Nick Chater: Where Quality and Quantity of TECH tweets meet!

Med Kharbach: Fantastic TECH boards (e.g. Free Tech for Teachers, Google Guide for Teachers, YouTube Tools, 21st Century Education, Free iPad Apps, and Great Web Tools)

Teachers on Pinterest: Great boards for Pre-School to Grade 6 and Subject boards (more of an overall teaching resource, but some TECH interlaced)

Teacher Challenge #1: Creating a PLN (Personal Learning Network)
For those of you who still haven't gotten on Twitter or only think it is for following celebrities, take the first step in learning how powerful it is as a tool for teaching and learning. This is only one of the steps in this Amazing challenge!

Whether you are a teacher or not, why not create a personal news feed to keep you informed and engage with the news that you want and care about?

Teacher Challenge #2: Learning to use the web's Best tools

The Library Worldwide Virtual Conference takes place on October 18-19. 

Check out the link or follow the hashtag #lib2013 on Twitter!

If you would like to present at this conference (C’mon, Give it a go!), proposals are due September 30.

This year's Global Education Conference takes place from November 18-23. 

Check out the link or follow the hashtag #globaledcon13 on Twitter!

If you want to present, the final deadline for submission is November 9. Since this event takes place throughout the entire globe, there are opportunities to drop in on presentations during your morning coffee, at recess time, lunch, after school or any other time you have a few minutes!

These articles may or may not reflect our personal beliefs, but they will surely cause some great discussion among teachers, parents, kids, and learning communities. Have a go, grab a coffee or tea, and use one as a springboard for a great discussion!

Article 1: 9 Places To Find High-Quality Online Professional Development

Article 2: Ten Tech Tips for Team Building With Parents

Article 3: We don’t need a TECH integration team, we need a Teaching Best Practices team!

Article 4: Resources To Help Teach Kids (and Adults!) About Copyright and Creative Commons

Article 5: A Map of Education Technology Through 2040 [#Infographic]: How will disruptive technology change education?

APPlist Builder tool: If you want to create your own personalized APP lists to share with parents, fellow educators, friends, family, or use with your students for specific subjects, skills or for homework, check out this new tool. If you end up making a cool list that you would like to share, please shoot it our way!

AppsGoneFree: Download this free app, and check it daily for a small list of Apps that typically sell for $1.99, $2.99, $4.99 or more, but get them FREE!

iPads for Education: Offers great APPS, organized by Category.

APPList: This tool allows you to share a list of all your iPhone- and iPad-Applications with your friends, your colleagues and your family. Nothing more, nothing less. Here is Jeff's List from a few months ago. Please don't judge ;)

ARTICLE: Why the “Explain Everything” APP is a must-have.

Use Socrative as a student response system in any class (how kids are doing, polls, multiple choice) - check out the video.

eSafe Kids App - $0.99

Garfield's Online Safety App - Free

Netiquette for Kids App - Free

Ecosia: 
Search for what you want...while taking action and helping to plant trees!

Symbaloo: 
Create a Research Hub using and embed it on your class blog/website or set as a homepage on your class computer. 

Click HERE for an example of what that might look like.

TitanPad: 
Have students work collaboratively, document that process, share tips along the learning journey, and export the completed work as a PDF or Word file.

EasyBib: 
Ensure students are giving credit where credit is due by sourcing what they use (Expert-style!)

Weebly: 
Easily create a class website or have your students create one! Use it for immediate feedback to parents, group work, or as an online portfolio or blog (with a free APP to immediately add content). You can also password protect pages to avoid any privacy issues! 



Fun Fact: This website was created using Weebly!

Alternatives to YouTube: 
Can’t use YouTube in your school? Use this custom created search engine to search for educational videos not hosted on YouTube!

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy: 
29 of the Best online web tools that support "Bloom's Digital Taxonomy"

Wordle Alternatives: 
Many of you know about Wordle, the word cloud generator. Well, here are 9 alternatives that might suit you better! 

Akinator: 
Choose a real or fictional character, and Akinator will guess it, EVERY time! You can also get the APP (well worth the $1.99), but you can use the website for free! This has great potential for an activity in your class. 

Our first newsletter received positive feedback so, we are back for round 2! Thanks for helping us spread the word! We have 40 NEW subscribers and 880 people receiving this newsletter! Most importantly, the feedback that we received from you helped shape this edition.

