CPP Technology Today
A Communication of the CPP Technology Committee - Vol 2.3
In This Issue
- Technology Request Process
- What's New on the CPP Technology Website?
- Instructional Technology Professional Development
- Resource Spotlight - District Subscription Active for Typing Club
- Google Apps - FAQs on Sharing
- Chrome Corner - Righting an "Oops" the Easy Way
- District Technology News - Bye, Bye BrightBytes!
- Master Plan Technology Goals - Year 2
- Technology Committee - Members
- BITS Team Members
- Updates from Tech Services
- Newsletter Suggestions and Ideas
Tuesday, Oct 18, 2016, 10:00 AM
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Need Some Tech? Check Here!
The procedure is a response to teacher-expressed confusion around where to go and whom to ask to receive new technologies. This process will streamline the process, and allow technology requests to be evaluated together, to ensure that all requests receive equal consideration and all students can benefit.
Technologies will be requested, and requests will be evaluated, based on curricular needs. Curriculum groups can discuss potential technologies and ways to introduce them - by grade level, department or course group. After consulting with a curriculum facilitator, the group or a representative will complete the request Form. Requests will be evaluated on at least a monthly basis.
The technology request form will enable all teachers to be able to request tools and resources they need to help teaching and learning in the classroom. It will also help with collaboration and communication, enabling the rest of the faculty and staff to be made aware of new technologies and potentially be able to use them to benefit more students.
The technology request form can be found on the district technology website, or at the direct link below.
What's New on the CPP Technology Website?
Teacher Resources Re-Organization!
In response to teacher feedback, we are re-organizing the teacher resources section. There will be four sections in that area:
A link has been added here for the Technology Request page, with information on the new process to submit a technology request, and the Form to submit the request.
Updates have been made to the "Technology Skills Instruction and Instructional Resources" section:
In the last website update, the Technology Skills Scope&Sequence K-12 was added to the site. Updated, grade-level specific Scope & Sequences shared via Google Docs have been created and added to this section
The Middle School Teachers section of the Teacher Resources area has been created!
Currently, the page has two sections:
1. Technology Skills Instructions and Resources
2. Programs and Resources
In the "Technology Skills Instructions and Resources" area the K-12 Tech Skills Scope and Sequence can be found, along with specific Scope & Sequences for grades 6, 7 and 8.
The "Programs and Resources" area has been started, with links and tutorials added for VoiceThread and Symbaloo.
Email: bcameron@cppmail.com
Website: cpptechnology.weebly.com
Google Apps for Education
Instructional Technology Professional Development
Unless otherwise indicated, classes run from 3:30-4:30. Teachers are welcome to attend trainings in any building. There is no pre-registration process - "drop in" when you're able! Be sure to sign in for in-service credit.
Contact the team members offering each class with any specific questions.
October Classes:
October 18 (3:15-4:00) - Laura Tolbert/Jamie Nichols - Carder Library - Typing Club Overview (All K-5 teachers)
10/18 - MS - Carrie Howe - Beginning Google Sites (All Teachers)
10/27, 3:30 -5 - Gregg, computer lab - Rachel Ketchum - Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides Overview- Beginner - (All Teachers)
November Classes:
Tuesday, November 1- Laura Tolbert/Jamie Nichols - Carder Library - Google Classroom (All Teachers)
Wednesday, November 9 - Gregg Computer Lab - Rachel Ketchum - Google Classroom Overview (All Teachers)
Wednesday, November 9 - Severn Library - Jen Taylor - Google Classroom (All Teachers)
Wednesday, November 16 - Severn Library - Jen Taylor - Open Lab - Bring Questions! (All Teachers)
Resources Spotlight
District Subscription Active for Typing Club
This article is reprinted from the last issue of CPP Technology Today. A new introductory presentation, from Laura Tolbert's Typing Club professional development class happening tonight at Carder, is newly attached! All K-5 teachers are invited to this training opportunity
The K-5 District subscription to Typing Club is now active! This program, with pre-created accounts for students, allows them to practice keyboarding skills, while letting teachers and parents monitor their progress.
As Typing Club is web-based, students will be able to access Typing Club from home as well as at school. Teachers can find in their accounts information to share with parents to help them assist their children in accessing the program at home.
