Every Friday I share what I believe to be a notable person/organization/school on our social media pages to assist our staff in the development of their online Personal Learning Network. As we head into Spring Break I want to make sure that Riding the Wave is on your radar because it is a FANTASTIC learning and networking event and a great way to build your ed tech goals in alignment with your plans for the upcoming year. Situated in beautiful Gimli, Manitoba the 2023 theme is focused on, “unleashing your creative potential”, and will feature keynote David Usher who will be… Read More
The Role of Chat GPT in Education – An AI Generated Unaffiliated TED-Style Talk
As I prepped for our discussion on AI with the Manitoba School Libraries Association yesterday I started to curate further resources to support learning in this area. As I put together articles, ebooks, podcasts, and more I was curious to see if there was any current TED talks on the subject. After not finding anything published on YouTube within the past 3 months I began scrolling the TED website to see if there were any TED or TEDx talks close, thinking I could jump in and potentially do one. While there are many options, none were close. I then began… Read More
The Role of ChatGPT and AI Tools in the Modern Classroom
This evening I will be working alongside the Manitoba School Libraries Association (MSLA) in a panel discussion on ChatGPT and AI. The panel will include Barry Dyck, Sean Giesbrecht, Samantha Adamson, and MSLA facilitator Brandy Bartok. As a way to tie the event and AI together, MSLA event-planners utilized ChatGPT to write the event description! Discover the benefits and challenges of using ChatGPT and other AI tools in the classroom, including how they can enhance student engagement, facilitate personalized learning, and address challenges such as differentiated instruction and virtual learning. Our panel will share their insights on strategies for mitigating… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Out of Office
Every Tuesday I share a Tech Tip on our social media pages to assist our staff in their use of technology as it relates to their role. Spring is officially here, despite having temperatures in the -30C range this week! As we wrap up the third week of March I know that students, and teachers, have their eyes toward Spring Break. However, teacher’s tend to have their, “teacher-brain”, on all the time and sometimes have challenges stepping back and finding time for themselves. Trust me, you will be a better teacher if you take the break for yourself. Relax, recharge, and engage… Read More
Follow Friday – EverFi
Every Friday I share what I believe to be a notable person/organization/school on our social media pages to assist our staff in the development of their online Personal Learning Network. EverFi has been a FREE digital resource that I have utilized throughout my education career after hearing about them at a ManACE event in 2014. If you are new to their programming I suggest starting at their K-12 introductory webpage. A “How It Works” video is also embedded below from their YouTube page: EverFi offers multiple digital courses across a variety of subjects but my go-to courses for the area of… Read More
WOW Wednesday – Jodi Campbell & Yvette Bailes
On Wednesdays I highlight some of our amazing MVSD staff on our social media pages. Everyday our staff are using tech in new and exciting ways, are learning new skills, and are sharing ways in which ed tech is assisting them in their practice. At the start of February I put out a call for staff who were interested in participating in the spring coaching cycle. MVSD schools can sign up to participate in spring coaching cycles to empower students and teachers in their use of educational technology to support programming. Cycles can focus on educator training, student sessions and/or community outreach.… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – PowerSchool Portal
Every Tuesday I share a Tech Tip on our social media pages to assist our staff in their use of technology as it relates to their role. Here in Manitoba we are moving towards spring assessments for our K-8 educators and learners. Component A.3 of our divisional Student Assessment Procedure indicates that: All members of the learning community, students, educators and parents must be actively engaged in assessment, in order to develop a common understanding of the classroom assessment and evaluation process. MVSD Student Assessment Procedure, Section B, Part A.3 One tool that can be used to increase assessment engagement is through the parent/student… Read More
Follow Friday – Rick Wormeli
Every Friday I share what I believe to be a notable person/organization/school on our social media pages to assist our staff in the development of their online Personal Learning Network. On Monday, February 27th, MVSD staff met divisionally with a majority grouping working with Rick Wormeli on the topic of outcome-based assessment. While I didn’t have an opportunity to personally work with Rick as I was hosting my own sessions with our EA staff, I’ve heard a lot of positive feedback from our staff. Our PD Team has been working to develop a long-term plan with Rick to continue our learning… Read More
Desktop Organization Upgrade
Around this time last year I saw a Reel on Instagram that inspired me to add some personal flair to my desktop background. I thought it would be fun to do a little “spring cleaning” and make myself a new one with a totally different style. The layout of my desktop background is tailored around the fact that my screen is regularly displayed for the purposes of tech training with staff, students, and community members. I put together a brief tutorial on how I did this last year (see embedded TikTok). Which desktop do you like better? The 2022 version… Read More
WOW Wednesday – Mandy Arnold
On Wednesdays I highlight some of our amazing MVSD staff on our social media pages. Everyday our staff are using tech in new and exciting ways, are learning new skills, and are sharing ways in which ed tech is assisting them in their practice. Earlier in the year I had an opportunity to visit Mackenzie Middle School to discuss their tech-related goals for the year. One of which was to integrate student-run video announcements into their school communication plan. The supervising teacher, Mandy, had operated a similar program at a previous school and had a solid understanding of what was required. To… Read More