Another year and another online NYESZE conference, "thanks" to the pandemic. But at least, more people can join in, I can walk the dog and do a workshop and listen to others at the same time. (Don't worry, I wasn't walking my dog during my own workshop :D) Take a look at the slides and a short summary here.
I actually wrote a blog post on a related topic a while ago, but the idea of cleaning up our app and website directory became relevant again as I have also been experiencing lately how overwhelming it can be to see new apps and websites coming out almost every single day. As I work with edtech tools, I try to stay on the ball, but I also feel sometimes that it's getting a bit out of hand.
And it's not only about me, but I can imagine how my students might feel, who have to get used to using tons of different apps and websites. They might find it confusing which notifications to pay attention to, where they need to submit a particular assignment, or where they should look for news.
So, it could be a good idea both for us teachers and for our students as well to take a closer look at our edtech tool library and sort stuff out. But how should we get started? First, we need to decide what matters to us. There's no one-size-fits-all solution for this, but I can give you some ideas of guiding questions. In the first image, you can see what the participants suggested, and in the second one, what I came up with.
So, if you start looking at the apps and websites you use with a more methodical approach, and you also try to be a bit ruthless, you can perhaps get rid of some tools you haven't totally been satisfied with, plus you can stop worrying about all the new ones that get published day after day. Relax a little, and instead of trying to learn something new all the time, exploit the ones you like to the fullest!
You can access the complete presentation via this link.