All the technology in the world won’t make you a better educator. It’s more than a device or a tool. Sure, the technology allows you to connect more and to collaborate easily. To share a project with a classroom on the other side of the world, to learn from an educator in another state or country, or to read someone’s thoughts that provoke your own thoughts? That’s what it’s all about. I’m here at ISTE to learn from the best. To improve the way I integrate tools, to gather new techniques, to rethink what 21st century learning is really about.
Then? I bump into someone I’ve followed on Twitter and have been so inspired by, and I realize something. It’s so much bigger than technology. These connections are not just virtual. They are real and powerful and I am changed because of every single person I follow. For that? I’m grateful in a way I can’t even describe. But the next time someone asks me what the most valuable thing about teaching with technology is, my answer won’t be about tools, apps, or devices. It will be ‘connections.’
