Tech Tip roundup: using YAMM, effective instructional technology specialists, getting educators to 'let go', and Web tools for student engagement - SmartBrief

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Tech Tip roundup: using YAMM, effective instructional technology specialists, getting educators to ‘let go’, and Web tools for student engagement

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Edtech

Every Tuesday SmartBrief on EdTech runs Tech Tips, a column featuring suggestions and recommendations from school technologists and tech-using educators. This month, we are running a roundup of the top tips from the year. Today’s roundup includes tips for using YAMM to improve student-teacher e-mail communication; instructional technology specialists as change agents; getting teachers out of the way of technology integration; and using the Web to drive student engagement.

Google service improves teacher, student e-mail communication

Google offers an easy and efficient way to personalize e-mail communication with students, according to Howard Walker, an instructional technology coach with Oklahoma City Public Schools. In this blog post, he shares how Yet Another Mail Merge works and why it could be useful for teachers.

Tech Tip: The best instructional technology specialists say “Yes!”

What do the best instructional technology specialists and coaches do? What makes them even more effective? They say yes. Even when what is proposed isn’t possible as requested, they say yes. Learn how these leaders become change agents in this week’s tech tip.

Are teachers standing in the way of tech integration?

It’s important not to let technology integration stall out, according to Kristina Peters, the e-learning specialist and school library liaison for the Nebraska Department of Education in Lincoln, Neb. In this blog post, she suggests that educators let go and get out of the way in order to foster technology integration in the classroom.

How Web pages can increase student engagement

Teachers can boost student engagement and make projects more relevant by encouraging students to build websites to display their work, fifth-grade teacher Brandi Leggett writes. In this blog post, she notes that there are free platforms where students can design pages and share them with family and friends. “Authentic audiences instill motivation in students to do their best work,” she writes.

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Tech Tips is a content collaboration between SmartBrief Education and GreyED Solutions. Have a tech tip to share? Contact us at [email protected]

Miss a Tech Tip? Visit our Tech Tip archive.

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