My Noms for the 2013 Edublog Awards

It's Edublog awards time! The 10th Annual Edublog awards are once again a reminder to the districts of the power of the Capitol, and how they must never rebel against their country again. Oh wait, that's The Hunger Games. They are on my mind this weekend for some reason. The Edublog awards are an effort to "promote and demonstrate the educational value of social media," particularly as some school districts block blogs and Twitter. Some dislike the competitive aspect, but personally I value the information shared during this time of year as bloggers share posts about the resources that inspire them, and the nominees list always reveals new educators worth following. It's also great to recognize the efforts of those who participate in social media as a labor of love, looking to share resources and experiences for no other reason than to help other educators and students. So, with only a little commentary, here are my noms.

Best individual blog- Mary Huston's Speech Adventures is an always thoughtful mix of reflections on research, technology and other issues in our field.

Best group blog- ASHAsphere continues to offer a wide variety of POVs related to speech and language and special education.

Best EdTech/Resource Sharing Blog- Learning in Hand not only offers a guide to implementing mobile technologies in education, but also is a great resource on doing so in a manner that fosters critical thinking.

Best teacher blog- Erin Klein's Kleinspiration provides firsthand experiences of creative applications of technology to classroom curriculum, as well as tutorials.

Most influential blog post of the year- Though always insightful, The Speech Dudes' There’s no such thing as a “free” app, so get over it and pony up! was a great explanation of why apps do and should cost money.

Best individual tweeter- Tara Roehl, last year's winner in this category, is a fantastic resource on social cognition and executive functioning.

Best twitter hashtag- #slpeeps, natch, continues to be a terrific community.

Best educational use of audio/visual/video/podcast- The A.T.TIPSCAST, produced by AT Trainer and author Christopher Bugaj, provides superbly clever takes on professional development and technology helpful for students with special needs. The recent episode on the "PD 2.0 Virus"- comparing the contagious nature of alternative and creative professional development to the zombie apocalypse- was simply brilliant.

Best open PD / unconference / webinar series- Edcamp!

Best mobile app- I love the versatility of Pic Collage- it has so many uses for language, social and executive functioning!

Well, that's it. If you have a blog and would like to add your own noms, here's how!