WHAT’Snew
Freelance writer Sharleen Nelson compiled this information from press releases sent to the L&L editorial office. The L&L staff does not
review the products and resources, and they are offered here without recommendation. Send press releases to products@iste.org.
Wikispaces has launched Wikispaces Classroom, an
education-based online learning platform designed specifically for the connected classroom. Available free to teachers, Wikispaces Classroom allows educators to create a
customizable classroom management workspace where
students can communicate and work on projects alone or in
groups. Building on the editing and collaboration capabilities
of Wikispaces, which permits teachers to edit and comment
on pages and embed content from the internet, the new
platform adds a social newsfeed for teachers and students
to safely interact. It contains formative assessment tools for
monitoring and gauging student activities and progress in
real time. Optimized for use on tablets and other mobile devices, the platform also features a new app for iPad users.
MORE INFO: www.wikispaces.com
The Conrad Foundation is of-
fering students from around the
world an opportunity to showcase
their entrepreneurial spirit and win $50,000 in prizes in the
2013–14 Spirit of Innovation Challenge. The Get Your
Genius On competition invites students to come up with a
groundbreaking idea that addresses global sustainability
and benefits humanity. Celebrating the life of astronaut Pete
Conrad, the third man to walk on the moon, the program
challenges student teams to combine creativity with STEM
(science, technology, engineering, and math) skills to craft
and develop a commercially viable product or service in the
categories of aerospace and aviation, cybertechnology and
security, energy and environment, or health and nutrition.
The competition is free and open to all teens ages 13–18.
Teams from science clubs, after-school programs, charter
programs, and home-schoolers are also encouraged to par-
ticipate. The deadline for submissions is October 24.
MORE INFO: www.conradawards.org
Common Sense Media has
launched Graphite, a free
web-based service for educa-
tors designed to improve the
effective technology use in the
K– 12 classroom. Graphite uses
a learning rating system to help
teachers discover, share, and
use the highest quality and most relevant digital learning
products, which are evaluated across a broad range of core
academic subjects, such as English language arts, math,
science, and social studies, as well as deep learning skills,
such as creativity, thinking and reasoning, and collaboration.
All learning products are easily searchable by subject, skills,
and grade bands and mapped to Common Core and other
standards. Educators can share their personal reviews and
field notes about how they use each app, game, and web-
site, and what works best with their students.
MORE INFO: www.readconmigo.org
Eye on Education has released
Authentic Learning Experiences:
A Real-World Approach to
Project-Based Learning by
Dayna Laur. Using a step-by-step,
do-it-yourself approach, this guide
offers real-world examples to help
educators improve student learning. With examples drawn from
a variety of grade levels and content areas that integrate
technology and align to the Common Core State Standards,
the book promotes important skills, such as research, collaboration, and critical thinking.
MORE INFO: www.eyeoneducation.com
