The technologies that give the so-called 21st century classroom its power have been the subject of many K–12 blogs, with teachers, administrators, IT leaders, vendors and even parents weighing in on everything from how to fund these tools to how to effectively integrate them into the curriculum.
But it can be hard to separate worthwhile content from all the clutter, so the EdTech: Focus on K–12 team has scoured the web to assemble this honor roll of educational technology blogs you should be reading.
Our list includes a diverse mix of voices. You’ll recognize some industry luminaries, but you’ll also find some less familiar names. All 50 blogs offer valuable insights that enhance and advance the K–12 discussion. We also created a list of the best higher education technology bloggers here.
If we’ve overlooked one of your favorites, let us know. And if yours made the list, grab the official EdTech 50 Must-Read K–12 Education IT Blogs badge for your site here.
2¢ Worth
David Warlick is a 35-year
educator with experience as a classroom teacher, district administrator
and technology integration consultant. He’s also a well-known writer,
programmer, public speaker and owner of The Landmark Project, a
professional development and innovations firm in Raleigh, N.C. Warlick, a
self-described “non-traditional educator,” offers his two cents in this
blog, which explores teaching and learning in the new information
technology landscape. Many of his posts advocate for modernizing our
current education systems. Warlick also wrote for EdTech magazine in fall 2006.
| Read the blog: davidwarlick.com/2cents
The 21st Century Principal
If you’re a principal,
superintendent, teacher or educational leader, this blog is for you. J.
Robinson, a high school principal in North Carolina, writes regularly
about technology, teaching and public education. His blog covers all of
the big ideas today’s educators should be thinking about — everything
from project-based learning and authentic assessments to social media
and management concerns.
| Read the blog: the21stcenturyprincipal.blogspot.com
Acer Education Blog
Acer offers a full range
of computing devices to the global education community. The company’s
education blog, written by marketing staff and a team of school IT
leaders from around the country, offers helpful ideas for schools
struggling to manage the challenges of shrinking budgets and limited
resources.
| Read the blog: professional.us.acer.com/blog
| Read the blog: committedsardine.com
The Committed Sardine Blog
The educators who
contribute to this blog have committed to a range of 21st century
learning ideals: among them, teaching digital fluency, shifting the
responsibility for learning to the student and fostering student
collaboration. A forum of the 21st Century Fluency Project, an
initiative that aims to innovate, engage and inspire change in education
using technology and critical-thinking skills, the Committed Sardine
Blog tracks industry trends and research pertaining to education. It
also offers tips for educators looking to integrate new technologies in
their classrooms.
| Read the blog: committedsardine.comConfessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins
Henry Jenkins is a
professor at the University of Southern California and former director
of the comparative media studies program at MIT. An esteemed and
prolific media scholar, Jenkins has written extensively about game-based
learning as an alternate way of engaging students. He fuses academic
theory and the fan experience (hence, the Aca-Fan moniker) in his blog
posts, which explore such topics as blogging, gaming and education
policy.
| Read the blog: henryjenkins.org
Connected Learning Exchange
The Connected Learning
Exchange (CLX) is a Cisco Systems–sponsored global community of more
than 950 educators in K–12 and higher education. CLX aims to foster
collaboration while showcasing educators’ best practices and practical
solutions for creating learning environments that help students achieve
their full potential. Blog posts cover industry news, classroom success
stories and big ideas of interest to everyone who follows education.
| Read the blog: connectedlearningexchange.cisco.com
Cool Cat Teacher Blog
Targeted at teachers,
parents and school IT professionals, Vicki Davis’ blog discusses
innovative ways to reach the current generation of learners. Davis is a
teacher and the IT director at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Ga.;
co-creator of several Web 2.0 collaborative projects; and frequent
conference presenter and writer. She’s widely known within the K–12
community for her fresh take on teaching, technology, global
collaboration, 21st century learning and professional development.
