We have prepared a little treat for you this Halloween! The Education Team at BSD understands how precious your time is as a teacher – parent-teacher interviews are coming up, the assessment period is approaching, reporting is just around the corner – before you know it, you are already being asked to prepare for the next academic year! To help you stay ahead, we have scoured the internet for the most insightful and interesting edtech content (blogs, articles, and podcasts) to help you stay afloat in the rapid changes and tides (driven by tech) in education.

*The 6 sources below are listed in alphabetical order their place on the list is no indication of preference

1.Cult of Pedagogy (https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/category/technology/)

Jennifer Gonzalez is an experienced female educator who shares a wealth of insight into the world of education through podcasts, blogs, and videos. Cult of Pedagogy is a great general resource for getting inspiration on learning theories and classroom management. The section “Technology” is our favorite part (for obvious reasons). Gonzalez is pragmatic in her recommendations and through her “interviews [of] educators, students, administrators, and parents about the psychological and social dynamics of school” we always feel re-energised and inspired to get back into the classroom to try something new.

Recommendation: “When Your School Is Short on Tech” https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/low-tech-school/

2.EdSurge (https://www.edsurge.com/)

EdSurge is one of the more well-known edtech sources out there. There is a lot of content here though, so our favorite way to catch up with EdSurge is through their weekly mailing list, where the week’s key articles are summarized. EdSurge has a community of educators, techies and entrepreneurs to share news, information, trends and research about what emerging technologies and how it can (or cannot) support teaching in learning in K-12 and higher education.

Recommendation: “YouTube Launches $20 Million Fund as Part of ‘Learning’ Initiative” (https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-10-23-youtube-launches-20-million-fund-as-part-of-learning-initiative)

3.EdTech Digest (https://edtechdigest.com/)

A great site again for cool tools, interviews, and trends to get inspired and stay up-to-date with various opinion pieces. With edtech thought leaders in the tech sector and academics, EdTech Digest offers insights, updates, interviews into the rapidly evolving world of educational technology. EdTech Digest also conducts EdTech Awards annually, so this is also a place to find recommended resources.

Recommendation: “Busting the Myths of the “Digital Native”” https://edtechdigest.com/2018/10/22/busting-the-myths-of-the-digital-native/

4.EdTech: Focus on K-12 Magazine (https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/)

EdTech: Focus on K-12 is an online magazine that is part of CDW, which is a leading multi-brand technology solutions provider to business, government, education and healthcare organizations in North America and the United Kingdom. The articles are a curated set of contributions by educators and tech leaders in education. In this context, EdTech: Focus on K-12 provides an interesting repository of implementation solutions and discussions faced by educators and tech integrators, such as suggestions in classroom setup, technology professional development for teachers etc.

Recommendation: “Facebook Launches Communication App with K–12 Students in Mind” (https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2017/12/facebook-launches-communication-app-k-12-students-mind)

5.Hello World (https://helloworld.raspberrypi.org/)

Hello World is a digital (and printed) publication by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The magazine is published three times per year and it’s available entirely free as a Creative Commons PDF download. The magazine is a curated collection of interviews, case studies, and opinion pieces, as well as practical tech lesson plans submitted by other educators. The most recent issue discusses the challenges of ethics in computing and creation in the classroom.

Recommendation: Issue 6: https://helloworld.raspberrypi.org/issues/6

6.The Tech Edvocate (https://www.thetechedvocate.org/)

The Tech Edvocate (Matthew Lynch) covers a wide range of topics from gamification, online learning to childhood development with tech to name a few. This is a well-rounded source of articles and discussion pieces to find out more about the trends in edtech and what’s up and coming the the world on tech that will help boost student agency and engagement.  

Recommendation: “10 AMAZING HACKATHON IDEAS” https://www.thetechedvocate.org/10-amazing-hackathon-ideas/

For a list of top accounts to follow on Twitter to stay up-to-date, click here to read our suggestions from issue 5