The 2014 Dean's List: 50 Must-Read Higher Education Technology Blogs
Everyone has a favorite blog. Odds are, that blogger has a favorite as well.
We've scoured the Internet for blogs that resonate with the intersection of higher education and technology. These are blogs that set themselves apart for a variety of reasons — they are leading voices in their fields, have hundreds if not thousands of fans and consistently raise the bar for conversation.
The majority of these blogs are new to EdTech: Focus on Higher Education's honor roll. Some were nominated by our readers, and some are veterans of last year's list that have stayed on top of our charts.
If your blog is on our list, you can grab a Must-Read IT Blog badge for your site. You can also bookmark this page as a launching pad for exploring new content on each blog.
.EduGuru
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)— Every college is compelled to use the Internet to engage current students, entice prospective students and involve alumni. In the rapidly changing world of web marketing, resources are needed for the unique challenges that colleges face online. Founder Kyle James and his team of seven experts tackle marketing, social media and web development.
Read the blog: doteduguru.com
Ignatia Web
Ignatia Inge deWaard's blog has been around for nearly seven years, and brings a fresh perspective to her presentations on MOOCs, teaching strategies and learning technologies. It's a blog with a heart — she gets personal, sharing with readers about both her successes and failures.
Read the blog: ignatiawebs.blogspot.com
Alan Levine Barks Here
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Ed tech consultant Alan Levine launched his first website in 1993 while working for Maricopa Community College in Arizona. Over the past 20 years, he has served as chief technology officer and vice president of community at the New Media Consortium and most recently was an instructional technology specialist at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia. He has written thousands of blog posts on web development and disruptive technology.
Read the blog: cogdogblog.com
Atomic Learning
A blog from a team that provides education technology solutions. The team highlights issues facing educators today, challenging teachers to "embrace technology, empower yourself."
Read the blog: blogs.atomiclearning.com/highed
Daily Edventures
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Published by Anthony Salcito, vice president of education at Microsoft, Daily Edventures is designed to inspire educators around the world, and it delivers. The blog breaks down classroom technology and policy, ponders ways to make education more accessible and encourages readers to submit the names of educators who have been inspirational.
Read the blog: dailyedventures.com
David J Hinson's Logorrhea
Hinson, the executive vice president and CIO of Hendrix College, is also a mobile platform developer, and brings to his (primarily video) blog his experiences in both industries.
Read the blog: davidjhinson.wordpress.com
Degree of Freedom
A resource for MOOC-curious minds, this blog is written by an authority on the subject, Jonathan Haber. Haber immersed himself in massive open online courses as an experiment to see if he could squeeze out four years worth of education in a year. Each week he brings fresh perspectives to the ongoing debate over MOOCs and the future of online learning.
Read the blog: degreeoffreedom.org
Duke Center for Instructional Technology
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—The official blog of Duke University's Center for Instructional Technology features regular posts on the technologies that make education easier for teachers. While it features a Duke University angle, many posts are universally applicable to higher education.
Read the blog: cit.duke.edu/blog
EdCetera
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—An ed tech blog from the minds at Rafter, an education content management service, EdCetera: Straight Talk on Ed Tech breaks down tech trends in the world of education, with a focus on making sense of jargon and buzzwords.
Read the blog: edcetera.rafter.com/
EdSurge
A leading news site that brings together the interests of educators, entrepreneurs and investors in the world of education technology, EdSurge has a wealth of information on business trends in the industry, along with coverage of tech trends thriving on Twitter.
Read the blog: edsurge.com
Edtech Curmudgeon
True to its name, Michael Berman's blog takes a skeptic's view on technology encroaching on the classroom. His blog covers "What's wrong — and right — about the use of technology in education."
Read the blog: edtechcurmudgeon.com
Edtech Women
By fostering authentic connections across sub-industries and leveraging women's unique influence in the field as educators, consumers, and decision makers, Edtech Women aims to accelerate the positive impact of education technology on learners everywhere.