In order to show strong growth in keyboarding skills, practice should become a regular part of each student's classroom routine. One of the reason's Typing Club was selected by the district is because it is flexible enough to be worked into the classroom routine in a variety of ways. There is an established keyboarding program, that teachers can allow students to work through. Teachers can also input their own text for students to practice, allowing students to practice keyboarding while also practicing vocabulary terms, spelling terms, passages from class reading or any other text that teachers would like students to work with.
CPP's Typing Club domain can be accessed at http://cpp.typingclub.com (those of you that participated in the trial last year will note that this is a different address than the trial). Teachers can log in with their network ID. Emails directly from Typing Club were sent out yesterday with password information. If you didn't get one, please contact Jerry Dieg or Lori Pruyne. Students will also log in with their network IDs. Their passwords are the same as for their Google Apps accounts (the letter "c" plus their student ID# - i.e., c1234567).
Please utilize the Typing Club page on the district technology website to find further tutorials and information on Typing Club, or contact the BITS representative in your building for assistance!
Note: To access Typing Club with full features, use Google Chrome as your browser!
FAQs on Sharing
Answer: Any file created through Google Docs - a Doc, Sheet, Slides presentation, or Form - and any folder created to store files in Google Drive
Question: If I share things with someone, can they change them?
Answer: Only if you give them permission! You can choose, when you share resources, to let others "View" or "Edit". "Edit" gives permission to change things; "View" just to see them
Question: I shared a few things with someone, now they're seeing all my things!
Answer: Did you share a folder with them? Anything that is placed in a folder takes on the properties of that folder. So if you shared the folder, they can see anything that you put in that folder. That includes assignment files created through Google Classroom (ie, student work). So be careful when adding people to a folder to be sure that you want them to be able to access everything inside that folder!
Question: I want to share with a lot of people, but I don't want to type their names...
Answer: You can choose to share with "Anyone with the link" or "Anyone within the cppasd.com domain with the link". The first choice generates a URL that you can share with anyone - parents, community, etc. They will be able to click the link and access the document. The second choice lets you share with anyone logged in with a @cppasd.com account who clicks on that link - that's the one to use for assessments or shared planning work you don't want the general public to be able to access.
Chrome Corner - Righting an "Oops" the Easy Way
Many of us have been in the frustrating situation where, instead of switching between open tabs in a browser window, we accidentally close it instead. Chrome has your back! If this happens in Google Chrome, simply press Control-Shift-T and the tab will reopen!
Even worse is when you accidentally close an entire window, and all the multiple tabs that are open in that! The Control-Shift-T trick works here too - just open a new Chrome window, hit the Control-Shift-T combination, and all the tabs you had open will reappear!
District Technology Updates
Bye, Bye BrightBytes.
BrightBytes' Fall 2016 information collection period has been extended slightly - if you haven't taken the survey yet, please do so!
Remember that the information from this survey is used as part of the decision-making process for many different areas of technology practice and policy, including device selection and what professional development to offer teachers. Please ensure that your thoughts and ideas are included in these considerations.
If you haven't had the opportunity to take the survey yet, they can be accessed on the district technology webpage.
Master Plan Technology Goals - Year 2
The 2015-2020 Master Plan for the Corning-Painted Post Area School District contains goals to help the district grow in many areas, to better serve our kids and community. Technology is an area identified in that plan for particular growth, to ensure that all students, staff and families have access to the tools - and the training to use them - to support teaching, learning and daily operations for all of us.
Below are listed the Technology Goals for the Master Plan, and the objectives which we will be working to achieve this year. Throughout the year, this newsletter will examine individual goals, discuss progress that has been made toward them, and detail what will be done in that area in the future. If you have suggestions regarding these goals or technology at CPP in general, please share them with a Technology Committee or BITS Team member!