One recommendation that you offered was, < = > (less equals more....darn it!! That explanation made it longer, but we didn’t want you to be confused!) This edition reflects that concept.

A Special thanks to:
@drdouggreen for including us in his blog: NetNuggets bit.ly/gk4ZEQ 
@AnibalPachecoIT for mentioning us on Twitter
@animationchefs for responding to our tweets “We've reweeted your amazing collection of edtech info to all our followers. We need more like U”
@jennysfen for featuring us in The #pypchat Daily http://paper.li/jennysfen/1332639391
@DavidSpencerEdu for retweeting us

There are more that need to be thanked but in brevity we want to thank EVERYONE for your support! We want to continue to build this newsletter according to your needs and wants, so if you missed it, please take a literal minute to fill out the 8 question survey and continue to help us improve!!

The theme for this month’s newsletter: Take Action, Make a Difference, and “Stuff”

Join us on a monthly ED-venture! Each month, we will provide you with some new and exciting updates on what we are up to, as well as some awesome recommendations (videos to watch, people to follow on Twitter, pages to check out on Facebook, APPs to try out).

If you like what you see, please help spread the word and ask anyone who you think may enjoy this monthly newsletter to subscribe to our mailing list by entering their e-mail below.

Our book “A is for Action: The ABC’s of Taking Action” is now available!!! We have had some awesome people write some amazing reviews:

A is for Action is the most exciting new book that I have seen in years. Hoffart and Killoran have a great product that was influenced by their own work as teacher researchers. Children and educators all over the world will rejoice at this great tool for breaking down the thinking, processes, and habits of mind necessary for taking action and making a difference in the world. IB educators, in particular, will love the connection to inquiry, reflection and the attitudes necessary for increasing student agency. I will be using this resource for years!

-Chad Hyatt is the IB Coordinator at the Center for Inquiry in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a member of the IB Educator Network with focused work in action and inquiry and an Action in the PYP workshop leader

To read all of the kind recommendations and to find out how you can get a copy today, click HERE.

This book comes with a complimentary website http://www.helptakeaction.com It is filled with curriculum resources, videos and extension activities to help get you started in making a difference in the world today!

More than a company, ED-ucation Publishing at it’s core is two teachers who came together, care about the future of education and want to make a positive difference in the world. Follow our NEW BLOG to get to know us as people and educators: http://www.ed-ucation.ca/blog.html

Here are 2 comments that review the blog thus far:
@CliveSir
Super blog! Really love @toscakilloran's writing... I'm expecting great things of you guys :)

@RentonL
She TOTALLY reels me in EVERY time, ♥ @ToscaKilloran's writing style LOVE that you r sharing ur thoughts w your blog, @ToscaKilloran! Your writing style just truly speaks 2 me!

Give it a read, it may speak to you!

Jenna Cumbers has an eye for detail  and a knack for programming language. She has worked to ensure our projects keep children as the focus! She is a graduate of the Kelowna Centre for Arts and Technology and was the illustrator for “A is for Action: The ABC’s of Taking Action”



Connect with Jenna: www.JennaCumbers.com

Should entrepreneurship be taught in school?

The skills of tomorrow stretch far beyond the rote learning of yore, encompassing information and communications technology, digital citizenship, entrepreneurial spirit and beyond: http://bit.ly/12Tuplv

Less is more - Take action in your own life (5:50)
This video is less than 6 minutes and you will get this time back and much more from what you will learn! Graham Hill asks: Can having less stuff, in less room, lead to more happiness? He makes the case for taking up less space, and lays out three rules for editing your life.

The Story of Stuff (21:25)
The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

If Students designed their own Schools (14:26)
A small town in America experiments with self-directed learning at its public high school. A group of students gets to create their own school-within-a-school and they learn only what they want to learn. Does it work? Charles Tsai finds out by spending a week with the Independent Project.

How wonderful is it that no one need wait a single moment before starting to change the world.
 -Anne Frank, diarist

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
 -Margaret Mead, anthropologist

If we don’t change our direction, we’re likely to end up where we are going.
 -Chinese proverb

It’s not that you can make a difference; it’s that everything you do makes a difference.
 -Philippe Cousteau, EarthEcho International

Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference. And we have a choice: What sort of difference do we want to make?
 -Jane Goodall, primatologist and anthropologist

http://freerice.com
What do you get when you combine: Education + Social Good? The answer is Free rice! Free Rice has 2 goals: Provide education to everyone for free and Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

You or your students can answer questions about Humanities, Math, Language, Science, English, Chemistry, Geography or SAT Test preparation questions. Have students practice in class, assign it for homework, start a trend in your school, the possibilities are endless. For each answer that you or your students get right, sponsors of the site donate 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme to help end hunger!

https://secure1.heifer.org/gift-catalog
Now, we have seen the word “stuff” come up a bunch in this newsletter. Are you one of those people who have received a birthday, anniversary or holiday gift from someone that goes straight to the trash or in a box? Are you someone who struggles to find the perfect gift for that special someone?

