During the few times I went out into our neighborhood yesterday I noticed a lack of children playing with the new toys Santa surely brought them the previous night. I seriously doubted all of the children in my neighborhood received coal in their stockings for bad behavior. Despite our troubled economy, I also doubted they received a Big Chief writing tablet and an apple like those who grew up during the Great Depression received and were glad for it. No, I feel all of the children in our neighborhood, the United States, and around the world received electronics from jolly man in the red suit whose technology lab rivals that of Silicon Valley. One young man was spotted riding what looked to be a new bicycle but in his ears were the tell tale white earbuds of an iPod. Now the question for teachers who will welcome their charges back in 2012 is are you ready for what Santa has done?

You know students are going to bring their newly given devices to show all of their friends. I am certain my students are going to show me what Santa and various other relatives gave them. The electronic devices will be welcomed and put to work in my classroom. What about yours? Have you really thought about what Santa has done to your classroom and will you welcome them with ways for students to use their devices and make Santa feel good about what he has done or will you be the Grinch who takes away Mary Lou Who's iPod Touch with video editing, and writing apps?

Another trend I saw and believe will only increase is the number of games and toys that require an iOS or Android device. Take a look at the video below to see how one of my Christmas presents can be controlled by my iPhone.

I hope that you and your family had a great holiday season. Rest up.

Evernote for Android

Mashable reports Evernote has released an app for the Android Smartphone platform. I have used Evernote to take notes on my BlackBerry at conferences and it is a great way to take a organize notes on the Internet.

Speaking of Android

An e-reader based on the Android operating system called the Entourage Edge has been released according to Engadget. This device has been billed as a textbook replacement. At $490 and some bugs in the system, this device won’t be lightening backpacks until it stops lightening wallets.

Increasing Community Involvement

All schools are looking for ways to get better community involvement through better communications. Mashable has listed 10 ways for increasing community involvement. Some of the methods recommended include make easy to participate, interact with your community, welcome newcomers, and engage with popular existing communities such as Twitter and Facebook.

Santa 2.0

When I was younger, the only ways to interact with Santa was either a face-to-face meeting at a local store or write a snail mail letter. Mashable describes five ways to connect with Santa on the Internet. There are some tried and true methods such as e-mailing Santa and my favorite Norad Track Santa. However, seeing Santa live on a webcam seems a little weird. I thought he was supposed to be watching us to see if we are naughty or nice.

Excuse me, is that a projector in your pocket?

I have always been interesting in pico projectors since they were first announced. However, current devices still work best projecting an image on a postage stamp in a pitch black room. However, the AAXA M1 micro projector is another step in the right direction. Engadget announce the newest pico projector. A projector that will connect with a computer will cost $359.

McWiFi

As if children’s obesity rates are going up like their weight, McDonalds has a new way to get people sit down and eat more fattening Big Macs and other artery clogging food. Engadget reports McDonalds will offer free WiFi in most of its restaurants starting in January.