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"At TeachThought, we tend towards the tech-infused model, but do spend time exploring the limits and challenges of technology, the impact of rapid technology change, and carefully considering important questions before diving in head-first. The following take on 21st century learning developed by TeachThought is notable here because of the absence of technology. There is very little about iPads, social media, 1:10 laptops, or other tech-implementation. In that way, it is closer to the "classic" approach to "good learning" than it is the full-on digital fare we often explore. The size of the circles on the map are intended to convey priority."

"Short of banning smartphones (a short-term solution, at best), the evolution of artificial intelligence services like Siri means that there will be a shift from a focus on finding the answer as the endpoint to a greater focus on analysis. You have the answer, but so what? What does that answer mean in a real-life situation? Should teachers just take the bit that they have traditionally needed for this kind of problem or should they figure out how to use this extra information provided by Siri to push students' thinking beyond where it usually goes with eighth graders?"

"There's been ample discussion in K-12 classrooms recently about the quality, or lack thereof, of students' online research skills. Such concerns came to a head late last year when a national survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project indicated that 60 percent of teachers believe digital technologies make it hard for students to distinguish between credible and noncredible sources online. But here's something you probably didn't know: One of the best and most robust resources for teaching digital literacy can be found on one of the Web's most persistent trouble spots: Google."

"new Pew Research survey of more than 2,400 middle school and high school teachers released today shows that, while teachers believe technology has helped with their teaching, it's also brought new challenges - including the possibility of creating a bigger rift between low-income and high-income students."

"I am keenly aware that many of my colleagues are not, for various reasons, gung ho about educational technology. And it's interesting. Quite often, the teachers who are hesitant to adopt new technology are great - in fact, amazing - educators. They are frequently veterans and usually leaders in their academic field and within their institutions. In my role as tech advocate, I habitually find myself trying to coax these established educators to use new tools and incorporate new methodologies. Here are some ways I have found to be successful in this endeavor."

"The main point of writing this is to encourage more teachers to have a go. Whatever your role in a school, there will be people interested in your thoughts about what you do all day and how you think you can be more effective. Here are my tips: Top 10 don'ts when starting your blog:"

A picture is worth a thousand words and I had a good laugh at the picture below:

But globally, many thought technology would revolutionize education. Despite our collective administrative and pedagogical missteps, it has. Yet, the reasons technologies didn't work in those early lecture classes are the same reasons we continue to struggle with implementing them now. We are expecting too much of technology if we believe it will single-handedly fix problems with education. The majority of problems with education extend beyond the classroom: they are societal.

No matter how many laptops we put in classrooms or wi-fi networks we set up, if kids are in a district where schools are closing and class time is reduced due to budget shortfalls, learning is going to suffer. No matter how innovative the online textbook system, if kids are in classrooms where the teacher has received no training or even advanced notice that a new system is going to be used, learning is going to suffer. Regardless of how promising the innovation, it will suffer from the lack of technical support in a majority of districts or increasingly higher demands on teachers without appropriate increases in training and support.

Russel Tarr has just released a new version of Fakebook. Fakebook is Russel's tool for creating fake Facebook profiles. The latest version of Fakebook makes it easy to create a page by just clicking on a field and entering as much information as you like. In the profile picture field you can enter a name and Fakebook will search for images to use. For example, if you create a Fakebook page about George Washington Fakebook will search for pictures of George Washington.

Use video presentations and interactive assignments to impact students both in and out of the classroom. It's simple and free.

"If the recent iPad debacle in Los Angeles teaches us anything it's that no amount of money and technology will change anything without a modern vision of what teaching and learning looks like when every student and every teacher has access to the Internet. As many of us have been saying for far too long, our strategy to deal with the continuing explosion of technology and connections can't be to simply layer devices on top of the traditional curriculum and engage in digital delivery. Unfortunately, far too few develop a vision that sees that differently."