Today the Round Up begins at Getting Smart with an article entitled, "New Tools for Next-Gen Schools from NGLC & iNACOL."  The article is basically a brief summary of the new 30 page "toolkit" released by iNACOL and NGLC to help teachers navigate blended and competency-based learning.  If you've got an hour this week, the full report is definitely worth a read, especially if you're looking for new ideas and resources to help implement technology in your classroom, school, or district. Next up, Ed Tech Magazine has a new article covering "6 Things Every School Should Know About Adobe's Move to the Creative Cloud."  Even though the announcement of Adobe's move to the cloud happened last month, if your school uses Adobe's products and you haven't considered how this change will affect your software, this is a great place to start.  But in short, Adobe has to decided to follow a subscription-based model for future releases of their products. Inside Higher Ed has a new, and highly critical, article on MOOCs entitled, "Where's the Real Learning?"  MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have been gaining immense popularity lately, but there has also been a fair amount of negative backlash, including critiques such as this, which argue that MOOCs lack the rigor and depth of face-to-face classes. A few days ago, Free Tech for Teachers reviewed Watch2Gether, a service that allowed users to watch and discuss YouTube videos in a virtual classroom.  Today, Free Tech discusses VideoANT which is somewhat similar in that it lets users annotate YouTube videos while watching them.  For classroom integration you could have students discuss and comment on a video while they are watching it for homework. And for the art educators out there, Free Tech has a nice write up and introduction to Google's New Art Project.  The project "features artwork from dozens of famous museums all over the world" and you explore each museum like you would with Google Street View. Finally, for the history and social studies teachers, Free Tech has a write-up on National Geographic's new Timelines of Exploration.  They're not incredibly in depth, but they make for great introductory resources to their respective topics. Edudemic starts off with "A Printable Acceptable Use Policy for Classroom iPads."  If you have iPads, or are considering implementing them, an acceptable use policy (AUP) is a must.  This Edudemic post is a good place to start, but to me it seems more geared towards elementary students.  So if that's what you're after, check it out! Edudemic also has a review Professor Christopher Hoadley's recent presentation on "Educational Media & Technology in 2013: What's Next?"   I've embedded the presentation below, but if you're interested in a quick summary, check out their article. Educational Media & Technology in 2013: What’s Next? from nycmedialab Learn Dash has a new research summary on why "Gaming is Good For Your Brain."  The article argues that "there are inherent benefits to gaming when it comes to learning, but we are starting to see that gaming is also proving to be beneficial beyond just a learning environment."  The post goes on to discuss some recent research examples showing that games can benefit social and critical thinking skills as well. Ed Reach has three new podcasts up for today: Flipped Learning: Creating an Innovations Class EduWin Weekly: Engaging Students Building a School Web Presence Using a YouTube Channel The Lightning Round... Edudemic suggests 3 Crazy Ideas to Make iPads Perfect for Education Educational Technology covers Chrome Extensions, BYOD Infographics, and BYOD activities The Ed Tech Review has a new infographic on How Tablets are Influencing Education Getting Smart has also has a new infographic on Blended Learning from the Gound Up And last but not least, Edudemic reminds us to Check Out the Supermoon on June 23rd And that about does it for the Round Up today!  Thanks for reading!  I want to give a special welcome to the new readers and a very big thank you to all of you for reading and supporting the site!   It's been just over a month since I launched the Round Up and I think it's off to a pretty great start!  If you ever have feedback, suggestions, apps/programs you think I should check out, or just want to talk about technology in education, please don't hesitate to send me an email!  Thanks again and see you tomorrow! -Mike

