From all of us at EdTechTeacher, we send you are very best for the holiday season!

NEW from the EdTechTeacher Team

Taking a Dip in the SAMR Pool

In this post for the SchoolCIO Blog, Carl Hooker describes the SAMR model not as a ladder, but as a swimming pool. “Some may decide to jump off the diving board straight into the deep end and learn how to integrate from day one with a particular learning objective. Others elect to take swimming lessons (Professional Development) and use the occasional swim noodle (instructional technology integrators) to help them stay afloat. In addition, they will want to make sure that a lifeguard (Principal) is on hand should they begin to really struggle and possibly blow the whistle when they need to take a break.” Read the full post on SchoolCIO.

Building Technology Fluency: Preparing Students to be Digital Learners

“…while we devote a significant portion of every school day to a student’s reading, writing and language fluency, how much time is devoted to the development of their technology fluency?” asks Beth Holland in her latest Edutopia post. She then provides three strategies for helping to develop students’ technology fluency in order to help students become digital learners who are able to construct new tools and objects, communicate ideas, and solve new problems. Read the full article on Edutopia.

The Beginner’s Guide To Creating Digital Portfolios

In her latest Connected Student Series post, Holly Clark describes three types of student portfolios – process, showcase, and hybrid – as well as offers recommendations for getting started.

Reading Grab Bag: Flipped Discussion, iPad Simulations, MOOCs, and the Cognitive Tutor Study

On his Education Week blog, Justin Reich curated a number of articles and ideas into a single “grab bag” post.

Top 5 ed-tech Twitter accounts we follow

This came as quite the surprise. We were thrilled to discover that two of the five Twitter accounts recommended by eSchool News belong to our own instructors – Shawn McCusker (@ShawnMcCusker) and Beth Holland (@brholland)!

What to Look for in 2014!

We have great things planned for the next twelve months. Here’s what’s already on the calendar.

• January – We will start a Winter Webinar Series on January 14th. The schedule has almost been finalized, and registration for these FREE, LIVE events will open soon. This winter’s theme will be iPads in International Classrooms.
• February – We extended Early Bird Registration for the February 3-5 iPad Summit San Diego until January 10th to allow everyone to settle back in after the holidays. Get your tickets while they last!
• March – Come join us March 6-7 at College of the Holy Cross for the 2nd annual Leading Future Learning Conference. Keynote speakers will include George Couros as well as our own Carl Hooker.
• Summer – This year, we will be running our Summer Workshop Series in 6 cities across the country. In addition to bringing back favorite workshops, we also have some new topics.

There are a handful of other events in the works, so look for announcements after the first of the year. We wish all of you a wonderful holiday season!