20 Tech Skills Every Educator Should Know

There is no doubt that educators now and into the future will have to try to incorporate technology more into their classrooms. As this is the case, it will be even more important for teachers to know how to use these new forms of technology.

Word Processing Skills
In my opinion, it is clear that teachers will have to know how to use word processing skills for the main purpose that creating materials for classroom use. It really is the most basic skill that all need to use.

Spreadsheets Skills
Spreadsheets are useful for keeping information organized. In my opinion, I think that it is useful for teachers to learn how to use spreadsheet, but overall, I doubt all teachers will need to know how to use this skill. The biggest use of this skill would probably be in gradesheet creation.

Database Skills
In terms of my knowledge, I have a very basic understanding and use of databases. In fact, I have never used this in my daily technology use. I guess I could find some way to use, but overall, I really haven't used it in my classroom.

Electronic Presentation Skills
I think this is easily the most commonly used skill that will be used in the years to come in how teachers organize information for student consumption. I have created lessons using PowerPoint in my classroom a few times and the kids all tend to enjoy this. The lack of presenters in the school can cause some problems, but as presenters begin to move down in price, I think it will be something that will be brought into many more classrooms.

World Wide Web Navigation Skills
I think that as we become more tech savy, the ease of navigation of the web will be something that everyone will have learned. Since, in most cases, I have used the web on a daily basis, I think that it is a great source of information for myself and my students. I think the biggest challenge shouldn't be navigation skills but how to interpret the usefullness of the information that is gained.

Web site Design Skills
I think that this is a very useful skill to learn. I think that as we move forward that teachers will have to know how to create web pages so that parents and students will have access to daily information in the classroom. As long as teachers can be taught to use web page design effectively, this will be something that everyone will be able to do in the future.

E-Mail Management Skills
I think that in today's world that most people have knowledge of how to use email. Since it has become the one way that people can communicate easily and quickly with one another, it is becoming the real way that most people communicate in the world. In my case, I use email daily.

Digital Cameras Knowledge
I use digital camera almost weekly and rarely even use film cameras anymore. As a coach for cross country at our school, we take pictures at every meet and create presentations at the end of the year for our kids. This definitely is something that every teacher should be able to use since it can provide examples what is done in the classroom on a consistent basis.

Networking Knowledge
I know how to access my network but in terms of my knowledge of the inner workings of the network, I don't have any real knowledge of it. I think this falls into the role of the technology coordinator and not really into the job of the teacher.

File Management and Windows Explorer Skills
I think this is one of most basic skills that all teachers should learn. If you can't manage your files, it can kind of make things difficult to find all the work that you have done. I think that younger teachers have a good background in this type of skill but some older teachers may have some issues with this. I use this skill also daily.

Downloading Software from the Web
I think that most teachers are limited in their skills of how to download software and because of that, this becomes a very important skill for them to learn. With the vast numbers of useful programs available, it makes it doubly important for teachers to learn this skill.

Installing Computer Software
Most computers today that are set up for a network prevent teachers from installing computer software on their computer, and in most cases, this falls to the technology coordinator of the school to get this done. One helpful thing is that Windows and Mac operating systems are usually very helpful in completing this skill anyways if this needs to be done on home computers.

WebCT or Blackboard Teaching Skills
I can honestly say that I have no knowledge of this type of skill. By looking it over, I can see how this could be very beneficial but I think a lack of funds can also impact this use. Maybe as time moves on, it will be more cost effective for use, but at this time, as a small town school, it can be pretty hard to get use on this.

Video Conferencing Skills
I know that some teachers in our building have video conferences with NASA astronauts during their space lessons. This is due to the fact that one of our teachers takes summer programs through NASA. I can see the benefits of this in terms of getting people to see a wider concept of the world especially in social studies, and it will be something that I will look at becoming more efficient in using.

Computer Related Storage Devices Knowledge
I save most of my information on the server, CD-ROMs, or DVD-ROMs. I know that some of my fellow teachers are using USB drives to save information and I am also looking into purchasing one just in case we have another incident like last year when the server was down for a few days. This will continue to be an important skill as more and more teachers begin to use computers in the future.

Scanner Knowledge
Again, I have knowledge of this from using it to scan results into Adobe to send to an Internet site that catalogs meets from the year. I have also used this to scan pictures for web pages and so forth. I feel this is a very valuable resource.

PDAs Knowledge
I have some limited knowledge of how to use PDAs, but overall, I would not even consider myself very proficient in its use. I do not know how effective these will be for all teachers to know how to use.

Deep Web Knowledge
I really had no knowledge of this idea, and I find it as something that is very useful for research purposes. It is important that student use a wide variety of engines to search for information and this skill will also benefit teachers. I will definitely spend some time learning more about this.

Educational Copyright Knowledge
Again I think this is a task of the technology coordinator at the school in terms of programs. However, the use of web information and its copyright issues are something that I spend a few days discussing with my students because I know it can lead to some problems. The librarian at our school is really beneficial to me with learning this skill.

Computer Security Knowledge
I think our school does a good job with keeping our network secure, but I also know that this can become more of a problem as students get more knowledgeable about computers and networks. Since technology progresses at such a high rate, it is important for everyone to try and keep the network as secure as it can possibly be.