Trends+in+Education+and+Technology+Resource+Page

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 * Mindshift is supported by NPR Argo Network which is a collection of National Public Radio member stations. The purpose of Mindshift is to provide articles, links, and resources to explore the future of learning from technology to education policy. The site is curated by Tina Barseghian who is a journalist and has a grade school aged child.
 * There are four main categories of information. Culture is about how trends in technology affect education. It seems to focus on social networking and project based learning communities. Tech Tools has articles relating to the newest trends in tools and devices that are available for education such as software, apps, and websites. The research tab has all the latest research available in the field of education and how that relates to learning. Learning Methods is the final tab and it has articles and links associated with innovative ideas that influence how we learn in the classroom which could entail projects or curriculum available.
 * The posts and articles are all hot topics with opportunities for readers to respond. It is constantly updated and are all of high interest to educators.
 * This site is highly usable and applicable to someone working in the field of education and learning, but it may be considered information overload.

Contributed by Lauri O.

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 * Created by Kelly Walsh, Chief Information Officer at The College of Westchester in White Plains, NY, who has been involved in information technology for over 20 years. Walsh researches and examines various emerging technology topics and their application in an education setting, and then share information and thoughts on each topic.
 * The site contains many resources. In addition to weekly posts discussing emerging technology topics, there are links to free productivity resources (some specifically for educators) and tutorial videos that introduce various technologies and share ideas for applying them in an educational setting.
 * The site is kept current, with weekly updates. The blog topics include some of the newest technologies, so this blog is a great place to visit to stay up to date on emerging technologies. The site is designed to discuss how the technologies can be effectively implemented into instruction, so it is particulary useful for educators. The site has easy, common-sense navigation, and is user-friendly with links to popular posts and an index of posts by category.

Contributed by Lisa V.

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 * Created by Richard Byrne, a high school teacher in Maine. Byrne and his edublog site have been nominated for or received several awards. The purpose of the site is to provide teachers with links to free technology resources and lesson plans that can be used in the classroom.
 * The site includes daily posts discussing and reviewing one or more resources or technology topics. Other resources include downloadable guides to integrating technology into the classroom, links to favorite resources, and numerous tutorials on using Google tools, creating videos, and creating blogs and websites.
 * On their own, the various tutorials are a valuable resource. The daily blog posts provide descriptions of technology resources along with a discussion of their possible application in the classroom. This site does a lot of the leg work for busy educators by bringing together thousands of resources for their consideration and presenting them along with ideas for the instructional application.
 * The site navigation provides links to the various types of tutorials. The blog entries, which are posted daily, are archived by date (which might be somewhat less convenient than a categorical index; however, this drawback is somewhat overcome by an in-site search feature). This site would be very useful for someone looking for fresh ideas for incorporating technology in the classroom or for individuals looking for some how-to knowledge on how to use some of the free technology resources.

Contributed by Lisa V.

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 * Created by Dr. Joseph Pisano, a professor at Grove City College, who holds degrees in Music Education and Educational Technology. Mustech.net is dedicated primarily to discussing music technology, however there are also many articles about education, educational technology, and technology in general.
 * The site contains many pages. Among them are a the home page which contains the blog entries, along with sub-pages dedicated to individual topics, a freeware page with links to free music software, a page that acts as an RSS for the author’s personal twitter account, An RSS aggregate for Music Education news, and a projects page that contains ideas that the professor started and has not necessarily followed up on.
 * This site is put together well and allows for easy access to the various sections of the blog. There are comprehensive articles on many subjects which are easy to find and are clear, concise, and understandable.

contributed by Dave

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 * "Editorial Projects in Education is the independent, nonprofit publisher of Education Week and other high-quality print and online products on K-12 education. EPE's mission is to raise awareness and understanding of critical issues facing American schools."
 * 2011 Online Journalism Award for best independent specialty news site
 * You do have to subscribe, there is a two week free trial
 * Without signing up you can still get to blogs, articles, and other current and relevent education topics.
 * There is a tab for "Education Week Teacher" which is geared toward teacher relevant topics.
 * Very user friendly

Contributed by Pru L.

School Technology []
 * This blog was founded by Brad Flickinger. Flickinger has taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. He has also been director of technology. Flickinger focuses on designing technology curriculum for the elementary level. He works to inspire teachers and administrations how 21st Century skills to students will help engage and motivate students.
 * The resources on this blog are products and resources to use in the classroom, entries about new ideas for the classroom, thoughts about specific technology tools, and pictures and videos of current technology to use in the classroom.
 * The posts are relatively current and highly engaging. Posts grab the reader’s attention and make the reader think about their own classroom and what they need to start incorporating.
 * This site would be usable to someone who is interested in incorporating 21st Century skills into their school and/ or classroom.

Contributed by Charlotte

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 * This blog was founded by Ray Schroeder. Schroeder is a professor at University of Illinois at Springfield. He is interested in updates and new advances in technology.
 * The resources on this blog are links to websites and other readings. Russo also includes insights and a scholarly history of the development of technology and how it enhances education at all levels.
 * The posts are current and have a deep meaning to them. Topics posted make the reader think in-depth about these topics. This blog does have the comments section turned off, so no comments are allowed at this time.
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This site would be usable to someone who is interested in keeping up to date with developments in technology.

Contributed by Charlotte

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Contributed by Cole W
 * Edutopia was created by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. The purpose of the site is to provide teachers, students and parents with access to the ever changing world of the education.
 * This site contains resources, blogs, classroom guides and strategies that visitors can access and utilize in the field of education. Creator George Lucas emphasizes the importance of connecting classroom content with the real world so that students can better understand the material that is being presented. Throughout the site there are numerous examples of qualities teachers and classrooms around the world making connections to modern society.
 * This site is very well organized. Toolbars are easily located on the top and sides of the page for quick and easy access. The information is also broken down into easy categories such as Grades 6-8 or Grades 9-12. Teachers, students and parents who are most closely associated with those grade levels can get right to the information that is most useful to them with the click of the button. Access to blogs is very simple and over all edutopia.com is a wonderful resource.

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 * SMART Technologies has created a site specifically with lessons for the SMART Board. Teachers can search for any topic, and can even share their own made lessons with other teachers across the world.
 * Teachers can browse by subject and/or grade level to find interactive lessons and templates for review games (i.e. Jeopardy). You can even search by a specific standard, and can find a SMART Board lesson that aligns perfectly with that standard.

Contributed by Brian S