Welcome back!  And settle in, because we've got a long one today!  First up, Audrey Watters at Hack Education has an excellent new article on "Data, Surveillance, and Teaching Machines."  Watters discusses the recent NSA news and the student data collecting which is currently being done by companies like inBloom.  She's raises the important questions that should be asked here like "Who decides what is appropriate" and "Who actually has oversight over all this?" Emerging Ed Tech has a new post on "The Evolving Use of Badges in Education."  For those not familiar, badges are "visual representations of a skill or achievement" and can be quite motivating, even when they're only digital.  The article discusses how virtual rewards are beginning to displace costly physical rewards and what that means for education. Lisa Nielsen at The Innovative Educator has a great new article discussing "Where Does World-Changing Fit into the #CCSS?"  Nielsen discusses the disconnect between making schools a place where you can inspire "world-changing" all year round, but still have a place for the Common Core Standards.  It's a great read and Nielsen covers a variety of awesome organizations aimed at getting students to help change the world. Getting Smart has a new post entitled, "Scapbook Showcases a Year of Gains for Virtual Learning."  The post is in response to PublicSchoolOptions.org's report on virtual learning from last week.  The report shows that "State by state, more parents are gaining the option to send their child to a full-time public virtual school."  The scrapbook has a collection of stories and schools from all across the US, showcasing virtual learning. Free Tech 4 Teachers has four new posts up from today, all of which are excellent resources worth checking out:Create Magazines with Flipboard (great tool!)Share Ideas for Using Padlet (also a great tool!)StoryToolz - Writing Prompts and MoreCoffee Time Edu - Ed Tech Tutorial Videos Edudemic has a new article discussing "How the 'Library for All' Project May Revolutionize Learning in Developing Countries."  For children growing up in developing countries, having access to books and library materials is many times a complete impossibility.  The goal of Library for All is to "harness the power of technology and mobile phone networks...to give low-cost access to a digital library" for these children across the world.  Check out the Kickstarter for more.Edudemic also has a write up on "The Great Wall of Awesome" which is "an online space that aims to enhance what you are doing as an educator and facilitate the rich learning of your students."  The goal of the project is to have teachers share one great experience from each week so that over time, the wall of awesome becomes enormous and... well... awesome.   Wesley Fryer at Moving at the Speed of Creativity has a new guide on how to "Create a Narrated Slideshow on an iPad with Haiku Deck and Explain Everything."  In the post, he provides a complete walkthrough on how a student can use this combination of apps to create an awesome (and self-narrated) presentation.  Both are great tools and worth checking out if you're not familiar. Keely Tenkely over at iLearn Technology is back with a guide to using "Evernote as an ePortfolio: Postachi.io, Voice2Note, StudyBlue."  In the article Tenkely reviews several new add-on apps to Evernote (Evernote is a software suite that helps you store notes, pictures, ideas, pretty much everything).  Tenkely also discusses how a teacher could use these apps to create an awesome, digital, ePortfolio.  Ed Reach has a new write-up on "Boundless: Disrupting the Textbook Industry."  The article discusses the current problems with the textbook industry (over 80% of the market is controlled by the top 5 publishers) and introduces an alternative: Boundless.  The goal of Boundless is to create low-cost, high-quality digital textbooks from the best open sources on the internet.  If only this had been around when I was an undergraduate... And, of course, we have our daily post about Gamification with Teach Thought's article on "Game-Based Learning is Probably Worth Looking Into." It's an excellent write up on the basics of game-based learning, the hidden-learning that can be embedded within games, and the potential drawbacks of using game-based learning.Teach Thought also has an interesting read on "The Jarring Collision Between Digital Screens and Close Reading."  The article discusses the importance of "deep reading" and not just clicking from link to link in an endless loop, hyperlinking ourselves to death.  There are some incredibly important points to consider in the article and it's definitely worth your time, especially for reading and language educators.And Teach Thought also has a brief discussion over a "Diagram of 21st Century Pedagogy."  I've embedded the image below and you can check out the article for a short conversation (you can click for the full-size image). If you've been reading the Round Up for a while, you know Jamie Forshey at EduTech for Teachers is a big fan of ThingLink (a tool used to creative interactive/hyperlinked images).  In her post today, "Introducing a Multimedia Mash-Up Masterpiece" Forshey discusses using Thinglink, Animoto, and InstaPlace to create a class project from a recent field trip.  Check out the post for some great ideas! And...Finally...If my fingers can keep typing...We've got three new posts from Educational TechnologyAn Infographic on Games vs. Gamification5 Great Web Tools for Creating Online Quizzes3 New Video Tools for Teachers We made it!  What a Round Up!  I'm outta here until tomorrow and if you missed my review from earlier today on Soo Meta, it's a great application  for creating flipped lessons and worth checking out!