Stop giving “stuff” and start giving hope. Heifer.org allows you to give a meaningful gift to give a loved one and help children and families around the world receive training and animal gifts that help them become self-reliant. Examples of gifts are: irrigation pumps, send a girl to school, gardening packages, or farming supplies.

https://twitter.com/volunTEENnation: Teen Nation is a Youth-led national non-profit organization with volunteer, intern & scholarship resources for youth, schools, & nonprofits.

https://twitter.com/Change: Change.org is the world’s largest petition platform. Their mission is to empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see.

https://www.facebook.com/causes 
Causes allows you to share ideas, find like-minded friends, and make an impact using this platform.

https://www.facebook.com/voicesofyouth
Voices of Youth helps you to learn about issues affecting the world, voice your thoughts and communicate your ideas using this UNICEF initiative.

https://www.facebook.com/GOODHQ 
GOOD is a global community of people and organizations who give a damn, and good.is is the platform for its members to share what's good to learn and do in pursuit of individual and collective progress.

https://www.facebook.com/dosomething 
DoSomething inspires, empowers and celebrates a generation of doers: teenagers who recognize the need to do something, believe in their ability to get it done, and then take action.

ED-ucation Publishing believes in the power of communities. Are you an artist, illustrator, writer, app developer, designer or teacher? Would you like to work with us, or give us feedback on any of our projects? Please contact us and become part of our growing community.

We hope that you took the time to fill out the survey at the top of this newsletter. Thus far, technology - apps, sites, articles, as well as online PD or workshops you could partake in as a presenter or learner (for FREE!) is the main areas you have highlighted. 

PSST.....since you are part of our community, we thought we would let you know that we have some VERY exciting new developments, including an App (or two), 10 new books (WOW!!!!), one of our TED books translated in Chinese, and an AWESOME new initiative to have students participate in a writing “contest” that results in students sharing their voice and becoming published! Stay tuned for these updates and more, as well as some awesome TECH resources next month.

Thanks for joining us! See you soon.

ED-ucation Publishing is a grassroots EdTech start-up, passionately driven by two very excited educators! Our mission is to offer innovative, relevant, top-quality resources that focus on an inquiry into personal and social development, language, numeracy, technology, and social entrepreneurship (taking action). This newsletter will offer you a glimpse of our products, as well as free resources that work to enhance the teaching and learning happening within homes, classrooms and learning environments throughout the globe!

Welcome to ED-ucation Publishing’s FIRST ever newsletter! It is very exciting for us that you are joining us for the start of an amazing Educational Adventure...or ED-venture! We apologize in advance as this newsletter is VERY long, but we have SO many exciting things to share and didn’t want to rob you of the great stuff that we have been holding onto. 

If you are receiving this Newsletter, it means that you have shown interest in ED-ucation Publishing or its Founders - Jeff Hoffart & Tosca Killoran and...that YOU are Awesome! Jeff is representing the company in Canada from Kelowna, B.C. and Tosca is rocking it in Europe from Bonn, Germany! Since we are International, our resources can all be found online from anywhere!

Join us on a monthly ED-venture! Each month, we will provide you with some new and exciting updates on what we are up to, as well as some awesome recommendations (videos to watch, people to follow on Twitter, pages to check out on Facebook, APPs to try out).

If you like what you see, please help spread the word and ask anyone who you think may enjoy this monthly newsletter to subscribe to our mailing list by entering their e-mail below.

We realize that this month’s updates are a fairly niche market. If you don’t know much about TED, the IB, or Destiny Quest, then you might feel this newsletter is not for you. If that’s the case, simply skip this section and check out the recommendations below. Our future newsletters won’t always be niche markets, so we encourage you not to press the unsubscribe yet, and dare you to return for a month or two to get a feel for it all. C’mon, you can spare a few minutes each month for an ED-venture, can’t you?!

