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 but don’t click away yet!  This post outlines my nominations for the 2009 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 and they aren’t paid to do it, but 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 2009 Edublog Awards:

Best individual blog – Teaching All Students by Patrick Black – (www.teachingall.blogspot.com) – Fresh ideas, multiple resources, and practical solutions for differentiating instruction for EVERY student.

Best individual tweeter – Melissa Techman (www.twitter.com/mtechman) – In my estimation, the most prolific person on Twitter.  Melissa is the first to share valuable resources and insights moving us all forward with her conversations and input.

Best new blog – The Tech Flash by Mark Nichols (www.thetechflash.com) – Although the first post was in October of 09, The Tech Flash is already proving to be one of the most pertinent blogs about technology for all students (with a special focus on students with disabilities) not to mention resources for teachers, administrators, and parents alike.

Best teacher blog – Speech-Language Pathology Sharing by Eric Sailers (www.speechlanguagepathologysharing.blogspot.com) – There aren’t many speech-language pathologists who integrate technology in their practice and share those experiences with the world at large.  Few skills are as important to a student as the ability to communicate, let alone communicate effectively.  This well-planned and thorough blog provides support to every teacher who has a student with communication difficulties.

Best educational use of audio – Teacher 2.0 podcast by Rodd Lucier (www.thecleversheep.com) – I could be wrong about this, but I believe the willingness of teachers to listen to an audio file correlates directly to the length of that file.  The longer the file, the less likely it is that a teacher will listen to it.  The Teacher 2.0 podcast provides succinct yet thought-provoking topics on education technology that make listeners feel like they are part of an active  conversation rather than a passive member of the audience.

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.  A teacher could get lost for hours in the possibilities for students.  Any visitor instantly begins to see solutions for students they work with on a daily basis.

Best educational use of a social networking service – The Assistive Technology Ning by Brian Wojcik (http://assistivetech.ning.com/) – The Assistive Technology Ning provides individuals who are interested in the topic of assistive technology with a way of having virtual discussions including the ability to share multimedia (text, video, audio, images, etc.) while also providing a way to have a visual representation of its participants.

I hope you check out these fabulous resources and, if you agree with my choices, consider voting for these fantastic creations, projects, and initiatives to recognize the dedication of these individuals.  Find out more information about how to participate over at The Edublog Awards.

Enjoy!

Chris