The Tech & Learning Awards issue is always a favorite of the editors. Maybe it’s because these pages embody our tagline—“Tools and Ideas for Edtech Leaders”— better than anything else we print each year. Maybe it’s because the focus is consistently positive. After all, these are tools that our advisors and readers like. The ideas being shared are good ones. Most likely it’s both.
This is my eighth year of being involved with the Awards of Excellence program. A look back at past winners in our archives (www.techlearning.com/archives) reveals how much has changed in such a relatively short period of time. Some of the winners from 2008 included a multimedia “DVD-ROM,” a number of “Web site solutions for schools,” and “print management systems.” No tablets, no handhelds, no apps to be found anywhere.
What you do find are companies with names like Adobe, ABC-CLIO, Discovery, and NetSupport that continue to win accolades year after year for their top-notch products and services. You will also find wisdom from Tech & Learning advisors like Scott Floyd and Lisa Nielsen, who predicted free curriculum content (OER) and the acceptable use of smartphones in classrooms way back in 2011. This year’s insights on maker spaces, coding, and digital curriculum I would bet are no less prescient.
As always, I welcome your feedback on our coverage of this great edtech evolution. What technologies are you using that have changed the way your schools operate? What ideas have you seen implemented for success? Drop a note to me at khogan@nbmedia.com and maybe we’ll be writing about you in the 2016 Awards issue!
— Kevin Hogan
Content Director
khogan@nbmedia.com
