Educational Origami

http://www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner-technology-2008
Marc Prensky has written an excellent article on the 21st Century Learner. You need to read it.
Throughout the article he has made several observations that I find interesting and challenging.

“During my talks, however, I typically look out at oceans of white hair. Never — I can’t even say rarely — is a kid in sight [...]

www.aniboom.com
This is a useful site for animation. The site has two different animation tools that you can use. Shapeshifter and MicroSmotion

MicroSmotion, uses you web camera to make simple animations. Its simple and straight forward. It creates you movie as an animated GIF.

Shapeshifter, does not require a web camera. Instead you make your object and then [...]

I have long been a fan of Google Earth, its a brilliant tool that has a number of uses in the classroom.
For those of use who have had a play with this tool you will have encountered the Layers tab. This tab allows the user to overlay a variety of layers on the base map. [...]

I found this site from Ewen Del.icio.us post on his blog. Its a game produced by the Federation of American Scientists. This is a good resource for teachers of science, biology and health. The game is played witha 3d simulation where you control a robot within the body.

Here is their blurb…
“The Federation of American Scientists [...]

Multi touch interfaces are going to make a difference to how we teach and integrate technology.
Educause has released there latest installment in the “7 things you should know” series - Multi-touch interfaces - click here for the site and here for the PDF version.
If you want to watch a great video (Its a TED [...]

Every now and then you come across a web site that can make a difference. This is one of them. This is a classic example of citizen journalism, but on a global stage.
The website is witness

The content is not, by its very nature, nice. The site does not take sides. But this does not diminish [...]

(with apologies for the tardiness)
Most of us have met them. If we teach in independent schools, higher decile schools or teach in more privilaged areas they are becoming increasingly common. Even the more short sighted of teachers can see them increasing as our future becomes increasingly electronic. Whether we call them Digital Natives (Marc [...]

This is an excellent Youtube Video by Prof  Stephen Heppell. Its an interesting commentry about learning, the role of the teacher and schools. Well worth a watch. This video sits well with my earlier post on 21st Century Educators.
Schools of the future
Stephen ahs also got his own youtube channel - again worth a visit for [...]

http://www.uctv.tv
University of California Television is a great resource for studennts and teachers alike. The site hosts streamed video video on demand and audio and video cast on a wide range of subjects.

Teacher’s Pet or Professional Education for Teachers is a great resource for staff. They have resources for most subject areas and curricula:

Biology/Life [...]

The more I have considered teaching and learning in the 21st Century, the more convinced I am that our teaching and learning spaces must change to reflect the paradigm shift we are seeing with 21st Century learners and educator.

Classrooms have improved since the 19th Century, but essentially they are designed for the same traditional mode [...]