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<\/a>I’m not usually one for “Top 10 Lists of Tech Tools” or “21 Things every 21 Century Teacher should know”. It’s not that I don’t think that these lists offer useful tips — they most certainly do. I just find that these lists (a) quickly become outdated and (b) seldom generate the kinds of conversations that I’d like to have about when and when not to use the tools, why and why not to use the tools, for whom and in what contexts the tools should be used and\/or not used at all.<\/p>\n The lists, it seems, are so compelling that they become an end in themselves.<\/p>\n Without discussion of the tools’ affordances and constraints for teaching, I fear that these lists offer teachers a yummy tech treat…much like a Mars bar after lunch that leaves you feeling drained once the quick sugar rush wears off. It’s great to know about the latest student-friendly search engine or the best iPad app for pre-school math but usually, surface-level knowledge won’t help any teacher to implement the tool effectively with students.<\/p>\n And so, when my fabulous colleague Sara Beauchamp-Hicks<\/a> shared a link called The 33 Digital Skills Every 21st Century Teacher Should Know<\/a> via FaceBook tonight, I nearly skipped over it. Except, I didn’t, because Sara recommended it — and Sara knows stuff.<\/p>\n