In a small rural village in the Cambodian province of Kampong Cham, a group of 7th-grade students huddle around Android tablets, engrossed in an English language lesson. Guided by their teacher, they swipe from one interactive learning module to the next. They are not only building English literacy, but also developing digital skills. As they do…

With the rise of personal desktop 3D printing, a wide spectrum of educational opportunities has become available for educators to leverage this technology in their classrooms. Until recently, the ability to create physical 3D models was well beyond the scope, skill, and budget of many schools. However, since desktop 3D printers have become readily…

State frameworks and national standards are explicit about the mathematics content that students must master at each grade level. Although the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the No Child Left Behind Act mandate that students who are deaf or hard of hearing and communicate in sign language have access to this content, evidence…

This article describes the state of informatics education in the Italian secondary schools, highlighting how the learning objectives set up by the Ministry of Education are difficult to meet, due to the fact that the subject is often taught by teachers not holding an informatics degree, the lack of suitable teaching material and the expectations…

This paper proposes the identification and use of principle-based pedagogical patterns to help teachers to translate design principles into actionable teaching activities, and to scaffold student learning with sufficient flexibility and creativity. A set of pedagogical patterns for networked Second language (L2) learning, categorized and…

This comprehensive book offers a practical pathway for developing twenty-first-century skills while simultaneously strengthening content-area learning. "Digital Learning" contains a wealth of research-based practices to integrate the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Education Technology Standards (NETS) for both…

When the author started his visualization session at Brampton by showing a still from Kate Mackrell's "Kaleidoscope," he was immediately struck by one student's description of a symmetry and reflection line that was quite at odds with what he was holding. Since he had seen the whole thing moving on a number of occasions, the author was hanging on…

The transition from arithmetic to algebra in general, and the use of symbolic generalizations in particular, are a major challenge for beginning algebra students. In this article, we describe and analyze students' learning in a "computer intensive environment" designed ad hoc and implemented in two seventh grade classrooms throughout two…

Algebra is one of those hard-to-teach topics where pupils seem to struggle to see it as more than a set of rules to learn, but this author recently used the software "Grid Algebra" from ATM, which engaged her Year 7 pupils in exploring algebraic concepts for themselves. "Grid Algebra" allows pupils to experience number,…

Geospatial and Robotics Technologies for the 21st Century (GEAR-Tech-21), teaches science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through robotics, global positioning systems (GPS), and geographic information systems (GIS) activities for youth in grades 5-8. Participants use a robotics kit, handheld GPS devices, and GIS technology to…

This article presents an anecdote of the author's experience of working "in the usual way" using animation with Year 7 and with National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth students (Y7-11) at a recent summer school in Lancaster. When he tried the animation with Year 7 and NAGTY students, the author found that this could easily be used…

Testing the pH of various liquids is one of the most popular activities in 5th- through 8th-grade classrooms. The author presents an extensive pH-testing lesson based on a 5E (engagement, exploration, explanation, extension, and evaluation) teaching model. The activity provides students with the opportunity to learn about pH and how it relates to…

The dilemma of promoting young adult literacy gripped the authors' seventh-grade class last year as never before. In an attempt to obliterate the students' reluctance to reading, the authors looked to technology to help motivate the students and break down their resistance to reading. This article describes the authors' successful integration of…

This article describes the nutrition component of a Home and Career Skills curriculum at Hommocks Middle School (Larchmont, NY) that includes the Breakfast Cafe Webquest, which encourages 7th graders to increase the amounts of fruits and vegetables in their diets as well as reduce serving sizes. Using this Webquest, students "help the Breakfast…

In this paper there is a description of a case in which mathematical argumentation emerge and develop between 7th grade students working in an interactive computerized environment without a deliberate mentoring. The computerized environment has its influence on the characteristics of this argumentation which include mathematical regularities based…