TED-ucate Yourself

I’m sure you have heard about TED.com by now, but if you haven’t, close your Facebook, cancel that hair appointment, and strap in for an ED-venture of a lifetime!

Whether you have a tablet, e-reader, or simply a computer to view PDFs on, we highly recommend that you learn about TED, TEDx, TEDxYouth, and the TED-Ed initiatives through this eBook. This eBook is easy to use, and is full of videos, pop quizzes, online resources, and information, which will quickly get you hip to all that is TED.

Click HERE to download it for FREE!

What is the IB?

As teachers who work within the IB often we hear parents, students, new teachers and even other professionals ask: What is IB? What is the PYP?  And what are those Transdisciplinary what-now-whose?! If you’re not familiar with IB, but you have a connection to education, then shame on you! No, just kidding, or are we?


http://www.whatisib.com/  is a great site for parents, new teachers or even students who are looking to understand the IB in a clear and easy way....and if you have NO idea of what we are talking about, then take a minute or two, so that the next time someone brings up education, you can take them on a little ED-venture of your own - you super knowledgeable IB person you!

Destiny Quest

Does your school use Follett’s Destiny Quest or plan to? Awesome! Check out the video below  and definitely stop by www.DestinyQuestGuide.com for a sneak peek at a very helpful Destiny Quest resource! If your school doesn’t, pass this over, we don’t want to waste your time.

Spotlight on a member of our team

Janet Hannah is an ALL-STAR member of our team and community and comes to us with years of design experience and a knack for marketing, dealer support and branding. She studied at the Newcastle School of Art and Design and has worked with us on numerous projects. Fun Fact: Janet has been there for us from the start and was the creator of ED-ucation Publishing’s logo!

Connect with Janet:  https://twitter.com/JanetHannah

1) Are you a teacher or parent hesitant about how much technology to use in the class or at home? Do you feel that technology is unnecessary or only for gaming or a waste of time? Well, you’re wrong! No wait, you’re right! Hmmm...maybe a bit of both...I guess you should just read this article and then have a think! 

Making Technology an Invisible Tool
http://blog.tioki.com/making-technology-an-invisible-tool/ 

2) 25 years ago, Robert Fulghum proposed that everything that he needed to know for life, he learned in Kindergarten. Our very own Tosca Killoran, who in fact teaches this age group, offers her expertise in a very fun, while extremely knowledgeable, blog post!

Everything I Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten
http://inquiringminds.me/author/toscakilloran/

Did you Know?
Here is some food for thought as we think about education, technology and the changing times that we live in!

Sifteo TED Talk
Imagine if you had an educational toy that combined Lego with iPhone-esque technology? Siftables or Sifteo cubes are computerized tiles you can stack and shuffle in your hands. These future-toys can do math, play music, and talk to their friends, too. Is this the next big thing in hands-on learning?

Need resources focused on Saving the Planet? From carbon footprint calculators to GREEN NINJA, from TEDx videos to environmental organizations, from inspiring case studies to eco games, this is by far the most comprehensive and most FUN compilation of FREE resources! Enjoy yourself while making a difference to the world. Click HERE to access these resources. 

Animation Chefs https://twitter.com/animationchefs
These little dudes are hilarious and crazy talented! Check out their creative use of digital media and spend some time letting kids teach you about the many uses of digital media! Here is their bio: ‘High-tech kids, teens, parents, teachers! Use mobile devices to cook up media content w kids via animation, tech gadgets, app reviews, tutorials, humor & more!’

Richard Byrne https://twitter.com/rmbyrne 
Richard’s Twitter profile says this, and I quote: “Teacher. Speaker. Writer. Google Certified Teacher. My dogs think I'm cool.” Well Richard, we agree with your dogs and think that you are cool too! Follow Richard for some amazing technology updates; this guy posts quite often and the resources are always great!

Upworthy https://www.facebook.com/Upworthy 
At best, things online are usually either awesome or meaningful, but everything on Upworthy.com has a little of both. Sensational and substantial. Entertaining and enlightening. Shocking and significant.

We Are Teachers https://www.facebook.com/WeAreTeachers 
This page offers some thought-provoking quotes, pictures, student work, and more! All posts are interesting, visual, and educational!