Read the blog: edtechwomen.com
EduCause
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—EDUCAUSE is the foremost authority on higher education IT. This nonprofit association drives real change, connects IT professionals around the country and hosts one of the best higher education conferences of the year. Their staff blogs frequently on everything from pedagogy to cybersecurity.
Read the blog: EDUCAUSE.edu/blogs
EDUKWEST
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—This is more than just a blog. The team, led by Kirsten Winkler, hosts two podcasts: EDUKWEST and review:ed. The shows cover education technology, startups and gadgets and can be downloaded on iTunes or viewed from their extensive library of YouTube videos.
Read the blog: EDUKWEST.com
Edutopia
A thriving blog with a collection of new ideas from the minds of the George Lucas Educational Foundation. Edutopia is quickly becoming one of the most prolific educational technology blogs on the web, featuring numerous stories each day on emerging tech trends and columns from educators across the world.
Read the blog: Edutopia.org
Emerging EdTech
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Kelly Walsh, CIO of the College of Westchester in White Plains, N.Y., devotes his blog to helping teachers navigate the pitfalls of integrating technology in the classroom. The blog features hundreds of articles on the industry's emerging trends and a weekly review of top tweets.
Read the blog: Emergingedtech.com
eSchool News
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—For the past 15 years, eSchool News has covered “education technology in all its aspects — from legislation and litigation, to case studies, to purchasing practices and new products.” Readers must create a free account to access most of the content, but the thoughtful, high-quality articles are valuable resources for educators.
Read the blog: eSchoolNews.com
Faculty Focus
Get to know the minds behind the classroom in this blog, featuring the thoughts from a collection of professors across academia. Faculty Focus brings effective teaching strategies to the forefront, and hosts a variety of white papers to help guide informed decisions at schools.
Read the blog: FacultyFocus.com
Gallery EDU
This blog was built to lend a spotlight to successes in website design for higher education. GalleryEDU is a showcase for fresh design concepts, with a plethora of information on the tools used to create each site. A great spot to check out new ideas happening in web design across the world of higher education.
Read the blog: Gallery EDU
Hack College
What tech matters to college students? Hack College is a collection of posts from students across academia, bringing fresh ideas to the table on study habits, email mastery and time management. A must-read for all students — or curious faculty.
Read the blog: HackCollege.com
Hack Education
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Blogger Audrey Watters is one of the foremost thought leaders — or, as she puts it, rabble-rousers — in higher education. Watters embodies the hacker spirit by pushing the bounds of what is achievable in higher education. Read just one post and you will be hooked.
Read the blog: HackEducation.com
High Ed Webtech
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Mike Richwalsky is the senior director of creative services and e-marketing at John Carroll University in Ohio and is the sole author of the HighEdWebTech blog. Since 2008, Richwalsky has been writing about his experience with web development, cloud computing and web applications. In addition to his posts, be sure to check out Richwalsky’s WordPress themes and plugins.
Read the blog: HighEdWebTech.com
Inside Higher Ed
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—One of the biggest online resources for daily higher education news and commentary, Inside HigherEd covers the full spectrum of life in academe and also hosts 20-plus blogs from professors on a variety of high ed topics.
Read the blog: InsideHigherEd.com
Joanna Young
Young's blog is a podium for her work as the CIO at the University of New Hampshire. She writes regularly about technical issues facing the higher education world, and features advice to other information technologists across academia.
Read the blog: CIO.UNH.edu
Josie Ahlquist
Ahlquist, a prolific blogger and a doctoral candidate in higher education leadership at California Lutheran University, is interested in what technology can do for students and faculty. Her features showcase her research into social media trends and how that hub is influencing higher education. Her blog also occasionally lends a spotlight to women she thinks have found balance in life, despite all of the world's hurdles.
