The field of education is second only to the health care industry, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ongoing or lifelong learning, especially with the accessibility of e-learning technology, allows more students than ever before to pursue advanced education. Students attending online education schools in pursuit of specific education degrees have a variety of options from which to choose.
This article provides students attending online education schools with a valuable list of 50 top blog resources on pertinent topics. The resources listed here describe various areas of online education fields, ranging from directories and expert advice, to unique study and career opportunities, to specific career positions
Directories and other General Education Resources
This section provides online education students with a variety of resources. The blogs contain news and directories, and information from experts in various fields of the education industry.
- 21st Century Collaborative
Blog author Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach has over 20 years experience as an educator in various capacities. Her goal for this blog is to provide a means to improve teaching and learning in the 21st century by “exploring, creating, and modeling global connections.”
- Clif Mims
Clif Mims, this blog’s author, is an educator and educational consultant with over 16 years of experience. This blog concentrates on the importance of integrating technology in the classroom for effective teaching and learning.
- CU-Online: PK-12 Ed Tech News and Resources
This blog provides an amazing number of varied resources for online education students, for use now and upon entering a career in education. Among the resources (nearly from A to Z) are dozens of categories of links including anti-virus shareware, assistive technologies, character education, collaborative online projects, cyberbullying, ed tech portals, health and PE, information literacy, multiple intelligences, online skill tutorials, podcast tutorials, webcasts, and wikis.
- EduResources Weblog: Higher Education Resources Online
Online education students can find numerous resources in this blog. Among the featured resources are those focusing on K-12 resources, educational technology, digital libraries, open source software, and cognitive mapping.
- The Whiteboard Blog
Freelance educational consultant Danny Nicholson specializes in Interactive Whiteboards and provides training in a variety of educational technologies, including Smart Notebook and Turning Point. In this blog, Nicholson provides online education students with a variety of resources, including information about games and interactives, literacy resources, tutorials and guides, and videos.
Unique Opportunities and Career Options for Education Students
This section contains blogs presenting unique study opportunities and career options for education students. Studying abroad and contemplating unusual careers within education are options presented.
- International Higher Education Consulting Blog
David Comp, Senior Adviser for International Initiatives in The College at The University of Chicago, authors this blog to present intriguing information for students. In this blog, learners can discover details about international education exchange opportunities for public diplomacy.
- For Profit EDU
A group of educational professionals hosts this blog as a companion site to the LinkedIn group by the same name. The blog presents different career opportunities for education students through industry networking, consulting, and research. They also maintain a job posting section on the blog.
- Education Career Services
The blog’s author is an education career advisor. The blog offers articles and resources to help education students and graduates through the educational job search process, including the interview, tips on resumes and cover letters, and career development options.
- Abroad Scout
This blog provides online education students with a directory of opportunities to study abroad. The directory also includes student reviews of study abroad experiences.
- Jobs, Careers, and Callings
This blog provides a compelling perspective on the plight of deaf and hard of hearing (HH) individuals, both in education and career settings. The blog’s author, Karen Putz, is deaf herself, and has deaf and HH children. She started this blog to encourage deaf students to seek their dream careers, as well as to emphasize the need for educators of deaf/HH individuals.
Financial Aid: Student Loans, Grants, and Scholarships
This section provides vital information for online education students regarding meeting their ongoing financial needs. The majority of college students require some type of financial aid to complete their education, and online learners are no exception.
- Financial Aid News
The Student Loan Network sponsors this blog to present financial aid news to interested students. The blog offers information about student loans, grants, and scholarships.
- College Financial Aid Guide
This blog offers college financial aid guidance. Topics covered in the blog include various available student loan sources, regular and specialty scholarships, and student finance and budgeting tips.
- The Go Financial Aid Blog
This blog offers information about student loans, grants, and scholarships. Additionally, the blog provides information about filling out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), complete with a link to a “practice” FAFSA form.
- Free College Blog: Scholarships, Grants, Financial Aid
This blog provides information about financial aid opportunities that don’t involve taking out student loans. The blog provides information, resources, and special search engines to locate scholarships and grants, as well as links for renting textbooks or downloading digital versions.
- FAFSA Online
Sponsored by the Student Loan Network, this blog addresses the vitally important FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). The blog offers current news about government financial aid guidelines, explains thorough directions about how to fill out a FAFSA, and provides links to FAFSA applications.
Contributions from Education Graduates, Professors, and Professionals
This section contains blogs featuring important information and expertise from a variety of education graduates, professors, and other professionals. The blog authors serve in a variety of educational positions, including grad students, educators, professors, and librarians.
