Tech Snacks
Byte-Sized Treats to Transform Learning
February 22 - Celebrate With Us!
Join other educators and students from across the district, state, country, and around the world to celebrate Digital Learning Day. Mark your calendars now and get inspired to join in the celebration on February 22. Take this opportunity to connect with others, share ideas, experiment with new tools and celebrate digital innovation! Digital Learning Day celebrations can take place in a variety of ways and the possibilities are endless. Consider adding a digital component to one lesson, go paperless for the day, participate in a Skype or Google Hangout with a community partner, research online, showcase student work digitally, use social media to highlight a project… See? This list could go on and on.
Ready to get started? Register your school and add to the collaborative map. Browse engaging Activities and Ideas designed by other educators that are ready to use in your classroom across all grades and content levels. Take a second to learn about a new digital tool that can be used to enhance lessons and empower student creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. Share ideas and photos from your event on Twitter using the hashtag #DLDay and @FCPSOIT so we can brag on our amazing teachers..
Do you need more inspiration to get started? Visit the Digital Learning Day website, check out focused Pinterest boards, stalk @OfficialDLDay on Twitter to connect with other educators, or contact your District Technology Resource Teacher.
Google Educator Level 1 Certification
We will be starting a new Google Educator Level 1 Certification cohort in February for teachers and leaders that are interested in taking the certification exam. The cohort will include both online, self-paced learning as well as three face-to-face trainings to help cover the content you need to know to pass the certification exam. We will offer a testing date in April for those that want on-site support or participants can test on their own.
Face-to-face training will take place at the Annex in Lab 305 on the following dates from 4:30 – 6:30.
· Feb. 13, 2018 (Tues.)
· Feb. 27, 2018 (Tues.)
· March, 14, 2018 (Wed.)
To register, please complete this form by Wednesday, Feb. 7th.
Register: https://goo.gl/forms/OTj00dVSVDt4t1w02
Omnibox Shortcuts
Remember the sloth scene out of the movie Zootopia? Well, the scene pretty much goes like this:
Officer Hopps is at the DMV and waiting on Flash (the sloth) to run a license plate for her. His typing is precise, but oh so sloth-like. You can check out the video here to refresh the ol’ noggin. Why do I mention this painful scene? Well, Google helps us save some keystrokes by incorporating omnibox shortcuts. These shortcuts can save you loads of time when searching and typing on different websites. You can use them to search YouTube, Wikipedia, and even Amazon (we use Chrome at home too, ya know). Here’s how:
Surf to a website that you search fairly often. For example, www.youtube.com
Hover over the omnibox (address bar) and perform a right click of the mouse.
Choose EDIT SEARCH ENGINES.
From here, you can ADD A SEARCH ENGINE or edit a search engine by clicking on the “3 dots” next to a listed search engine.
Change the keyword of the search engine. In this case, find YOUTUBE VIDEO SEARCH and change the keyword to YT. Note: You can change the keyword to a letter or two of your own choosing.
So, how does this work?
Open up a new tab in Chrome, type “YT” and then click on the tab key. Type in a search phrase and press ENTER and “Viola!” YouTube opens with your current search!
Up Your Canvas Game with Collaborations!
It's time to step up your Canvas game by checking out the Collaborations feature lurking inside the course sidebar. This wonderful tool offers an easy way for multiple users to work together in a single document at the same time, thus making group collaboration easy. Use it to share assignments to student groups, create a notes area for everyone to see, or copy and paste notes for all to access. For more information, check out the PD menu for an upcoming session or click here for directions.
Student Art
If you finish your writing assignment early, you may draw a picture to illustrate your story... or wait. What if the student were to use their creativity to first create an illustration and then weave a tale to enrich their piece? It might just be the spark to ignite a spectacular yarn! Paint on PCs and Google Drawings on Chromebooks are both free programs available for student use. Please enjoy these first place winning masterpieces from last year’s Fayette County STEM Fair.
Upcoming Technology Professional Development
Look below for exciting PD sessions led by the Office of Instructional Technology. Keep an eye on www.fcps.net/pd as Google, Canvas, Digital Learning and other PD opportunities are regularly added to the PD menu. What other topics are you interested in having training? Let us know here.
Click HERE to register for any of the pd sessions listed below.
FCPS Office of Instructional Technology
Email: fcps.oit@fayette.kyschools.us
Website: blogs.fcps.net
Location: 701 East Main Street, Lexington, KY, United States
Phone: 8593814680
Twitter: @FCPSOIT