Adventures in EdTech

  When I made the decision to start an educational technology program, I did it because I felt like it was something that would continue to shape my career moving forward, and that technology related to education was something I was aware of, and had a growing familiarity with. At the same time, I felt consistently inadequate in terms of being able to envision the possibilities educational technology offered, and worried that I would never really be able to ‘catch up’ to all of the options that were out there. Having now completed the first class in that program, I can say that my eyes have been opened, mostly to the fact that the sheer breadth of resources makes it difficult to feel like an ‘expert’, but that just seeking out the opportunity to learn is what is most important. My experience with educational technology has been mainly driven by the last few years working in a 1-1 environment (in two different buildings/districts). The majority of my focus was originally on finding new

Social media has to rank up there as one of the most divisive topics, not only in education, but in our society overall. Most people can likely rattle off the usual arguments on both sides-it increases connectivity, brings the world closer together, makes the sharing/finding of information easier than ever before; it can lead to body image issues, cyberbullying, misinformation, and becomes an addiction. I will say that my own attitude toward social media seems more shaded toward the negative side-I was a much bigger user when I was younger, but have seen the value I place on social media dropping over time. Part of me feels like this is partially due to the fact that more and more seems to be coming out about the dangers of social media, and the negative trends it has inspired among students (devious licks, slap a teacher, mess up school signs). This is all on top of the fact that social media has been a factor or cause of more conflicts amongst my students than I can count. However, I

The expansion of technology and the internet, and the impact they can have on our personal and professional lives is ever-growing. The fact that we now lead digital lives holds a ton of weight, to the point where our digital life can become inseparable from our real life. We all have different ways in which we have ‘led’ our digital life, with varying degrees of sharing and cohesion with our ‘real’ lives. I can say personally that I am one who has never been a big ‘sharer’ on social media, usually much more of a viewer than using social media to create any sort of following for myself. With that, I would also say that my online ‘persona’ has not exactly gelled with who I am as a person. I would say this started when I was younger, out of a hope to only put the best of myself online for others to see, which I now realize did not come off as very authentic, because obviously this type of presence does not mirror a real life (or mine, at least-no judgments passed on anyone else!). Then, a

The picture below is one I feel like I was shown during my very first PD presentation as a teacher (or if not, at least some point early on in that year). I think it is a well-known image (or at least a well-known style of picture) to demonstrate the difference between equality and equity, and that what we may actually be striving for within our classrooms is equity, and not equality (not to discount equality entirely, just for the sake of the picture). I think this image speaks to the idea of accessibility, and how it is given space and employed without our classrooms as well, because tools and strategies focused on accessibility seek to create equity. I also feel the picture is apropos because there are multiple persons in the picture who are using some sort of tool to create equity, rather than just being used for the one who ‘visibly’ requires it. This is something I have been seeking to be mindful of more and more as I have gone forward in my career. Image Source Accessibility is

One great resource for teachers is the development of a Professional Learning Network (or PLN, because we all know education loves itself a good acronym). This is essentially a set of connections teachers make related to their practice-it is a tool for both sharing and acquiring ideas, tools, and resources. One’s PLN may be composed of colleagues who they work with directly, conferences, presentations, or other PD experiences, or online resources like educational websites or social media spaces. A PLN is a way for a teacher to connect with other educators or educational stakeholders to learn, share, and collaborate. One major benefit of the explosion of technology is that limitations on who/what can be part of a PLN have really been eliminated; thanks to the internet and social media, teachers can connect with others across the country, or even the world, in an instant, so that ideas and resources can quite literally span the globe.  Image Source One social media app that has been part