One of the biggest pieces of advice I give to teachers during any training or presentation is: Don’t marry technology, just date it.” The reason for this is that I have seen too many educators get very attached to a piece of technology, whether an actual tool or online tool, and when that tool is no longer available, they get very lost. The key is to get attached to practices and techniques, not the tool itself.

We have seen many tools over the years simply disappear or become too expensive for many teachers to use on a regular basis. The key is to use those practices and techniques you used with that tool, and then apply them to a different tool. Focus on your adaptability and flexibility, make that change when you need to and always be willing to change to a new tool when the tool you are currently using no longer fits your needs or has the impact on learning that you want.

The following are some of the examples of tools that I have had to adjust due to something changing, as I want to make sure the tool is fitting my needs and the needs of my learners.

• Padlet to Wakelet – I used to use Padlet all the time to make curated lists, either alone or in collaboration with other educators. It was a great tool and had a lot of depth that made it very versatile to my needs. However when they went away from the free options to mostly paid options, I had to find a different tool as I did not have the budget available to me to pay for that. Wakelet has allowed me to do all of those things that I really needed to do before with Padlet but without having to pay for the features that I need the most. This makes it so I can share this with others, work collaboratively to curate resources, quickly share out an organized list of tools and articles with students, or even just have a place to keep track of thoughts and ideas created from group work.
• Jamboard to Figjam – I have been a huge proponent of Google Apps usage in the classroom and the collaborative nature of all of the tools have been a big reason why. Jamboard is still a great tool that allows for some collaborative note taking, idea creation, concept mapping, and other uses but it has not seen many updates in the last 5 years. Figjam however is a new tool that is being paired with Google Apps that can do all of those things that I used to do in Jamboard but with a lot more options. I have used it extensively this year when leading presentations at conferences to have a collaborative aspect to our discussions and idea sharings. I am a huge fan of the built-in timer, background music, abundance of templates, ability to have a comment thread, and so many more features that I am still exploring. I think that anyone who liked Jamboard will love Figjam and the ability to easily create student/staff accounts is making this a top tool I am sharing with our teachers this year.
• Twitter to ??? – This may be my own personal toughest example as I have been using Twitter since November of 2009. I have used it to share ideas and science articles with students, been exposed to new ideas and techniques that have greatly impacted my own instructional practices, collaborated with educators from across the country and world, and just be connected to new and changing ideas in the world of education. It has been my top social media tool to use in my own learning and with the recent changes causing a lot of educators to leave, as well as the loss of free Tweetdeck, it is time to explore other tools. I still plan to use social media to connect with educators and keep my own learning going but it is time to find a new tool, to transfer those skills I have cultivated over the years and apply them to whatever tool will take its place.

Technology changes at a rapid pace and it is hard to predict how long a tool or type of tool will be around and available. We can see it easily with the very rapid pace of change with AI tools this year alone. Focus on your skills, what you want to learn, what you want to do with your students and other educators, what you require – and be ready to pivot to a new tool when needed. The technology will change, but our purpose and our work will always be focused on improving student learning, no matter the tool.