GWAEA DL Update

Each year, Digital Learning Day is a celebration of the many great things that happen in schools and classrooms throughout the year. One great way to celebrate #DLDay is to plan a local event or activity. How do you plan to celebrate the amazing things going on in your classroom or school?
Whether you lead a district or school, or teach in a classroom, we invite you to join the celebration and plan your own #DLDay celebration to honor your commitment to making learning personal for your students. Learn more about Digital Learning Day with All4Ed!

News and Updates:

• Include Captions with a Google Meet Recording
• Padlet has added a slideshow (Tony Vincent)
• Bing AKA Sydney

• The Online Search Wars - The Daily 2.15.23
• The Online Search Wars Got Scary. Fast. - The Daily 2.17.23
• AI - Chat GPT for positive use in the classroom
• Create & Edit a Timeline View - Google Docs Editors Help
• Table Templates in Google Docs

Tech Nuggets:

Mindy:

• Take the background out of your iPhone pictures (iOS16)
• Force captions on in YouTube: Thanks, Amber! ?cc_load_policy=1 (embed code comes after video ‘name’)
• The Achievery: Has Learning Units, essential questions, standards, grade level, video clips, and lesson plans. Thanks, Lynn!
• Eduprotocols in Google Slides from @MrsGearhart

Gina:

• ScreenPal for video feedback in any textbox
• Curipod - AI-powered lessons
• Iorad - great for creating tutorials
• Slides Timer - Chrome extension for a timer in Google Slides
• Cloze Reading Assignment with Drop Downs in Google Docs - via Eric Curts

Stacy:

• Conker - topic and grade level and will give multiple choice quiz that can go into a Google form or PDF
• QR code - Canva Apps
• Checkboxes in docs- can add to tasks
• About spaces and group conversations - Google Chat Help

The GWAEA Corner Booth:

• GWAEA & CSTA Iowa CS Pedagogy & Best Practices Course 2

We’d love to hear from you! Reach out to us on Twitter @DLGWAEA or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram! You can always use our #EdtechTO and share your thoughts with us too!

This episode of The Edtech Take Out is available for listening online, but you can also find it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

You can email us with questions or ideas for future episodes at podcast@gwaea.org.

The important practice of creating models brings life to content and concepts that are part of the Iowa Core Science Standards. When students create models, they interact with ideas, making them visual to move their scientific thinking forward.

From The Modeling Toolkit: Making Student Thinking Visible with Public Representations. “This practice is central to the work of science because modeling activities can prompt new questions for investigation, which, in turn, can lead to evidence and information that can be incorporated into a revised model. Models can also support explanations of natural events and processes.”

It’s important to keep in mind that you are not asking students to create a single model that could be copied from a textbook...continue reading, see examples & templates

Wait….Ninja and Unicorn in the same sentence? Sold! Tell me more….one of the unicorns of premium access to Pear Deck is the teacher dashboard. You might be familiar with using the projector view when facilitating a session in Pear Deck. However, if wanting to ninjafy your Pear Deck skills, you need to dive into the teacher dashboard and discover the additional features you can unlock to create a more dynamic experience for your learners.

Here are just a few ninja level skills the teacher dashboard provides:

• Spotlight specific student submissions when showing responses by staring their replies

• Provide real-time feedback to individual student responses

• Hide replies that might distract from the overall learning experience

• Open the dashboard on a separate device (phone, tablet, etc) for greater mobility

We hope these teasers about the teacher dashboard spark some insights on how you can ninjafy your Pear Deck skills further.

Each month, be on the lookout for a variety of tips, tricks and testimonials shared via our newsletter, the statewide Iowa AEA website and via social media (@iowa_aea, #iowaaea, @GrantWoodAEA). For more information or to share your favorite Pear Deck features and ideas, check out the AEA website.

Using templates while creating presentation saves you time and will engage your learners. It allows you to focus on the content instead of the formatting of your slides.

🎥 Digital Learning Team Tips & Tricks Playlists 🎥

Want more CS updates and resources? Click here to sign up & receive our newsletter and targeted emails based on grade bands and interests selected.

Iowa's AEAs are proud to partner with the Iowa Department of Education and NewBoCo to host the 2023 Iowa CS PD Week June 12 through June 16 on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, IA. PreK-12 programs and registration will be shared by Spring 2023.

