Welcome

Hello there world!

My name is Ryan O'Donnell and I am a teacher at Rocklin High School in California. I wanted to start writing a blog to serve as a place for me to voice my thoughts and ideas. I am a social studies teacher and web design teacher and I am passionate about how technology is changing the face of education.

As a teacher for Rocklin Unified School District, I have been given the opportunity to attend the ISTE conference next week in Denver. I have been to some local tech conferences in California and Nevada but this upcoming one truly is going to be the "show". I wanted to get this blog up and going before I left so that I could have a place to talk about all that I will experience. So, if you are here checking out my first blog, I hope you come back to read some more about my view on some of the exciting new educational technologies, ways in which to utilize them in the classroom, and other musings about how we can adapt the antiquated classroom to the 21st century.

My district is currently going through the process of trying to integrate Google Apps for Education. I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Google campus in the Spring and see how the products from Google can be integrated into the classroom and along with that, get a tour of the famed "Googleplex", which was a pretty incredible place. I am helping to try and test out how we can best set up and implement these tools with our teachers and students.

Along with teaching, I also do some work for the publishing company Teacher Created Materials. This work entails doing some writing for publication, but what I really enjoy is doing trainings to teachers throughout the country. Over the past three years, TCM has sent me throughout the country to work with teachers and train them on various social studies products. These experiences and journeys have taken me many places and allowed me to meet many fascinating teachers. At each of the presentations, I like to show how to infuse technology into anyone's curriculum. From websites, blogs, podcasts, wikis, video tips and PowerPoint tricks I find it exciting to see teachers enthusiastic about using new technologies and finding new ways to connect with kids.

So, what you can expect here in the blog is simply the musings and thoughts of my journey through the world technology in education. I will share my own classroom experiences and ideas I've picked up through meeting different teachers throughout the country.  Along with this blog, this site called Creative Ed Tech is going to be the home of a video podcast that myself and my friend and fellow teacher, Ryan Spears will put on where we will go over real tips and tricks that teachers can use. These will feature resources such PowerPoint tips, free Web 2.0 resources, Smartboard tips, and iPhone and Droid apps.

If you like what you see please pass the blog and podcast on to fellow teachers and also feel free to leave a comment on any of my posts or send me an email at ryanodonnell.edtech@gmail.com .

Next stop... Denver Colorado!