Educational Technology is the white whale of today’s classrooms. To pursue the implementation of technology is a huge undertaking. Schools face so many challenges: access to Internet/devices, competing priorities for professional development funds, the overwhelming number of tools and resources available. It’s easy to find reasons not to pursue technology, despite the evidence we see every day as to its capacity to empower all learners, broaden teachers’ impact, reach underserved student populations, and actually free learners to focus on the human tasks technology can’t do.
However, there is a growing number of educators who are devoted to the pursuit of technology and are inspiring their peers to tackle the challenge one small step at a time. After talking with several Directors of Technology and other technology staff from schools around the U.S. and in Canada, I’ve learned that schools are recognizing and empowering the teachers already there who are passionate about technology. These teachers are becoming digital leaders in their schools and districts, and have the important task of creating capacity, coming alongside their peers, and helping them through those moments when it would be easier to do things as they’ve always been done. Even more impressive, they’re helping students become digital leaders as well.
Supporting teachers has always been at the heart of Corwin’s mission, and that is true for our resources in EdTech, too. It’s why we publish the Corwin Connected Educators Series, a series of short, incredibly practical books designed to help educators and students take control of their own learning by leveraging the power of social media and other online tools. It’s why books like Bob Dillon’s Leading Connected Classrooms and Zachary Walker’s Teaching the Last Backpack Generation come just in time to encourage and support teachers as they embark on a journey to improve students’ learning, and, ultimately, their lives.
This month EdTech and Innovation are two of the themes on Corwin Connect. You’ll hear from many of our authors and consultants who are all united in one mission: helping you do your important work better.