Today's Round Up begins with a pretty awesome Kickstarter that teachers Walter Duncan and Isaac Van Wesep started for their app Quick Key.  The app would allow teachers to grade papers at lightning speed with their smartphone (provided the answers are bubbled in like a scantron) and have immediate results recorded for each student.  The app has some serious potential - check out the video for more. Next up, Getting Smart has an article by Steve Netcoh, the CCO for NuSkool entitled, "A NuSkool Approach to Student Engagement."  The article describes NuSkool's philosophy on designing common core standards-based lessons around popular culture in an effort to engage students.  It's free to create an account on their site, and it's a great resource and easy to navigate, but it would be nice to see a list of which specific standards are covered under each lesson. Educational Technology has a new post covering "Two Excellent Apps to Create Digital Magazines on the iPad."  First up is Flipboard (which we've talked a lot about lately here and is my personal favorite).  They also recommend Glossi which is a "new self-publishing platform that enables anyone to create and share digital magazines."  Tech & Learning opens with an article on"Taking a Step Back and Thinking Critically About Technology."  The article argues, quite reasonably, that before throwing all our tech-based-learning eggs in the iPad or tablet basket, we've really to take a hard look at tablet technology and decide if schools are just implementing these programs because it's the new thing, or because it actually has educational benefits.   The site also has a new post on "Gadget Safety" which offers some basic advice for schools and teachers to help keep laptops, mobile phones, and encrypted USB drives safe.  The post also outlines the basics of online safety for students as well. Ed Week has a new case study on,"Flipped PD Initiative Boosts Teachers' Tech Skills."  The article discusses how a school district in Minnesota uses "flipped" learning to help boost the tech skills of their staff.  The model works by having the tech specialists meet with classroom teachers in small groups every month.  Rather than the tech coordinators dictating what the staff learns, the PD is "flipped" because the teachers bring ideas of what they want to do and the coordinators help find tech resources the teachers can use. We talked about Vine a few weeks back (the twitter-like service that allows users to upload and share 6-second video clips) and now, Teach Thought has a new article on "3 Ways to Use Vine in the Project-Based Learning Classroom."  The article has some great ideas as well as a few examples. And finally, Ed Reach has three new podcasts up from today! More Homework DOES NOT Equal More Rigor! Mobile Apps for Reluctant Readers Pinterest, Pinterest, Pinterest! (Special Ed Focus) The Lightning Round... Free Technology for Teachers shows us 5 Ways Students Can Create Audio Slideshows Education Technology covers the 5 Most Popular eBook Formats for Teachers iLearn tells us about 8 Alternatives to Google Reader Edudemic has a great list of 10 Open Source Tools for Busy Teachers Edudemic also has an infographic on How Technology is Used in Higher Ed And another from Edudemic on 27 Things to Do with Students Who Aren't Paying Attention And there you have it!  All Rounded Up and ready to roll!  Today we'll end with a new infographic on... Infographics!  How Meta!  This is 13 Reasons Your Brain Craves Infographics.  Hasta Mañana! Courtesy of: Edudemic

Happy Friday!  I hope everyone's weekend is off to a wonderful start!  Today, the Round Up begins at iLearn Technology with a review of "Send Anywhere - Share Files between Mobile and Non-mobile Devices."  The review covers the app, Send Anywhere, which is built for iOS and Android devices and used to easily send any file type to any location. Next up, Free Tech 4 Teachers discusses the "5 Benefits of Using Backchannels in Your Classroom."  By backchannels, they mean having students send information or questions to the teacher without directly asking in the middle of class.  It's a great post and covers reasons like "Shy studetns are given a place to ask questions and contribute to conversations."  The post also cover specific apps that can help with this idea. Educational Technology has a new guide on "20 Ways to Use Augemented Reality in Education."  The guide covers apps like Second Life and New Horizon, but also covers how to use AR on field trips and throughout the day.  