Hello there everyone,

This is a blog-only post. There isn’t any new audio, or official A.T.TIPSCAST episode, associated with this post. This post outlines my nominations for the 2013 Edublog Awards. In my experience, most educational bloggers, podcasters, and Tweeters do so on their own time, after work hours because it is their passion. They aren’t asked to do it. They aren’t paid to do it. Yet, we all benefit from the many hours they put into their craft.

The Edublog Awards provide a way to recognize these enormous efforts. Here are my nominations for the 2013 Edublog Awards:

Best Individual Blog –

Teaching All Students by Patrick Black – (www.teachingall.blogspot.com) – Yeah, I nominate this blog every year and will continue to until 1. A better blog of its type surfaces or 2. It wins (and even then I might re-nominate it). Fresh ideas, multiple resources, and practical solutions for making instruction accessible to EVERY student. Recent blog posts include apps people should be checking out and how/why to use them. When it comes to implementing technology for every student, this blog is a MUST read.

Best Teacher Blog –

Speech Techie by Sean Sweeney – (www.speechtechie.com) – The winner of the 2010 Best New Blog Edublog award has maintained its status as the premiere blog focusing on the topic of using technology in the practice of speech-language pathology. The beauty of the blog is that the strategies shared are for every educator, not just for those working as speech-language pathologists.

Best Group Blog –

Microsoft Partners-in-Learning Network Hot Topic Accessibility Blog by Dr. Cindy Feist and Dr. Tara Jeffs (http://www.pil-network.com/HotTopics/accessibility) – It’s sort of a simple concept. If you make your product accessible to everyone, anyone can use it. Likewise, if you make your lessons accessible to everyone, in benefits every learner. Weekly blog posts every Sunday from respected guest bloggers in the field of education present useful and practical perspectives on how to become more inclusive and to propagate learner variability.

Best New Blog –

Heck Awesome by Carrie Baughcum (http://carriebaughcum.com) – Although Heck Awesome wasn’t Carrie Baughcum’s first foray in to the world of blogging, it may be her best. Recently, Carrie, a middle school special education teacher, combined all of her various projects into on central hub called “Heck Awesome” where she blogs about the tools she is using, her “tech ninjas”, how she is growing professionally, and much, much more. It’s technology implementation with a “this is good for everyone” flavor, which of course, is awesome!

Best Ed Tech / Resource Sharing Blog –

Design Make Teach by Josh Ajima (http://designmaketeach.com) – Inspiring students to use their innate creativity to generate useful solutions is the future of education. The Design Make Teach blog provides a philosophy, process, strategies and examples to spark the creator in any student. Josh shares practical, easy-to-replicate, activities spanning creations using low-tech, household items to fabricating materials using 3D printers. Make something!

Best Educational Use of Audio/Video/Visual/Podcast –

The Edceptional Podcast by Deb Truskey, Tricia Lazarro, and Patrick Black (Edceptional on iTunes) – The Edceptional podcast hit the ground running as part of the EdReach Network and hasn’t looked back! The podcast features reviews and discussions of the latest news, blogs, and resources associated with students who have special needs in school. The varying fields of the hosts and guests makes for well-rounded discussions and well-explained resources that examine all the angles of a topic. If audio is your preferred modality for receiving content and you’re interested in topics related to educating ALL students, then this is the podcast for you! People can listen to the podcast, watch the recorded video on YouTube, or participate LIVE! during the actual recording!

Best Educational Wiki –

The UDLTechToolKit by Karen Janowski & Joyce Kazman Valenza (http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/) – Simply the best collection of tools on the web for differentiating instruction and infusing options into every lesson plan. The days of handing every student a worksheets and expecting every student to do every task the same way are coming to an end. The UDLTechToolKit provides educators with tools which they can immediately implement in their classrooms to provide students with engaging options for how best they can receive information and express what they know.

Best Open PD, Unconference, or Webinar Series –

VSTELive! Webinar Series (http://www.vste.org/index/learn/webinar) – VSTELive! webinars (Virginia Society for Technology in Education) are always engaging, informative, and cutting edge which gather insights from experts on contemporary topics in the world of educational technology. When you participate in a live VSTE webinar you are certain to have an enjoyable experience while learning new ways of thinking, learning, and doing. Keep ’em coming VSTE!

Best Twitter Hashtag –

#atchat– For years I’ve lurked, following along on different educational Twitter chats but it is only recently that I’ve actually started to participate. It was #atchat on Wednesday nights led by Karen Janowski that got me to switch from passive reviewer to (occasional) active participant. Engaging, timely, and relevant topics are discussed almost every week leading to the sharing of practical tools and strategies that work to help every educator provide more options to students.

Best Free Web Tool –

Read&Write for Google by Texthelp (http://www.texthelp.com/north-america/readwriteforgoogle) – Yes, Texthelp is a long time sponsor the A.T.TIPSCAST (Full Disclosure!) but that isn’t why I’m nominating this tool. Access to text-to-speech is crucial for students growing up using digital tools. Although the toolbar has lots of great features if you purchase it, the text-to-speech feature remains functional even after the 30 free trial runs out. If your students are using Google Docs, there’s no reason (or excuse) not to have it. If you’re not convinced yet, I did an entire A.T.TIPSCAST episode on how to use the tool that you can listen to for more information.

I hope you check out these fantastic resources and, if you agree with my choices, consider voting for these creations, projects, and initiatives to recognize the dedication of these individuals.

My nomination alone does not guarantee that these fine folks will be officially nominated. If you agree with my nominations, consider writing a blog post of your own featuring these terrific educational resources. They deserve your time! Find out more information about how to participate over at The Edublog Awards. 

Enjoy!

Chris