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looked deeper into our policies, we realized that we didn't need anything policy-wise. Why create something that might handcuff the ability of teachers to do their job effectively? We had Standards of Professional Conduct. We had policies on student communication and communication using school-owned devices. We saw these and decided what we needed were some simple best practices. These included things like: Protecting your own privacy Being honest Respecting copyright laws Disclaimers Thinking about consequences

I love my iPad as a learning device, I think the only answer right now is the laptop (at least for kids older than 3rd grade).

Kids may already have their own mobile devices, so open up BYOD.  Why buy them things they might already have?

unless traditional teaching practices morph to adapt and fully take advantage of what mobile devices can afford, some fear the promise will go the way of all the technology collecting dust in the corner of the classroom. Worse, it might eventually lead to what everyone unequivocally dreads: the mechanization of teaching.

“Right now, the iPad craze is using the same content on a different device. Schools must change the pedagogy.”

Defining what "flipping your classroom" meant was the first topic of conversation, which proved to be somewhat more difficult than you might expect. In fact, the reason the panel consisted of nine educators, instead of two or three, was precisely to demonstrate that there were many different ways to effectively flip a classroom.

number of possible scenarios that might result when wholesale adoption of digital technologies occurs in education and training. I touched on personal learning networks, mobile technologies, games and gamification, the use of social media in learning, the role of user generated content, the phenomenon of ubiquitous connection, and technological convergence.

John Seely Brown on Interest-Driven Learning, Mentors and the Importance of Play

in the past, it was likely to be very hard to find other people around you with your specialized interests. For example, when I was obsessed with building transmitters and radios as a kid, there were maybe five other kids in the entire state of New York who were also designing electronic equipment. I had no cohort group. Today, no matter how specialized a kid’s interest is, he or she will find a cohort group. When my godson was 9, he became fixated on penguins. He went on the internet, and he found himself a group or a collective that was deeply engaged with penguins. I said to him one day, “Well, who is this group?” And he said, “Well, they have a funny name.” And I said, “What’s that?” And he said, “Johns Hopkins!” He’d locked into a research group at Johns Hopkins! Yes, as a 9-year-old.

I personally feel that in order to get hooked on something—well, that’s the role of a great teacher, a great mentor. The role of the mentor is to get you to discover things you might not actually know you were interested in, to confront topics you may not be very good at understanding, but once discovered, you will.

starting in 1994, calculators were not only permitted, but were essentially required. The driving factors came from the level of mathematics taught and tested and the availability of graphing calculator technology. This change gave students the appropriate tool for accuracy and efficiency -- it was also the one used by most professionals who used mathematics beyond basic arithmetic

before prescribing medication, physicians often search the Medscape or Epocrates websites for the most current facts that might have significant impact on a patient's reactions to the medication. New information can be critical,

The problem is not primarily teachers or students who, in desperation, resort to cheating, but rather the conditions that drive them to such extremes

As needs change over time, addressing them might mean switching devices (remaking the choice). As schools progress in their technology implementation, they may find that their needs have changed, and should not hesitate to change devices as their understanding of their students’ needs develops. This seasonal view of devices (rather than “device as school identity”) is essential to helping schools move forward, meet their current students’ needs, and keep the curriculum relevant and timely for the future. A focus on pedagogy and key technology skills will transfer from one device to another, making the shift easier; a focus on being a device expert, or mastering device specific mechanics, will not. Students will graduate into a world that will demand technological fluency, the ability to move and process information across various platforms and devices.

A great way to start building your PLN is to search for hashtags of Twitter chats that might be of interest to you

You might, for example, set up a book discussion blog, a wiki for collaborative research, or a Google doc for collaborative writing.

By contrast some web apps are perfect for the “one-class stand”

Web 2.0 can optimize collaboration

While App Tabs can be used with any open tab, this feature is meant for websites that you might keep open throughout the day, like Pandora, Twitter or Gmail.

The transformation is so complete that Mozilla appears to have beaten back the sudden onslaught of competition in the form of IE9. It may even triumph over Chrome 10 — but that fight’s one to watch closely.

“Panorama” feature gives users the ability to group tabs together into manageable groups, which can be named, organized and edited simply.

When students step out the door of the institution called school today, they step into a learning environment that is organized in ways radically different from how it once was

The third scenario might be called “open access to learning,” or “caterpillar learns to fly.”