YouTube provides free, unlimited access to tens of thousands of videos of high quality educational content and has the potential to be one of the most valuable education resources for students and teachers. The challenge is finding the most useful and highest quality content amidst the "other" content that distracts kids from using YouTube as a learning channel. Fortunately Google recognized this problem and has just launched a solution called YouTube for Schools. This blog post on YouTube further explains: We’ve been hearing from teachers that they want to use the vast array of educational videos on YouTube in their classrooms, but are concerned that students will be distracted by the latest music video or cute cat, or a video that wasn’t appropriate for students. While schools that restrict access to YouTube may solve this distraction concern, they also limit access to hundreds of thousands of educational videos on YouTube that could help bring photosynthesis to life, or show what life was like in ancient Greece. YouTube is trying to make the site an open conversation. Teachers can suggest new playlists and comments to help further integrate YouTube in the classroom. Highlights of the changes are summarized in this new video: Does this new school-friendly version of YouTube hold possibilites for your classroom? Related articles YouTube for Schools arrives Opening up a world of educational content with YouTube for Schools YouTube Teachers - Ideas for Using Videos in Your Classroom

Welcome to an interview with an Adobe Youth Voices Aspire Award finalist, Dantorie Reeves, age 16, from Mt. Pleasant High School, San Jose, California. Adobe Youth Voices aims to empower youth in underserved communities around the globe with real-world experiences and 21st century tools to communicate their ideas, exhibit their potential, and take action in their communities. You can vote until

Can you envision today’s high school or college students carrying out jobs like these: Bio-botic Physcian Chef-farmer (agri-restaurateur) Clone rancher Digital archaeologist Drone dispatcher Exozoologist Energy Harvester Global system architect Holodeck trainer Mobile BioMass Therapist Personal brand manager Smart car interior advertisement sales representative Space junk hauler Transhumanist consultant Robotician The World Future Society; an organization served with the charge of  making those predictions can. In their recently released special report (PDF) these were among some of  the 70 specific jobs predicted for 2030. Whether or not Digital archaeologist or Transhumanist consultant will make the list of the hottest new careers in 2030 no one can say, but it begs the question for all to consider: Ten years from now, 20 years from now, what relevant work skills will be shaped by the continued rise in global connectivity, smart technology and new media, and who knows what other social/cultural drivers? The Institute for the Future a non-profit research group has taken a close look at these big disruptive shifts and shares in this A 19-page report (PDF) the key work skills that will be needed to fulfil these new roles. Below is a summary image: We are facing times of unprecedented challenge. Combining our current research-based forecasts of skills and competencies, real-world examples, and staying abreast of these shaping forces will help us to support students in identifying and acquiring the abilities they need to thrive in this very very different and amazing world. What Habitudes do you believe they will need most? Related articles 10 Skills All Students Need in Any Job Market (bigthink.com) What Does it Mean to be a Transhumanist? (acceleratingfuture.com) The Future Of Learning, Transformed By Software (businessinsider.com) The destination of life (ryubg.wordpress.com) The Future is a Balancing Act (conversationagent.com) Students ‘seek jobs, not uni’ (career-advice.monster.co.uk) What Will Be the Business Skills of the Future (readwriteweb.com) The Top 10 Tech Skills Your Teen Needs Now (education.com)

Now available -- access to 14 writing flowcharts for college success! Device-agnostic display with friendly navigation bars and scalable graphics and fonts for all varieties of screens (smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc.) is critical for online courses. Welcome to the new Writing Flowchart Portal, which is smartphone/tablet/ and laptop friendly! Flowcharts Ready-to-Use Take a Position  Is

Welcome to an interview with Anny Liu, one of the winners of the first-ever Adobe Youth Voices Aspire Awards. Liu, age 17, and a student at Balboa High School in Redwood City, CA, won a Silver Award for Animation. Her project, LOOK, was created in conjunction with her co-author Janice Lee. Here is the text of E-Learning Queen's interview with Anny Liu. 1. What is your name and what is your

