Blogs Related to 21st Century Teaching and Learning

I, for one, found this task immensely daunting. There are so many great educator blogs out there so where does one begin?

I found that instead of being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of blogs, I would just do a Google search for technology and education blogs and see what caught my attention.

The first one that caught the eye, was one entitled "Educational Technology and Mobile Learning". The site is authored by a group of Canadian teachers who share their teaching tools and technology ideas. They post reviews and recommendations for various tools and apps that can be integrated into the classroom. This is definitely a site I will be bookmarking for future reference.

The next blog I found is actually written by someone I have come across a few times in my Google searching. The site is called "The Innovative Educator" written by Lisa Nielsen. There is one post in particular that I was drawn to and I think points to one of the biggest arguments about using technology in the classroom, and that is how much is too much? And is there such a thing as too much technology? The post was written just a couple of days ago on February 10, 2015 and is entitled "How Much Technology in the Classroom is Too Much"? Lisa argues that there is no such thing whereas her counterparts argue that perhaps at times, using technology can become a gimmick or fad in the classroom - or a way for teachers to integrate technology somehow because they want to but maybe it's not so effective. It is all about how you integrate and how much technology you use. The interview Lisa gives on the radio program is definitely worth a listen if you have a few minutes to spare.

The third blog I chose to reflect on is called "Blogging About the Web 2.0 Connected Classroom". We've talked a lot about Web 2.0 tools during this course so it only makes sense to take a look at a blog that is specifically dedicated to that topic. The gentleman who writes this blog is Steven Anderson and is a teacher in Texas, and an author. His latest post (as of the time I am writing this post) was on February 6, 2015 and he reflects on a conference he recently spoke at and attended. Steven spends a great deal of time using social media and convincing others how social media can impact your classroom. He has one presentation specifically on using Twitter that is especially interesting if you are not Twitter savvy.

The best part about these blogs is that it really doesn't matter what country the person who authors them is from. Technology is global and many of the recommendations or reviews are relevant regardless of where you are. What matters is how you integrate the technologies into the curriculum content you are delivering. Keep in mind, that while technology is fabulous, we should not be integrating technology for the sake of integrating technology. If you are not particularly tech savvy, then start small. Find one or two programs or applications and introduce them. If they go well, you can start to find other ways of incorporating things. Your students may even have suggestions of how to integrate technology into their assignments, etc.