While US policy has consistently encouraged technology use in schools, the technology being integrated is almost always crafted by private companies who profit from the use of technology in public education (Regan & Khwaja, 2019). K-12 districts, individual schools, and institutions of higher education – teacher preparation programs included – increasingly purchase products and services sold by the major players in technology (often referred to as big tech) like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft. The COVID-19 global pandemic and the move to emergency remote teaching and learning amplified the role of big tech in education at all educational levels (Hodges et al., 2020; Milman, 2020).

In teacher education, critiques of technology are rarely discussed or illuminated when preparing teachers to teach with technology (Heath & Segal, 2021; Krutka et al., 2019). Failing to question educational technology and the practices surrounding its integration perpetuates an assumption that technology is a neutral tool, often harming the most vulnerable in our schools (Asim et al., 2020; Heath & Segal, 2021; Manolev et al., 2019).

An orientation toward justice means that we and our students cannot accept the exclusions that are baked into our learning environments and our society. Justice means we have to ask, "What's wrong?" And we must take action to fix what's wrong.

Inclusive design is "design that considers the full range of human diversity with respect to ability, language, culture, gender, age, and other forms of human difference."4 It goes beyond accessibility, though accessibility is considered within inclusive design. Inclusive design celebrates difference and focuses on designs that allow for diversity to thrive.

They can write a response, record a video or podcast, create a pamphlet or infographic, or suggest an alternative. The teacher provides a word bank with the target vocabulary, a single-point rubric, and a checklist so students can self-assess their work before submitting it.

At the end of this lesson, unit, or professional development series, what do my learners have to know or what do they need to be able to do?”

Because of variability, what students need is ever-changing and evolving.  So providing options for students to reflect on the barriers they are facing and choose pathways that best meet their needs is critical to build self-awareness and expert learning.

UDL is a framework for designing learning experiences so students have options for how they learn, what materials they use, and how they demonstrate their learning. When implemented with a lens of equity, the framework has the potential to eliminate opportunity gaps that exclude many learners, especially those who have been historically marginalized.

Another way to evaluate and identify appropriate digital tools and apps for learning is to use Bloom’s taxonomy - a hierarchical model of cognitive skills.

When integrating technology into your classroom, learning theories can serve as a guide for selecting and identifying the most appropriate digital tools and apps for the type of learning experience you want to create for your students.

Backward design (or backward planning/mapping) is about designing with the end in mind. Where do you want students to end up after a lesson? What knowledge and skills do they need to showcase? What are the desired results of the lesson?

How does the tool or app teach the material to students? We recommend trying every digital tool and app on your own first to experience it the way a student would.

First and foremost, do you need technology at all? Some of the brightest and shiniest (and most expensive) educational tools merely replicate the same learning experience as a typical chalk and board classroom. To really make a difference, the new tool needs to go beyond, offering improved efficiencies, enhanced communication, increased engagement, and/or the opportunity to do something that would not even be possible without the new tool (think virtual reality tours).

Privacy policies need to be more transparent. For instance, you can try to read Comcast’s privacy policy to figure out if they share your browsing history with ad brokers, but the problem is that even I can’t figure that out from the privacy policy.

But increasingly you can’t escape being the product even when you pay for a product. Internet and wireless service providers are classic examples of companies that we pay a lot to but who also have robust practices of monetizing user data.

Allowing students to choose the assistive technology tools that could help them achieve their educational goals can promote greater independence and autonomy.

If the information contained within the data can benefit student learning and achievement or benefit teaching strategies, then teachers should be able to access this previously collected data. Even though educational technology companies may intend to improve student achievement through data collection, biases can often exist or develop with AI technologies.

AI is becoming more accessible to students, as mobile devices contain a voice assistant, and many devices found in technology-filled homes are programmed with similar functionality (Touretzky et al., 2019). As we continue to use them, the programs within these devices are always learning and always monitoring our choices.

However, this same data could be misinterpreted, perpetuate stereotypes about certain student profiles, be shared with local authorities and increase interactions between police and students from traditionally marginalized backgrounds, and even be used to limit opportunities for students in the future

It is common practice to give consent (“I Agree”) without reading the EULA, TOS, or privacy policy. However, this can have negative consequences for you and your students’ privacy.

The right to privacy means “a person has the right to determine what sort of information about them is collected and how that information is used” (Sharp, 2013, para. 14). Yet, in today’s digital age, apps, websites, and online tools are collecting, using, and sharing private personal data to make money. The companies that make these digital tools and apps get away with infringing on peoples’ right to privacy by using confusing legal jargon, obscure terms, and abstract statements in their privacy policies

When learners arrive at your course for the first time, they should be able to quickly orient to the learning environment. It is helpful to design a “homepage” that highlights critical information about the course structure, pacing, and navigation. You should also offer clear guidance on how to get started in the course – a checklist can often be a helpful visual element to apply for this purpose.

When developing an online course, we need to be thinking about designing experiences, not just instruction. Beyond simply the transfer and acquisition of knowledge and skills, designing for learning experiences is outcomes-driven, goal-oriented, and human-centered.

The rubric was designed with utility in mind: it is intended to help decision-makers independently evaluate e-learning tools. We designed the rubric to be practical for everyday use.

Each category has a specific set of characteristics, or criteria, against which e-learning tools are evaluated, and each criterion is assessed against three standards: works well, minor concerns, or serious concerns.

First, instructors are typically experts in their course's subject matter, yet they are not necessarily fluent in the best criteria for evaluating e-learning tools. Second, the number and the variety of e-learning tools continue to proliferate.

"The term persons with disabilities is used to apply to all persons with disabilities including those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various attitudinal and environmental barriers, hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others." – UN, Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons FAQ, 2007

A report published by the United Nations in 2011 estimated there were 1-1.3 billion people with disabilities in the world. That was the same number as the population of China in 2014 (1.39 billion) and about four times the population of the U.S. in 2014 (318.9 million). In fact, persons with disabilities are the largest minority in the world.

Alongside the blog I have become more engaged with Twitter and found a community of educators there with great ideas to share.

When teachers begin their journey towards a Personal Learning Network this is one of the barriers they face; the false belief that their ideas are not worth sharing. Only when you take a risk and begin sharing do you see that your experience has genuine value to the network.

How do the people in my PLN add to my professional growth? How often do I engage with them? What perspectives do they offer me? My PLN? Am I missing any perspectives that might help my professional growth? In what ways do I interact with the people in my network? (e.g., am I just following others and reading social media posts or am I engaging in thoughtful conversations with my PLN?)

In the digital age, educators often turn to multiple spaces (e.g., Professional Learning Communities, conferences, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok), many different groups of people (e.g., colleagues, students, people at conferences and social media), and various tools (e.g., Internet search databases, blogs, YouTube) for professional learning