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"wcsmusic, formerly i music, is an exciting concept aimed at widening access to musical excellence through the production of revolutionary interactive learning materials. Due to the generosity of our funding partners, our products are available completely - FREE OF CHARGE. These include our award winning software, The Virtual Javanese Gamelan, and our second module, Virtual West African Drumming. These materials will offer a full 'hands on' practical exploration of an aspect of music from a computer workstation, integrating performance, composition and aural perception. Follow the links to discover more about the materials we are offering. wcsmusic is the trademark of Wells Cathedral School."

"The National Archives of Singapore (NAS) houses the collective memory of Singapore. From government files, private memoirs, historical maps and photographs to oral history interviews and audio-visual materials, NAS is responsible for the collection, preservation and management of Singapore's public and private archival records, some of which date back to the early 19th century. One of the rich resources available for public access is our oral history interviews and archival materials relating to World War II and Japanese Occupation of Singapore."

Summary via The Scout Report (May 2012): "The earth sciences encompass a range of fields, including geology, meteorology, and other areas of inquiry. This website features a range of lesson plans and activities that cover these fields, designed for both high school and college classrooms. In total, there are over two dozen activities here divided into sections such as Rocks & Minerals and Earthquakes & Volcanoes. The Rocks & Minerals area is a particularly rich vein of pedagogical material. It features a mineral identification lab session and a lesson plan that probes the world of igneous rocks. Moving along, the site also includes engaging materials on the formation of clouds, atmospheric pressure, and a humorous lesson plan on thunderstorms. [KMG]"

Summary via The Scout Report (May 2012): "The journal Nature provides a range of peer-reviewed scientific works on a weekly basis, along with science updates and materials aimed at the general public. This particular feature on malaria is available at no charge to the curious public, and as the homepage asks, "What will it take to finally subdue this deadly disease?" Visitors will find a collection of recent articles in the Outlook area, such as "The Numbers Game" and "Vaccines: The Take Home Lesson." Moving on, the Collection area brings together peer-reviewed pieces on the story behind the efforts to eradicate the disease, along with some nice pieces about how the disease is transmitted. It's easy to see how this collection could be used in a public health course, or in another classroom setting. Finally, the site also includes links to popular articles from Nature, along with other open access materials. [KMG]"

Web search can be a remarkable tool for students, and a bit of instruction in how to search for academic sources will help your students become critical thinkers and independent learners. With the materials on this site, you can help your students become skilled searchers- whether they're just starting out with search, or ready for more advanced training.

"two influential foundations, leading academics, two global testing firms and the video game industry could redefine how schools teach basic skills. Tinkering for the past several months at the Silicon Valley offices of one of the world's largest video game developers, the alliance is pushing to develop materials based on off-the-shelf video games that will get kids ready for "college and career success," a key, largely unmet goal of the USA's education system."

Great digital stories: Are personal Begin with the story/script Are concise Use readily-available source materials Include universal story elements Involve collaboration at a variety of levels

Thanks Louise!

A introductory film for the new digital edition of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, a classic book that has played a key role in the world's understanding of the Holocaust. The app takes the original text, published 65 years ago, and adds video interviews and other background material. The Diary of a Young Girl app, made by Beyond the Story, is available on iPad via Apple's AppStore

"'Debatabase is an authoritative collection of over five hundred debates mostly written by experienced debaters. They cover topics from the affirmative action to Zimbabwe, on all sorts of themes including politics, economics, religion, culture, science and society. For debaters they may provide useful preparation materials and examples but the debates will be useful to everyone. Debatabase topics provide both sides of the debate rather than giving just one side of the argument as most blogs, newspapers and other articles you can find online do. We want you to make up your own mind on these important issues and believe you need both sides of the argument to make an informed choice."

"From Singapore to Syonan-to: 1941 - 1945 -- This resource guide from the NLB aims to provide anyone interested in the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, a list of materials available from the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library."

