North Reading Digital Learning: March 2016

Thursday, March 31, 2016

RT @MASchoolsK12: Our Office of Digital Learning also has a list of free online courses to supplement classroom work: https://t.co/I44vtzLnQW #edtech #maedu

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RT @MASchoolsK12: Cmsr Chester & Ken Klau: Can't emphasize enough importance of participating in #Erate . Info here : https://t.co/2WFEEqPDJ6 #edtech #maedu

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RT @MASchoolsK12: We're happy to be a part of this grant!https://t.co/rgtiA34fLC @CTEWorks #JPMorganChase @MassEducation #maedu #cte https://t.co/8HTb3v6Xn9

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RT @mmarotta: Thanks @annapnolin for a great presentation on Natick's teaching, learning and technology vision presentation https://t.co/tNBfgKhiII

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RT @MASchoolsK12: Ken Klau of https://t.co/L9SKsfcVec talking re state objectives for #digitallearning , plus shoutout to #Natick & @digitalhornets #maedu

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Tuesday, March 29, 2016

How to Track Gmail Messages with Google Analytics https://t.co/gGvvKNdVqE

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North Reading Tech Buzz: Chromebook Tips & Tricks

http://bit.ly/chromebooktricks

Overview Of Session Topics:

Keyboard Shortcuts
Tips For Teaching With Chromebooks
Accessibility Features Of Chromebooks
Create Tools On Chromebooks
Using Soundcloud To Record Student Audio
Useful Chrome Apps/Add Ons That Help You On The Chromebook
What’s New In Chrome

Chromebook Shortcuts

Tips For Teaching With Chromebooks

Google Add-Ons

Thesaurus-Add On Thesaurus In Google Apps
Orange Slice Rubric Creator-Teacher Rubric Creator In Google Apps
Bibme-Google Apps Add On To Assist Students With Creating Bibliographies
Gliffy Diagrams-Online Diagrams and Graphics

Accessibility

Useful Chrome Apps

AddToAny-Share to Google Classroom Or Blogger From Your Chrome Browser
Geogebra-Web based geometry tools.
Ed Puzzle- Engage students with video.
SnagIt-Simple screenshots in the cloud.
Speechnotes-Great web based voice to text tool.

What’s New In Chrome

100 Best Chromebook Tips, Tricks and Time Savers - Chrome Story https://t.co/5FXiDhW43n

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Change Team Project 7: Introduction to Content & User Centered (UX) Approaches to Mobile Application Design https://t.co/2KcZJ7aWTB

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RT @danieldowns: LEGO Education is coming to Boston https://t.co/f0B6nSGco9 @digitalhornets #lego #boston

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RT @hkelleytech: Genius Hour- Sample-what is coding?@EELittleSchool @digitalhornets #hourofcode #edchatma @jcoughlin24 https://t.co/xcxNmyMYOe

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RT @hkelleytech: Fantastic morning session on Organizing Your Google Drive this morning! @EELittleSchool @digitalhornets https://t.co/m8wN2JkBdU

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RT @hkelleytech: Passing the baton- the classroom teacher takes over student support. Way to go! @digitalhornets https://t.co/16cbr2AT76

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RT @hkelleytech: Kindergarten Reading their color words using QR codes @EELittleSchool @digitalhornets https://t.co/oG5xMvlsnk

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Friday, March 18, 2016

RT @Makerspaces_com: Libraries are becoming community centers again by becoming modern #makerspaces https://t.co/FehzZRDUOk #makerED https://t.co/TSypuquBvt

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RT @edutopia: How scannable technology can transform the way we interact with the world around us: https://t.co/LCmz7Mwfdd #edtech https://t.co/3YDttvr17b

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RT @MsLindsayNRPS: Fourth graders showing off their Scratch skills for their state project @jthoodelemen https://t.co/iZraJcVYcc

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Art Of The Push In: Helping Teachers Identify Tools When They Need Them

Teachers will not always give clear signals as to when they need help from an instructional technologist or specialist. Teachers who in the course of their busy day are learning new tech skills, teaching their lessons and managing their classroom. They aren't going to just come out and say “can I learn that new tool that you tried to share with me last week?” One of the first goals of any good instructional technologist is to have five to six strong tools that can have a variety of impact in different classrooms in their back pocket and be ready to present this tool in less than 30 seconds. The opportunities mount and over time develop organically over time into shared experiences with successful technology use.

