Tic, Tac, Tec

We probably all have played tic, tac, toe at some point in our lives.  I still remember when a friend of mine showed me the trick to winning at tick, tack, toe.  Once I knew the "trick" I challenged anyone I knew to play.  Winning at finding the right tech tool is a little harder for many reasons. Unfortunately, there is no "trick." First off just the sheer volume of tech tools available is daunting.  Secondly, the investment of time is enormous, and lastly, you will not know if your choice was the right one for that lesson and that group of students until your assessment is over. There is no quick end to this game. So why bother?  That is the question we have been asked to answer. If our job is to prepare our students for the future, then it is our responsibility to not only bother with technology but, to teach ourselves about the tech tools that are available for our use.  That is why over 140 of us have signed up for Jennifer Gonzalez's JumpStart2016 mini-course.  That is why we are all willing to give up some of our summer vacation to do this.  We have been given the task to prepare our students for jobs that have not even been created yet.  The so-called 21st-century skills.  Think about what that means.  A century is a hundred years. Can you even imagine what the next hundred years will bring to the world?  All I can say is "Beam me up, Scottie."