CSDNR Instructional Tech Weekly

If you are looking to brush up on your technology skills over the summer, there are a number of vendors offering professional learning opportunities for teachers. If you have not had the opportunity to learn the new Smart Learning Suite, this summer is the time to do so. Smart is offering a Summer Refresher for two days in July. They will have keynote speakers, PD on existing and new features within the platform. You can register by filling out this form.

Apple is also offering summer workshops on a variety of topics. From June 15th - July 8th, Apple is hosting a series of virtual, hands-on professional learning experiences on the iPad. There is no cost to participate. Register here for the these workshops. Apple also offers individual sessions for educators. Educators can sign up for a personal or small group coaching session with an Apple Professional Learning Specialist. Teachers can learn new skills and ask questions about Apple tools in the context of learning and teaching. You can schedule your 30-minute personal coaching session by contacting: AppleProfessionalLearning@apple.com.

As the end of the year gets closer, there are certain things teachers may want to do in order to close out the school year to be prepared to start again in September. Check out this website on Closing Out Google Classroom or this Google Slide Deck on End of Year Practices for Google. Some of these practices may help you get organized and declutter your Google Drive, or your Gmail. Take a look at this short video on how to create filters in Gmail. This may mitigate that overflowing inbox.

Did you know that Nearpod offers Digital Citizenship lessons for grades K-12? These lessons include topics such as keyboarding, coding, evaluating resources and staying safe online. There is a scope and sequence that includes all of the lessons Nearpod offers. There are over 250 lessons in all and the lessons meet standards for CASEL, ISTE, as well as state-level digital citizenship and literacy standards. The lessons use the Gradual Release of Responsibility and the Guided Inquiry instructional framework. Nearpod also offers an implementation guide for using the Digital Citizenship lessons in the classroom. You do not have to wait for Digital Citizenship month in October to provide your students with important lessons on this topic.

The District will be moving to a new platform for assessment creation called Performance Matters. Performance Matters provides districts with a user-friendly platform to create a variety of assessment types. Performance Matters provides schools and districts with standards-aligned items, pre-made assessments, realtime reporting by question / standard, and the ability to compare common district assessment results to third party assessment data. This application is not only an assessment creation tool, but a data warehouse.

Because of the move to this new software, we will be eliminating software that has same purpose. The District will no longer support Castle Learning, as our usage has decreased this year. We will also no longer support DnA. We are committed to a smooth transition to Performance Matters and will provide professional learning for teachers and administrators in the summer and the fall.

Ed Law 2-D requires New York State districts to carefully vet all software used and third party providers. While the law is focused on protecting student PII, it also emphasizes the cyber security of third party vendors, since public school districts have been easy targets for cyber criminals. Ransomware attacks against K-12 school districts have been on the rise. These attacks can interfere with online learning and compromise data. In some reported cases, data was stolen from schools and published online; including personal information belonging to students, staff and faculty.

Going forward, all software, free or otherwise, will need to be approved by the District. In order to be compliant with the law. We will no longer be able to allow software that has not been properly vetted for data privacy as well as cyber security. There is a process for vetting in place and it begins with filling out a Software Approval Form. Also, please take a look at the District Applications that are already approved.

Did you know there are many applications that provide teachers and students with the same types of engaging activities? Nearpod is an application that the District procures. Nearpod provides teachers with ready-made content that spans early literacy to high school biology. There are a plethora of resources and interactive and engaging formative assessments in this platform. It is very similar to Kahoot, Peardeck, Blooket and Padlet. Additionally, Smart Learning Suite, which is also a District Approved software, offers a variety of interactive tools for teachers to use to assess students in an inviting way.

Adobe Spark is a simple platform to use to create videos and tell digital stories. Teachers can create an account using Google Single Sign On. Once you have an account there are a number of things you can do. Making videos is just one. Teachers can create flyers, portfolios or collages to name a few. If you want to know more about creating videos, take a look at this how-to video from Jeannine Shields. Use M6?v@yRi to view.

The District will be moving from Novell to Active Directory this summer. Active Directory provides the methods for storing directory data and making this data available to network users and administrators. The Tech Team is recommending that you back up your network drive. There are many ways to back up your data. You can use a flash drive or an external hard drive to back up and store your files. Another way to back up your stored data is to upload it to your Google Drive. It is very simple and you have unlimited storage in the Google Cloud. Here is a short video on how to move folders into your Google Drive.

The Instructional Technology Team provides ongoing professional learning. Using this new form Request for Professional Learning Form, teachers can ask for training on a variety of applications. Just fill out the form and be sure to include details about specific goals you would like addressed in the training. We will do our best to accommodate your professional learning goals.

Specific applications are listed, but there is also an "Other" category as well. If we cannot provide training, we may be able to contact the vendor to provide professional learning for teachers.

Education Law 2-D provides extra protections for student data and personally identifiable information (PII). Ed Law 2-D calls on educational institutions to limit the amount of PII being utilized and transmitted, especially in unprotected ways. Take a look at this short video on protecting student data.

It is also important to limit the amount of student PII being shared in emails and sending sensitive information via an email is not always secure. Gmail has two security features built into it. Here is a brief video on how to use these Gmail security features.

Teachers can also send a password protected MS Excel file or a password protected MS Word file. This is very simple to do. Take a look at this short video on how to password protect your MS Excel files. Here is a video on how to password protect your MS Word files.

The Instructional Technology Website is always being updated. Recently, the site was overhauled to feature the professional learning resources that are available to all CSDNR faculty and staff. Last spring, the Team began vetting and creating resources to help educators learn how to use software applications. The resources include step-by-step videos as well as Google Slide Decks. There are also Google Docs and PDFs. Over the last year, we have added many resources to this collection.