On Tuesdays 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. Even if you would not consider yourself to be a “techy” teacher, you probably have a lot of “tech tools” that you are using regularly without realizing it. These include things like your professional email, attendance report software, digital grade book, etc. One tool that can streamline your morning routine, and ensure you have quick access to all of your tech tools, is the use of Startup Tabs. Startup Tabs allow you to set a… Read More
Follow Friday – Symbaloo
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. Symbaloo is a curation tool that I have used in my practice for almost 10 years; both as a classroom teacher and during professional development sessions I am facilitating. (I’ve always used the FREE version) I have shared about this visual tool via the Curation page of the MVSD ICT Resources Notebook (linked in the main tabs of the blog) as well! To introduce yourself to this tool and the options it… Read More
PD on the Potty
Near the end of 2019 I implemented the idea of PD on the Potty following a podcast from Kasey Bell. This alternative method of professional development sees the inclusion of fliers placed in staff washroom facilities. Depending on the month these may include: divisional tech reminders upcoming PD opportunities tips & tricks program reviews social media recommendations and more! Not only do these fliers allow you to have a captive audience but they can provide a bridge for staff members who have technology as a barrier in their practice [for these individuals, emails, social media posts, digital resources, etc are inaccessible]. Here… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Steps Recorder
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. Over the course of the past two weeks we have seen all seven of the schools located in the city of Dauphin transition into remote learning due to an increase in Covid-19 cases. As such, our staff are working to re-establish our remote learning routines for themselves, students, and our MVSD families. Some of our schools, such as the DRCSS, have been in a blended-delivery mode all year which has made this transition quite smooth.… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Create to Learn
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. A few weeks back I saw a Tweet posted by the Seine River Technology account sharing about the new books they distributed: Create to Learn. I was immediately intrigued as I do not have anything in my professional learning series that approached digital skills from this perspective. When I shared my enthusiasm, SRSD Ed Tech was quick to offer a copy to myself! I am so thankful to have this resource that highlights both digital… Read More
AR/VR in the Classroom
If you walked by my office this Friday you most likely had this thought: Today I spent some time formatting our new virtual reality headsets from Class VR. If you are a regular reader of the blog you know that one of my areas of focus during my M.Ed was looking at ways that technology can increase educational opportunities for rural and remote schools. Whether it is decreased field trips and guests speakers due to geographical constraints or lack of lab and immersion activities due to limited budgets; rural and remote schools often face a more narrow scope of experiences… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Ed Tech in MVSD
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. When I moved into this position I noticed that there were reoccurring concerns from administrators and teachers from many of our schools: families were unfamiliar with a variety of technology-related aspects of their children’s’ lives. This may include how to utilize school-related tech tools, how to help their child navigate social media, how to guide their child’s use of screen time, etc. With the shift to remote learning in the spring of 2020, this concern… Read More
Happy May!
This school year has seemed to fly by. It seems like every few weeks there have been new guidelines or projects to explore and all staff are consistently reinventing their practices to adapt. An excellent example of this came literally 30mins after I filmed and sent out this video: new health guidelines mean that I will not be in schools as much as in-person visits are limited to help reduce spread of VOCs in our communities. We just keep rolling with the punches and trying our best! With the start of a new months comes a new monthly ICT newsletter.… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – MVSD Tech Kits
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. Before we discuss the tech kits I wanted to share about the PD Resource Centre as it is a fantastic resource being offered in MVSD. Located at the division office, the PD Resource Centre serves as the primary contact for our divisional library services. In addition to maintaining all libraries across the division, the PD Resource Centre also plays host to our divisional library that includes: professional development material curriculum documents curricular supports (ex: levelled… Read More
Supporting Ed Tech – Check Your Mail!
Today felt somewhat like Christmas at my office as I was busy packaging up different ed tech resources to be sent out to schools via our divisional mail system. I am always on the look out for different ways to build in ed tech PD and tech integration and for the past few weeks I have been working with our Coordinator of Library Services and Coordinator of Educational Services on two projects: School-Based Book Study Each of our schools has been gifted a book that discusses a specific aspect of ed tech. These books were chosen based on: school goals… Read More