Five Ed Tech resolutions for 2015

1.  Get connected- In this world of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Hangouts, Voxer and on and on, educators have no excuse to not be connected.  For a few years now we have been hearing of the silo effect in business referring to the lack of communication and cross-departmental support found in some companies. Recently education secretary Arne Duncan mentioned the need for tearing down the silos in education.  There is a lot to learn from others. Get to it.



2.  Seek Student Voice- If there is one thing all educators have in common it's students.  We should make it a priority to listen to them.  Even the youngest student has an idea of what they consider fun and what they would enjoy doing.  I recently met students from the Impact Academy that "hijacked" their learning and created there own lessons and projects based on the curriculum maps created for their course work.  Ask students for ideas about improving their own education and listen to their voices.

3.  Become Device-Agnostic- Anyone who knows me well knows that I am an Apple man.  My first contact with an Apple device was in 1983 and it is the only type of device I have purchased for personal use...until recently.  As schools and districts are moving to a more BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) environment I need to understand / work with, and maybe even own other devices. As I tinker with the Windows 8 machine and allow my own kids to make discoveries on the ChromeBook I see the need to understand the workings of other devices.  It's good to stay loyal but I need to break out of just being stubborn, and others may also.




4.  Show and Tell- Take time to tell others about devices, apps, web-sites, and other great edTech gems that may assist them in their class.  For example, even though you may use Today's Meet daily in your work day, others may not have seen or thought of using it in the way that you have. Be willing to show others how you are using the tools and to reciprocate they may show you ways you can enhance what you are doing.







5.  Practice what you teach (Tweet) , and  teach (tweet)  what you practice- There is a lot of information on twitter.  My friend Adam Taylor  calls it the World Educators Collaboration Network. Educators around the globe use it to connect, grown, and learn from their PLN (Personal/Professional Learning Network).  Twitter is a vital tool in the toolbox for anyone working with education technology... or any other aspect  of education.  So take the time and send a tweet when you have an idea that you want to share.








If you have any questions or comments please let me hear them.



Ask good questions. Answer andy that you can. Make someone feel special. Be Great because  You are Great.