- Creating Lifelong Learners
Mathew Needleman, this blog’s author, teaches grades K-5 and serves as a literacy coach. He provides online educational students with resources including a focus on traditional and new media literacies, addressing different learning modalities, and integrating technology in the classroom.
- Info-Mational
Char Booth, an e-learning librarian at UC Berkeley, authors this blog. She provides information for online education students on technology and media literacy.
- Graduate Education Interest Group
This blog presents the Graduate Education Interest Group (GEIG). The purpose of the blog is to discuss the quality of graduate education and share resources.
- The End in Mind
Dr. Jon Mott authors this blog to provide what he terms “musings about academic technology.” He is an instructional technologist and focuses on the importance of incorporating technology in education.
- EduRealms
Instructional technology coordinator Lucas Gillispie authors this blog about converging technology and gaming as an enticing means to provide instruction. He focuses on using gaming as learning tools, with his ongoing 2009 to 2010 projects centered on WOW (World of Warcraft).
Teaching Professions: Early Childhood and Elementary School
This section provides a list of blogs addressing teaching professions at the level of early childhood and elementary school. Online education students interested in pursuing a career in either early childhood or elementary settings will benefit from this list.
- Art and Creativity in Early Childhood Education
Anna Reyner, this blog’s author, has a master’s degree in expressive art therapy. She offers valuable information and resources in this blog for education students interested in teaching at the early childhood level. Reyner emphasizes the importance of incorporating art with children at young ages, to encourage creativity, brain development, and self-esteem.
- Early Childhood Education Assembly
This blog focuses on the importance of literacy at early ages. The authors encourage a strong literacy focus, as opposed to “teaching to test” strategies.
- Early Childhood Brain Insights
Deborah McNelis, the blog’s author, has a degree in early childhood education and specializes in childhood brain development. She offers her expertise in this blog to provide education students with insight about the best early childhood activities to promote optimal brain development.
- ElEdBlog
The blog focuses on elementary education for students interested in teaching at that level. The authors want the blog to provide a community atmosphere where educators can discuss relevant issues and share resources.
- Class Antics: Inside Elementary Education
Elementary school teacher and published author of Buckley schoolbooks, Corey Green, is the author of this blog. She offers her insight regarding “how kids really act, think, and learn in today’s classrooms.”
Teaching Professions: Junior and Senior High School
This section provides a list of blogs addressing teaching professions at the level of junior and senior high school. Online education students interested in pursuing a career in either junior or high school settings will benefit from this list.
- A History Teacher and More
The blog’s author, Dan McDowell, is a high school social science teacher, educational consultant, and curriculum developer. He provides a look into his experience of developing curriculum and teaching high school history classes.
- History is Elementary
The blog’s author is a high school history teacher. She started this blog to share resources and lesson plan ideas for history.
- Epiphany in Baltimore
This blog’s author is a high school English teacher and baseball coach. He shares his “musings” about his experience teaching English in a city school in Baltimore.
- Ms. M’s Apples
The blog’s author is “Ms. M” – a junior high school teacher. She provides a realistic look, including positives and negatives, of teaching seventh graders.
- Mr. B-G’s English Blog
The blog’s author, “Mr. B-G,” is a high school English teacher. He describes his blog as “tales from a high school teacher and his students.” Consequently, the blog contains musing of teacher and students, samples of students’ work, and links to a variety of resources.
Teaching Professions: College/University
This section provides a list of blogs addressing teaching professions at the level of colleges and universities, including adjunct professors. Online education students interested in pursuing a career in either a college or university setting will benefit from this list.
- Adjunct Nation
Claiming a readership of over 100,000, this blog addresses the needs of adjunct faculty who serve in part time or full time capacities. The blog provides a large number of resources, as well as a job board.
- The Itinerant Professor
This blog’s author is Don Heller, a professor of education at Penn State and director of its Center for the Study of Higher Education. Professor Heller discusses issues of interest to education students who may choose to teach at the college/university level, including gainful employment and higher education policies.
- Your Black Education
Finance professor, Dr. Boyce Watkins, authors this blog to address the needs of African American students. He emphasizes “the value of being highly educated and the additional value that comes from becoming financially independent and empowered.”
- The Little Professor
Dr. Miriam Elizabeth Burstein, the author of this blog, is a published author who also teaches English literature at SUNY’s College at Brockport. She delights in all things academic and Victorian, and shares from her wealth of experience in teaching and writing.