Plus, if you're unfamiliar with this whole augmented reality business, they've reposted their "Teachers' Guide to Augmented Reality." Getting Smart has a new post entitled, "Saundz Like American English."  The article is a review of the app Saundz that "teaches ESL students American English pronunciation."  Students are given a personal virtual assistant who introduces users to phonemes and also has lessons over the 400 most problematic words.  The program runs on PCs, Macs and iPads, costs $9.99 and is a nice resource for helping ESL students become more comfortable with pronunciation. Getting Smart also has a write-up on "Summit Denali: Engaging Student-Centered High School Model."  The post covers the work being done at Summit Denali High School to prepare for its opening this August. The school is built around "learning playlists" which allow students to "work at their own pace on a personalized path driven by immediate, actionable feedback."  It's an interesting model to examine and I'm excited to see it in action this Fall.    Last up, Teach Thought discusses "6 Tips to Integrate Coding in the Classroom."  In my opinion, coding is an incredibly important, and incredibly overlooked tool for teaching creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking skills.  This is guide is a great place for teachers to start finding out more about coding and how they can use it in their classrooms. Teach Thought also has a video up on "Designing Learning Environment Around a Need to Know."  It's a great video about connected learning that I've embedded below for your viewing pleasure.  But, if you're just looking for a quick summary, head on over to the article. And that's it for the Round Up today!  Oh, in case you didn't hear, and you're one of the lucky educators heading to ISTE: Microsoft is Giving Away 10,000 Surface Tablets!  Go get signed up!  And we'll end the day with an interesting infographic entitled "Social Media & Social Life: How Teens View their Digital Lives."  Check it out, and we'll be back on Sunday with the weekend edition! Courtesy of: Edudemic

Hope everyone is having an excellent Father's Day! Today we begin our rounding up with a new article from Education Week entitled, "Virtual Learning for Little Ones Raises Developmental Questions." The post poses some very important questions about the amount of time young students spend in front of computers/tablets and how that affects their development.  The post is worth considering, especially for K-3 educators. Next up, Edudemic has a post on "100+ Students to Hold Forum on Solving Global Challenge."  This September, the Rhodes Youth Forum will "gather together more than 100 young people who are prone towards responsibility and constructive behavior." The goal is to have a series of debates and discussions in an attempt to begin a dialogue on today's most pressing tech-based issues.  You can follow on Twitter at @YouthTime. And Edudemic also has a nice collection of videos in their post,"5 Ways to Teach Physics Using Household Items."  Learn all about the physics of the kitchen, the living room, the play room, the bathroom, and the basement in this series of videos. Emerging Ed Tech has a new review of a recent panel discussion on the flipped classroom model which was organized by McGraw-Hill.  The panel discusses the benefits of the flipped classroom model, what issues using this model can address, what instructors need to know to get started flipping their classes, and more.  Check out the article for a summary or you can  watch the full hangout below: Free Technology for Teachers has a lot of great resources up from this weekend.  First, they review "WatchDoc - A Chrome Extension for Monitoring Google Docs Changes." If you use Google Docs in your classroom, especially for collaborating on documents, WatchDoc is an awesome tool. The app displays small pop-up notifications in your browser when someone edits one of your shared Google Docs.  It's incredibly handy. Free Tech for Teachers also covers: WeTransfer - An easy way to transfer files without the sender or recipient needing an account. My Study Life - An online student planner that helps students organize their homework and tasks. The Spectator - The UK Publication is now offering 180 years of archives of their magazine. Mapping Dinosaurs - The Natural History Museum has a new searchable dinosaur database. Educational Technology starts off the weekend with a review of Doodle Cast, a program to "Create Awesome Video Stories on the iPad."  