In 2006, I started working as a teacher. My knowledge of technology centered around console gaming, web browsing and basic word processing. My first few weeks of work where nerve racking because I was working at a Mac school and I knew nothing about Mac… except for Carmen San Diego on Apple 2c computers. As you would imagine, it was a fight or flight situation. Being that I typically default to fight, I jumped in and began teaching myself all I needed to know to succeed at this new job. Since that time I have become a bit of a tech loving nerd.
I am not advocating that teachers must be nerds, however, we must have a growth mindset and take responsibility for our own learning. I am fully aware that this is a more daunting task than it was for me all those years ago, but it can still be done. Using free resources from the internet, teachers can stay at least one step ahead of their students in the classroom. I can't guarantee that you will be a know it all, but if you use these sites, you can be a know it enough!
Good old youtube… It's a tried and true veteran of the internet community and it has all the tutorial and how to videos you could ever want. For instance, my last post was about the web resource Glogster. A quick search for "glogster tutorial" in youtube produced 5,680 videos to choose from. Although it can't be guaranteed that all the videos will be worth watching, I can guarantee that there are videos that will tell you what you need to know. The best part about videos is you can follow along click by click on your own device.
Lifehacker is a newer website that is full of information on everything you need to know about and everything you didn't know you needed to know about (Try saying that 5X fast). There are downloads, productivity tutorials, DIY pages, and even a section on security for devices. Lifehacker is easy to search and offers down to earth advice that cuts to the chase and offers solutions that are usually easy on the wallet.
Self called "The world's collaborative how to manual", wikihow, much like wikipedia is a user generated database full of instructions for everything from nailing your fist kiss to making a dollar bill bow tie. The best part about wikihow is that you can search according to category and because it is user generated, articles are written with collective brain power. That means whatever you are going through, someone who added to the article you're reading has been there too.
eHow is the most official of the group and is an easily navigated website that is split into sections. Although the posts on eHow are trustworthy 99.9% of the time, there are fewer articles on the site. eHow has a good tech section, but some of the tech articles are for the super geek and not the novice.
These are just a few of the sites I have used over the years to get a better grasp on technology and ed tech. If all else fails, a simple google search of the topic you need plus the word "tutorial" or "how to" will get you where you need to go in a more round about way.
If you have any specific tech questions or needs, email me at techsavvyclassroom@gmail.com
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