| Read the blog: coolcatteacher.blogspot.com
David Truss: Pair-a-dimes for Your Thoughts
School administrator and
frequent conference presenter David Truss waxes philosophical on
education, learning and technology in this blog. His areas of interest
include student leadership, social responsibility, open learning and
classroom technology integration.
| Read the blog: pairadimes.davidtruss.com
Digital Education – Education Week
Digital Education, one of several blogs curated by Education Week,
covers current technology trends and topics in K–12 schools. Reporters
Katie Ash, Michelle Davis and Ian Quillen distill the latest news and
offer insights on how educators might respond. Frequent topics of
discussion include online learning, education and technology research,
one-to-one computing and social networking.
| Read the blog: blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation
Digital Learning Environments: Tools and Technologies for Effective Classrooms
This technology and learning blog, co-sponsored by Intel and HP and hosted by Tech & Learning
magazine, explores how the technologies available in a digital learning
environment can be leveraged to improve teaching and learning. More
than two dozen IT leaders and vendor contributors weigh in on everything
from content curation to STEM education and dropout prevention.
| Read the blog: guide2digitallearning.com/blog
Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog
The moniker for this
impressive blog can be traced to Mankato, Minn., where author Doug
Johnson has served as director of media and technology since 1991.
(According to Johnson, early explorers attempted to name the region
using the Lakota word for “blue earth,” but it was mistranslated as
“blue skunk.”) Johnson has authored four books and numerous magazine
articles and is a frequent conference presenter. His blog posts focus
primarily on school technology and library issues.
| Read the blog: doug-johnson.squarespace.com
Drape's Takes
A self-described
“educational technology enthusiast,” Darren Draper serves as the
director of education technology for the Canyons School District in
Sandy, Utah. His blog offers up practical ideas and advice on “the world
of educational technology,” including hot topics such as privatization,
one-to-one computing and social networking.
| Read the blog: drapestakes.blogspot.com
EdTechSandyK
Sandy Kendell, aka “Sandy
K,” is the instructional technology specialist for the Georgetown
Independent School District in Texas and a well-known conference
presenter who hopes to bridge the gap between thinkers in the cloud and
teachers in the classroom. Her areas of interest include professional
development, blended and distance education, social media in education
and digital citizenship.
| Read the blog: edtechsandyk.blogspot.com
EdTechTalk
EdTechTalk isn’t a blog in
the true sense of the term, but it’s a valuable resource for educators
looking to learn from their peers about how they can use technology to
improve teaching and learning. A rotating cast of teachers and IT
leaders webcast several live shows each week on 21st century learning,
instructional design, professional development, Web 3.0 and more. The
webcasting community also hosts a chat room and provides links to
helpful content about the topics discussed in each episode.
| Read the blog: edtechtalk.com
| Read the blog: education4site.org/blog
Education4site
Tryggvi Thayer, a
self-proclaimed education “futurizer,” is a Ph.D. candidate in
comparative and international development education at the University of
Minnesota. His blog posts reflect his thoughts on matters relating to
education, technology and globalization, among other heady topics. A
good read for those interested in future-forward education policymaking.
| Read the blog: education4site.org/blogEducation Insights
Education Insights is one
of several blogs maintained by Microsoft that focuses on the company’s
efforts to advance and enhance education through technology. Vice
President of Worldwide Education Anthony Salcito, the blog’s author,
summarizes the latest education news and trends while offering his own
take on what he’s seeing in the schools he visits. Classroom innovation
and technology-integrated curricula are frequent topics of discussion.
| Read the blog: blogs.msdn.com/b/microsoftuseducation
Education Recoded
Education Recoded, one of
several dozen blogs operated by Big Think, aims “to provoke a new vision
of what education might be.” Written by Scott McLeod, John Nash, Justin
Bathon and Jayson Richardson — all directors of the University Council
for Educational Administration’s Center for the Advanced Study of
Technology Leadership in Education — the blog regularly offers fresh
insights on the successes, failures, concepts and creations these
educators are encountering in their own practice and in classrooms.
| Read the blog: bigthink.com/blogs/education-recoded
Education with Technology Harry G. Tuttle
Looking to improve student
learning with technology? Harry G. Tuttle, a former technology
integration specialist and technology coordinator who teaches writing,
is too. The prolific Syracuse, N.Y.-based writer and consultant focuses
on improved student learning, assessments and critical thinking, among
other topics, in his Education with Technology blog, which dates to fall
2005.
