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Tips for Teachers Who Are Frustrated with EdTech

Educational technology can be exasperating. The edtech arena itself is a vast one. No wonder teachers get annoyed, regardless of how much experience they have with technology or education. Situations completely out of our control can also send the calmest teachers into a spin. You can’t control the weather, but that huge storm passing through your region can affect connectivity. In turn, connectivity is everything when using edtech. And of course, the storms always seem to be the worst when you need the Internet the most, like during high stakes assessment. Here are tips for teachers who are frustrated with …

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10 Habits of Tech-Savvy Teachers

The start of each new school year brings a barrage of new apps and skills for educators to master. Keeping up with it can feel very overwhelming! But it’s not the apps you use or the skills you’ve mastered that make you truly “tech-savvy.” Rather, it’s a whole attitude of mind. Here are the 10 most essential habits of tech-savvy teachers. They are flexible. Technology is constantly changing and evolving. Tech-savvy teachers are able to roll with the punches and adapt as needed. They always have a “Plan B” and even a “Plan C” when things don’t go quite the …

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3 Ways That Technology Can Boost Campus Security

The need for increased security on college campuses is a growing concern for parents, family members, and loved ones. In the news and media online, you can hear or read about incidents, accidents, and even violent crimes that are taking place on US college campuses. Technology can offer increased security, regardless of the reason for the apparent increase in crime on university campuses. An increase in security on our college campuses should be one benefit of living in the age of growing technology. So, how can we use technology to keep our students safe? Security Alerts Delivered by Text Messages …

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Can Coding Improve Your Child’s Writing Skills?

There’s a big push in education right now to teach kids how to code. Coding is undoubtedly an important skill that will help students in the job marketplace. It’s an in-demand skill and a useful one. But can coding help students in other areas? Some are now suggesting that coding can help improve students’ writing skills. Telling a story through code In many ways, coding is like writing a story. Programmers must go in a sequential order, just like storytellers. Just like writers, programmers first sit down and plan out the story they will tell. What will happen in the …

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Using Digital Storytelling to Amplify Your Students’ Voices

Digital storytelling is a fantastic way to implement technology and digital literacy into the classroom. Plus, it teaches valuable skills in a way your students will love! According to Educause Learning Initiative, “Digital storytelling is the practice of combining narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie, typically with a strong emotional component.” Since your students are already using social media, memes, and gifs in their daily lives to tell stories, it is the perfect time to teach students how to use digital storytelling in a meaningful way. Teachers can use digital storytelling to …

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Higher Education Accreditation Is Broken – It’s Time to Fix It

Accreditation was designed to protect students by safeguarding higher education standards, but it’s no longer fit for purpose. Today, the United States is home to low-quality for-profit colleges willing relieve students of their money in exchange for an education that costs as much, if not more, than a non-profit school. The education they provide is in some cases also inferior to other schools in part because of low academic standards but also because of poor management. Accreditation used to work – and it can again. But it must be fixed. What Is Accreditation? Accreditation is given out by agencies in …

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How to Sharpen Your Students’ Digital Citizenship Skills

Teachers have a significant role in teaching students’ digital citizenship skills that will extend beyond the classroom. Digital citizenship is using technology responsibly and ethically. As students use digital tools regularly, they need to understand the importance of using digital content appropriately. Therefore, teachers need to implement lessons on digital citizenship into the classroom. Digital citizenship skills should be taught beginning in elementary school with these skills growing and sharpening as students move towards high school and college. In this article, we will focus on explaining three goals to help students become mindful digital citizens. Teach Students to Recognize Their …

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The Power and Promise of Game-Based Learning

From young learners to adults, games can be used to increase learning. Games have been used by teachers for centuries, and probably thousands of years as a way to engage students in learning. Who doesn’t like games? Perhaps a few people don’t like games. However, games are an excellent way to capture the attention of your students and encourage learning. Why are games beneficial in the learning process, and why do we love them? They Help the Brain Understand New Ideas Whether kids or adults are playing a game, we play because we want to learn and understand a new …

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Are Virtual Schools Good for Kids?

With the birth of advanced technology has come advancement in the classroom. Along with the invention of the television came classroom films and typewriters were replaced with computers. This natural progression has allowed for unique opportunities of learning that were not available before advanced technology. As each student is different, their way of learning is distinct and with technology, teachers are now better able to provide multiple layers of education. While teaching about the ocean, a teacher may have a slideshow, a film, and a computer research or graphic design assignment. Unique ways of teaching allow the teacher to target …

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7 Examples of Project-Based Learning Activities

Even if you have never heard about all the research showing the effectiveness of project-based learning, it’s not hard to figure out that it is a far more engaging way to learn than through traditional methods. What’s not to love about engaging with a real-life problem or question and applying content knowledge and connections to various disciplines to solve it? If you’re stuck for ideas, here are a few great ones to get you started. Shrinking potato chip bags in the microwave. Students can learn about polymers through hands-on activities using some of their favorite products, like shoes and sporting …

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