Master Plan Technology Goals:
GOAL 1: Technology Committee: Develop the role of the committee in regards to decision-making, communication and implementation of current Master Plan (ONGOING)
Objective 2: To create a process for accountability and communication to and from external stakeholders (June 2016) (2016-2017)
Objective 3: To facilitate the process to investigate and compare new technologies (Sept 2016) (2016-2017) (ONGOING)
GOAL 2: K-12 Skills Implementation: Develop a K-12 curriculum of authentically integrated technology literacy skills (ONGOING)
Objective 4: To formulate a plan to integrate technology skill instructional into grade level curricula (August 2016) (2016-2017) (ONGOING)
Objective 5: To create an evaluation and modification process for the implementation of embedded technology skills (August 2016 – June 2020) (2016-2017)
GOAL 3: Assessment of Skills: Create and implement a process to assess student progress toward developing technology skills (ONGOING)
Objective 2: To realign the assessment to the curriculum and K-12 technology skills articulation (June 2016) (2016-2017) (ONGOING)
GOAL 4: 1:1 Implementation: Develop a 1:1 approach across all grade levels to provide adequate access for the full integration of instructional technology for teaching and learning (ONGOING)
Objective 3: To select a device that meets student and curricular needs (Jan 2016) (2016-2017) (COMPLETED / ONGOING)
Objective 4: To evaluate potential learning management systems and select an appropriate system based on devices (Jan 2016) (2016-2017) (COMPLETED / ONGOING)
Objective 5: To develop a phasing plan for how and when devices will roll-out at different levels (Jan 2016)-(2016-2017) (COMPLETED)
Objective 6: To develop purchasing and replacement plan (Mar 2016) (2016-2017) (COMPLETED)
Objective 7: To provide teachers with professional development to support implementation (Mar 2016)-(2016-2017) (ONGOING)
Objective 8: To develop a network of in-house professional support (Aug 2016) (2016-2017) (ONGOING)
Objective 9: To create a student-based technology instruction plan to familiarize students and parents with current technologies and programs (Sept 2016) (2016-2017) (ONGOING)
GOAL 5: Request Process: To create a uniform process for requesting technology devices and programs (COMPLETE)
Objective 1: To develop a process to request technology, purchase/pilot-Jan. 2016 (2016-2017) (COMPLETE)
GOAL 6: Daily Operations: Acquire and maintain technologies to support daily administrative operations for all stakeholders (NOT STARTED/ ONGOING)
Objective 3: To identify needs and opportunities for new efficiencies and technology solutions for use in daily operations (Jan 2016) (2016-2017) (ONGOING)
Objective 4: To formulate a plan to implement new solutions across stakeholder groups (July 2016) (2016-2017) (NOT STARTED)
Objective 5: To monitor current and emerging technologies in order to investigate/evaluate new tools to solve-problems and streamline tasks (Jan 2016 – ongoing) (2016-2017) (ONGOING)
GOAL 7: Professional Development: Provide necessary professional development (PD) for staff and students to ensure successful implementation of technology goals (ONGOING)
Objective 3: To develop a plan to provide staff with a variety of PD offerings in varying formats (Feb 2016) (2016-2017) (ONGOING)
Objective 4: To develop a method for communicating PD offerings (Feb 2016) (2016-2017) (COMPLETE / ONGOING)
Technology Committee Membership
BITS Team - Instructional Technology Support
Last week in this newsletter, the Building Instructional Technology Support (BITS) team members were introduced, and their roles were discussed. Remember that these individuals are available within your buildings to help teachers utilize instructional technology. They can recommend programs and resources, suggest ways to implement technology and tech skills instruction into the curriculum, and provide teachers with help in introducing programs to students. Any hardware-related issues should still be referred to IT, with requests sent in by emailing helpdesk@gstboces.org.
BITS representatives in each building include:
Carder – Jamie Nichols, Laura Tolbert and June Keuhn
Gregg – Rachel Ketchum and Colin Sinko
Erwin Valley – Jen Haischer and Peggy Marsiglio
Severn – Jen Taylor and Karen Cleary
Smith – Mike Clarke, Jill Mertus and Matt Cornacchio
Winfield – Kathy Rapisarda and Shari Smith
CPP HS – Robin Robarge and Stacie Martinec
CPPMS - Carrie Howe
District - Lori Pruyne
BITS representatives are also going to be conducting after-school professional development classes on various instructional technology topics after school each month. These sessions will be held around the district, but all sessions are open to all teachers - you do not have to attend only sessions held in your individual buildings. Class times and locations will be listen on the Professional Development Opportunities page of the CPP Technology website.
Updates From Tech Services
Change the Printer Default - A "One-Sided" Story
Many printers across the district have been set to print two-sided copies by default. If you would like to change that setting, please refer to the tutorial below!
Remember - you will still have the ability to print two-sided copies, this will just change the setting so that it doesn't do that automatically.
Newletter Information
Email: lpruyne@cppmail.com
Website: cpptechnology.weebly.com
Location: CPPHS B215
Phone: 3503