The app lets students draw out their own stories/presentations and record their voice to narrate the story as well.  Once they finish, they can upload their videos to YouTube or just save them to the iPad camera roll. Educational Technology also has a "Must See Graphic History of Classroom Technology."  The post is essentially a picture-based timeline covering classroom technology from 160 A.D. all the way up to the present.  It's a quick-read and an interesting post, and something I think students would enjoy looking through and discussing as well.   And the site ends with a brief discussion discussion of a new poster from Common Sense Media which covers the basics on "Being A Good Digital Citizen."  This poster would be an excellent resource not just for computer classrooms, but for all teachers to have posted: In case you missed anything this week from Getting Smart, they have their weekly collection of articles posted: "EdTech 10 - Dads, Dollars & Digital Learning." And Getting Smart also has a new infographic on The Rise of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses).  It's pretty amazing to see the exponential growth MOOCs have experience in the past 3 years.  But, let's not forget, MOOCs have a "darkside" as well and there are many arguments against their growing dominance. Teach Amazing has their new installment of Web 2.0 advice in "Web 2.0 in the Classroom - Part 8."  In Part 8, blogger Mark Brumley discusses the importance of understanding website requirements, limitations for free accounts, unprotected content, social media properties, and advertisements.  Brumley's whole Web 2.0 series is excellent for any educators who are new to tech, and you can check out part 1 here. Brumley also covers the Google alternative, Hakia, a search-engine that digs a little deeper than Google by using semantic searches (instead of just using keywords, like Google does.)  Brumley recommends the engine for doing research and for providing students with an alternative to Google. Finally Ed Reach has a new podcast up, "EdGamer 103: GLS 2013 Recap."  The Ed Reach team just got back from the Games & Learning Society Conference in Wisconsin and they have a lot to share about the gamification of education and game-based learning in general.  The whole podcast is about 40-minutes long and covers the team's thoughts and reflections on the event. The Lightning Round... Edudemic discusses 22 Effective Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom Free Tech for Teachers covers 25,000 Images of Art That You Can Re-use for Free The Ed Tech Review has a new infographic on How Blended Learning Can Improve Teaching The ETR also has an infographic covering Social Media Tips for Students and Job Seekers And Educational Technology has a list of 5 Things To Try When Your iPad Acts Up And that's all for the Round Up today!  I want to wish all the Dads out there a very special Father's Day (especially Ron & Norm!)  And I want to welcome all the new subscribers and give a big thanks to everyone for reading the Round Up!  The site has been up for just over a month now, and so far it's been going great!  Remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter, or fill out the Subscribe box on the right side to have the Round Up emailed to you every evening!  Thanks again! We'll end today with an excellent video on Connected Learning and a new infographic that discusses The Risks of Posting in Social Networks.   Courtesy of: Educational Technology

Welcome back!  Today we begin at Mind/Shift with a new article which asks, "Can Digital Games Boost Students' Test Scores?"  The article is response to a new SRI study that was released today and which suggests that games actually do help improve test scores, specifically in STEM subjects.  The post goes on to summarize the SRI study and discuss the latest research and interviews on game-based learning. Next up, Edudemic writes about "How to Get Your Lessons to 'Go Viral' with Students."  The post explores the characteristics that help videos go viral, and discusses how those traits can be incorporated into lesson-making.  It's a quick, but enjoyable read, and the ideas are worth considering to help increase student engagement and enjoyment. Edudemic also covers: 10 Little-Known Twitter Tools for Connected Educators 5 Reasons to you use YouTube in the Classroom (There are some great ideas in this post) Educational Technology has two posts up today.  The first takes a humorous look at "10 Twitter Mistakes you Should Avoid." which summarizes a new "infocomic" from DashBurst.  