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"Today, though, as we move into Personalised Learning in the Age of Technology, it is time for us to break the shackles of traditional thinking regarding writing and technology. We can no longer afford to dwell on the negative impacts of spellcheck and copy/paste. Instead, let's focus on the benefits."

Illustrates a lot of information from tine Innosight document, as well as several other sources. A bit busy but might be useful as a summary.

Bruce Leslie describes his kids' experience using Skype for language learning.

"Our research shows that the argument that there is a generational break between today's generation of young people who are immersed in new technologies and older generations who are less familiar with technology is flawed," says Dr Jones. "The diverse ways that young people use technology today shows the argument is too simplistic and that a new single generation, often called the 'net generation', with high skill levels in technology does not exist." Press release: http://www.esrc.ac.uk/news-and-events/press-releases/20523/not-all-todays-students-are-tech-savvy.aspx

Three white papers from Innosight Institute. All are about K-12 blended learning. Very useful research.

"Educators must reevaluate the degree to which compliance has affected every aspect of the learning environment, including the use of established classroom assessments and grading systems to identify success. Many A students have earned high marks primarily because of their meticulousness in following directions, their knack for repeating procedures on cue, and their ability to expertly summarize other people's ideas."

Positive examples of ipad use for Algebra1 course and fifth grade fundamental math skills

Smart post by Sam Gliksman on the reasons for classroom iPad use. A lot of what he says applies to technology in general.

Interesting possibility for digital maps. Free and crowdsourced. People seem to think learning how to create a layer is fairly easy, too.

We purchased the client software version of arcGIS made for K-12 use and had it on all RCS PC's for about 4 years. We were not able to get any integrations with it launched. Dropped support for it two years ago due to lack of use. Maybe interest in GIS has changed since Google Earth has come on the scene? Anyone interested in looking at GIS applications for RCS?

Free materials to help support your PBL ideas. Not all are excellent, but there are some good ideas here that might be useful.

Graph Words is a free visualization tool to explore English dictionary and thesaurus, helps you to search the meaning of words and other associated words. It is not as powerful as the visual Thesaurus, which is a premium subscription RCS uses, but it is very easy to use, and could have immediate applicability for English vocabulary study.

The Stone is a forum for contemporary philosophers on issues both timely and timeless.Tags:The Stone is featuring occasional posts by Gary Gutting, a professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, that apply critical thinking to information and events that have appeared in the news.

Truly amazing notetaking software. I've used it for my grad school classes and personal notetaking. We have this software installed on every RCS computer, and you can install it on your own devices for free. From their site: "Save your ideas, things you like, things you hear, and things you see. Evernote works with nearly every computer, phone and mobile device out there. Search by keyword, tag or even printed and handwritten text inside images."

very cool - I'm sharing it with my girls too :)

"I used to have to tell my students about phenomena, or have them read; now I can show them," says Jim Doane, a science teacher at Scarborough Middle School, in Scarborough, Maine. When we begin adding digital demonstrations through video and Flash animation, we are giving students new, better ways to get information." This is sooo true - I love that I can show my kindergartners a video of a baby worm hatching from it's cocoon because the odds of us being able to see it in our worm bin despite the number of actual cocoons we may see are very,very low! Or videos of leaves changing color (in fast time) when we discuss chlorphyll and sunlight and fall. Or a magnificent closeup of our very own red wigglers as they "move" across the Promethean Board.

"the school's chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home."

Mini posters for reminding us how to develop questions with blooms in mind

Michael Wesch's seminal video on Web 2.0, non-linearity, and the separation of form from content.

Ever heard of AutoCAD? Maya? 3ds Max? Autodesk has some of the best 3D software on the market, and they give it to faculty and students for free. 

From the site: "Adobe Youth Voices Essentials provides free curricula and tools for educators to inspire young people to create digital media on issues they care about. Based on the best practices of educators from around the world, our curricula promotes youth expression, creativity, and engagement, helping young people build critical 21st century technology and life skills."

A list of videos from the likes of Sal Khan, Linda Darling-Hammond, Judy Willis, and other notables. Great minds, not necessarily thinking alike.