Most teachers are only going to be open to a referral to a new tech tool or resource for about 1-2 minutes before they are going to need to get back to their class. In order to introduce a new tool and show teachers how it can improve a specific part of their instructional practice it must fulfill an immediate strategic need to satisfy a larger curriculum based goal. Ideally, In the past it has been tools like Google classroom or Dipity Timeline Maker or even tools which make sharing web resources more easily into new opportunities with teachers to sit down with them and share how these tools can streamline instruction with technology.

As an instructional technologist or technology coach you will never know when you are going to be put on the spot. You don't know if you’re going to be in a classroom that will require a guiding supportive hand to the needs of the teacher or be called upon to be the lead teacher. You also don't know if the teachers going to be fully receptive to what you're going to show them. The trick in getting many digital learning initiatives off the ground is connecting the teachers with people who can enable them to experiment and work with teachers to support higher level use of technology in their classrooms.

Often called “pushing in”, instructional technologists or tech coaches are often asked to come into classroom and assist the teachers with learning tools on the fly or sometimes with lessons planned in advance. “Pushing in” needs to be meaningful, and ideally support the teacher at a critical point that the instruction ties with the technology and the core content. The circumstances of a “push in” are also ideally brought on by district initiatives which support tools which enhance the teacher's instruction. An instructional technologist needs to be an active and involved participant in the school culture as well. Always on display, a instructional technology coach must show their confidence with tools and their willingness to jump in to fix or troubleshoot issues to set the model standard for teachers. Developing a variety of different relationships is essential, confidence to share knowledge with staff, administration and technology leadership assists in acquiring buy in on implementation of tools that scale teachers growth. They must go into offices, classrooms, libraries and a range of other environments to work directly with staff and students to help them achieve their goals.

Supporting the teacher to the point in which they can take the technology on upon themselves is the priority. Instructional technology specialists and coaches are not there to handicap them; they should provide so much support that they feel like they could do the lesson themselves. They should leave teachers feeling confident with technology, answer their questions and provide support and help teachers embed their use of technology tools into instruction. Conclusively, this process is more of an art than a science and it depends on how the coach cultivates relationships in their schools. And, as always, they should be nice!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

6 Flipped Learning Technologies To Watch in 2016 -- THE Journal https://t.co/sDDjM3gtCH

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Best Free presentation Software and PowerPoint Alternative https://t.co/S4vinUplrN

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Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Tech Buzz: Learning The ENO Board For Instruction March 15th-Middle/High School 2:30-4:00 MS/HS Media Center North Reading Public Schools

March 15th-Middle/High School 2:30-4:00 MS/HS Media Center

✫ Learning The ENO Board For Instruction

Receive an introduction to the connections, pen features and magnetic strip tools which are part of the ENO board set-up. Learn best practices for using your document camera, ENO Software and tips that will help you make the ENO board part of your daily instructional tools.

ENO Board Icon Strip Tip Sheet

Setting Up Your User Settings: This video will provide an overview of:

Changing your Icons to a specific web page, application or even your favorite type of documents.

https://drive.google.com/a/north-reading.k12.ma.us/file/d/0B3zD-klUpZAtNm1hM0lhVGJBNjQ/view?usp=sharing

In the ENO Settings We Can Also Change:

Change The Default Pen Colors(Pen User Settings)

Enable The Keyboard

Enable Replay Strokes, Left Handed Cursor or Start Up Options

Red Color Button Settings

Default Save Settings

Troubleshooting Connections

Basic Fix Video Overview

Friday, March 11, 2016

Best Websites for Teaching & Learning 2015 | American Association of School Librarians (AASL) https://t.co/Hi8BXM657P

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Engage Edison 2016 – The District’s First Parent Tech Conference https://t.co/3oskwdHT2K

