These two announcemets came in through Twitter (TED-Ed) and Google Reader (Khan Academy App). I think both are huge as potential resources for our teachers and students to use.

Khan Academy website: http://www.khanacademy.org/

Khan Academy App review by Edudemic: http://edudemic.com/2012/03/sneak-peek-the-new-khan-academy-ipad-app/

I played with it this morning and it really is quite a useful resource for students or teachers with iPads. The web site offers the same material but they have done a nice job of integrating most of the tools into the app. I do like how students could download videos for off line use.

Some teachers use Khan Academy to flip their classroom where the students view the tutorials as homework and then work problems in the classroom when they are with their teachers and not without their teachers. While some argue that Khan Academy does not do much that is innovative, in the hands of a gifted educator, this resource could help all students no matter their skill level. I would hope some students use the site to learn things other then what they are studying in class.

TED-Ed will allow teachers to harness the power of TED to take their teaching to a larger audience while also bringing in animators to make engaging resources. I hope it will work as I think many TED talks can serve to start a conversation or spark an interest.

Quote from TED-Ed website. TED-Ed Launches on YouTubeTED-Ed’s mission is to capture and amplify the voices of great educators around the world. We do this by pairing extraordinary educators with talented animators to produce a new library of curiosity-igniting videos. A new site, which will launch in early April 2012, will feature these new TED-Ed Originals as well as some powerful new learning tools.