RIP Thinkfinity
All good things... Thinkfinity, which pretty much has been on life support for years, will have the plug pulled on June 30, 2014. RIP. We hardly knew ya! From the Thinkfinity Community Blog: We at the Verizon Foundation have had the great pleasure to interact with an amazing group of educators through Thinkfinity over the past several years. But now it’s time for our community to come to a close. As of June 30th, 2014 the Thinkfinity site will no longer host a community nor partner content. The Verizon Foundation -- recognizing the urgent need to improve student performance in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and to increase the number of students who pursue STEM careers -- has focused its efforts on ensuring that teachers can best utilize mobile technology and understand how to integrate it into the classroom in impactful ways. Through our Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program, we have documented mobile learning strategies and best practices that have produced meaningful results. We have made this information available through webinars, workshops and other professional development resources on Thinkfinity, where it will continue to be offered for free. In addition, to make this professional development resource even more widely accessible to educators, the Verizon Foundation is creating a professional development platform that will give educators free access to a wealth of material focused on integrating mobile devices in the classroom. In partnership with the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE), Verizon Foundation is launching the Verizon Mobile Learning Academy (VMLA), a virtual, moderated professional development course offered for free to teams of educators interested in designing, implementing or improving mobile learning environments. The VMLA is a 5-part course developed around ISTE standards. Course modules are designed to help teachers, administrators and tech coaches implement effective mobile learning initiatives in their schools. Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be offered to teachers completing the VMLA program. Registration for the Verizon Mobile Learning Academy will open in Fall 2014. For more information, click here. Partner Resources Remain Available for Free If you have come to Thinkfinity to explore the latest topics, tools and trends in education, you won’t miss a beat. All these resources are still available for free from the top educational organizations you know and respect. For more information on how to access the resources and communities offered by the content partners, click here. And if you would like to continue to share ideas and best practices, and get feedback from fellow teachers on the topic of implementing mobile technology in the classroom, please join the Verizon Innovative Learning Community on Google +. For more information about the Thinkfinity site content, read the FAQ here.
