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Edutopia talks about project-based learning (PBL) and technology in the classroom.


Find out ways to implement PBL from Buck Institute.


Learn how to use Edmodo, a free social networking platform for educators working in the classroom.

Rick's Picks Archive

Each week or two edtune highlights a particular video or website. Here they are with most recent on top.
Looking for the current Rick's Pick? Click here.


Hour of Code

Today's coders are next year's magicians. Join this one-hour introduction to computer science. Find out more at Hour of Code. Watch this short, catchy video, and see if you are not inspired.

The Hour of Code kicked off Computer Science Week, December 9-15, 2013. If you already completed the challenge, click on next steps to do more.
Hour of Code

 


Thinking About Engagement

Teaching and learning is a two-way process. It mirrors the structure of our own sensory-motor nervous system. For students to internalize knowledge, they have to "do" or create. This is the essence of constructivism in education. By nature, the act of "doing" requires engagement. Watch how one New York teacher does it in science.


The Creative Drive: Where Does It Go?

After Dr. Seuss, Sir Ken Robinson is probably my favorite speaker on creativity and education. I have to admit that I have only hear him talk at TED, but in this world of the web, that's enough. This segment was entitled, Why I Homeschool? and subtitled - multiple intelligences.

Having run the Independent Study Program in Fairfield-Suisun for over five years, I appreciated the rationale. How creative are children? Do we value their mistakes as creative genius? Can we let them diverge?

Creativity is a loosely defined subject in education. You may enjoy this short conversation with Ken Robinson on creativity and innovation. Or check out the view from the Ghetto Film School: Creativity is the future of education. Or would you prefer a Prezi?


How To ... (2013)

Overwhelmed by all of the new tech out there? As if it were a new universe? Don't panic, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy tells us. Following that advice, the University of East Anglia in New Zealand provides this fabulous How To site dedicated to Google apps.

What amazes me is the degree to which people put time and energy into helping us all become more educated. In this case - to quote seminal thinker Marshall McLuhan - the medium is the message.


Remake Your Class (2013)

Edutopia has provided a three-video series on how to set up a classroom for improved collaborative learning. Lots of great, inspirational ideas that teachers can use or adapt. Want to know more about re-defining classroom space? This Minnesota classroom has a genius bar. Read more.


Sugata Mitra: Build a School in the Cloud (2013)

Mitra is a British computer engineer who is famous for his hole-in-the-wall experiment that started in 1999 in an Indian slum. The experiment blossomed wherever he brought it around the world. He highlighted it in his TED talk, called The Child-driven education. His philosophy is that learning is self-organizing. Even the most impoverished students can learn if given basic tools and opportunity.


RSAnimate present Ken Robinson

RSAnimate presents Sir Ken Robinson, an extraordinarily gifted philosopher, educator and humorist, on Changing Education Paradigms.


Teaching Channel Presents - Sarah's Picks

The highly acclaimed website takes us on a journey to best practices in the classroom.