Educational Insanity
Jonathan D. Becker, an
assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, envisions his
Educational Insanity blog as a place where he can be a “public
intellectual” and dissect his thoughts and ideas about educational
policy, leadership and technology. Like Albert Einstein, Becker argues
that doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results is
the definition of insanity. His solution, the subject of many of his
posts, is to strive for meaningful reform instead.
| Read the blog: edinsanity.com
Educational Technology Guy
David Andrade, a physics
teacher and educational technology specialist for the Bridgeport (Conn.)
Board of Education, is a different kind of tech guy. An engineer by
training, Andrade writes regularly about educational technology, theory
and pedagogy, as well as 21st century learning, in his Educational
Technology Guy blog. He also provides links to countless free resources
that help other educators integrate technology in their classrooms.
| Read the blog: educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com
Edudemic
Run by graduate students
and teachers, Edudemic aims to identify the best ways to improve
education using social media. The site is a valuable source of news,
how-to articles, videos, infographics and insights on a range of topics
of interest to educators and the technology-savvy.
| Read the blog: edudemic.com
Edutech Now
Alan Richards is a 17-year
education industry veteran and a certified Microsoft Most Valuable
Professional. Currently the information systems manager at a large
secondary school in the United Kingdom and a frequent conference
speaker, Richards blogs regularly about best practices discovered from
his early rollouts of Windows 7, SharePoint 2010 and other Microsoft
products.
| Read the blog: edutechnow.com
Edutopia
Nearly two dozen teachers,
administrators, parents and “change makers” contribute to the various
K–12 education reform blogs that form Edutopia’s blog community.
(Edutopia is the online voice of the George Lucas Educational
Foundation.) Weekly posts share lesson plans, personal stories, and
innovative professional development strategies, along with links to
news, resources and ideas from around the web. Coverage areas include
educational reform, innovation, project-based learning, STEM education,
student engagement and technology integration.
| Read the blog: edutopia.org/blogs
EmergingEdTech
Every weekend, Kelly
Walsh, the chief information officer for the College of Westchester in
White Plains, N.Y., researches an educational technology topic and then
blogs and tweets about it throughout the week. His written insights on
everything from how to make a case for educational technologies to the
flipped classroom are supplemented by links to free productivity
resources that are designed specifically for educators and by tutorial
videos that he posts both on his blog and on his EmergingEdTech YouTube channel.
| Read the blog: emergingedtech.com
Free Technology for Teachers
Educators seeking free
resources and technology-driven lesson plans need look no further than
Richard Byrne’s blog, a multiyear Edublogs Award winner in a variety of
blogging categories. Byrne, a Google Certified Teacher who now writes
and consults on a full-time basis, believes that technology, when used
correctly, can improve student engagement and achievement while also
giving teachers the ability to form powerful, global professional
learning communities. His prolific posts feature links, videos, how-to
presentations and other materials of tremendous value to teachers of all
grade levels. Byrne also wrote for EdTech magazine in spring 2012.
| Read the blog: freetech4teachers.com
Hack Education
Audrey Watters is a
prolific freelance writer whose work has appeared in an array of
influential education technology blogs. Hack Education, the blog she
created in June 2010, sprang from her desire to find educational
technology coverage “that's tracking new technologies but not just
because of some hyperbolic ‘revolution.’” Watters’ posts, often written
with sardonic humor, offer unique insights on the future of learning and
the ways in which technology is facilitating that evolution. She also
produces a weekly podcast with Steve Hargadon (see below), which is
available on both of their blog sites.