And their second post from today discusses the Basics of Creative Commons and provides this nice graphic which would be nice for classroom use: What is Creative Commons? infographic by adityadipankar. Teach Thought has an excellent article by Dawn Casey-Rowe entitled, "Moving From Connected Schools to Technology-Committed Schools."  In the post, Casey-Rowe uses her own experiences in Rhode Island to illustrate how schools and districts can support technology and create an environment that doesn't just have technology, but is committed to creating a "truly digitized" atmosphere. Teach Thought goes on to outline "15 Mistakes You're Probably Making with Technology In Learning."  It's a great list and each point is worth considering before implementing new tech into the classroom.  I've embedded their basic image below, but the post goes into more detail.   Finally, Teach Thought discusses a chart which covers "Alternatives to Homework."  As they say, "nothing ground-breaking, but food for thought" and I'm inclined to agree, but it's still worth a look: And Ed Reach continues to pump out the podcasts, with three new topics posted today: Using iTunes U for Professional Development Teaching with Google Glass Lowering High School Dropout Rates Well, that's all folk!  Thanks for tuning in and we'll be back tomorrow!  To close today, here's a new infographic from the Ed Tech Review covering "A Must-Have Guide to Gaming in the Classroom." Courtesy of: The Ed Tech Review

The Roundup is going live a little early today!  For those of you who don't know, I teach computer science in Colombia, South America.  But, I'm a Kansan at heart, and I'm heading back home for the next 6 weeks!  So, I've got a plane (or many) to catch over the next two days, and some settling in to do.  Because of all that, the Roundup is going to be on a little break, but just until Sunday!  And then we'll be back with our regular postings!  But don't stop reading just yet, we've got a regular roundup ready for today!  Edutopia opens with a post discussing social media and elementary students entitled, "Teaching Toddlers to Tweet? Introducing Social Media to Elementary Students." The article argues that it can be beneficial and necessary to teach elementary students (even as early as first grade) how to properly use social media.  The post also gives some advice on the best ways to start exploring social media with youngsters.   Free Technology for Teachers has a new guide on"Creating Multimedia Presentations & Quizzes in Edmodo."  The post discusses using Soo Meta (which I recently reviewed) in conjunction with Edmodo to create flipped lessons and quizzes that students could learn from outside of the class.  Plus, students can use Soo Meta themselves to create their own lessons and show off what they've learned! Educational Technology has a new write-up on "The 7 Important Literacies of the 21st Century."  The article discusses what they believe to be the new, key literacies of the 21st century.  The post cover information literacy, I.T. literacy, digital literacy, media literacy, visual literacy, cultural literacy, and critical literacy.  They definitely pose some interesting ideas that are worth considering as we continue to incorporate more and more technology. Wesley Fryer over at theSpeed of Creativity has a new write-up/media collection on "Learning about Visual Notetaking from Giulia Forsythe."  The post includes a Slideshare presentation from Forsythe as well as a video of her presentation (which I've embedded below - it's just over an hour long).  In the presentation, Forsythe discusses visual notetaking and how it can be beneficial to learners.  Fryer's post goes on to cover a huge collection of resources on visual notetaking. Teach Thought has an excellent new post on "25 Ways to Promote Passion-Based Learning in Your Classroom."  Looking for ideas to help get students inspired and passionate about your subject-area?  Then this is an awesome place to start, and their list provides a ton of great ideas. Teach Thought also has a new collection of 24 Essential iPad Learning Apps from EdShelf. And that just about does it for the Roundup today!  We'll end with a double whammy:  First, check out this enjoyable guide from Ed Tech, "15 Tips to Spend a Perfect Summer for Teachers."  And next, I've embedded Dr. Jackie Gerstein's new eBook on Education 3.0 below.  It's a collection of 3 of her latest blog posts, all of which are worth reading and considering (click on the book for full-screen mode).   So, as I said earlier, I'm off to Kansas for the rest of the summer, but the Roundup will be back on Sunday!  I hope everyone's summer is off to an excellent start and I'll see you in a few days! -Mike