Read the blog: JosieAhlquist.com
Kevin Corbett
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Kevin Corbett is an online-learning program developer with a keen interest in social media, gamification and mobile learning. His active blog collects snippets of education technology news from all corners of the web. His posts are a gateway to an abundance of information, and both his blog and his Twitter feed make it easy to access the latest news related to education technology.
Read the blog: KevinCorbett.com
Learning Technologies
Informed by his experiences as Dean of Learning Technologies at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio, Bill Knapp's blog shares emerging trends that educators may find helpful, focusing on how instructional technology is changing the classroom.
Read the blog: lakelandlearningtechnologies.wordpress.com
Learning Ecosystems
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Daniel Christian is a senior instructional designer at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. He curates technology, pedagogy and education news from around the web and adds his reflections in his posts. Topics vary, but there is plenty of information on MOOCs, libraries, mobile learning and cloud computing.
Read the blog: danielschristian.com/learning-ecosystems
Learning with e's
It's rare to find an education technology blog with such a flair for visual fidelity. Steve Wheeler is a blogger and an associate professor of technology at the U.K.’s Plymouth Institute of Education at Plymouth University. He also chairs the Plymouth Enhanced Learning Conference (PELeCON).
Read the blog: steve-wheeler.blogspot.com
Lone Sysadmin
Bob Planker's blog derives its name from The X-Files’ "Lone Gunmen" hackers. His posts draw attention to the human side of IT management, highlighting accomplishments that don't just come from surviving technical crises.
Read the blog: LoneSysadmin.net
Maryland Institute for Technologies in the Humanities
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Located on the University of Maryland campus, MITH is a digital humanities center that “specializes in text and image analytics for cultural heritage collections, data curation, digital preservation, linked data applications, and data publishing.” In addition to a blog, MITH’s site features thought-provoking weekly podcasts, such as “Finding Values Levers: Building Ethics into Emerging Technologies.”
Read the blog: mith.umd.edu/blog/
Mistaken Goal
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Blogger Kevin Guidry is a senior research analyst in the Center for Teaching & Assessment of Learning (CTAL) at the University of Delaware. He gives a firsthand account of his experience as a MOOC student and investigates the junction of student affairs and technology. This blog serves up an abundance of information and promises to be a must-read for years to come.
Read the blog: mistakengoal.com/blog
On the Go with Ed Cabellon
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Most higher education professionals are familiar with Cabellon’s blog. As director of the Campus Center at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts — and soon to be assistant to the vice president of student affairs — his take on social media has distinguished himself as a thought leader in the education community.
Read the blog: edcabellon.com
Over the Counter Data
This blog covers the cutting edge of data use and data reporting systems and how they can benefit educators. It takes a professional approach to blog posts, showing the results of research and statistics in the industry. Come prepared for a dense, long, but enlightening read.
Read the blog: overthecounterdata.com/blog
Prof. Hacker
Posts on ProfHacker are written by a rotating band of 12 professors and educators, lending a personal edge to the space where teaching, technology and productivity meet. The blog is part of The Chronicle of Higher Education’s network of educational blogs, with access to an ever-expanding community of forums.
Read the blog: Chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker
Rolin Moe
Moe’s eponymous blog seeks to understand how to mesh online and offline learning. He has been an educator for more than 15 years, creating experiences on and off the web. His dense blog posts often feature his presentations at educational conferences and his impressions of the online world that teachers are still learning how to use.
Read the blog: Rolinmoe.org
Sanmita Blog
This energetic blog from the “social entrepreneurs” at Sanmita — a web design, development and hosting firm — examines the connective tissue between higher education, government and nonprofit organizations. Sanmita is a combination of two Sanskrit words, meaning "friend forever." Visitors can find posts on college website upgrades and discussions of how new technologies can benefit teachers.
Read the blog: sanmita.com/blog
SecurEdge Blog
The blog for SecurEdge Networks provides a forum for the latest discussions of classroom security technology. Posts range from explaining the differences between wireless network protocols to helpful security tips and network trends.
