It was an energizing Pro-D on February 28th as we came together virtually with colleagues and friends. Ideas shared and processes unpacked throughout many of the workshops. As we move into March and April we might consider taking deeper dives into those ideas.
We have been hard at work developing on-demand videos in a wide range of areas. This allows any staff to take advantage whenever they wish. There are many rabbit holes to discover and connect with your curriculum. You can find these on our Learning Tech blog here and on our new Burnaby Learning Community Team. Everyone is welcome – launch Teams and search for Burnaby Learning Community. There you will find “Tips, Tutorials and ProD”, “Ask a Question,” “EdTech FAQs”. We even have “Open Office Hours” where you can virtually drop in and explore how something might work in your class. We love unpacking possibilities. If you prefer simply to scan through the video and instructional procedures on your own, then you have also come to the right place.
Some of the core areas supporting the EdTech plan include:
*Understanding and using O365 suite of tools (Teams, Word…) to facilitate writing, reading, communicating, integrate tools for differentiation and inclusion, make assignment creation/collection process efficient. We love the built-in adaptive tools (Immersive Reader, Dictate, picture dictionary,…)
*Blogs – classroom, secondary departments can use this tool to share story, teaching and learning. Included in this are student blogFolios where deeper dives can be explored in writing process, self assessment, curricular competencies as well as learning to develop a site (intermediate).
*Creativation – Are you interested in story? 20 elementary sites started this journey of developing/unpacking story through the use of green screen. Be a journalist telling your news from a far off location, unleash the explorer in you and discover scientific processes, jazz up your monthly assemblies or tell your story in multiple languages. There are too many ideas of where this might be applied. Elementary schools who wish to join in this exciting project will receive 15 paid licenses of DoInk app plus a full portable professional green screen kit. Wow! You’ll find the registration on the Staff Development calendar for the next group.
Along the same vein is the use of “Book Creator” app to develop and unpack story resulting in an ebook-type format. To get schools started on this path, elementary schools can join in the group 2 wave and also receive 30 paid licenses of the app on their student ipads. Contact me if you are interested.
*BYOD Secondary – launch of Alpha grade 8’s include a course on Digital Leadership facilitated by our EdTech team. Themes around priv
acy, wellness, sleep hygiene, safety and digital citizenship offer insights in how we make decisions in our use or understanding of the digital realm.
*Micro:bits for coding. We have kits all ready for you to engage in exploring the world of coding. Or jump over to our ADST page to see ideas.
If you wish to chat about any rabbit holes you would like to dive into, let us know and we’d be happy to learn alongside.
I truly appreciate the opportunity to grow professionally in these areas and to have the skills to support the staff and students in my two learning communities! I thank Janet for her personal touch and always being available to provide assistance and immediate feedback when I am stuck!
Thank you Leslie-Jo. Very kind of you for your words of encouragement. We are incredibly thankful that we are able to support staff across the district in these areas. We grow together, we learn and discover together.