| Read the blog: hackeducation.com
Higher Innovation
Another of Microsoft’s
educational blogs, Higher Innovation strives to create a conversation
about how to empower today’s generation of learners. Written by Cameron
Evans, national technology officer for Microsoft Education, this blog
reveals the ways in which Microsoft is working to improve schools using
technology and shares the success stories of educators who are
innovating in their classrooms. As Evans explains, “You [do] not come to
Higher Innovation for my objectivity. You are here for my
subjectivity.”
| Read the blog: higherinnovation.net
Homeroom | The Official Blog of the U.S. Department of Education
The official blog of the
U.S. Department of Education, Homeroom is a terrific source for the
latest news on education and education reform. From new legislation to
progress reports, Homeroom tracks the activities of the department, as
well as national education policies and their impact on education as a
whole. Most posts are written by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan;
Cameron Brenchley, the department’s director of digital engagement; or
guest bloggers.
| Read the blog: ed.gov/blog
HP Blog - Teaching, Learning & Technology
Jim Vanides is an HP
program manager and a member of the HP Office of Global Social
Innovation, which works with education leaders to improve educational
systems, make learning opportunities more broadly available, and train
educators, students and aspiring entrepreneurs on essential business and
IT skills. Through this blog, one of many in the HP Blog Hub, Vanides
reports on trends and products that are advancing ed tech and
influencing K–12 and college classrooms across the nation. He also is an
adjunct faculty member at Montana State University.
| Read the blog: www3.hp.com/t5/Teaching-Learning-amp-Technology
The Innovative Educator
Lisa Nielsen, the
self-described innovative educator behind this blog, believes strongly
in “passion-driven” (rather than data-driven) learning. She is the
co-author of Teaching Generation Text: Using Cell Phones to Enhance Learning,
the current technology innovation manager for the New York City
Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology and a
frequent conference speaker. Her blog covers ed tech trends, strategies
and news and offers an impressive collection of podcasts, resource
guides and links to groups in which she is involved.
| Read the blog: theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com
ISTE Connects
ISTE Connects is the
official blog of the International Society for Technology in Education,
an association of education leaders and educators dedicated to improving
learning and teaching through the effective use of technology.
Maintained by ISTE employees and members, the blog offers a forum for
discussion of ed tech trends and how new tools are being leveraged in
K–12 classrooms. ISTE Connects also links visitors to other social media
resources for educators and technology leaders, including Second Life,
ISTE Community and Conference Nings, and ISTE Wikispaces.
| Read the blog: iste.org/connect/iste-connects/blog.aspx
jackcwest
Jack West, a high school
physics teacher in California’s Sequoia Union High School District, was
recognized as the 2008 San Mateo County Teacher of the Year for his
innovative use of technology in the classroom. In 2011, he co-founded NorCal EdTech,
a Stanford University–affiliated nonprofit that’s working to develop
misconception-based questions for science students in grades 6 through
12 and an online administration tool that will enable clickerlike
administration of these questions through any web-enabled device. West’s
blog offers an insightful assortment of notes from industry events,
impressions of books and articles he’s recently read, and opinions on
how technology is being used in the classroom.
| Read the blog: jackcwest.wordpress.com
Kathy Schrock's Kaffeeklatsch
Kathy Schrock is the well-known educational technologist behind Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators,
a Discovery Education–hosted portal of websites that help teachers
enhance their curriculum through technology and advance their
professional development. She also speaks regularly at conferences about
the effective use of technologies to support teaching and learning and
recently launched a consulting business. Kaffeeklatsch covers the latest
gadgets and trends, as well as other areas of interest to Schrock,
among them information literacy and personal learning networks.