Guest Post submitted by Elaine Hirsch who has written some great new ideas on the necessity of of using the "wisdom of the crowd" to advance our personal and professional goals.  Thank you Elaine, for this great insight! Using crowdsourcing for a more productive business is an idea that should be considered by any and all businessowners. It can take the place of traditional hierarchies and can even cut down the time it takes to get tasks done throughout the office. Crowdsourcing efforts can sometimes produce more reliable information than those provided by experts and graduates from online PhD programs. Using one of the three methods listed could save a great deal of time and resources. The most obvious form of this is the "idea competition" that many businesses have resorted to for solving the most incredible (and mundane) problems. The use of Twitter and other social media outlets to present a problem to the masses is a form of crowdsourcing that many people have seen without even knowing. Finding trending topics on Twitter shows what the masses are interested in so businesses can record the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. There are businesses that do more than simply post problems online and wait for answers. The competition might end in a job with the company that needs the solution or a cash prize. However, this is the simplest of forms. Using social media is cheap (usually free) and is easy to access. Sometimes, a company might need to go to greater lengths for answers. Just reading Jeff Howe’s Twitter feed is, in a way a form of crowdsourcing, as it allows Mr. Howe to aggregate information from the masses to his feed. Researchers in Montreal created a video game that was intended to discover the solution to a gene-sequencing problem that has baffled them for years. They released the video game for anyone to play, and the gamers that played the game faithfully ended up solving a problem that men in white lab coats with doctorates could not. This form of crowdsourcing does not discriminate by age or ability level. Since crowdsourcing leverages the size rather than the intelligence of its sample group, the aggregated information gathered is much more important than the individual data points. Crowdsourcing.org also lists many forms of crowdsourcing. Crowdfunding is used as a source for capital for new projects. Rather than leaning on rich venture capitalists, a small business can create a network of people who are offering what little they can to the cause. Crowdsourcing is also the form of funding that propelled the Presidential campaign of Barack Obama in 2008. Because crowdsourcing is a way to connect the world, it can bring together engaging people with just the click of a mouse. Since each additional user of a social network further expands the scale of the tool, social networks can be scaled in a low-cost manner to meet the demands of today’s online populations. With the wisdom of the crowds becoming just as useful as the opinions of experts in certain fields of study, crowdsourcing will be an important phenomenon to consider. With these inspiring words from Elaine, I hope you can all go and make an effort to explore tapping into the power of collaboration at a new level today! Remember- WE ARE SMARTER TOGETHER!!  Thanks for the reminder, Elaine!  Related articles Social Media and the Crowdsourcing: Applicability & Effectiveness So Far (socialmediaclub.org) University Studies Crowdsourcing for Intelligence (abcnews.go.com) Crowdsourced Ideas Make Participating in Government Cool Again (PA Times October 2011) (inesmergel.wordpress.com) What are the characteristics of a crowdsourced investigation? A case study in crowdsourcing investigative journalism part 5 (onlinejournalismblog.com) Crowdsourcing versus Creativity [Alan Stevens] (ecademy.com) Crowdsourcing: The NEW work model (leydahernandez.com)

Welcome to an interview with Jaley Bruursema,  one of the winners of the first-ever Adobe Youth Voices Aspire Awards. Jaley B, age 14, and a student at Augustus H. Burley Elementary School in Chicago, IL, won a Silver Award for Narrative Video. Jaley's project, Gone, was created in conjunction with co-authors Anna Gould, Teagan Letscher, Elyssa Saldana, and Avery Weiland. The students were

As I woke up this morning, thinking of the best way to share with you how much I love and appreciate your presence in my life, my friend Jure Klepic sent the following video and message to all his friends and followers. There is nothing like a feeling when someone you dont know, you never meet tells you that YOU MATTER. In that spirit, I share with you his wonderful and beautiful gift! Happy Holidays friends - YOU MATTER to me! Related articles Endless possibilities when you know that #youmatter 2 Words Changing the World YOU MATTER- Going Global What If You Knew You Mattered?

E-Learning Queen is thrilled to announce that its sister blog, FringeJournal,  has been nominated for a 2012 Fascination Award in the Creative Writing Teacher Blog Category! The nomination was given for FringeJournal's "Iraq, American Soldiers in Iraq, Werewoves of Paraguay and War: El Luison." Online creative writing programs are found in many online courses and programs. Ranging from

As 2011 comes to a close,  I wanted to share with you the top posts of the year as a way to celebrate the conversations we have had and honor the insights and ideas you have shared. It was hard to pick just 11; so I selected the posts that you the readers reacted to most through your tweets, likes, comments and shares. I love what I do and  love the interaction I have with this amazing community of learners. Keep letting me know what matters most you and what I can do to make next year even better together! Top 11 Posts of 2011 1.  You Matter- 2 Words Changing the World 2.  The 12 Most Important Ways to Let People Know They Matter 3.  Honoring Genius Now! 4.  Permission to Play..Please? 5.  The Power of Noticing 6.  5 Ways to Tweet Like A Champion 7.  12 Most Important Things to Know About Kids Today 8.  Superman Ain’t Comin’ and Why That’s a Good Thing 9.  Social is the New Search 10.  Jobs of the Future - Will Our Students Be Prepared? 11.  Celebrating Teachers - A Collection of Online Resources Looking forward to continuing the learning with you in 2012!!