And we're back!  I hope everyone is in the middle of an excellent weekend!  Sorry for the delay in posts, I've been in the process of moving back to the states for the summer and the transition took a few days.  But, the Roundup is back, and here to stay for the rest of the summer!  Today's post won't cover everything from the past 5 days, instead it will be more like a highlight real of the best edtech news.  So, welcome back and I hope you enjoy! Up first, Emerging Ed Tech has an excellent analysis of a recent Gallup poll over 21st century skills.  The article, entitled "Study Shows 21st Century Skill Development Clearly Linked to Career Success" discusses the huge gap between what skills our students need to be successful in the modern workforce, and what skills they actually possess.  The article also offers some tangible ideas to improve learning in these areas. iLearn Technology has a new post discussing how "Math Class Needs a Makeover: videos, inquiry, math stories and more." The article has a host of excellent resources and tools for the middle and high school math classroom.  The article starts with a Ted Talk from Dan Meyer, and excellent math educator, and goes on to discuss integration ideas and strategies.   Mind/Shift has a new article entitled, "Is It Worthy? How to Judge the Value of a Tech Product."  The post raises some incredibly important questions  about the implementation of new tech in schools and how many times, there is little or no vetting of new technology.  Schools often lack a set of criteria for adopting new technology and instead go with recommendations from "experts" rather than evaluating the tech themselves.  The article goes on to provide a guide for schools on analyzing new technology. As many of you probably know, today is first day of the ISTE (International Society for Tech in Education) summer conference in San Antonio.  While the conference has many benefits (networking, exchange of ideas, discovering new tech tools, etc. ) Audrey Watters at Hack Education also raises some thought-provoking and valid concerns about the downsides of the conference and the "rampant tech consumerism and solutionism."  Her new post, "On (Not) Missing ISTE 2013" is a great read and absolutely worth your time. Edudemic has a few great posts from the break, and to start, they cover "5 Online Discussion Tips for Students."  This is a solid guide for students and would be beneficial even at the elementary level.  It could be used in a computers class or as a guide to help teachers in other subjects introduce online discussions into their curriculum.  Next up, Edudemic discusses "5 Subjects Not Taught in School (But They Should Be)."  The article recommends subjects like film making, job searching, money management, social skills, and pratical mechanics be taught in schools, and I would be inclined to agree.  One step that teachers could take if they are passionate about these areas is to start up after school clubs.Finally, Edudemic has as a write-up on "Global SchoolNet's Free Directory of Innovative Projects."  This is a great collection of engaging, collaborative projects that students at all levels and subjects could work on within their school and with peers across the world. For those teachers in schools which are aligned with the Common Core Standards, Getting Smart has a new post on "Free Apps to Capture, Create and Connect to the Common Core."  The article covers an awesome collection of apps that can help teachers inspire student learning while aligning their work to the CCS.  And Getting Smart also has their weekly roundup posted with highlights from the week.   Finally, Ed Reach has a ton of new podcasts up from the past few days, but two of my favorites were:Who Are Lesson Plans Really For?Bringing Passion Back to Learning The Lightning Round... Edudemic shows us The Beginner's Visual Guide to Online LearningThe Ed Tech Review has a new infographic on the Stages of Tech Development for KidsEducational Technology covers The 5 Important Elements of the 21st Century ClassroomAnd they also have a repost of a great infographic from last month - Myths about Education Finally, if you're looking for some great new tech tools this summer, may I recommend this 60in60 Prezi by Brandom Lutz which covers an awesome collection of web apps that are great in the classroom.  That's all for today, enjoy the rest of your weekend and see you tomorrow!