"The First World War Poetry Digital Archive is an online repository of over 7000 items of text, images, audio, and video for teaching, learning, and research. The heart of the archive consists of collections of highly valued primary material from major poets of the period, including Wilfred Owen, Isaac Rosenberg, Robert Graves, Vera Brittain, and Edward Thomas. This is supplemented by a comprehensive range of multimedia artefacts from the Imperial War Museum, a separate archive of over 6,500 items contributed by the general public, and a set of specially developed educational resources. These educational resources include an exciting new exhibition in the three-dimensional virtual world Second Life. Freely available to the public as well as the educational community, the First World War Poetry Digital Archive is a significant resource for studying the First World War and the literature it inspired."

Summary via The Scout Report (May 2012): "How does math get used in the "real world?" The short answer is that it is used to create hip-hop music, in fashion design, and through a number of other endeavors. This interactive website combines video and web interactive to help young people develop algebraic thinking skills for solving real-world problems. The series is funded by The Moody's Foundation, along with assistance from WNET and American Public Television. The sections of the site include The Challenges, Video, and Teachers. In The Challenges area, users will find video segments profiling the various young professionals who use math in their work, along with interactive tools to help students solve the challenges they are presented with. Moving on, the Teachers area includes resources for teachers, such as a training video showing how to use project materials in the classroom, along with student handouts. Visitors shouldn't miss the Basketball challenge, featuring NBA player Elton Brand talking about the problems presented by free throw shooting. [KMG]"

Summary via The Scout Report (May 2012): "Fashion Institute of Technology: Teaching & Learning Resources ---- Located in New York City, the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is known for its excellent programs in fashion design, marketing, and related fields. What people may not know is that FIT also has a great collection of materials for teachers, courtesy of its Center for Excellence in Teaching. The site includes sections such as Printable Resources, Syllabus and Student Learning Outcomes, and Podcasts, Videos and Powerpoints. In the Printable Resources area, visitors can view 15 different handouts, including "Good Teaching Practices for Software" and "Classroom Feedback Questionnaire." Moving on, the Syllabus and Student Learning Outcomes area includes sample syllabi and information on evaluating student learning. Finally, the site also includes helpful videos titles "First-day Icebreakers" and "Tips for Teachers." [KMG]"

Google Books can help with this. What's needed is the information that appears in a citation: the author, place, and date of publication. Luckily, traditional print materials (in the form of books) often include the kind of citation information you might need and Google Books allow you to search the full text of books.

Somewhere between kids' intuitive social savvy and their online behavior lies an opportunity for both parents and educators to teach responsible digital citizenship, and there are plenty of organizations dedicated to this task alone. Define the Line, a project of McGill University in Canada, was recently awarded a digital citizenship grant by Facebook to help further its work in creating materials to open dialogue about finding the line where joking crosses into negative or criminal behavior. The site includes videos and scenarios designed to enhance discussion of real-world digital topics. Common Sense Media recently launched a free digital citizenship curriculum categorized by age. The curriculum includes both paper-based and digital activities and teaches online safety and Internet research skills in combination with ethics.

Do you suffer from information overload? Do you find it difficult to organise and process the things you find online so that you can apply them productively in your day-to-day working life? If so then curation tools could transform your experience of the digital world. Increasingly seen as the 'next big thing' of social media, the last year has seen an explosion of different tools which can be used to manage, sort and catalogue material. However the novelty, as well as the choices available, render them confusing - what tool should you use and how should you use it? Furthermore what are the specific uses to which academics can put these tools?

"What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social MediaThis page contains resources from the ASB Unplugged 2012 Leadership Institute in Mumbai, India. These materials are made available under a Creative Commons 3.0 attribution-share alike license, which means that you are both allowed and encouraged to use them! Please contact Drs. Scott McLeod or Jayson Richardson if you have any other questions about these resources."

"Peer Instruction actively engages the students in their own learning. Carefully chosen questions (ConcepTests give students the opportunity to discover and correct their misunderstandings of the material, and, in the process, learn the key ideas of physics from one another. "

Free, open content geared toward high school students.