➡️ Any computer science educator who is interested in attending is invited to complete the interest survey that will help shape the events for the week. ⬅️

Planning ahead for fall? Grant Wood AEA has understanding and unpacking computer science standards workshops scheduled for February and our SCRIPT Network wrapping up in March. Don't miss our SCRIPT In Practice workshop in April for district teams to continue and expand their K-12 CS Implementation planning work during the 2022-23 school year.

We're looking for 3-12 grade classrooms willing to try Digital Moment's Unplugged AI (Artificial Intelligence) card game. It's a wonderful way to engage students in communication and collaboration around how AI works, computational thinking concepts like decomposition and abstraction, and the ethics of computing tools. Check out the video below for an overview of the AI card game and how you might use it with students.

The ask: Invite us to lead the card game with your classroom. We will record your students playing the game. Records may be included in a poster presentation at the CSTA 2023 Virtual Conference. We will work with you to get student media permission.

Interested? Email Corey Rogers (crogers@gwaea.org) with dates and times your classroom can participate.

WHAT: The Jacobson Institute at the University of Iowa and the Iowa EdTech Collaborative are partnering to host multiple DesignDash startup events engaging high school students and educators in one-day, fast paced entrepreneurial excursions.

WHO: All Iowa High School Students and Their Educators interested in Entrepreneurship, Startup/Innovation, Engineering, Design, Hackers, Tech Gurus, Problem Finders & Solvers, Creatives, Gamers, 3D, Artists, etc...

HOW: Each teacher brings students to one of the locations for a day-long startup simulation event. The teachers attending will be actively engaged and have the option to earn graduate credit for their participation.

WHEN & WHERE:

Cedar Rapids:

• Tuesday, April 11, 2023 | 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM | Grant Wood AEA

Iowa City:

• Monday, April 24, 2023 | 9:00 AM- 3:00 PM | MERGE

FOR MORE INFORMATION & REGISTRATION: www.designdash.org

Registration closes four weeks in advance of the event.

CONTACT:

Dawn Bowlus, Director, Jacobson Institute, dawn-bowlus@uiowa.edu or Mark Butland, Director, Iowa EdTech Collaborative, mbutland@icadgroup.com

This course will create a collaborative community of PreK-12 educators to explore the second 6 pedagogical principles of Hello World's "The Big Book of Computing Pedagogy". Participants will attend all sessions synchronously on Zoom and be asked to read articles from the following pedagogical principles:

• Foster Program Comprehension
• Model Everying
• Challenge Misconceptions
• Create Projects
• Get Hands-on
• Add Variety

Reading reflections and evidence of sharing learning with a colleague not participating in the course will be required.

You can learn more about "The Big Book of Computing Pedagogy" in this article and download a free digital copy here. Educators that attended the CSTA 2022 Conference in Chicago received a free print version of this resources.

Dates:

• March 22, 2029: Course Launch
• April 19, 2023 Course Closes

Course #: 204370

Section #: 313929

Our team is sharing more and more on social media to provide resources and to get ideas from other educators! Please join us in the conversation and let us know what you'd like to know and learn about!

Twitter- @dlgwaea

Instagram- @dlgwaea

Facebook- @dlgwaea

The Grant Wood Digital Learning Team works with AEA 10 schools to help them integrate technology in the classroom. We work with teachers and administrators on-site and at Grant Wood facilities. Each school district is assigned a Technology Consultant from the Digital Learning Team to help facilitate the ways in which we can help schools improve teaching and learning with technology. DL Update Archives.

Email: digitallearning@gwaea.org
Website: gwaea.org/educators/curriculum-instruction/digital-learning/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dlgwaea
Twitter: @DLGWAEA

Instagram: @DLGWAEA

Grant Wood Area Education Agency extends equal opportunities in its employment practices, educational programs and services, and does not discriminate on the basis of color, gender, race, national origin, religion, creed, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, veteran status or as otherwise prohibited by law. If you believe you or your child has been discriminated against or treated unjustly, please contact the Agency’s Equity Coordinator, Maria Cashman, at 319-399-6847 or 800-332-8488, Grant Wood AEA, 4401 Sixth St SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404.