Can’t make it to FETC this year? Don’t worry. Stay tuned to our blog!
FETC is one of the largest conferences devoted to educational technology, and we’re excited to let you all know we’ll be there. We’re going to be doing special give-a-ways (who doesn’t love free stuff?), so pay extra attention to our Twitter feed during January 12th-15th so you can win! Our give-a-ways won’t just be for those attending FETC, we’ll also have special give-a-ways to our Twitter friends who couldn’t make it to the show.
Additionally, we’re …

Hello Friends:
We have a winner in our DISRUPTING CLASS book giveaway, but you’ll have to watch the video to see who that is.
Also, please make sure to watch the video to the end, as there’s a surprise in there for you as well.
In addition, we suggest you subscribe to our blog, in the upper right-hand corner of the screen because we’ll be announcing future Freebie Giveaways ahead of time to our blog subscribers.

For those of you who are having problems viewing the video due to filters, try downloading it here: …

This week was pretty slow due to the upcoming holidays, but there were still lots of excellent posts! Here’s the recap some of our favorite EdTech posts from this week!
Blog Posts:
Giving Children the Tools is Not Enough By Tom Barrett
IdeaPaint and Blank Walls By Andrew B. Watt
Making the Implicit Explicit By Kim Cofino
An Open Letter By John Pearson (More of a humor break. Definitely worth a read!)
Free My PDF By David Kapuler
21 Things That Will Become Obsolete in Education by 2020 By …

The first #web20wednesday tech tool I’m lovin’ is ClassTools. ClassTools allows you to create free educational games, activities, and diagrams – easily! You can then host them on your own personal blog, website or intranet! And guess what? (This is the part I really love) It’s free! And you don’t have to worry about coming up with how your game or activity will look – they have templates for you to choose from! I thought the hamburger template was pretty funny…or maybe I’m already thinking about lunch? Who knows! Enjoy …

Where Does Teaching PC Apps Belong?
There continues to be ongoing debate, and it varies from state to state, about where and when our schools should teach basic computing application skills such as Microsoft Office or similar packages.
Here’s a short article from Education Week that talks about this issue in light of the recent decision in Texas to allow districts the option of teaching computer applications.

“It’s no secret that people learn in different ways, so why, the authors of this book ask, ‘can’t schools customize their teaching?’ The current system, ‘designed for standardization,’ must by its nature ignore the individual needs of each student. The answer to this problem, the authors argue, is ‘disruptive innovation,’”…(read more here)
We want to give this goodie to you for free…watch below and find out how you can win!

Contest Rules:
Once more than 10 people have commented on this blog, we will select a name at random to win the book! …

Busy week? Don’t worry we’ll recap some of our favorite EdTech posts from this week!
Blog Posts:
Five Ways to Build Your Own Educational Games By Richard Byrne
There is Such a Thing as a Free Lunch: Free and Easy Ways to Begin Educating Innovatively By Lisa Nielsen
How To Change Your WordPress Blog Theme In 3 Easy Steps By Ryan Dube
On Revolutions By Shelly Blake-Plock
Who Is The Enemy? By Steven Anderson
Creating a Personal Learning Network By David Andrade
Tips to Inspire …