iTech Update
November 6, 2020 | Volume 7, Issue 5
Less is More--Core 4
When it comes to technology, we wanted to encourage you to slow down, simplify if you can by focusing on only a couple of tools, explicitly teaching your students those tools so you all have a good foundation. Really, most blended or remote learning could be accomplished with 4 main tools (thanks to Jeff Utecht's Core 4 idea):
- Home base--Schoology
- Document creation & content organizer--Google Drive
- Video Conferencing--Google Meet
- Video Creation--Loom
With these 4 tools (in addition to any curricular tools), you have enough to provide a rich online learning experience for all students, whether they're with you face to face, learning from home while quarantined, or some combination of both. Please let us know if there's anything we can do to help further your learning of these tools or this concept.
Blended Learning Framework--Communication
Communication has probably never been more important, and the framework sets out some expectations and guidelines for communication whether in face to face, blended, or distance learning. Some highlighted advisements:
- Weekly overview posts in Schoology for parents and students
- Office hours on Wednesday at designated times
- Weekly check ins with each student (this would be especially helpful for quarantined students)
- Virtual assemblies or meetings
Follow Up Schoology PD
Some of these sessions were their Master Instructor courses, and are meant to be the next step after the Getting Started Course that everyone took. There are also many examples and templates that we think you'll find helpful as a next step in your usage of Schoology, as well as specific sessions on Grade Syncing to Skyward, and using the Google Assignment app.
- Grade Syncing to Skyward (12 min.)
- Google Assignment App How To (1 hour)
- Master Instructor for K-2, 3-5, Special Education, 6-12 (2-1 hour videos)
Schoology FAQs
Q: I'm getting a notice that my grading period will be ending soon, and my course will be archived, what do I do?
A: For courses coming from Skyward, this shouldn't be an issue. For courses, that were self created, this happens if the wrong grading period was selected. To fix this, go to your course, and choose Course Options-->Edit Info. In the Grading Periods section, you can change to the current Semester. Note that when you do this, you'll need to go back and mass change the gradebook entries to the current term. A video tutorial is posted here. Also, even when courses are archived after the grading period, they are still accessible by all members of the course by going to Courses-->My Courses-->Archived.
Q: I'm using the Schoology gradebook and syncing it to Skyward, but some students are saying their grades aren't matching. Why is that?
A: There could be multiple reasons, but we want Skyward to be the primary gradebook. First, please turn off the ability for students to see overall grades in Schoology by going to your course, then Grade Setup, and checking the boxes to hide overall and grading period grades. You will still be able to see these, but students and families won't, and can refer to Skyward. Here's a guide with a video tutorial on turning off overall grades. For more on gradebook settings, please see the Schoology PD Course referenced above.
Q: I have a co teacher, and they're having trouble viewing some of the documents from Google Drive. How do I fix this?
A: The sharing for Google documents is in Google Drive. Locate the folder those files are in, and make sure that they're shared with your co teacher so they can access as well.
Student Chromebooks
We also worked hard over the summer to pull all of our Chromebooks and cables out of carts. With over 10,000 Chromebooks and only 5 building technicians, we knew if we moved back to remote learning, we wouldn't be able to do this at the last minute, as each cart can take an hour or so. Because we're currently in a hybrid model, especially at elementary, we still want to use the carts as best as we can 4 days a week, but we won't be able to recable them at this time. Thanks for your understanding.
On another note--we've discovered that Chromebooks shouldn't be stacked higher than 7 devices. Higher than this might result in broken screens :(
Schoology Help
As everyone gets started and gets up to speed with Schoology, there have been many questions about how to use the tool, best practices, and where to find resources. We've created a "Schoology Help" group, where we'll be posting FAQs, resources, and answering individual questions on an open forum. To join, go to Groups-->My Groups-->Join a Group, and enter the code: 7495-FZQ6-CJ28X
We also have groups set up for each building and grade level/subject area--see this spreadsheet for join codes.
If you need to, you can still get help over email, but please don't just email one person (especially Seth ;) as we're receiving a high volume of email right now, and this can slow down a response. Please email techrepair@cdaschools.org, and that will ensure our whole team sees it, and it gets to the correct staff members.
Schoology's Support pages are also really in depth, and where we go to find most of our answers.
Google Meet
Virtual Interactive Whiteboards with Google Jamboard
Monthly Server Maintenance
SD271 Technology Department
Email: techrepair@cdaschools.org
Website: my.cdaschools.org
Phone: (208) 664-8241