On Fridays, 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. Common Sense Media has been a resource that I’ve used for well over a decade and I was shocked when I did a recent search and saw that I’ve never included them as a dedicated Follow Friday post! When working with staff and community members, I often describe Common Sense Media as “the American version of Media Smarts”. They have multiple branches but their general “about” section introduces themselves in the following… Read More
WOW Wednesday – Tanis Bennet
On Wednesdays, I highlight some of our amazing MVSD staff on our social media pages. Every day 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. Today I want to highlight Tanis Bennet and the work that she is doing at Whitmore Elementary. Tanis, and the team at Whitmore, offer the only daily Kindergarten program within MVSD that features a unique component where the last component of the day invites families into the building to participate in programming alongside their children. During the… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Digital Integration for Community Interviews
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. Thursday is the official start of our Community Interviews (parent-teacher interviews) for many school divisions, although individual teachers have already started this process. Given the prevalence of digital tools in our educational programming, I think this is a fantastic opportunity to educate and support our community members on what these tools are and how they shape opportunities within your school community. I have summarized my thoughts on this topic in a video that is available… Read More
Thoughts on AI-Generated Photo Manipulation
The Winnipeg Free Press recently reported on an incident related to “explicitly altered” images at a Louis Riel School Division school (story embedded below or found HERE). The images in question involved faces of under-age students that were manipulated using AI. My heart goes out to both the victims of these images but also those who created the images without a potential understanding of their impact. I am seeing a lot of comments in the online space surrounding the role of AI in this situation. The following are some of my initial thoughts: Technical Education I believe that society, students… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Digital Integration for Community Interviews
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. Thursday is the official start of our Community Interviews (parent-teacher interviews) for many school divisions, although individual teachers have already started this process. Given the prevalence of digital tools in our educational programming, I think this is a fantastic opportunity to educate and support our community members on what these tools are and how it shapes opportunities within your school community. I have summarized my thoughts on this topic in a video that is available… Read More
Supporting Parents in Digital Citizenship
On Mondays, I share a different ed tech quote on our Thompson Classroom social media pages for our staff to consider. Today’s quote comes from the book, The Digital Citizenship Handbook for School Leaders, by Mike Ribble and Marty Pack. Within MVSD, our schools will spend this week hosting their “parent-teacher” conferences with families and supporting adults. In addition to communication on student learning and well-being, this is a fantastic opportunity to strengthen community understanding on a variety of topics; digital citizenship and technology use being one of them. Marty and Mike argue that before effective guidance from families can occur, they… Read More
WOW Wednesday – Ochre River School
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. This week I was so pleased to share and learn with the Ochre River School (ORS) community at an evening session entitled: Social Media for Parents. This session, hosted by the ORS Parent Advisory Council, was designed to help inform caregivers about the world of social media so that they feel confident and prepared to explore… Read More
April 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. April 2022 ICT Newsletter by Kirsten Cali
Community ICT Outreach in MVSD
We are set to proceed with the third year of our community outreach program. This program kicked-off in the fall of 2019 with the inclusion of “Tech Tip” informational boards that were displayed during parent-teaching interviews (see Instagram post below): When I entered this position in September of 2019 I was pleasantly surprised to realize that although I didn’t have “my kids” (students) anymore, I now had an extended network of over 4000 new “students” to support. This group includes MVSD students, teachers, admin, support staff, and our MVSD families. Regardless of where you fit into that network, everyone has… Read More
March 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. March 2022 ICT Newsletter by Kirsten Cali