Learning From Games - Edutopia

I featured +Edutopia in a tweet on Twitter today.  In turn they messaged me back thanking me for the mention and introduced another video of theirs from their Big Thinkers collection on their video blog.  This one features James Paul Gee and he talks about how people learn from online gaming and how there is more at stake than just the game.

We quickly discredit gaming as a waste of time and a distraction, however once you involve interested participants, learning is explosive; and there is more going on than mere drivel.  Learning is no longer a one-layer or linear method, but becomes massively multi-layered.

10 Simple Tech Tips

Many of you who may not feel that you are very tech savvy will love these time-saving tips.  Literally they will add years to your life.  They may sound too simple, however I am sure if you calculated the amount of time wasted when you didn't use these you would be blown away.  I find, in my own experience, when learning a new tech tip or method, if I make an effort to go out of my way and rigorously practice it in my regular workflow.  It soon enough becomes habit and easy to do on a regular basis; almost automatic.  That's my tech tip.

This video from TED Talks, explains some top 10 tips that will save you some time and headaches from your computer to your smart phone.

The Best Firefox Addons

Your Firefox web browser can do more than just browsing.  You can turn your web browser into a powerful machine and make it work for you.  There are thousands of Add-ons that you can easily add to your Firefox web browser.  Though, as mentioned, there are many to choose from, do not fret.  MakeUseOf curates what they feel are the best Firefox Add-ons our there and organizes them in categories for easy finding.  MakeUseOf is one of the Tech News giants that feature many different features out there that be very helpful for you to "MakeUseOf".

Here is their list of approved Firefox Add-ons.

Happy browsing.

Interest-driven Learning

I know this goes against what we are used to and how we have been taught our classrooms should run.  This goes against a lot of what we are required by State and Administration to complete on our curriculum checklists and it almost throws classical classroom structure out the window.  But (you were expecting this), there is some definite food for thought here that can still be incrementally introduced into our classroom curriculum.

From Edutopia.

Simple Math With Your Macbook Spotlight

Something that could be a convenient little tool to teach your students is that they can do simple math right from their Macbook Spotlight.

This may not be a commonly used tool, but it's great when a student needs a quick calculation without having to launch the computer calculator.  MLTI explains:

Spotlight, Open an App Fast - MLTI Minute

This is one of my most used Macbook functions.

iPads in Education - techlearning on Livestream

I have embedded this when it was live.  I am not sure if this will remain once the event is finished.

However, Patrick Larkin, Principal for Berlington High School, New Jersey, is one of the main speakers.  He is well known for implementing a 1to1 iPad initiative in his High School (The Journal).

Watch live streaming video from techlearning at livestream.com

You can also find Patrick Larkin on Twitter:

Must Read:"The Smart Way to Use iPads in the Classroom" slate.me/ZTrGTK #TLTF13
— Patrick Larkin (@patrickmlarkin) April 26, 2013