A Must-Have Edtech Cheat Sheet
Flashback to the year 2008 in Pittsburgh, PA to an event known as Boot Camp—a very intense professional development training I was required to attend when I was named our district’s Classrooms for the Future Instructional Technology Coach.
I can recall that within the first hour of this week long experience I felt so completely overwhelmed with the volume of unfamiliar terms I was hearing that I thought I would loose my mind—even though I seriously thought I had a pretty good grasp of all things edtech. Um, not so much! It was as if someone air-dropped me into a third year course of Mandarin Chinese which left me with that sickening what in the what am I doing here feeling. Of course, there were some words that made me giggle too! (i.e. wikis, widgets, vokis and glogs to name a few! That one’s for you, Lori, Stevie and Sharon, my CFFBFFs who helped me survive initiation week—and who have remained my besties ever since. As they say: We’ve come a long way, baby! ♥)
Fast forward to today… Even though there are always new edtech trends emerging, I no longer find myself having those yikes moments when I read about them on Twitter or hear about them on a TEDx Talk. However, as I assist colleagues in the classroom, facilitate PD, and collaborate with a team of administrators and teachers to develop a new K-12 tech plan, I am finding that many of the individuals I encounter throughout my work day are currently experiencing what I did eight years ago—that same what the what feeling that often creates anxiety and doubt.
That said, I did some surfing to try to locate a reference guide that could quickly (and visually) help my co-workers get a better grasp on some of the latest edtech buzzwords. Here is one of the resources I am sharing with them—and you. Hopefully it will help to eliminate some of that app-prehension you might have as you try to choose the best tools or ways to incorporate technology into your classroom!
A shout out to Boundless for creating this useful infographic and for the EdTech Digest for sharing it with the rest of us.
The graphic looks useful but its not easily read.
Try accessing the larger version of the graphic. I hope that helps! Jamie