21st century learning – Page 9 – Media! Tech! Parenting!

21st Century Learning, collaboration, digital learning, parents and technology, social entrepreneurs

SOccket! Collaboration, Creativity, and Tech Create an Energy-Producing Soccer Ball

Posted on April 12, 2012March 19, 2019 by Marti Weston

Jessica Matthews, a co-creator of the energy-producing soccer ball, SOccket, visited my school today, taking the place by storm with her stories and engaging presentation.

A collaborative, 21st Century learning team working together for an undergraduate college class project, envisioned a soccer ball that might create clean energy as it moved around, while still being a ball for playing soccer. Their SOccket invention is astonishing and inspiring, creating enough energy to plug in a lamp or charge a mobile phone. Now, several years later, two members of the team have become social entrepreneurs, and SOccket is in production.

This CBS This Morning report gives lots more background. Two of the students, Jessica and her former classmate Julia Silverman, formed a start-up company, UnCharted Play and you can watch company’s introductory video, with an intro by Bill Clinton.

Continue reading “SOccket! Collaboration, Creativity, and Tech Create an Energy-Producing Soccer Ball” →

21st Century Learning, blogging, digital learning, digital parenting, parents and technology

Thinking About a Blog?

Posted on April 10, 2012April 11, 2012 by Marti Weston

StartFamilyBlog — Visit Start a Family Blog

Are you thinking about starting a blog for school, work, or family? It a terrific communication opportunity.

At SomeNovelIdeas, a blog authored by librarian Stacy Nockowitz, would be bloggers will find a comprehensive list of links to help them get started. She organizes her links into following categories:

Blogging Basics
Blogging Resources
Blogs About Blogging
Blogs to Follow
Blogging Platforms
Images

Also included at the bottom of the resource page is a glossary of blogging terms.

Last year I taught a short blogging course to parents at my school. My Start a Family Blog class, hosted on a WordPress blog for two months, is still available.

21st Century Learning, digital learning, digital parenting, electronic reading, i-Books and e-Books, iPhones and iPads, resources to read

My Roundup of e-Books and e-Self-Publishing

Posted on March 15, 2012March 19, 2019 by Marti Weston

KQED MediaShift posted a March 15, 2012 list of recently published articles on e-books and self-publishing. On this page you can also sign up for a regular self-publishing e-newsletter from MediaShift.

A Few More Self-publishing Resources From that I’ve Read Over the Past Few Months

Kindle Self-Publish Direct to Amazon Kindle store explanation
CNET – How to Self-Publish an E-book.
PC Magazine – How to Self-Publish an E-book slideshow
Lulu self-publishing blog – The Week in Self-Publishing and E-books with interesting facts, minutiae, and article links.
Mashable – Apple iBooks Author App Lets You Make Your Own Books
Tuaw – iBooks Author: An iBooks Publisher looks at Apple’s Textbook Creation App

21st Century Learning, digital parenting, online education, online learning, parents and technology, teaching digital kids

Finding TED Talks Just Got Easier!

Posted on March 14, 2012March 19, 2019 by Marti Weston

Finally!!

Identifying relevant TED Talks on various subjects just got easier.

Parents, teachers, lifelong learners: these talks contain wide-ranging information, ideas, and lots of content that 21st-century learners be used in reports, presentations, and other learning activities.

According to the e-mail with the graphic below, TED Talks will now be posted on iTunes organized by curated collections students, educators, families, and, of course, lifelong learners. Click on the image to visit iTunes, choose a collection, and download the lectures that interest you. The link may be slow, but you can always go directly to iTunes.

Expect more from TED.

Check out this post about Teaching With TED. You can also read TED Talks for Teaching English. Another essay, by Georgia Tech professor Amy Bruckman, addresses the tremendous growing power of the TED Brand.