mortiz051

I've been exploring ways to improve how I design instructional materials, websites, and other visual resources for several years. I don't know if an eye for design can be developed, but I am valiantly trying. This summer I was lucky to find a great online class from EdTech Teach that focused on visual design. Visual Design For Educators The course reawakened my drive to become a better designer for my students. I took many things away from the course and I've decided to share them in this document. I've categorized a variety of resources that had and will continue to have an impact on my exploration of design.  Design Resources for Educators and Learners If you have any design resources or tips, please consider sharing them in the comments below or reach out to me on Twitter. ( @WickedEdTech )  I am always hoping to learn something new every time I create a new post.  Additional Posts and Resources Connected to Design Exploring Adobe Spark - Design Challenges Vi...

The best educators are not content to do the same old thing year after year. Innovative educators push their thinking by engaging in social media, exploring blogs, attending conferences, and exploring the newest generation of educational books. I've created a  Recommended Educator Book Site  to organize and share some great books connected to teaching and learning. I will also occasionally feature a new book recommended by my PLN.  Have an idea for our next featured book? Please share in the comments below. I am super excited about my September Book of the month. This is a two-volume set written by one of my favorite educators, Rushton Hurley . Rushton is the founder of Next Vista for Learning and an incredible presenter.  Making Your School Something Special: Enhance Learning, Build Confidence, and Foster Success at Every Level (Volume 1) What Makes Your School Special? If you’re a teacher, you want your students to love coming to class. If you’re a school le...

I am excited this week to be co-authoring a post with my friend and partner in all things EdTech Melissa Wilson . Melissa is an English teacher and Instructional Technology Coordinator at Neuqua Valley High School. We will be cross-posting this story on her blog “ #Whatsup Wildcats ”. If you’ve never had a chance to explore Melissa’s blog I highly recommend that you change that today. Melissa provides some incredible insights about teaching and learning that happens every day at Neuqua. We are in our second year of 1 to 1 with Chromebooks, and we have been amazed by the incredible engagement we’ve witnessed as teachers have enhanced and transformed their instructional practices. Our classrooms are full of students engaged in a variety of activities enhanced with a variety of digital resources. Teachers are facilitating and our students are collaborating, communicating, creating, and thinking critically on a daily basis. We’ve enjoyed visiting classrooms and observing, but we needed so...

What are your must-have ingredients in a recipe for learning? Is it just about the technology and the content or is there something more? Here today, gone tomorrow? This can be EdTech as many of us know it today. This can be good when we are able to move onto something better or it can be devastating when we've invested so much time into learning a tool does what we need it to do. This is why we believe that sound teaching pedagogy will always trump the power of any technology tool when we create a recipe for learning. The best teaching and learning recipes start with ingredients connected to strong pedagogy concepts before adding in the technology ingredients. Today, we try to always start supporting educators and students by asking "why" questions. Sometimes, when we don't know why we are doing something, we always have to ask why are we still doing it? Maybe we need to look at changing the recipe, before moving forward? Without a reason why we need technology, we r...