As a reminder, all HCPS instructional staff, including building administrators, instructionally related central office administrators, teachers, counselors, social workers, psychologists, and related service providers, must participate in and complete the professional learning modules. The deadline to complete the modules has been extended to 11:59 p.m. on Friday, September 4, 2020. Access the modules via itslearning at Digital Teaching and Learning Professional Development Course.

Each section of the modules includes a formative assessment or task which will be submitted via itslearning within the course itself. Successful completion of each assessment and/or task is required by 11:59 p.m. on September 4, 2020. Eligible instructional staff will be paid $120 for completion of all the modules and awarded 1 MSDE credit. In addition, all instructional staff and administrators/supervisors will earn a Digital Teaching and Learning Level 1 Badge upon successful completion of these modules.

If you have further questions related to the content and curriculum aspects of digital teaching and learning, you may email HCPSCurriculumInstruction@hcps.org. Questions regarding professional learning around digital teaching and learning can be sent to HCPSprofessionallearning@hcps.org.

The Instructional Technology Team is hosting Office Hours on evenings and weekends to support teachers as they prepare for the fall. Access the full schedule and Teams link on this calendar.

The Instructional Technology Team has developed a resource of updates and answers to frequently asked questions. The 2020-2021 Instructional Technology Updates and FAQ document will continue to be updated throughout the 2020-2021 school year. Questions regarding this information should be directed to instructionaltech@hcps.org.

Teachers can now self-enroll to courses connected to their school site. Please note, when self-enrolling, you are enrolling as an EDITING TEACHER in the course. This means you can edit, copy, move, and delete any resources. Exercise professional courtesy and let the teacher know you are enrolling in course.

From itslearning, click Courses tab > All courses > Find more courses (top right of page) > Enroll in courses > type teacher’s last name in Search for course field > Click Enroll me Video tutorial: https://youtu.be/9N9u2A6FEu0.

Students K-12 now have access to YouTube. See Use of YouTube: Instructional Guidelines for important considerations in maximizing the instructional value of YouTube, including always embedding or linking videos within itslearning. Students should not be browsing or searching YouTube content.

The HCPS Responsible Use Procedure 2020-2021 has been moved to SafeSchools this year. Staff will receive notice via SafeSchools that you have been assigned this manual training to begin Monday, August 17. Staff must complete the RUP 2021 training by September 28.

Navigation through the training will follow this process:

1. Scroll down to see the video or PDF. Videos may take a few seconds to load.

2. Once you have watched the entire video, check the box.

3. Click the Finish button to move to the next segment (there will be six short segments).

Any questions related to the information in this newsletter may be directed to instructionaltech@hcps.org.