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Thursday, March 10, 2016

RT @makerfaire: Save the date! National Maker Faire is back June 18-19th https://t.co/nD4jEWWpiS Hope to see you there! #NatlMF2016 https://t.co/312JWRX0Ee

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Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Meet Edison - Cheap Programmable Lego Robot Kits https://t.co/WUMb1mEmz4

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Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Assessing Faculty's Technology Needs | EDUCAUSE https://t.co/jDyaLl1Rm2

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RT @mrkempnz: BRAND NEW blog post just uploaded - What is Mystery Skype? My 2016 update! https://t.co/GDE4XpUGUq @Microsoft https://t.co/COcf0ZKiSK

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RT @mrkempnz: BRAND NEW blog post just uploaded - What is Mystery Skype? My 2016 update! https://t.co/GDE4XpUGUq @Microsoft https://t.co/COcf0ZKiSK

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RT @EdTechTeacher21: We have added NEW Innovative Projects and Lessons for all grades and subjects: https://t.co/l4KhCqjkp8 #edtechchat https://t.co/f07F4zO80D

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RT @Makerspaces_com: How to start a #makerspace when you're broke by @DianaLRendina via @aasl - https://t.co/Ur1gjfIwxn #makerspaces https://t.co/R7EU6HlUOR

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RT @Makerspaces_com: Review of the new @littlebits STEAM student set announced at #SXSWedu https://t.co/9NL4YblEm5 #makerspace #makerED https://t.co/jabSZcRUZf

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RT @EdTechTeacher21: What is Design Thinking? Check out this article from @brholland then join us this summer: https://t.co/Hz36IPiP0F https://t.co/T6VdDi1laI

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Texas District Adopts Platform To Bring STEAM Pros to the Classroom -- THE Journal https://t.co/9MVD1ma0zs

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Change Team-Student Instructional Tech Support: Change Team Project 3: Editing HTML5 & CSS For Responsive Web Pages https://t.co/HiJPtEMwDL

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https://t.co/HiJPtEMwDL

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Change Team-Student Instructional Tech Support: Change Team Project 2: iPad & Chromebook Cart Maintenance https://t.co/DRl94BEoTq

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The Engineering Design Process | Engineering is Elementary https://t.co/d6h4FKL6gD #designthinking #engineering

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Editing A Responsive HTML5 & CSS Web Page With Portable Notepad++: https://t.co/YiHsechw9o via @YouTube

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Monday, March 7, 2016

https://t.co/22qbskQPap #google #addons #edtech #edtechma

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Tech Buzz: Google Add-Ons 2:30-4:30 MS/HS Media Center Tier 3

Want to harness the power of Google in new ways? if you have been working with Google Apps in the classroom and want to take it to the next level it's time to integrate some Add-Ons.

Google Add-Ons will provide added functionality to your Docs, Spreadsheets, Forms and your collaboration in the classroom. Learn how to streamline bibliographies, assessments, Math Equations, Translation Tools, Graphic Charts and many more. Add flexibility for yourself and your students with Google Add-Ons!

Overview Of Google Add-Ons

Google Drive Blog: Bring a little something extra to Docs and Sheets with add-ons

My Favorite Add-Ons:

UberConference

Brings the conference call to you Google Drive. Great tool with easy interactive features in your Google Drive.

Drive Tunes

This enables you to add audio files directly into your Google Docs. Great for written projects which require that extra layer of media.

EasyBib

Add citations easily and effectively into your Google Docs. My favorite part of this Doc is the feature which collects your citations at the bottom of the page.

Gliffy

Orange Slice Teacher Rubric

I want to make you aware of a new series of "Tech Buzz" technology professional development available over the coming months and into the summer. Please sign up for these opportunities in My Learning Plan. There are a variety of topics to choose from related to ENO, Google, Kahoots, SMART Software and Discovery Education. Click Here For The Complete List

A few points of interest:

Any combination of 12 hours of participation in the "TechBuzz" Trainings contributes to an in-service credit through "North Reading University" for advancement on the salary scale.
Trainings for MS/HS will be located in the Media Center.
Elementary trainings will travel between each school (see schedule for details.
A specific summer training called "Google University"(1 Credit) will take place over 4 days(12 hours/1 credit) in August.