| Read the blog: blog.kathyschrock.net
MindShift
Curated by journalist Tina
Barseghian, MindShift explores the future of learning “in all its
dimensions,” covering cultural and technology trends, education research
and policy, and other ed tech news. Blog posts, which are helpfully
organized into four categories ¬-— Culture, Tech Tools, Research and
Learning Methods — dissect the ways in which technology changes how
educators teach and students learn. Well-researched and insightful,
MindShift is one of the smartest news and opinion aggregators on the
web.
| Read the blog: mindshift.kqed.org
The Mobile Native
Scott Newcomb, a
fourth-grade teacher at St. Marys Intermediate School in Ohio, welcomed
students’ smartphones and other mobile computing devices into his
classroom several years ago. He speaks frequently about the benefits of
mobile learning at industry conferences and in webinars and uses his
blog to share mobile learning resources that he has found helpful or
that he has created.
| Read the blog: themobilenative.blogspot.com
November Learning Blog
Alan November, a former
computer science teacher and university lecturer, established the
November Learning consulting firm in 2005 to help schools, governments
and industry leaders improve the quality of education through
technology. November, whose areas of expertise include planning across
curriculum, staff development, new school design, community building and
leadership development, is well-known within the ed tech community and a
frequent speaker at industry events. Director of Innovation Brian Mull
writes the bulk of the posts to the November Learning Blog, but other
members of the team also contribute. November also wrote for EdTech magazine in fall 2006.
| Read the blog: novemberlearning.com/blog
Pogue's Posts
David Pogue has been The New York Times’
go-to guy for technology reviews and industry insights since 2000, but
he also contributes to NPR’s “Morning Edition” and CBS News. Although
his blog focuses primarily on tech culture and the tools and trends that
have captured consumers’ imagination (think social networking and
mobile-computing devices), his commentary is both insightful and
relevant to educators and IT leaders.
| Read the blog: pogue.blogs.nytimes.com
Polycom Education Blog
The Polycom Community is a
forum-based website where educators and other education community
leaders can discuss industry trends and practices, help each other solve
problems, and share classroom experiences. Written by Polycom’s
Lynnette Whitfield, Marci Powell and Elaine Shuck, the Polycom Education
Blog within the larger Polycom Community examines industry trends,
news, and opportunities that arise from integrating technology into the
classroom and curriculum.
| Read the blog: community.polycom.com
PolyVision
The collaborative
education community that PolyVision has created aims to “bring learning
to life” by inviting educators to blog about how they’re using the
company’s interactive whiteboards, as well as other technologies, in
their schools. Educators from around the world contribute to the
discussion, which covers everything from standards and research to
specific tools that they’ve incorporated into their teaching.
| Read the blog: bringlearningtolife.ning.com
The Power of Educational Technology
Liz B. Davis, director of
academic technology for the Belmont Hill School in Massachusetts,
believes technology can transform education, energize communities and
inspire innovative thinking. She blogs regularly about her experiences
with educational technology in the classroom and at industry events
around the country.
| Read the blog: edtechpower.blogspot.com
Royal Reports
Ken Royal is an ed tech
veteran with 30-plus years of experience as an educator and
technologist. He most recently served as senior technology editor for Scholastic, for which he wrote, among other things, The Royal Treatment,
a blog of interviews, technology how-to’s and opinions. A former
Connecticut Middle School Teacher of the Year, Royal now writes about
K–12 and higher education technology trends at Royal Reports and works
as an ed tech consultant. He also produces his own e-books, which are
available through his blog.
| Read the blog: royalreports.com
Second Nature: The Cyber Security Blog
Second Nature is the
official blog of the National Cyber Security Alliance, which works to
educate and empower a digital society to use the Internet safely and
securely at home, work and school. Emily Eckland, NCSA’s managing editor
of digital media, maintains the blog, but other NCSA officials and
cybersecurity experts contribute as well. Frequent topics of discussion
include security trends, the integration of cybersecurity and
cybersafety into K–12 education, and our emerging digital lives.
