Why Ed Tech is Not Just for Teachers

I spent the morning attempting to make the header on my blog eye-catching, representative of my writing, and professional looking.  I am not the most versed in design software so I chose to use a combination of Microsoft Word, Photobucket, and the snipping tool accessory.  It may have been easier to either install Photoshop on my laptop or open my daughter’s laptop that already has it installed.  However, I am not confident in my skills with Photoshop.

Although I don’t think it’s representative of how much fun adolescent girls are to parent, I got the header to look acceptable.  Then I continued with my morning reading of blogs and posts of interest.  During my stop at Diigo, I found the link for LogoType Maker in the Hot Bookmarks.  I need to give it a try before I give you any feedback on it but some of its listed features are: upload images; modify logo, drop shadow; outline; cliparts; export png, zip, and pdf; and FREE.  I am assuming that had I used it for my header, it would now be just what I intended.  

If I was not an educational technology enthusiast, I would not have come across LogoType Maker.  One year ago, I was in a computer literacy class required for my degree in Early Education.  There were several Web 2.0 sites that were mandatory to use and Diigo, a bookmark sharing site, was one of them.  Also included on the list were Jing, similar to the snipping tool but better, and Prezi.  Prezi, an application for creating lively presentations, was the most difficult for this digital immigrant to learn, but the results were incredible.  From there I came across Free Technology for Teachers, an educational technology resource blog.  And from there I . . . I am now addicted to educational technology.

Ed tech is important to everyone, obviously, because it is being implemented into our children’s schools.  Even if I didn’t have school-age children, I would still want to know what was being implemented in my community's school curriculum.

 Also, applications found across the web are great for use at home.  Parents can support their children’s engagement in media of all sorts.  This increases their media literacy skills, especially when parents spend time with their children as they interact with peers online.  There are even great applications for creating cool videos, interactive timelines, and ebooks that can be used for creating unique family memories.

I am finding that educational technology gives light to easy to use applications that are not just for the classroom.  They are tools that can be implemented into personal writing and parenting blogs.  Because ed tech writers introduce media-rich applications as they could be applied in a classroom, they break it down very simply because teachers don’t often have time to implement tricky tech stuff--nor do bloggers. 

If you want to get started following educational technology because you are a parent, a blogger, a blogging parent, or just someone who wants to know what’s new and hip, check out The Edublog Awards Blog.  There is a comprehensive list of ed tech teachers’ blogs that were nominated for awards.  You are likely to find something useful and fun.  And if you find a blog you like, go ahead and give it a vote!