tech-savvy

10 ways to tell you’re a tech-savvy educator


How tech-savvy are you? Read on to find out…

tech-savvyTechnology is a necessary part of formal and informal learning today. After all, students will need tech skills as they move into college and the workforce.

Using tech in the classroom today will help students develop and build those essential tech skills so that they can compete on a global scale.

And often, today’s educators and administrators learn much of their tech skills from students, who are tech experts in their own right. Tech-savvy teachers take the tech skills gleaned from students and use them for academic and instructional purposes.

(Next page: The top signs you’re a tech-savvy educator)

What does it mean to be a tech-savvy educator? Research and studies point to 10 distinguishing characteristics.

Want to explore this topic further? Check out our Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards program to learn about the hallmarks of a tech-savvy school leader.

10. You embrace new technologies, new tech tools, and aren’t afraid to try new things and be “stumped” for a while.

9. Digital citizenship means something to you. You know its basic definition, but beyond that, you encourage and urge others to learn about digital citizenship, its implications, and what it means in their lives.

8. You have an international help desk. Sure, your colleagues in the next classroom or down the hall might be able to help you with a tech problem, but then again, they might not. So what do you do? You take your problem to your professional learning network or other learning community, and ask colleagues across the country or across the world.

7. You speak tech, you speak it well, and you speak it consistently. Buzzwords mean more to you–you take time to learn about each new trend and phrase and what they mean.

6. Summer vacation isn’t really a vacation–it’s a chance for you to expand your knowledge. Conferences, professional development camps, online hangouts…you relish the chance to learn more.

5. Did someone say Twitter chat? And you don’t just participate in or follow one Twitter chat–you’re connected to #edchat, your state’s ed-tech Twitter chat, subject-specific Twitter chats, and the list goes on. Oh–and you have a smartphone, of course, so that you can tweet on the go.

4. You’ve never actually met most of your friends. Well, not in person, anyway. Through social networking, you’ve formed professional relationships with huge numbers of people. You may even be fortunate enough to meet some at various ed-tech conferences.

3. You have a professional, or personal, learning network–PLN, for short. This means you’ve gone beyond the basics to cultivate a group of go-to colleagues and experts who challenge you, help you when you have tech problems, and who help you think outside the box.

2. Online PD is a normal occurrence for you. Sure, day-long workshops might have one or two bits of great information. But lots of your professional learning is found online, through social media and other virtual workshops.

1. Your students follow your blog (this gives you more street cred than you realize). Your students know that they can find homework help, tips and tricks, and more resources through your posts.

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Laura Ascione
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