IT Matters
December 2015
Welcome!
Online Resources
Upcoming EdTech Teacher Webinars
EdWeb.net - take a look at the calendar for previous and upcoming webinars on all curriculum topics. Consider joining the online community!
Library of Congress PD Webinars-2014/2015
Global Education Conference-Recordings
Browse these education channels of YouTube!
Want to share a YouTube video with your students but concerned about the ads or suggested videos? Try SafeShare.TV or ViewPure
SchoolBrains
A Schoolbrains representative came to Norton on Wednesday 12/2 to provide training for guidance counselors, building and district secretaries, team chairs, TTLs, and academic coordinators. Overall, the day allowed staff the opportunity to learn more about the program, have questions answered, and share concerns. The next step is to meet with smaller groups to offer more specific, targeted training on building based or department issues. Please reach out to Karen or your building TTL if you need individual support with Schoolbrains.
We appreciate those of you who have taken the time to share your questions, concerns and suggestions regarding SchoolBrains. We forward all issues directly to their tech support staff. Often, the requests are not available in SchoolBrains but they are taken as "feature requests" for program improvements. SchoolBrains listens to our concerns and is working to improve the product for all educators.
These are feature requests we've asked for:
- A "lives with" option to notify staff of which parent/guardian/contact a student resides with
- Getting grades/comments on the same page in the main grade book
- Community portal access for teachers to be able to view how things post
- Numbering and sorting ability in grade book
- A real SB app
Here are some things we're working on with Schoolbrains:
- Importing historical MCAS data
- Access to 504s
- Importing middle school and high school students' email addresses in SB
- Cleaning up all data transferred from Admin Plus
- Elementary report cards, middle school & high school progress reports/report cards for each term
- Adjusting user permissions to allow staff access to exactly what they need
- User lists and custom reports for building based needs (attendance, bus lists, etc.)
- Ongoing state reporting
Google Apps for Education (GAFE)
- 170 Google Drawings created
- 456 Google Forms created
- 4,200 Google Slides created
- 2,572 Google Sheets created
- 33,908 Google Docs created
- 294,853 files uploaded to Drive
- 1,000,000+ emails have been sent, received or transferred to our NPS Gmail!
Remember that anything created within Google doesn't count towards our storage use!
You may have heard concerns about student privacy and GAFE. Read Google's response: The facts about student data privacy in Google Apps for Education and Chromebooks.
SchoolDude
Tech Pic of Month!
Have a Tech Pic to Share?
Hardware Updates
- Student desktop machines were removed from classrooms, refurbished if viable, and redistributed to K-3 classrooms. We are looking for consistency in the district so we will re-evaluate numbers to be sure computers have been deployed equitably across grade levels. Every K-3 classroom should have desktop machines available for student use. If you don't, you will soon.
- We understand the challenges of connecting and reconnecting teacher laptops to projectors in grades K-8. We are in the process of configuring desktop machines for "teacher stations" to be connected to projectors permanently. These will not be as quick as the new teacher laptops but they will alleviate the connecting/reconnecting issues.
- iPads have been configured and deployed at LGN and JCS. If you are interested in using them but are not sure where to begin, check in with your building TTL or contact Karen directly.
- District iPads are managed through the tech department. This means teachers are not able to download apps. Each building with iPads has put aside money for app purchases. Anyone or any grade level team interested in apps for the district iPads should complete the App Request Form. Please allow time for approval and processing.
Technology Links for Your Curriculum
Top 10 noteworthy resources to explore
- Tech for Teachers on Pearltrees
- Critical Evaluation of Websites from Kathy Schrock
- Hour of Code resources from Code.org -- Learn to code with Minecraft & Star Wars just in time for Hour of Code next week!!
- Donor's Choose- Create a project, post online, get funding-it's that easy.
- Biogen Grant-Teachers can apply for up to $2000 and schools up to $5000 to promote science literacy. Deadline 1/15/16. Contact Karen if interested.
- Storyboardthat- Digital storytelling resource
- PBS Learning Media-Tons of resources for all levels
- No Red Ink-Improve student writing and grammar skills
- iKeepSafe for Educators-Resources for digital citizenship and online safety/privacy
- NPS collective notes from the Massachusetts Computer Using Educators Conference (MassCUE)
Tech Committee Meeting
Wednesday, Dec 9, 2015, 03:30 PM
NMS Library
Community Tech Night
Tuesday, Dec 15, 2015, 06:30 PM
NMS Auditorium
Have a Professional Twitter Account?
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter!
NPS Technology Department
Email: kwinsper@norton.k12.ma.us
Website: http://www.norton.k12.ma.us
Location: 64 West Main Street, Norton, MA, United States
Phone: (508)285-0100
Twitter: @kwinsper