Emerging Education Technology’s Greatest Hits of 2013 – Marking a Year of Transition

2013 saw Many Educators Move From Asking “Why Should I use Tech in the Classroom?” to “How can I use Technology Tools to Help my Students Learn?”

It was my impression that 2013 bought a marked decrease in teachers questioning whether or not to integrate tech in their teaching and an increase in those who are focusing on which tools or technology-enabled teaching techniques can help their students learn. It was a year of increased acceptance, and hopefully 2014 will bring further focus to the exciting potential that information technology has to enable instructional approaches that can enhance learning outcomes.

I'd love to hear from readers who observed this same change, or who feel that this has not been the case. Where do you see this going – is acceptance increasing and our use of tech in education getting more focused and more productive?

Before plunging into the invigorating potential that the new year brings, it's always rewarding to look back at some of the best content we delivered over the last year. EmergingEdTech moved from 3 to 4 posts a week in 2013, allowing more guest authors to share good quality content. We had many experienced teachers share impactful uses of tech in the classroom and we learned about so many tools available to aid teachers in creating and using digital learning applications and content. We also examined the relationship between tech and a plethora of teaching and learning methodologies, from many angles.

So, without further adieu, here are some of the most popular articles published this year, and a selection of “critical faves”.

Popular Hits:

These excellent, inspiring articles garnered a good deal of traffic as many readers shared them via social media and they earned respectful positions in the search engines.

Moby Max is a Proven Adaptive Learning Toolset with Differentiated Curriculum for K-8 Students: Moby Max adds individualized, adaptive learning for writing, reading, and language skills to its powerful math skills platform.

Teaching and Learning With the iPad – A 3 Year Review: In this excellent 3 part article series, Principal David Mahaley shares lessons learned from the 1:1 iPad program that he has overseen in his role as Principle of The Franklin Academy.

Picture This: 5 Ways Teachers Can Use Instagram in the Classroom: Today, teachers are starting to harness the versatility and popularity of Instagram by bringing it to the classroom. Here are five ways the app can be integrated into lesson plans and classroom life.

5 Great Tools for Creating Your Own Educational Infographics: These fun, mostly free tools can help educators easily create their own Infographics, and bring a very modern twist to instruction.

How Teachers are Using Tumblr in the Classroom: The increasingly popular free digital media sharing app offers plenty of possibilities for  educators.

21st Century Technology Skills Are a Core Competency for Today’s Graduates: Our students need to be comfortable with the information technologies that are inextricably linked to the 21st century skills the work place requires, and teachers need to help pave the way.

Create a Custom Facebook Cover Image in 4 Easy Steps with MS Paint: Readers come to EmergingEdTech for more than just traditional instructional tech tips!

Critical Favorites:

Here we have some other great articles that have not had the traffic numbers the older posts about have had (at least not yet – most of these were only published in the last couple of months) but that are still bringing in new readers every day. I thought these were some great, informative pieces that focus on raising the bar for the integration of instruction and technology.

Student Created Content is an Exciting and Inspiring Learning Tool that Teaches Many Skills: The possibilities for student created content to play a powerful role in education have never been greater.

7 Excellent Free Blended Learning Resources – Understanding the Whys and Hows of Mixed Mode Instruction: A set of powerful resources and tools to help educators understand why blended learning is vital and how to develop or improve their approach to it.

10 Reasons Why Edmodo is an Excellent (and Hugely Popular) Digital Learning Platform: Edmodo is a premier online learning tool for K-12, for good reason. Do you know Edmodo?

11 Awesome Mash Up Tools for Creating Digital Learning Content: Check out this cool digital magazine I created with Glossi (featuring 11 great apps for creating online learning content)!

In closing – let me say thanks to all of our readers and viewers on the site, on our Facebook Page, on Twitter (@EmergingEdTech), on YouTube, on Pinterest, on Google+, and syndicated across the web! Thanks as well to the many great guest authors who helped with solid content this year.

Related Posts (if the above topic is of interest, you might want to check these out):
The 10 Most Important Emerging Instructional and Education Technologies and Concepts (2013 Update)
6 Free Online Collaborative Interactive White Boards – 2012 Update
Introducing the Future Trends Technology and Education Newsletter by Bryan Alexander