Welcome back!  The big news today is coming out of the ISTE conference in San Antonio which is in the middle of its second day.  Last night, Jane McGonigal gave her opening keynote on Gamification and game-based learning and EdTech Magazine has an excellent summary/reflection of the speech, "5 Takeaways from Jane McGonigal's Opening Keynote."  We'll have more on ISTE in the next few days, but if you're on twitter you can get live updates here (#iste13). Edudemic has several new posts for today, the first of which discusses "How To Address Negative Student Behavior in 1:1 Classrooms."  As the article says, "Let's be honest: using technology in the classroom can be harder than teaching the 'old way.'"  Technology can be a huge management problem especially when every student has access to a device.  This article addresses the 6 major issues that teachers will face in a 1:1 class and offers advice on how best to tackle these problems. Edudemic also has a post explaining "How Competency-Based Learning Actually Works."  For those not familiar, Competency-Based Learning (CBL) is "designed to provide students with a personalized online education that they can compete at their own pace and that takes advantage of competence learned through experience."  For more info, check out the article (it's primarily directed towards higher ed.) Finally, Edudemic writes about "3 Student Tech Trends Teachers Should Know About."  The article covers the "uncoolness" of Facebook, the importance of Apps over hardware, and the desire to share everything through sites like Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram.  If you're new to the tech/social media game, this is a great post to start getting your feet wet. T.H.E. Journal has a new article analyzing the results of a recent education report,"Creativity Hindered in the Classroom by Testing, Mandates, Lack of Resources."  The study surveyed 4,000 K-12 and higher ed teachers and parents in the US, Germany, Australia, and the UK.  The report goes on to discuss the major barriers that teachers and parents believe stand in the way of creativity in US schools. Adam Renfro at Getting Smart has an excellent new article up entitled, "Where Are We on the Whole Cheating Thing?"  The article discusses the mixed messages that today's youth receives about content ownership, plagiarism and cheating (mash-ups, remixes, etc.)  The post goes on to cover plagiarism prevention, the effects of cheating on learning, and a whole lot more.  It's a great read and worth checking out. Finally, Marina Gorbis at Co.Exist has a wonderful post that I've been wanting to get to for a few days entitled, "The Future of Education Eliminates the Classroom, Because the World is Your Class."  The article discusses the idea of Socialstructured Learning - "an aggregation of microlearning experiences driven not by grades but by social rewards."  It's an incredibly thought-provoking article and enjoyable read. And that's it for the Roundup today!  We'll have more on ISTE as it rolls in, and for those educators at the conference, enjoy a keynote for me! We'll end today with an infographic from Edudemic on 27 Simple Ways to Get Students Excited About Innovation.  And remember, if you're enjoying the Roundup you can always subscribe to receive the daily report by email (subscribe box is on the right) or connect via Facebook and Twitter.  Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! Courtesy of: Edudemic

Today the Roundup begins again at EdTech Magazine with some more from ISTE.  Their new post, "ISTE 2013: A Common Roadmap for Districts Readying for Online Testing" is all about helping districts prepare for common core assessments in response to CDW-G's recent Common Core Tech Report.  The article goes on to discuss the benefits of Common Core, the challenges, and more from their presentation at ISTE yesterday. David Warlick at 2¢ Worth has an excellent new post entitled, "Is School 2.0 the Wrong Conversation?"  The article discusses the possibility that we, as educators, are spending too much time focused on the idea of what the school/classroom of the future should look like, when instead we should be more focused on the students of the future and how to best meet their learning needs. Free Technology for Teachers has two new resources up from today.  The first, "Math Chimp Presents Freddy's Fractions - A Fractions Game for Kids" is a free site full of math games and videos for elementary and middle school students.  The second, "Free Tiiu Pix - Hundreds of Free Pictures for Students" offers hundreds of free, high-quality pictures that students can use in presentations and projects. Educational Technology has a new post covering "Four Presentations Every Teacher Should See."  The article is a collection of four Prezi presentations on creating e-portfolios, cyberbullying, the basics of social media, and the destruction of non-linear learning. Finally, Wesley Fryer at the Speed of Creativity has just released his new eBook, "Mapping Media to the Common Core."  It's only $4.99 and if your school is one of the hundreds that are aligning to the Common Core Standards, it's worth checking out.  The book is meant to "serve as a menu, handbook, and map for teacher-leaders and learners in the 21st century." And there you have it!  Pretty short Roundup today, but we'll have a full report on all the ISTE news and reviews at the end of the week as well, so get ready for that!  We'll end today with a visual guide from Edudemic over "What to Know About the Risks of Social Media."  Have a great night and see you tomorrow!  (you can click the image for full-size)