AutoMotivator allows you to choose from a pre-selected group of photos, photos from around the web, or photos located on your computer and lets you set the motivational text. From there, AutoMotivator formats the picture and allows you to download it directly onto you computer. Print quality is governed by the original picture source, but as long as your picture is a high quality printing should be as well.

AutoMotivator

Shout out to the NCS-Tech Blog for Northfield School District in New Jersey for pointing out this tool. Cat Photo used under Creative Commons from The Toad on Flickr.

The Science of Motivation:

“In this video, posted yesterday on the TED blog, Daniel Pink explains the science of motivation. One of the themes of the talk that stands out is the idea that ‘this for that’ motivation techniques often do not work. I found this interesting because that is a technique that some teachers try with their students. So what is an effective motivation technique? Giving people autonomy and projects that they are vested-in is a much better motivation technique. Can these ideas be applied to education? I hope so.

Applications for Education
This talk is centered on motivation as it relates to employees, but the ideas could be adapted for an education setting. The ideas in the video could help teachers in their efforts to motivate students. The ideas could also influence how school administrators relate to teachers.

Here is a related item that may be of interest to you:
Three Ways the Brain Creates Meaning

(Via Free Technology for Teachers.)