- Profgrrrrl
This blog’s author is an associate professor and advisor. She discusses the challenges of fulfilling both roles in a college setting.
Teaching Professions: Special Education
This section covers the challenging area of special education and services. Online education students who choose to pursue a career in special education often require additional training in areas such as childhood developmental delays, learning disabilities, communication disorders, and other related areas.
- Teachers at Risk
Special educator Elona Hartjes authors this blog to address the challenging task of teaching special needs students. She began this blog to share tips and strategies with the goal of mentoring new teachers.
- The Life that Chose Me
Daniel Dage is a special educator to profoundly disabled children. He started this blog in January 2006 and shares from his expertise and experiences on numerous topics related to special education.
- Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs
Kate Ahern, the author of this blog, teaches learners with multiple and/or significant special needs. She provides valuable resources in the form of posts, consultation, and workshops for online education students interested in pursuing special education teaching.
- No Limits 2 Learning
Lon Thornburg, who is an educator as well as an assistive technology specialist and trainer, authors this blog. His goal is to provide the necessary information to educators to help special needs students overcome their barriers to learning.
- 5 Minutes for Special Needs
The team of writers who author this blog comprise a variety of experiences, including being special educators and parents of special needs children. They provide their personal and professional perspectives for online education students on numerous topics, including advocacy, individual education plans, medications and treatment options, technology, and therapy.
Teaching Professions: Instructional Facilitation, Mentoring, Tutoring, and Educational Consulting
This section provides a list of blogs addressing online teaching professions, tutoring, and educational consulting. In addition to actually teaching online, other options exist, such as instructional facilitation, mentoring, tutoring, and educational consulting. Online instructional facilitation and mentoring typically involve using pre-designed curriculum, developed by subject matter experts, requiring the online teaching professional to facilitate and/or mentor the learners through the course. Tutoring may take place on a variety of levels, from teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) to a number of academic courses, either online or in a facility. Educational consulting can cover a specialized area or multiple areas of expertise.
- ITS Tutorial School
Online education students who want to teach non-native English speakers may enjoy a short-term one- or two-year contract to tutor in Hong Kong. ITS hires English-speaking educators to provide tutorial services in a number of academic subjects, as well as exam preparation.
- Bilingual Special Ed
Dr. Claudia Rinaldi, the blog’s author, is an educational consultant in the areas of bilingual and special education. She focuses on these issues and evidence-based practices in her blog.
- Writing in the Wild
Dr. James Ray Watkins started this blog in 2009, as he transitioned from on-site teaching to online teaching. He shares his “thinking out loud” perspectives on education, along with some of his lessons he develops for students.
- Online Tutoring and Musings on Education
The blog’s author shares his experience as an online tutor. He also addresses new innovations and course development currently in progress.
- Academic Coach
Dr. Mary McKinney, the blog’s author, is a clinical psychologist as well as an academic career coach. She shares in this blog from her expertise in the areas of mentoring, counseling, and consulting for “academics at all stages of their careers.”
Other Educational Career Options: Administration, Educational/Instructional Design and Technology, and Course Development and Review
This section addresses potential educational career options other than teaching. Online education students may choose to specialize in areas such as school administration, instructional design and instructional technology, or course development and review, among others.
- Educational Technology and Life
Dr. Mark Wagner, this blog’s author, is an educational technology coordinator and consultant. His blog provides valuable information for online education students who wish to specialize in educational technology.
- Steve Hargadon: K-12 Educational Technology
Social learning consultant, Steve Hargadon, possesses numerous credentials to support this blog, including being the founder of the Classroom 2.0 social network. Hargadon offers online education students his perspectives on educational technology and social networking in education, with a focus on professional development.
- Confessions of a Community College Dean
The blog’s author, “Dean Dad,” transitioned from teaching to academic administration as a community college dean. He provides interesting reading for online education students, with posts dating back to June 2004, of the “trials and tribulations” of administration.
- Lesboprof
The blog’s author, who describes herself as a “former and future administrator,” shares tips for students considering administration as a career path. She provides tips and guidelines for teaching diversity, including acceptance of sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Learner Bytes
The blog’s author serves in an academic role overseeing an online learning environment and its accompanying e-learning technologies and systems. The blog covers a number of related topics, including curriculum design, LMS (Learning Management Systems), and e-learning platforms.
This article endeavored to supply online education students with resources in 50 top blogs covering various fields and career options within education. Divided into ten detailed categories, the article provided online education students with blogs containing an extensive assortment of information, from directories of additional resources, to career opportunities and specialized areas of expertise within the education industry.
Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/schluesselbein/3111180478/
