A great Educational Technology Blog that I have begun to follow is called "Emerging EdTech".  The blogger is Kelly Walsh who is the Chief Information Officer at The College of Worchester in New York.  He also teaches at this college.  I like the format of this blog for many reasons.  The topics that he blogs about changes weekly.  He also blogs about a lot of topics that are relevant to what I am currently working with in my Department (Information Technology and Media Services).  Walsh does a wonderful job of coming up with topics that are meaningful to teachers, media specialists, and educational leaders. He blogs about many topics on his own but also finds meaningful blogs and shares them through his site.

The link to Walsh's Blog is: Emerging EdTech

He will be hosting a Flipped Classroom Online Workshop in February and this is something that I am really interested in and is very relevant to what our professional developments are focused around in Cumberland County this school year.

My favorite blog topic that he has shared is "Ten Reasons a School Library/Librarians is Vital to Schools.  This topic hits close to home.  I am currently a media specialist (school librarian).  One of my driving motivators to become a principal or to gain leadership experience so that I can work at the central office level is that school library media specialists are often over looked or discounted.  It is still a sad and common misconception that librarians do nothing but check books in and out.  I have only worked for 2 principals that supported the library and really understood how vital their position is.  I have worked for several other principals that fail to realize the difficulties of running a library facility within the school, keep up with technology demands, teach classes, support teachers, etc.  This failure on the part of leadership creates a culture within the school that doesn't support the librarian or appreciate what they have to offer.  I have often told teachers that it doesn't take a Masters Degree to check books in and out.  A librarian has a lot to offer.  I cannot wait to be one of those principals that supports the library/librarian and changes the culture within in the county level.  This blog lists reasons that include quality control (for resources), vetting information, teaching research, etc.  This is the link to the blog that Walsh Shares: Top 10 Reasons

Another blog that Walsh personally wrote is about Teacher Curated Creation Applications.   This is his most recent blog (written/posted today November 17th!)   This is a list of great web apps for teachers to use.  A school administrator that supports technology should share this with their teachers and encourage them to use it with their students.  Student created content allows students to take a hold of their own learning!  Student centered learning is also a big thing this year in Cumberland County and will be the topic of my next blog!