Our theme this month is the gifts of technology, in honor of the gift-giving season. Technology is infused into every part of our lives - from the cars we drive, how we clean our homes, to how we entertain ourselves. We know especially how influential technology is in our classrooms.
Instead of focusing on the newest and greatest tech gadget this holiday season, we'd like to take a moment to spotlight some other benefits from technology.
1.
Time Savers & Efficiency: Earlier this year, UCET Board member Kelli Cannon hosted a #utedchat about Teacher Time Savers (archive
here). Tools like Canvas and Google Classroom give teachers the opportunity to streamline student feedback; Apps like Blooket, Kahoot!, Nearpod and Peardeck allows teachers to give quick formative assessments. Google and Microsoft apps help manage content. Find what works for you and your classrooms to make your life easier and a little more stress-free.
2.
Student voice and choice: One of biggest gifts of technology is the ability to personalize student learning and amplify student voice. There are countless tools available to let student create and share authentic audiences. Here are some project ideas from
GEG UT, creative challenges from
Adobe, and media education resources from the
Utah Film Center.
3.
Connection: Lastly, technology can bring people together. That is what we are trying to emphasize with this year's UCET theme "Together at UCET". Together we work with coalition members across the state to empower educators, find solutions to educational challenges, and engage our students.
We are grateful that you are together with us, either virtually or at our in-person events throughout the year and we look forward to seeing you at the conference in March!
Happy holidays to you and yours!