SayHi: If you have ever watched a movie that takes place in the future, this is the type of thing you might see! Speak into the APP and it will automatically translate what you said into ANY language and then speak it out loud! You will never again have to worry about ordering the wrong food, getting the wrong directions or accidentally cursing at your mother-in-law when attempting to speak a new language. If you are interested in learning a new language, you could also use this as a self-teaching tool! At less than a dollar, this is a small price to pay for a window into the future.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sayhi-translate-use-your-voice/id437818260?mt=8

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

ED-ucation Publishing believes in the power of communities. Are you an artist, illustrator, writer, app developer, designer or teacher? Would you like to work with us, or give us feedback on any of our projects? Please contact us and become part of our growing community.

FOLLOW ED-ucation Publishing

A Sneak Peek at our second Newsletter (ED-venture #2)

In July, we saw the world’s largest protest in Egypt of approximately 33 million people standing up to make a positive social impact. Perhaps you are not the protesting type, but I am sure that there is something in your life that you would like to improve - whether this be a personal goal or an issue within your community. Next month, we will share our new book “A is for Action: The ABC’s of Taking Action”, which will provide you with the skills, know-how and resources to make a positive change in your own life!

HELP US HELP YOU!
 
We are considering sending out one of these fantastic newsletters once every two weeks instead of once a month. We are hoping that most of you enjoy the recommended resources and hearing about the cool stuff happening in the educational world. But, what’s the point of a newsletter if it is not relevant and tailored to your needs? Nobody’s got time for that!!

If we are going to do this, we want to hear from you (our amazing friends) what you would like the newsletters to focus on. Are you interested in Taking Action or Maths, Language & Literacy or Character education? What about your own topic or theme?
 
ED-ucation Publishing is a company founded by teachers who know your time is precious! Help us make each second count and take this 8-point super-quick survey so we can better serve your needs, by clicking HERE. Yes, we do love you.

FAREWELL FOR NOW
 
If you've made it alllllll the way to the bottom of this email, thank you. I know there's a lot here, but we had a lot to offer. This is where we share the work we believe matters most. We’re glad you're here to try it all out with us! See you next month...or perhaps sooner!

#pyp #ib #dp #myp #edchat #pypchat
As teachers who work within the IB often we hear parents, students, new teachers and even other professionals ask, what is IB? What is PYP? How about LP or CAS?
And what are those Transdisciplinary what-now-whose?!

Even for seasoned pros the IB and OCC sites can be cluttered with jargon and are difficult to navigate.

So we took action! We created an easy to navigate, straight forward website devoted to providing information, resources and 'the best of the web' for IB, PYP, MYP, DP, Concept Based Learning, The Learner Profile, PYP Attitudes and even those Transdisciplinary things too!

This is a great site to recommend to parents, new teachers or even students who are looking to understand the IB in a clear and easy way.

Join us on November 13th and 15th for our online presentations at the Global Education Conference! Learn how to teach your communities to take Action, and learn about TED, TEDx, and the TED initiatives, as well as how to organize your own TEDx Event!

Action Conference: http://www.globaleducationconference.com/forum/topics/taking-action-phase-document-implementing-action-and-service

Learn about TEDx Conference:
http://www.globaleducationconference.com/forum/topics/learn-about-ted-and-tedx-and-organize-your-own-tedx-event?xg_source=activity

We've reached another milestone! ED-ucation Publishing has adeveloped our first eBook to teach you about TED and its initiatives. NOW comes the release of book 2 - Get TED-ucated: How to Organize a TEDx Event! 

This eBook acts as a comprehensive guide to help you as you take the journey through organizing your own TEDx event. 

The eBook serves as a conduit to a complementary website which includes video tutorials, editable resources, slide show inspirations, how-to guides, templates, examples, posters, web links, and tips & tricks. 

This an extensive compilation of all the resources anyone would need to organize their own TEDx event. This eBook and the supplementary resources are FREE and given in the spirit of Ideas Worth Sharing.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/get-ted-ucated/id569973251?ls=1

Thank you to Janet Farrer Hannah, our Unbelievable graphic designer with a heart of gold!

ED-ucation Publishing has finished the complementary website for our next eBook, 
Get TED-ucated: Organize a TEDx Event. 

The website includes video tutorials, editable resources, slide show inspirations, how-to guides, templates, examples, posters, web links, and tips & tricks. We have worked to make this a comprehensive compilation of all the resources anyone would need to organize their own TEDx event. 

All the resources are FREE and given in the spirit of ideas worth sharing. Stayed tuned for the release of the eBook on iTunes.

http://www.ed-ucation.ca/get-ted-ucated-organize-a-tedx-event.html