1. Ask “Why this tool?”
2. Give them room to work, but make them accountable.
3. Be the learning leader, with emphasis on learning
4. Find the activity in Bloom’s Taxonomy, then raise the stakes!
5. Don’t give up, rework
I expand on each of these steps in the body of the post, and provide a presentation given for CEET on this process.

I have written a bit on this before, but my recent readings in my Masters class and some careful observation of my classes in past weeks has really helped me distill some of the more effective ways I believe I am finally getting through to some of the tougher students who resist technology. It is not always the low achieving students who lack skill with technology, and I often find myself with the greatest resistors as students who have grown up completing their work one way, and being quite successful with it in school, who don’t want to learn new skills in technology for my class. So how do we get these students using technology effectively…

Is it a silly question? How about this one; Why does the United States need a president? As structures are changing in education, perhaps we need to review our underlying assumptions about why we as teachers are even in the room. If we don’t, society is soon going to ask it for us. After all, technology is increasingly able to provide the kinds of traditional instruction that teachers have been known to provide. The presence of the ‘flipped classroom’ shows that the traditional ‘expert’ model of education is passing us by, if the last several years haven’t been warning enough about the change that is coming. We are not going to get by standing and delivering content much longer. But what does that mean to the classroom? Read on to find out…

Like most of you, I watch in amazement, and sometimes frustration, at the way students are ‘drawn in’ to the technology they bring into our rooms and set on their desks. (or underneath it if they are doing something they shouldn’t be) I see them text, play games, play music, change songs over and over, and read, all with unwavering focus. They engage with the devices for extended periods, to the exclusion of everything else happening around them, if we let them. I see the perspective of teachers who see these devices as a distractor; and, if a student is using a device in their usual context, it is a non-contest that it certainly is….

In many circumstances technology is seen as the ‘great divider.’ Putting aside some of the connective uses of technology, there are times when I stand in front of a class of students typing away at screens that I wonder, ‘Are we getting closer?’ or ‘Are we learning more about each other?’ I have struggled with this question ever since I started my technology journey years ago…

One side blames the other for not pushing students and maintaining the integrity of learning, the other side believes that irrelevant learning experiences are causing students to ‘turn off.’ So what is education to do? I see this time and time again, and it is a dangerous game…

Today I had the great pleasure of presenting to the Innisfail Jr/Sr High School staff some ideas on implementing iPod Touch technology into their school at Pigeon Lake, Alberta. The school has purchased a class set of iPods, and asked me to present some strategies for a successful launch of the devices in their school. Below is the slideshow I presented, less the video with a walkthrough of how I introduced this group to using educational technology for learning…

What an amazing experience working with the great educational leaders from Region 6 in Texas! This group came into sessions expecting to learn about mobile learning, and I hope they are getting that and more as we go through the process by which they can transform their organizations into powerful networks of technology leadership…Read on for the process and resources from these sessions.

This is a guest post by Lindsey Wright, who is fascinated with the potential of emerging educational technologies, particularly the online school, to transform the landscape of learning. She writes about web-based learning, electronic and mobile learning, and the possible future of education. While I believe her perspective is an interesting one, these are her thoughts, not mine. I would however love to engage in dialogue on this post, either in the comments or on Twitter @mrkeenan.

Education is currently dealing with the largest explosion of pedagogy-shifting technologies society has ever seen. Since the 1990s, several theorists have called for the research community to involve themselves in the study of technology leadership and its effect on education. While there have been mentions of the use of technology as a side-note in various leadership theories, the research community has largely marginalized this area of research. Due to a lack of practical technology leadership theory, leaders may find themselves without an explicit strategy to lead technology use in schools, which often leads to a metaphorical cart before the horse scenario, where technology purchases precede the pedagogical usefulness of the technology. What I will display in this post is a process by which technology leadership, linked to other effective leadership theory, supports a process by which leaders can ensure that technology in schools serves a powerful, pedagogic purpose.

I recently read (and write a review of) McLeod & Richardson’s article, The Dearth of Technology Leadership Coverage from the Journal of School Leadership (Vol.21, March 2011.) In the article, which is effectively a survey of the mentions and discussions of technology leadership in the top academic journals and conference presentations in education from 1997-2009, McLeod and Richardson noted an exceptional lack of effective study in the area of technology leadership. So, I have to ask the question…Do we really care so much the educational value of technology if we are not willing to research how to lead with it?

I’ve been reading a many opinion pieces lately questioning the results that students are attaining through the use of technology in class; whether or not the technology has value because students are, or aren’t, making significant increases in results. This is the kind of thinking that really gets us away from what should be the focus of our attention…

If you are working with teachers on the integration of technology into their practice, no doubt you’ve seen teachers at many points on the continuum of readiness. Some teachers research, plan, make meticulous notes and preparations for new technology coming into their room. Others, more like myself, ‘play’ with technologies to tease out features and uses for the classroom, learning to use the technology by doing. Still others will not adopt a new technology until it has been ‘vetted’ through a number of teachers they trust, and has been proven valuable. So, as technology integration specialists and pioneers of 21st century educational technologies, what are some of the ways we can tell that a teacher is ‘ready’ for a new technology in their classroom? Here are 5 elements we can look at to help us focus on whether a teacher is showing readiness for a new technology in their room.

As I once again pore over great inspirational materials on what it will take to move our education systems forward, I am struck by an interesting paradox. Many of the minds who could be solving the issues in education are already in our buildings. They are the teachers who have grown up with the technologies we seek to implement, who have a grasp of and intuitively deliver on the benefits of the technologies that reside in their buildings. They are the voices of a new generation of learning specialists willing to adapt their methods to suit student needs, and create a new model of learning. While they may not have the experience of a twenty year veteran teacher, they offset this lack of experience with insider knowledge of the culture in which they teach. What benefits can these teachers have for our schools if we pull them out of the classroom?

based on the great feedback about my last post, I’ve decided to showcase a couple more phenomenal apps that don’t seem to be taking off in the app store as they probably should, based on the great design and benefit they produce for students. As I write this I am aware that there are MANY apps looking for all sorts of publicity through various channels. My hope is that the edublogging community can support as many as possible.

I’m writing this post as a concerned educator, as I am noticing a real support deficiency on our part in supporting app development. Recently, I was sent an app by Suma Raju called Ansel and Clair in Africa….

One of the by-products of my work with mobile devices for learning, and publicly discussing that work, is that I have had a growing connection with developers of iOS apps. It was rather strange to me at first that these people wanted anything to do with an educator from Canada, but as time went by I began to see some important developments. Now what began as some deep conversations with one or two developers has grown into nearly daily requests to test and give feedback on apps, often from developers I don’t even know, who are willing to send me promo codes for any of their apps for feedback and/or blog reviews. But why, and what value do these developers see in me (and you?)