"I have been reading my fair share of blogs, wikis and other documentation as schools around the world are deploying iPads in their classroom. It is finally our turn at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School to welcome 20 brand new shiny iPad2s (no cart, just individual iPads) In the spirit of passing on the trials and errors, as we get the devices ready to be used in the classroom by teachers and students, I am documenting our process."

When laptops first ` in my classroom, I worried about classroom management. How could I create an environment where students used their computers as tools rather than toys? I was worried for nothing. The following are suggestions for keeping students engaged in a project and accountable for their time with computers:

I visited the classroom of an English teacher in my building the other day (@katrinakennett) and saw an interesting integration of an iPad in class. While some schools may already be 1:1 or have class sets / carts of iPads, this classroom is operating with one teacher iPad, a situation that many teachers find themselves in. This class is reading Macbeth, no easy task for high school students. Where the iPad comes into play is during in-class reading. Where traditionally a class may take turns reading through the paper text and have discussion to clarify, explain and expand on the text, the iPad allows the students & teacher to make notations within the text that the entire class can see when the iPad is projected.

I'm extremely happy for all the buzz my blogging brethren have received for their work integrating Angry Birds into the math and science curriculum. No doubt there are intriguing applications of engineering and parabolic motion all over the game. But we're in the Sistine Chapel here, marveling at the refrigerator magnets on sale in the gift shop. We're standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon as the sun sets, eager to get to a hotel and find out what's on pay-per-view. We're focusing on the applications of parabolic motion to Angry Birds, missing the fact that it's a marvel of task design. An utter marvel.

Gamifying education is all the rage right now. Applying game mechanics skillfully is almost a fail-proof way to engage students and incentivize learning. . . .

We have talked so much about the use of red in American Beauty but other key colours in the film include white and blue. The use of red, white and blue obviously suggest America and help us to focus on the film’s messages. Red, white and blue come through in clear and at times subtle ways. Let’s look at some examples from the beginning of the film.

Children = no problem I've never come across a child yet that hasn't been excited, interested and engaged when using technology. . . .

Earlier this week was the Iowa Education Summit and while I was unable to attend physically, I was able to attend virtually. During the breakout sessions I was only able to follow the backchannel, #iaedsummit, and the topic of 1:1 computing came across. . . .

Because of the importance and relevance of this information to ALL learners playing with media, an updated version of this chapter from the eBook, "Playing with Media: simple ideas for powerful sharing," is reprinted/available below. Copyright, fair use, and intellectual property issues are important for students, educators, and other citizens. As digital learners not only "consuming" media but also CREATING and SHARING media, we need simple and accurate guidelines to follow as we are "playing with media." The guidelines below are designed primarily for people in the United States, but may apply to other locations. I recommend using the following mnemonic to remember copyright and fair use guidelines relating to media sharing and fair use.

I am preparing for a keynote in 6 weeks time, on teaching and learning in a digital world and it occurs to me that technology can be the death of lower order thinking. As a teacher, I strive to have my students working in the upper reaches of thinking skills; to be analytical, evaluative and creative. As a learning technologist what is becoming obvious is that lower order thinking skills like remembering and understanding are easily replaced by technological intervention. Source: Educational Origami

At Manaia Kindergarten we bought out the ipad for the first time on Thursday to explore the universe and find the Matariki stars in the sun lit sky through the iris of the ipad. (See blogpost about SKYVIEW app). This was a little tricky with a group of 30 eager children. Each child wanted a closer look. The Sun and the planets proving a big hit over the small stars.

One of our wonderful RTLB teachers has been running new some lessons on self management aiming to teach children how to recognise their emotional levels, and strategies to help them cope. We run the lessons every few weeks, although truthfully it has been hard to engage the kids, if fact some downright hated it. We started co-teaching but the delivery was well a "delivery" at a wall or bored 13 year old's who were not relating to all this emotional talk or the style of delivery either. Source: A Learning Odyssey

Over Terms Two and Three, 20 issues of The College Herald will be published each Tuesday. In each issue, approximately 20 pieces of students work will be published. In all, 400 students will feature, so you have an excellent chance of getting published, getting your message out there and winning one of the prizes.

The Term Digital native has been broadly used to describe people who through continous immersion in technology are neurologically different to those who have not had the same degree of exposure.

Tuesday 8 February is Safer Internet Day, an event celebrated in over 60 countries and organised by Insafe to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones.

"Science is a way of investigating, understanding and explaining our natural world, physical world and wider universe" (NZ Curriculum). Students need to lean what science is and how scientists work as well as scientific knowledge. Science programmes at Eastern Hutt aim to provide hands on investigations that will develop students' curiosity of the world around us and an interest in science.

An ICT blog. Resources for an one to one computing implementation in Christchurch, New Zealand using Apple laptops and other devices.

I've just spent the afternoon trying out Google's latest experiment from their Google Labs: 'Google Factoid' is set to be the best (or worst, depending on your viewpoint) writer's aid ever seen.

I have to tell you that it was a tough call to make these decisions, especially when we’re talking every teacher no matter what grade level or subject, but I hope that you find a couple of gems to put away in your virtual treasure box.

Fiona Grant's blog who is a teacher and facilitator in Auckland, New Zealand.