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As you work with digital material (both in your own preparation and with your students), you will run up against the questions of copyright and fair use more and more. Students are becoming incredibly adept at grabbing and repurposing online material. This can result in powerful and inventive work (after all, there's very little created that is truly original, with no influence from prior works) but can also be a way to avoid original thought.  There's a fine line between copyright infringement and fair use. Not to mention outright plagiarism, of course. And educational use is not necessarily fair use; that's a common misconception.  This is a recording of an ISTE web conference on copyright and fair use. It even includes an original fair use rock song!

Abstract: "Driver distraction is a significant source of motor-vehicle accidents. This chapter begins by presenting a framework for conceptualizing the different sources of driver distraction associated with multitasking. Thereafter, the primary focus is on cognitive sources of distraction stemming from the use of a cell phone while driving. We present converging evidence establishing that concurrent cell phone use significantly increases the risk of a motor-vehicle accident. Next, we show that using a cell phone induces a form of inattention blindness, where drivers fail to notice information directly in their line of sight. Whereas cell-phone use increases the crash risk, we show that passenger conversations do not. We also show that real-world cell-phone interference cannot be practiced away and conclude by considering individual differences in multitasking ability. Although the vast majority of individuals cannot perform this dual-task combination without impairment, a small group of "supertaskers" can, and we discuss the neural regions that support this ability."

From Explain Everything: "Explain Everything is an easy-to-use design tool that lets you annotate, animate, and narrate explanations and presentations. You can create dynamic interactive lessons, activities, assessments, and tutorials using Explain Everything's flexible and integrated design. Use Explain Everything as an interactive whiteboard using the iPad2 video display. Explain Everything records on-screen drawing, annotation, object movement and captures audio via the iPad microphone. Import Photos, PDF, PPT, and Keynote from Dropbox, Evernote, Email, iPad photo roll and iPad2 camera. Export MP4 movie files, PNG image files, and share the .XPL project file with others for collaboration. Explain Everything has been designed for use in educational, business, and entertainment settings."

From a dyslexic, very tech savvy, high school student: "Here's a list of my favorite iPad apps and how I use them to help me both in and out of the classroom."

Click here to learn how LaShawn Ross and Tracy Smith are using their iPads in the MS/US Library. They describe how they've integrated the devices into their daily work routines. Tracy's Documentation: https://docs.google.com/a/riverdale.edu/document/d/1Wm0D86bnc3xG3VrGQC2cpka4pk_bxWruszCtzbAoqT4/edit

Tons of good ideas about how to use Evernote. 

Many more ideas and use cases.

A good article about how one college history professor used WikiSpaces to help his students become more engaged in the study of history and the writing process. With some modification for age/grade appropriateness this might be an interesting project idea for RCS history classes. This might also work well for learning in English classes (classes create Wikis based on novels/books read?). Key selections from the article: "Students did not agree on the merits of the wiki. Some were deeply offended when other students eliminated or modified their contributions. Others found the chance to pick apart other's words and conclusions exhilarating. Regardless, most students seemed to grasp the important lesson I hoped to share: that history is the conversation we have about the past. History is about the authorial choices scholars make. History is about the evidence included and the evidence excluded. By asking students to participate in a joint-writing exercise, they were compelled to pay attention to the language others used, the phrasings and structure employed, the anecdotes emphasized, the facts obscured." "The wiki, while not perfect, may help us change the way our students think about history. It may help them be more attentive to language and argument. Importantly, it may help them value civil discourse as a civic virtue."

A must read article for all teachers who are interested in making peer assessment and feedback part of their students learning. The author, a high school AP Language teacher, uses Google Drive (especially the forms option) wonderfully to prepare his students for the AP exam. The amount of feedback each student and the teacher receives on each writing assignment is pretty remarkable.

From Free Technology for Teachers: "Using Blubbr you can create interactive quizzes that are based on YouTube clips. Your quizzes can be about anything of your choosing. The structure of the quizzes has a viewer watch a short clip then answer a multiple choice question about the clip. Viewers know right away if they chose the correct answer or not. Creating a quiz on Blubbr could be a good way to develop review materials for your students."

Date: Thursday - April 04, 2013 Time: 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM Location: The Hewitt School Speaker: Jenny Kirsch   The Hewitt School 45 E 75th Street New York, NY 10021 Grades 4-12 With just a few great tools, teachers can easily provide students with a broader, more vivid learning experience. This workshop will begin with an introduction to Google Chrome, featuring specific Chrome Extensions geared to helping teachers become more efficient in their daily tasks. The morning will be devoted to exploring filters for Google and YouTube searches, and learning how to build custom Google search engines. In the afternoon you will hear from teachers and students who are using concrete applications of Google Apps for Education in their classrooms. The end of the day will be reserved for experimentation with your newly acquired knowledge of Google Apps, so be sure to come with a laptop* and a few curriculum ideas you'd like to enhance!

An excellent 2.5 minute video about how to use Google Docs effectively for learning. Teacher explains how her method of using the technology helps her teach writing and collaboration skills.

Apps: Linear Program Plotter, Vernier Physics, DataAnalysis Teacher: Jennie Howell Jennie's used the iPads and several math specific apps with her Algebra 2 classes to graph linear programming models and find the equation of quadratic models. Read her documentation to learn more.

https://docs.google.com/a/riverdale.edu/document/d/1dlyX5YgMqc7ZYglgu5RXdrZ9zYkJX8DODa8TSwDpoLU/edit Click the above link to learn how all the Algebra II teachers are using iPads/apps to teach all sections of this course.

Want to learn how your colleagues at the lower school are having their students create multimedia books, screen recordings, and written/photographic reflections of their work? Click the link to view their documentation. Teachers: Meg Krause and Annie Massie Apps Used: iMovie, Explain Everything, Educreations, Touchcast, Camera App, and Speaker DJ *links to the apps in the App Store are available in their documentation*

App: Book Creator Teachers: Leah Sills Book Creator is another awesome app students/teachers can use to create multimedia based content. Click the link below to learn how Leah used the app to have LS students create virtual books. https://docs.google.com/a/riverdale.edu/document/d/1W91TlpYyrVVEN4AZhin54xM9ph7H3NDOCg2GiIAeh7E/edit

From iPad Apps for School: "Doodlecast Pro is an excellent iPad app for creating instructional videos. Doodlecast Pro could be a great iPad app for teachers to use to create instructional videos to use in a flipped classroom setting. Think of each page in a Doodlecast Pro video as a step in a process for solving an equation. Or think of the pages as sections in a short history lesson. Students could also use the app for creating instructional videos or creative short story videos."

Link to Doodlecast review by iPad Apps for School: http://ipadapps4school.com/2013/01/11/doodlecast-pro-makes-it-easy-to-create-flipped-classroom-videos/

Study found that most people multitask poorly, while a few people might be "supertaskers." Abstract: "Driver distraction is a significant source of motor-vehicle accidents.... concurrent cell phone use significantly increases the risk of a motor-vehicle accident.... using a cell phone induces a form of inattention blindness, where drivers fail to notice information directly in their line of sight.... real-world cell-phone interference cannot be practiced away.... a small group of "supertaskers" can [multitask]."

Video introduction to Moodle rubrics. You can use these in your Moodle assignments!

"Visit this site to learn all the tips and tricks for using Google Earth as a teaching tool. You can view lesson plans for a variety of grade levels and subjects, discuss Google Earth teaching tactics with fellow educators, see student-created work, and read how other teachers are using Google Earth in the classroom."