These best edtech resources allow teachers to take pride in work they’ve already done and spark creativity for the future.
Some of the best edtech books for teachers
During the pandemic education was necessary. Teachers carried children through months of social isolation and unparalleled global events. It was essential to children’s day-to-day schedules, even if learning looked different online or through video conferencing.
But, it was this interaction with technology that revealed education’s vulnerabilities. From teachers not having adequate pay to lapses in technology access, we’ve been forced to see how deeply education is rooted in tradition and not innovation.
As a former educator myself, I understand the delicate balance between time, resources, admin support, and professional development. Anyone who teaches has a desire to innovate their classroom. However, we often are left pulling our own straws about where to start.
What does it even mean to innovate in the classroom?
Educational technology (edtech as it is commonly referred to) focuses on the relationship between technology, learning, teachers, and students. The best edtech resources allow teachers to take pride in work they’ve already done and spark creativity for the future.
They also help teachers find agency when situations such as school policy or low resources threaten to advance the educational practice.
Here are some of the best edtech books we’d recommend for teachers. We’ve divided our recommendations by teaching level. These books will help you take pride in your work and think of ways to inspire students to interact with technologies that will shape their life.
Elementary
Elementary school teachers often struggle with finding ways to integrate technology into the classroom. This is often due to a perception that using technology requires a higher level of typing and computer skills. However, this book shows how technology isn’t just a set of hard skills, it is an overarching concept.
From pages full of ideas to insights on how to assimilate young children to a world that co-exists with technology, The Interactive Class shines on delivering content that connects with teachers’ lived experiences. Coauthored by teachers, as well, this book reveals hands-on methods to harness young students’ innate curiosity.
Middle School
Teach Boldly: Using Edtech for Social Good, $19.48
Middle school is a time for voice and agency amongst students. It is when social bonds are forged (and often inflamed) by social media. Teach Boldly is an edtech read for teachers at all levels, but, hits on relevant notes for middle school teachers navigating social exploration in their students.
The book offers a framing of edtech beyond the classroom. It illustrates how technology impacts the lives of our students at individual and societal levels. The book reminds teachers how to activate the potential of students’ capacity through tools.
This book has a unique voice, narrative-story telling style, and creative flow. Middle school teachers who read this book can become more connected with the mindset of students growing in a digital world far unlike the one we grew up in.
High School
Adventures in Authentic Learning: 21 Step-by-Step Projects From an Edtech Coach, $23.86
Some of the best edtech advice revolves around authenticity in teaching and learning. This is often because technology is perceived as something “false” and “unnatural.” That is to say, technology is not “real life.” This perception is true among teachers and students.
Older students are particularly susceptible to viewing technology as a tool to reach an end goal rather than a tool to cultivate a life journey. After all, for years, high school students are often relegated to projects that involve searching for information online and repeating the results in presentations.
Adventures in Authentic Learning leans into this concept of authentic lessons and outcomes. A clear, easy-to-follow guide, this book forces teachers to push the way technology is used by students. It provides tangible methods to use technology as a source of student agency, not a tool to deliver answers.
Following the standards of ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), the book delivers highly-actionable blueprints for teachers who already understand the need for deeper connections to technology among their students, but, need a roadmap for how to get there.
Learning by doing
The best edtech books help set teachers on the right path, however, unless you know how you feel using technology, you’ll likely struggle to understand how your students feel using it.
As a teacher, taking time to understand the apps kids are using today, what forms of communication exist, and what other teachers are doing across levels/subjects is key. This attention to the technological landscape we share with students builds our own digital literacy.
Again, the pandemic was a reminder of education’s need to grow. Even though many of us were learning new skills on Youtube and sharing images with friends on social media, our children still needed to have a way to connect with peers safely and authentically. It is our job to provide technology that allows for youth development to prosper both in the classroom and virtually because that hybrid lifestyle is their future.