One of my favorite TV ads — one where I actually would laugh out loud — was from Best Buy a couple of years ago. In a snappy montage, they showed adults’ dismay at being behind the technology curve with outdated devices: one woman laments, “I just bought this one” as a new phone is… Read More

What if instead of ignoring the huge, white, social media elephant in the room, you embraced it? As teachers, it’s important to prepare students not only for the world they live in but also for the world that’s ahead. And since the influence of social media is likely here to stay, why not use it… Read More

Classroom capabilities are ever-changing and evolving. New technologies are constantly emerging — making our jobs as educators easier and often more fulfilling, and creating a rich learning environment for our students. From the super high-tech to the simplest of innovations, new products can create a world of difference in your classroom. Interested in making some… Read More

While Jan 1 marks the New Year for most, it kicks off the second half of the school year for teachers and students. Within the first month back, many schools celebrate with the 100th day of school. Around this same time, due to the cyclical buying cycles of schools, some of the larger education conferences… Read More

We know that many New Year’s resolutions center around the idea of balance: How can I have a more balanced life? How can I balance my personal and professional lives? How can I balance my screen time? Yep, that last one is not just an issue for kids. Guilty as charged! The statistics about screen… Read More

In the world of technology, it can be easy to gravitate towards what is new and shiny. The latest and greatest gadgets, apps, and platforms captivate us with updated features and functionality, just-in-time content, and oh-so-clever design. It’s hard to ignore the buzzes, chirps, and flashes! The same can be said of edtech in the… Read More

I did not begin my career as an instructional designer. Having spent several years in the classroom as a college- and university-level instructor of philosophy and logic, I stumbled into instructional design by way of educational content development as a learning design author and subject matter expert, combining my classroom experience and subject matter expertise… Read More

Not on Twitter? You should be! Twitter is an immeasurably useful tool for educators. Beyond building a network of educators from around the world, Twitter chats and free PDs are happening every day — literally — with some of the biggest and brightest thinkers and practitioners out there. Here’s a look at the most useful and… Read More

In higher education there is a cultural and psychological trend toward standardization and normalization. Certain ideas about education become socially reinforced and codified as norms and standards. This is, to some extent, to be expected. After all, educators and instructional designers should rightly be concerned with student performance and learning outcomes, the theory being that… Read More

Many of the people who ushered in the personal computer revolution in the 1970s and 1980s, and subsequently internet culture in the 1990s and beyond, had ties to counterculture movements of the 1960s and early 1970s. For example, Steve Jobs was a reader of the Whole Earth Catalog, a print periodical containing helpful articles and information… Read More

Looking for some STEAM inspiration to expand your thinking and elevate your lesson plans? You’ve come to the right place. Here are 10 highly engaging TED Talks delivered by artists, scientists, teachers, engineers, and entrepreneurs. 1. Building blocks that blink, beep, and teach Engineer and artist Ayah Bdeir talks about how she invented LittleBits, electronic… Read More

STEM learning is largely about designing creative solutions for real-world problems. When students learn within the context of authentic, problem-based STEM design, they can more clearly see the genuine impact of their learning. That kind of authenticity builds engagement, taking students from groans of “When will I ever use this?” to a genuine connection between… Read More

Google Translate is an astonishing program. It converts words and even whole sentences back and forth from dozens of languages through multiple modalities; you can type, handwrite, scan, and even say whatever you want to communicate. Its accuracy—at least in French, German, and Spanish, the three languages that I speak—is surprisingly good. At worst, Translate… Read More