A Valuable Education and Technology Resource

I discovered a new website today that will prove valuable to me in incorporating technology into my middle school classroom, and it may prove valuable for you as well. It is called techLEARNING and can be found at www.techlearning.com . The web site caters primarly to three groups of people involved with education; teachers, school technology coordinators and administrators, with information and links relevant to all three groups. The site contains links to ebooks, professional publications, and other resources relevant to educators using technology in the classroom. There were numerous articles that covered a multitude of relevant subjects. For example there were articles on professional development for teachers and technology, or success stories of technology integration into the classroom or practical uses of technology in conjunction with school curriculum. Under one link, Digital Media in the Classroom, I opened an ebook on "The Art of Digital Storytelling", that was truly inspiring. It talked about using digital storytelling in the classroom, and a jumping off point to get teachers started. They had several touching examples of digital storys. One in particular, My Fathers Eyes, besides touching my heart, convinced me I need to be using this technology with my students. There were links to free resources and discussion forums for questions or topics of interest. They tell you how to use video streaming in your classroom, incorporate music into your curriculum, how to use Web 2.0 tools to help students express their creativity, or even how to hook your personal computer up to an HD television. Most articles had links to online books or podcasts or other helpful sites. There were literally hours upon hours of useful information. One drawback to the site was the vast amount of information. While the site was organized logically, it was hard to find specific information at times. They did have a search engine within the website but for me, at least, it was not working correctly. But that should not take away from my excitement about this site. I will be back many times for useful information as I attempt to integrate technology into my classroom.