Technology-Leadership+Summary

==== The Innovative Educator is an excellent blog created for educators and those passionate about education. Created by Lisa Nielson, the blog is packed with articles on technology and its place in the classroom. Lisa created this post in 2008, with a goal to inform teachers of innovative ways to include technology in the classroom and “think outside the box”. Ms. Nielson provides articles based on her experiences as well as those that support her forward thinking movement. Many of the ideas that are discussed in this blog go against the grain of traditional classroom resources. ====

==== With over 2,600 followers, Ms. Nielson has developed a movement of fellow educators that share her movement to increase the use of technology in classroom. The technology that Lisa is pushing toward goes beyond that of the normal teacher/student computers and overhead projector. In many of her articles, Ms. Nielson writes about things such as cell phones in education, Facebook in education, social networking, and Twitter. In many districts and educator circles to discuss of such things in the classroom would be frowned upon and considered a classroom distraction, but Lisa discusses their uses and places in today’s classes. ====

==== The blog is updated almost daily, with an average of 289 posts yearly. Ms. Nielson tries to keep the posts relevant and meaningful to the readers. One of the articles that stood out to me was an article entitled “8 Real WaysFacebook enriched Ms. Schoening’s First Grade Class”. It told the story of first grade teacher Erin Schoening and how she used Facebook to bring her classroom into the 21st century. Being a first grade teacher myself, I found this article to really address a need that we are lacking in the classroom. I had considered using Facebook for many of the reasons listed in the article, but do to the social networking restrictions in our district this is close to impossible. But with the presentation given at the end of the article, I hope that I can present this to my campus and district administrators to push for a change. ====

==== After viewing The Innovative Educator, I have found many different ways that I can improve my classroom. As educators, we have to constantly find ways to keep up with the ever changing world of technology. It is up to us to ensure that the “digital natives” do not become “restless” in our standard teaching practices. Because our students were born and bred in a digital, technology driven society, we have to address their needs by providing with a learning environment that tailors to their learning styles. The Innovative Educator is a blog that helps us bring the gap from “digital immigrants” to “digital natives” and take our classrooms into the 21st century. ====

==== Clark, Tim. (April 26, 2011). The Contraband of Some Schools is The Disruptive Innovation of Others with BYOT (Bring Your Own Tech). Retrieved on June 18, 2011 from [].====

Nielson, Lisa. (July 15, 2010). 8 Real Ways Facebook ENriched Ms. Schoening's First Grade Class. Retrieved on June 18, 2011 from [].