This is a very special race year, the 50th anniversary of the Iditarod.  With all the festivities surrounding this event I can’t help but think about the early runs: the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, before technology exploded.   Personally, at my age, I prefer we not think of those decades as “history” because they were part of my present.  For our students though, they are history: a time before cell phones and the internet ruled our lives.  What was it like to mush 1,049 miles to Nome without a music playlist, only listening to the wilderness and the dogs?   What was the level of fear and worry when you weren’t being tracked in-between checkpoints?  How was the trail different, the race different, the experience different?  The changes in our use of technology over the past 50 years have drastically altered our lives, and it has also altered the race.

One of the measures we witnessed yesterday were the vet checks at the Iditarod Headquarters.  Technology?  Every single dog is microchipped and tracked throughout the race.  The vet checks include ECGs and urine testing – on the dogs!  Not an easy feat but technology helps us to ensure the health, safety, and care of these elite canine athletes just as we do our human ones.  As for the mushers, they are tracked the entire way using GPS.  They have a safety net; the race staff know their whereabouts out on the trail.  Want to follow your favorite musher?  Get an Insider account and you can access the GPS trackers of your favorite team – and get alerts when they reach each checkpoint via email!  Our current use of email and text is very different from the mail-sleds that established the Iditarod Trail.  Tonight at the 50th Anniversary Mushers Gala we heard from the representative of GCI, a corporate sponsor of Iditarod, who shared all the ways that they are integrating and supporting race technology.  The race would be very different without solid communication from Anchorage to Nome, and everywhere in between.

As educators we have many options to engage our students using technology. At the IditarodEDU conference we’ve talked about using TikTok, Breakout Rooms, Goosechase, and Minecraft to teach Iditarod lessons.  I appreciate the access to online museum resources, YouTube videos, and digital books which has improved my ability to teach digitally.  Students will always benefit from hands on experiences, but our kids are also digital natives, and ignoring the fact that they are tech savvy (and that tech catches their attention) is a missed opportunity to meet them halfway.   The Iditarod has evolved from the first races, using technology to support a healthier, safer race.  Don’t be afraid to take this example and apply it to your class; use tech to make a more engaging, exciting lessons your students will love and learn from. 

Teachers: What is one way you can integrate new technology into your Iditarod lessons?  Challenge yourself to try a new online platform to make a game, create a video (imovie or movavi), or collect assessment data (flipgrid or padlet).  You can try Canva, a graphic design program, to make a final project more engaging!  There are hundreds of apps to try.  Check out this list from the American Library Association.