Yesterday, I wrapped up my year-end series on the Top Ed-Tech Trends of 2013. Good riddance to 2013. (Good riddance to the series.)

Seriously though: It’s a project that takes me an incredibly long time to do — to review everything that’s happened in ed-tech throughout the year and to compile an overview that captures events and offers analysis. I sometimes shudder that these posts get wrapped up in the weariness, if not animosity towards year-end “list” posts (I hate list posts too) ,and I do wonder sometimes if it’s even worth my writing annual reviews. Like I said, they’re a ton of work.

But I admit, I enjoy the process, as I learn a lot and see things that I mightn’t otherwise. (That happens when you re-read each weekly news roundup ten times or more in the process of composing these reviews.)

And I hope there’s value here for my readers.

So with that in mind, I’d like to remind folks about the “donate” button on this site.

I purposefully keep Hack Education advertising-free. And unlike many other technology blogs, Hack Education isn’t owned by a major technology or media company. I don’t take sponsorship dollars to promote certain posts or products. I have not taken investment money from the same venture capitalists who fund education/technology companies. I am an independent voice.

But I need to make a living.

So perhaps a site like this can be crowdfunded, written for the community and in turn supported by the community — perhaps a bit like NPR (but without the government subsidy clearly, or the corporate sponsorship dollars or the swag or the semi-annual fund-drives — just this one annual reminder).

And that’s what I’m doing here - your one annual reminder. If you are willing and able, I would very much appreciate your support. Thank you. A huge thank you to those who’ve donated throughout the year. You help make my work possible. And thanks to everyone who reading.

Image credits: Alan Levine and The Noun Project