| Read the blog: staysafeonline.org/blog
Steve Hargadon
Steve Hargadon is one of ed tech’s highest-profile leaders. He’s the founder of Classroom 2.0,
a community-supported social network for educators and others
interested in Web 2.0, social media and participative technologies in
the classroom; host of The Future of Education
interview series, which provides thoughtful online discussions about
teaching and learning in a networked world; and the chair or co-chair of
several industry events. His eponymous blog is a tremendous resource
for anyone seeking insights on new technologies and their impact on K–12
education. Hargadon also wrote for EdTech magazine in spring 2011 and produces a weekly podcast with Audrey Watters (see above), which is available on both of their blog sites.
| Read the blog: stevehargadon.com
Teaching with Tech
Katie Stansberry is the
online community manager for the International Society for Technology in
Education and a student pursuing a Ph.D. in public relations at the
University of Oregon. She describes her blog, Teaching with Tech, as “a
space for collaboration and discussion” of emerging technologies in
academia and how they affect the classroom. She’s written about digital
natives, blogging as a learning tool and how to build an online
community, among other topics.
| Read the blog: katiestansberry.com
TeachPaperless
What began in February
2009 as a journal detailing teacher Shelly Blake-Plock’s pursuit of a
paperless classroom has since evolved into one of the web’s most vital,
influential collections of conversation and commentary about the
intertwined worlds of digital technology, new media and education.
Blake-Plock and 12 other ed tech pioneers not only share their
experiences and observations about teaching with technology, they also
recommend pedagogical improvements that they believe could further
stimulate student engagement and lifelong learning. Blake-Plock recently
reflected on one of his best-known TeachPaperless posts in EdTech magazine.
| Read the blog: teachpaperless.blogspot.com
Tech & Learning
Tech & Learning
magazine’s EdTech Ticker and TL Advisor blogs cover ed tech industry
news and tools that would be useful for educators. Magazine editors and
contributors such as David Andrade (see Educational Technology Guy) and Darren Draper (see Drape’s Takes) write the bulk of the posts, but guest bloggers also share their insights.
| Read the blog: techlearning.com/Blogs
Techconnects
Nancy Caramanico’s bio is
expansive. Now an instructional technology specialist and consultant,
Acer Advisory Board member and School CIO Advisor for Tech & Learning,
and adjunct faculty member at Pennsylvania’s Cabrini College,
Caramanico uses her Techconnects blog to celebrate and explore
“innovative use of technology in schools.” Her posts cover everything
from technology leadership to cloud computing, and she also provides
links to ed tech research and resources on digital citizenship and
literacy.
| Read the blog: ncara.edublogs.org
Techno Constructivist
Carl Anderson is
technology integration specialist and coordinator for the Community
School of Excellence in St. Paul, Minn., an enthusiastic Twitter user,
and a prolific writer and conference speaker. Anderson blogs regularly
about education policy, the books that keep him up at night and how he’s
integrating technology into his teaching. He recently dissected the class divide that social media engenders in the classroom for EdTech magazine.
This blog, run by and for a
variety of K–12 voices, explores education reform, online learning,
student engagement and other hot topics of interest to today’s teachers.
Stephanie Hoaglund, Scott Holm and Ashley MacQuarrie, all members of
the social media team at the online curriculum provider K12, write the
bulk of thinktank12’s posts, but parents, teachers, students and
professional writers also contribute.
| Read the blog: blog.k12.com
| Read the blog: willrichardson.comWill Richardson
Will Richardson is another
ed tech industry luminary, having written four books that focus on how
students learn and how technologies in the classroom could improve that
process. A former teacher, Richardson later co-founded the Powerful
Learning Practice, which provides professional development to 21st
century educators, and worked for 10 years at Weblogg-ed. He now writes
regularly on his self-named blog and for District Administration magazine, speaks at ed tech events around the country, and sits on the George Lucas Educational Foundation’s advisory board.
If your blog is one of the ones featured in our 50 Must-Read IT Blog list, you can grab a badge here.
Source: http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2012/06/honor-roll-50-must-read-k-12-education-it-blogs
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