This title may be a little misleading—perhaps it should be “student social media tools I have never heard of.” Some of these sites are more prominent, more familiar, and have more subscribers than others. All of them fit into a category of networking or social sites that students in your school are probably using. Beyond Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, here are a few that you need to know about:

What will 2017 hold for education? We’re hitting that time of year when there will be no shortage of articles and reports with predictions describing what to expect for the coming year. So, we decided to get a jumpstart on it.

Of course, it’s tempting to be dismissive—scanning the headlines knowing that predictions (or polls!) are far from a sure bet. Yet for educators, considering trends across industries in conjunction with current developments in education is constructive, strategic, and provides an edge. It gives us insight, helps us prepare and be proactive, and makes sure that whatever we choose, it needs to help our students be college and career ready—and able to compete on a global level.

Staying informed on current developments in education—whether you’re a teacher or an administrator—will help you to expand your knowledge base and allow you to better anticipate changes, innovation, and opportunities that are on the horizon. Yet your schedule, like ours, is likely already overbooked with a combination of work, family, and social commitments.

As Benjamin Franklin once said, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." So, to help push the knowledge train down the tracks, we’ve compiled a short list of seven survey results, reports, and studies that we think will be beneficial to you and your colleagues.

Launching new technology isn't as challenging as flying to the moon, but both require many of the same components for success. You need clear goals, good planning and testing, reliable and expert partners, and the right tools to get the job done. Educational technology is the rocket that can help enable students to reach academic success, while helping educators get them there more easily and effectively.

For this infographic and guide we have called on our experts to share their knowledge from many technology launches. Their experience and lessons learned can help you navigate your next mission.

Technology has had a major impact on the way we teach and learn over the past few decades, but the results from a recent digital education survey by Deloitte show that there is still plenty of room for growth. Deloitte analyzed over 2,800 responses from a demographically diverse group of teachers, parents, and students to learn how each group feels about digital trends—both inside and outside the classroom. Overall, the results are mostly positive for the use of digital tools in education, and the findings help show how technology can best be utilized to achieve student success.

Educational leaders look for ways to maximize student learning and increase the effectiveness of teacher instruction. In my school, we use the term “best practice” when referring to strategies that are research-based and have evidence supporting them. Two practices that show great evidence in student learning are allowing students to learn through movement and incorporating technology into the classroom. While you may not think of technology and movement as a likely combination, bringing these two factors together can greatly increase engagement and help students excel.

Professional development can mean a variety of things to educators and can be provided to us in numerous ways. This might include attending yearly conferences, participating in district meetings and workshops, taking online courses or webinars, or connecting with other educators through social media. Have you ever considered “do it yourself” professional development through the means of blogging? Blogging provides opportunities to connect with other educators, improve your professional practice, and personalize your professional development with relevant and specific content to meet your educational needs.

We live in a highly technological age, which has made the majority of today’s students incredibly tech-savvy. Unfortunately, many students still see courses that lead to careers in STEM fields—crucial in our high-tech world—as boring. So how can we engage and excite the next generation of students in order to show them how science is relevant to their lives and their futures?

10 Ways to Use Social Media

We live in the age of social media. It keeps us connected to our friends and families, our communities, and even the world. As educators, we need to take advantage of everything this tool has to offer, using educational connections and resources to better not only ourselves, but our students as well. So how can we best use this mighty tool?

Imagine that you give some students the following assignment: Take a number of rubber bands and tie them to a wagon, then try to pull the wagon across a room. In order to pull the wagon, the rubber bands need to be pulled tight, but if the student pulls too hard or too fast, the rubber bands will break.

You can apply this same concept to tech-resistant educators in the classroom. If we want to move teachers from one side of the room (hating technology) to the other side of the room (tech hero), we have to “stretch” them—but not too hard or too fast.