Read the blog: securedgenetworks.com/secure-edge-networks-blog
Stephen's Web
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Stephen Downes works for the National Research Council of Canada, where he specializes in the fields of online learning, new media, pedagogy and philosophy. He writes prolifically about online learning and the connectivist learning theory. Downes describes “Stephen’s Web,” founded in 1995, as “a digital research laboratory for innovation in the use of online media in education.”
Read the blog: downes.ca
Student Advisor
It's easy to get lost in the deep sea of higher education, but StudentAdvisor provides a comprehensive view. Offering features, career guides and inspirational articles, the blog has something for everyone.
Read the blog: blog.studentadvisor.com
Student Affairs Women Tech Talk
A blog with a laser-focus — giving women in student affairs a place to showcase technologies helping them today. It also lends attention to women doing interesting things in the industry.
Read the blog: sawomentechtalk.com/blog
Te@chThought
An aggregated-content blog with a number of specialties, including tablets in the classroom, Common Core standards, and helpful tips for teachers of all grades. Te@chThought also serves as a spotlight for trends and broad issues facing teachers today, such as MOOCs.
Read the blog: Te@chthought.com
Tech Dean
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—TechDean, the blog of Purdue University College of Technology dean Gary Bertoline, presents his perspective on the ever-changing world of technology and the college’s role as a leader in technology innovation and education. In it, he shares his vision for keeping the college at the forefront of the technology landscape.
Read the blog: blog.tech.purdue.edu/techdean
Technology Enhanced Learning
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—David Hopkins, a learning technologist at the University of Leicester in England, started his blog to engage with other educators, facilitators, technicians and designers interested in e-learning, m-learning, simulation-based learning, technology in the classroom, Web 2.0 and more. He writes frequently on developments in theory, pedagogy and approaches related to learning, as well as the evolving role of learning technologists.
Read the blog: dontwasteyourtime.co.uk
Ted-ED
The blog for all things TED in the world of education presents “Lessons Worth Sharing.” Treat yourself to heaping helpings of seminar highlights, research data and ideas collected from among the most creative thinkers around.
Read the blog: blog.ed.ted.com
Ubiquitous Librarian
Brian Mathews’ blog is all about designing a better user experience at libraries. Mathews brings his experience as associate dean for learning and outreach at Virginia Tech to the forefront in his posts on the future of the classroom. The blog is part of The Chronicle of Higher Education’s network of educational blogs, with access to an ever-expanding community of forums.
Read the blog: chronicle.com/blognetwork/theubiquitouslibrarian
U of Admissions Marketing
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Jens Larson works in admissions at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Wash. His blog is focused on sharing digital enrollment techniques and strategies and helping higher education leaders improve their skills in web analytics and content strategy. The blog presents best practices from other high ed institutions and news on Web 2.0.
Read the blog: uofadmissionsmarketing.com
Web 2.0 Classroom
A blog from the mind of Steven W. Anderson, an educator, speaker and dad from Winston Salem, N.C. Anderson is an expert when it comes to instructional technology, and has presented at a variety of ed tech conferences. His blog features his thoughts on the future of the technology space and fresh ideas for tech in classrooms.
Read the blog: blog.web20classroom.org
Wired Campus
(EdTech 2013 Top Blogger)—Wired Campus, published by The Chronicle of Higher Education, delivers the latest news and developments in technology and education. Compiled by members of the Chronicle’s reporting and editorial staff, it offers some of the most insightful, current and deeply reported information on higher education technology on the web.
Read the blog: chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus
WJU EdTech
Pam Jimison blogs about her work as the educational technologist at William Jessup University, focusing on new tools and tech trends that help teachers teach and students learn. She tells those who expect her, as an ed tech, to fix their computers: “I drive the car — I don’t fix the car.”
Read the blog: wjuedtech.wordpress.com
