Join me on the GeoEd Trek! (photo taken along the Appalachian Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park)

Welcome the newest addition to the AGU Blogosphere – GeoEd Trek!  My name is Laura Guertin, and I teach introductory-level Earth science/geoscience/geography courses at Penn State Brandywine in Media, PA (learn more at the About Laura page).  I’m thrilled to be able to add the voice of geoscience education and educational technology to this online community.  Don’t be surprised if I sprinkle in a few posts relating to outreach, undergraduate research and science communication, all topics for which I have a passion.

You will see many entries on GeoEd Trek prior to this introductory post.  I have been blogging about educational technology since October 2010, with my first post on the Fine International Conference on Gigapixel Imaging for Science.  I started blogging as part of earning a Teaching with Technology certificate through Penn State (a topic for a future post).  And now, I look forward to continuing my journey into blogging with more of a geoscience focus.

Hopefully, the name for this blog is self-explanatory:

trek

ˈtrek

• to walk usually for a long distance
• to travel by walking through an area with many mountains, rivers, etc., for pleasure and adventure
• to go on a long and often difficult journey

from Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Our “trek” as educators, whether in formal or informal settings, is filled with many highs and lows, as well as sections that can prove to be a navigational challenge.  Students, helicopter parents, FERPA, field trips, university offices of risk management, technology access, copyright, the semester calendar, snow days… need I continue?  I’ll be pulling prompts and inspiration for my posts from what I find online, read in journals, hear at conferences, and see on Twitter – yes, that’s correct, the “geotweep” community has much to say and have engaging exchanges, even in 140 characters or less.

Let the Trek begin!