Edutech for Teachers

Cool Tools for the 21st Century Classroom

Become an Edtech Rock Star in 2014!

January9

become an edutech rock starI don’t know about you, but I typically avoid the whole New Year’s resolution gig. Instead I prefer to use the beginning of a new year to set personal and professional goals that I can strive to achieve throughout the next 12 months. For example, I want to improve my Spanish speaking skills and become more involved with the Mending Hearts Animal Rescue organization, but tech-nically speaking, my list goes something like this:

» Continue blogging about tech tools, integration ideas and digital responsibility.

» Reach as many educators as possible with the information I post.

» Improve my blog’s Teach100 ranking by writing more posts and sharing them across social media sites.

» Expand my Professional Learning Network (PLN) on Twitter, Facebook and Scoop.it.

» Write a K-12 computers curriculum for my school district.

» Implement Google Apps for Education in the middle and high schools.

» Facilitate additional “Tech it Up” professional development sessions for K-12 teachers.

» Promote Digital Learning Day to include teachers and students at all levels.

» Enter (and win) at least one video contest with my Tech Club students.

» Transform the current print high school newspaper from print to a digital format.

» Provide more opportunities for students to create web sites and blogs similar to Simply Aubree, the very cool blog of one of my Tech Club superstars.

So there you have it—a few of my aspirations for 2014… Hopefully, you have set a few goals of your own focusing on technology integration for the upcoming year. If not, here are a few suggestions that can help to level up your skills:

» Record your thoughts in the form of a blog or online journal (See my 27 Ways to Reflect on Your Teaching post for tools to make this this objective a reality.)

» Learn one new tool or app a month (i.e. GoAnimate so you can create cool comic avatars and scenes for use on print and digital projects).

» Create your first or a new digital project—story, interactive image, video, book report, etc.

» Participate in a Mystery Skype activity with your students.

» Ditch the flashdrive and learn to use a cloud-based storage system such as Dropbox.

» Build a PLN on various social media sites in order to stay in tune with the latest tech trends.

» Become a member of the #edugood 365 Photo Project.

» Join and/or share a lesson in an online teacher lesson plan exchange program such as TeachersPayTeachers or UClass.org.

» Read a tech integration book. I highly recommend checking out Untangling the Web by Steve Dembo and Adam Bellow.

» Subscribe to the Edutech for Teachers blog by clicking the “Follow” button located to the right!

» Follow Edutech for Teachers on TwitterFacebook and Scoop.it!

So, there you have it—some recommendations for transforming yourself into an edtech rock star! No excuses—just get busy! Trust me, you’ll be glad you did—and so will your students!

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Hey, edu-tech gurus!

Looking for some technology integration ideas to enhance your classroom lessons? Then be sure to check out my "Tech Tips" for the latest and greatest Web 2.0 tools, applications and web sites that can be incorporated into activities and/or projects. Although some posts may not be applicable to your content area or grade level, be sure to check back often as I will be varying ideas in order to provide resources across the K-12 curriculum.

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