The breadth of parent opinions on technology is very wide. Philosophies differ from parents who give their 4-year-old a phone and Instagram account to those who wait until high school for a student to have an email address and everything in between. Speaking as a current parent of children between the ages of 1 and 15, navigating this world of technology is hard.

There are no real guidelines or rules for how we should handle it all. With the experiences and exposure of kids being so varied, it can feel like a constant uphill battle—all of which schools should consider. As institutions, we hope to work with parents as partners to help their students become successful. I believe all parents know that the ability to use technology is an important future-ready skill. But the age that we begin and the depth that we go to—that is up for debate.

As a busy teacher, it can be hard to find the time to sit down and read teaching blogs, articles, or books for motivation and professional development. Luckily, we live in the golden age of the podcast, making it possible to listen to this same motivational and educational content while you’re doing something else, like commuting to school, organizing your classroom, or making dinner at home.

Because podcasts are easy to record and publish, there’s an extremely rich market of content to choose from. Weeding through all this content can take time, but we’ve done the research for you and found 10 inspiring and interesting podcasts with great reviews and ratings. All of the podcasts on this list are rated 4.5 stars or higher on Apple podcasts, so you know they’ll have great content!

As the air gets cooler and the leaves start to change, now is the time to weave some festive fall and Halloween fun into your lessons! Here is our collection of engaging themed content to help you get students in the spirit this month:

Robotics has become a popular activity for incorporating STEM in the classroom. Among other things, robots are engaging, eye-catching, dynamic, and more interesting than a book for capturing and holding a student’s attention. Unfortunately, the vast majority of classroom robots end up being little more than toys made to drive to and fro or side to side without really providing an opportunity for any scientific exploration and learning. When selecting robotic products to introduce in the classroom, it is important to look at the overall educational value of the system—particularly with regard to how it can be used to promote scientific exploration and learning together with the application of mathematic principles.

By now, you are likely fully immersed in the new year. Between diving into the curriculum, getting to know your students, and decorating your classroom, there’s a lot to accomplish as you kick off another great year. But the start of a new school year isn’t just about your students learning—it’s a great time for you to learn something new as well!

We’ve got you covered with engaging professional development to help you improve student outcomes all year long using the dynamic MimioStudio™ classroom software. For a limited time, you can earn your MimioStudio Educator or Expert certification for over 30% off the regular price. From now until October 31, 2019, you can earn six PD hours at the educator level for only $99 or 14 PD hours at the expert level for just $199!

Boxlight is excited to announce its 2019 fall webinar series, featuring insights from experienced leaders in EdTech. The new edition of the Transforming Learning in the Classroom webinar series will bring five free webinars about three unique topics, including using robotics to prepare students for college and careers, utilizing technology to promote critical thinking, and the fundamentals of project-based learning.

When a parent comes into school to discuss technology, they are typically not there to share positive feedback about all the recent wonderful integration lessons that have been going on in the classroom. It is usually just the opposite—concerns about how their student is accessing, using, overusing, or manipulating the technology in the classroom.

Although some of these concerns might be misplaced or lack knowledge about exactly what is going on, other concerns are very valid and need to be considered. So as a teacher or principal, it will be helpful to consider how to prepare for these concerns.

Teachers who are blessed with an assortment of technology in their classroom probably use it often—we are more likely to use something if it is readily available to us. But like any new tool, as we start to gain expertise and comfort with it, we use it more and more. And as we settle into a pattern of use with the technology, we probably feel as though it would be hard to live without.

But even if this is the case and usage is very high, teachers may find themselves in a groove, maybe even a rut, when it comes to how they use technology in their classroom. We limit ourselves to using the tool in ways that we already know and think less about the ways that we could be using it.