Every Monday I share a different ed tech quote on our Thompson Classroom social media pages for our staff to consider. Computer Science Education week is officially here! Running from today through to December 9th, this event is an international movement designed to introduce students to the field of computer science, strengthen computational thinking and encourage creativity in the digital space. Last week I shared out one of my favourite coding resources Code.org which is being utilized across the division in a variety of ways. If the idea of coding is new to you, or you are trying to find ways to hook the… Read More
Follow Friday – Code.org
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. Monday kicks off Computer Science Education Week which runs from December 5-9th, 2022. This event is an international movement designed to introduce students to the field of computer science, strengthen computational thinking and encourage creativity in the digital space. One way to introduce Computer Science Education Week is through an Hour of Code event! “The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Anyone,… Read More
December ICT Newsletter
With the start of a new month comes a new monthly ICT newsletter. These newsletters are designed to serve as an outreach to all MVSD staff and provide: general ICT updates (software changes, divisional ICT timelines, tech-themed holidays) upcoming PD for the month tech tips divisional highlights These newsletters are sent out to staff via our divisional email but are also shared out through our social media pages and divisional website. December 2022 ICT Newsletter by Kirsten Cali
Access to Augment, Virtual, & Mixed Reality Tools
*This post has been written as part of my journey as a Ph.D student through University of Regina Class VR Within our division we have two class sets (8 headsets each) of the Class VR headsets that are accompanied by a subscription to the teacher management and curriculum dashboard. This virtual reality tool is specifically designed for education; a demo video from YouTube is included below for your review This would be the VR tool that I have the most experience with but it is purely from an instructional standpoint as I do not have my own students. This experience… Read More
#TweetTheHalls 2022
As we approach December I am thrilled to announce that for the third year in a row, I am helping bring #TweetTheHalls to Manitoba! Inspired in 2020 out of a conversation with Donna Miller Fry, this Twitter event is being run in collaboration with #MBEdChat. Check out the official prompt calendar below! This year is bringing some exciting changes including a dedicated Twitter account to manage updates follow along @TweetTheHallsMB weekly prizes and overall prizes If you haven’t participated in #TweetTheHalls before or are new to Twitter check out yesterday’s post which featured a tutorial. In the mean time, check out the prompt for December… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Joining #TweetTheHalls
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. With #TweetTheHalls starting up on Thursday I wanted to make sure that everyone knew exactly how to join in on the fun and ensure that their tweets were curated into our pool to get them in the running for some great prizes! Check out the informational video below shared via Twitter: If you haven’t yet created yourself a Twitter account I recommend this YouTube video by Matt Miller: Stay tuned as tomorrow we will be… Read More
How Are Using Social Networks?
On Mondays I share a different ed tech quote on our Thompson Classroom social media pages for our staff to consider. I went back and forth quite a bit on which quote to include this week. With the onset of #TweetTheHalls starting on Thursday I wanted something that spoke to the fact that the connections that can be made in the online space can be immensely valuable. Yes, Twitter is an example of a social network but it is so much more than just a place to share out posts and find resources. I joined Twitter in 2012 and I have befriended… Read More
Follow Friday – Tweet The Halls
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 approach December I am thrilled to announce that for the third year in a row, I am helping bring #TweetTheHalls to Manitoba! Inspired in 2020 out of a conversation with Donna Miller Fry, this Twitter event is being run in collaboration with #MBEdChat. This year is bringing some exciting changes including a dedicated Twitter account to manage updates follow along @TweetTheHallsMB we will also have some amazing prizes on the line for participants!… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Immersive Reader in Edge
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. For those that are new to Immersive Reader, this Microsoft assistive tool is compatible with many aspects of your Office 365 suite such as Word, OneNote, Teams, Outlook, and the Microsoft Edge Web Browser. A video introduction hosted via YouTube is shared below: This tool allows users to have any text read aloud to them while changing the style of reading voice and speed, as well as opening up the text in a separate window… Read More
Coding and Makerspaces in MVSD
*This post has been written as part of my journey as a Ph.D student through University of Regina MakerSpace Resources Within our division we do not have any school buildings with spaces that are officially designated as Makerspaces. However, we have elements of “maker culture” in every school space. This includes: curriculum-focused spaces for classes such as home-economics, wood-working, design, art, and more library work spaces with a variety of loose-parts student common spaces with supplies such as lego, magnatiles, devices, loose-parts, etc outdoor classrooms with loose-parts sourced from the local environment classroom-based creation stations/centers (especially common at the K-Gr… Read More