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Seven Ed Tech Topics I Care About Today

ByRichard Byrne

For the last year or so I’ve been at a bit of a crossroads with my work.

I’ll spare you the details, but it basically feels like burnout. Writing 17,000 posts will do that to a person. I was talking to a friend about this and he suggested making a list of the things within the edtech realm that still get me excited. So I did that.

In no particular order, here’s my list of edtech topics that I get excited about today. I’ve added in a few supporting details along the way.

  • Google Earth and Digital Mapping. I’ve loved maps since I was in second grade and still love exploring them today. Digital maps provide fantastic ways for kids to explore the world and more. Here are 53 tutorials I’ve made on the topic.

  • Blending of tech and fitness for teacher and student well-being. That’s the motivation for EdTechFitness.com, webinars on the topic, and presentations like Using Tech to Bring Joy Into Your Classroom.

  • Search and Discovery tools. The rise of AI is going to make it more important than ever to teach students how to conduct good research online and offline.

  • What’s going on with AI? The benefits and challenges it creates in education and beyond.

  • Coding as a conduit. I stole that phrase from Blackbird Code because it represents how I feel about teaching students coding.

  • Digital Storytelling. You can learn a lot when you give a kid a digital camera. You can learn even more when you let them make videos, make digital collages, record podcasts, or write a multimedia story.

  • Copyright and Intellectual Property. This is due to the decade+ battle I’ve had with websites that scrape and steal my work. I hope that by helping teachers teach students to respect copyright and IP that there will be a better Internet in the future.
Last week the weather was finally nice enough to ride my bike outside in short sleeves! Going outside is always good for you, but it’s more fun when the weather is nice.

Spring Weather Webinar!

This week I’m hosting a webinar about blending technology and outdoor learning. If the weather is improving where you live and your students are itching to get outside, this webinar is for you!