is the time when the harvest is over, and the granaries are

"EdLeader21 is a national network of school and district leaders focused on integrating the 4Cs (critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity) into education."

When students create a movie or interactive slide show to tell their story, learning becomes personal. Students can improve their writing, show creativity, and have a voice.

Sawubona . . . Visit the storymaking steps, transmedia digital tools, and the featured StoryKeeper's Gallery designed to inspire and jump start beginners. Consider hosting customize Workshops, Artist-in-Residence Programs or DigiTales Storytelling Camps. These one-of-a-kind artistic learning adventures are meant to lift the spirits, spark creativity and imaginations while deepening content and technical skills as digital authors experience the process of merging the ancient art of oral storytelling with a palette of transmedia tools. Bernajean's learning environments are joyfully designed and paced to enable participants to master skills, processes and the craftsmanship now needed in creating ALL kinds of exemplar multi-media products beyond storytelling.

In my Learning Through Projects series, I wrote about crafting questions that drive projects. Developing interesting, relevant, and meaningful driving questions is challenging. To help teachers with project based learning, Global Digital Citizenship Foundation has free publications with ideas and resource links. The publications are PDFs and are licensed under Creative Commons, so you may distribute or print them as long as you do not modify them in any way.

"PBL provides a unique opportunity to help students practice critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. Learn how to optimize the environment for teamwork in your classroom."

Innovation is a key ingredient to authentic PBL. We must take risks, be prepared to experience failures, learn from them, persevere, endure criticism from skeptics and other curmudgeons, if we are going to make a difference. Never give up!