Wavelengths
Tech Integration Newsletter
Vol. 2 Issue 11 March 2017
Congratulations an OPS First!
Help us congratulate the first ever Instructional Technology Leadership Program cohort who will complete their endorsements March 2017. There are eight educators in the first cohort and most of the cohort plans on continuing their coursework to complete a master’s degree. As part of the requirements of the program, they will be providing professional development and support in the area of instructional technology for the district.
Congratulations to Cindy Jackson- Druid Hill, Amber Blair- Chandler View/Standing Bear/ Saddlebrook, Graham Engdahl- Beals, Kellie Mihvok- Beveridge, Shelby Oelke-Gilder, Kari Blazek-Oak Valley, Erin Solheim-Sherman/Walnut Hill, Sara Newman- Prairie Wind/Sunny Slope.
Planned Obsolecence...Say What?
Monday, March 6th, the Omaha Public School Board approved an 8 million dollar plan to begin the second phase of the life cycle plan for secondary schools. The second phase will address the needs of secondary student devices beginning this school year and continuing in the 2017-18 school year. Consultation with building administration and IMS instructional needs were identified by six themes: Touch Enabled, Traditional Laptop, Low-cost Laptop, High End Laptop, Small Form Factor (SFF) Desktop, and High End Desktop.
Secondary student devices will begin to enter the buildings in the next couple of months. Then, the next phase will move to elementary buildings.
Secondary Teachers Show Us How You Shine
Skype in the Classroom Opportunities
Wanting to connect your students with authors? Looking for a new way to discuss Earth Day? Do you want to show students how scientists work everyday? Break down the four walls of your classroom and open your students to global connections using Skype in the Classroom. It provides opportunities to foster their 21st Century Skills of collaboration and critical thinking as outlined in our district's Best Instructional Practices Handbook, Section 10.
Skype visits can include:
Virtual field trips- head to a Civil War Museum, learn about how the Plains Indians used their natural resources, watch first hand as scientists do experiments in labs or interact with the environment.
Skype lessons- live learning activities for your students to experience with an expert around a specific topic
Skype collaborations- Collaborate with other teachers or groups of teachers on a specific topic
Mystery Skype- interactive 20 questions yes/no game to guess a geographic location, animal, number, geometric shape, anything your class is learning about.
Guest Speakers- bring the experts to your students to learn from and ask questions
Use the filter button to determine the age, subject, and choose "SKYPE" as the product.
Here are upcoming Skype opportunities to check out:
· Literacy Campaign- Connect with an author: https://education.microsoft.com/literacy
· Earth Day: https://education.microsoft.com/earthday
· Arctic Expedition Live 2017: https://education.microsoft.com/skype-in-the-classroom/arcticlive-2017
New to Skype? Contact one of the district technology trainers for support before your first call. We can set up a test call and walk you through a successful first connection.
App Launcher Issues: Tech Tip of Month
If you are experiencing problems with your App Launcher (or Waffle) in your Office 365 environment...know you are not alone! Some of our users are seeing only 4 tiles in their App Launcher (Waffle) pictured in the image to the right.
User Impact: Unable to view some app launcher tiles within Outlook/Office 365 on the web? Affected tiles include SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Office Online. Exchange Online app launcher tiles (Email, Calendar and People tiles) are not affected by this issue.
OPS Systems Engineers have investigated the issue and have now contacted Microsoft. It has been identified as an issue across all Microsoft users. Microsoft is working on fixing the issue.
Meanwhile a work around so you can at least access the needed tiles. Try going to
https://portal.office.com/myapps or https://omahaps.sharepoint.com.
Then, click on the App Launcher/Waffle and it should show more of the tiles.
F2F (Face-2-Face) Professional Learning
Please contact a trainer directly for any training needs. Trainers are happy to come out to buildings to provide instructional technology training.
Classified Staff/TAC: Debra Bordenkecher
Elementary Building Trainers: Melissa Cleaver, Eileen Heller, McKenzie White
Secondary Building Trainers: Kelly Means, Amy Vester
Digital Citizenship Support for Educators, Students, and Parents: Keegan Korf
Technology Training Team
Instructional Technology Trainer, Project Coordinator
Debra Bordenkecher: Technology Trainer
Eileen Heller:
Instructional Technology Trainer, Elementary Lead Teacher
Keegan Korf:
Lead Teacher of Digital Citizenship in Partnership with Common Sense Education
Kelly Means:
Instructional Technology Trainer, Project Coordinator
Amy Vester:
Instructional Technology Trainer, Secondary Lead Teacher
McKenzie White:
Instructional Technology Trainer, Library Lead Teacher
Email: techtrainers@ops.org
Website: http://techhub.ops.org/
Location: Omaha Public Schools, NE, United States
Phone: (402) 557-2511
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opstechtrainers
Twitter: @OPStechtrainers