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. Earlier this month I had an opportunity to connect with Stacey Penner at Henderson Elementary regarding the graphic design software, Canva. Through this work, we started chatting about “I Love To Read Month” and discussing potential connections between literacy and digital integrations. Stacey moved forward with an amazing project that saw students use Canva to create posters… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Office 365 Learning Tools
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. As we continue our “I Love To Read Month” posts, I want to highlight some of the great accessibility tools built into the Microsoft Office 365 suite that all MVSD staff, students, and families can access. These tools can be one option in your literacy toolkit to assist users in their literacy skills in both classes and their professional roles. The following resources and tutorials can assist you in your understanding of what these can… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – SORA Audiobooks
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. One example of how digital tools can supplement your I Love To Read activities is through the use of ebooks and audiobooks. In MVSD, staff and students have access to SORA (formally OverDrive) which provides access to both ebooks and audiobooks. The platform also boasts a good list of accessibility supports such as font changes, read-alouds, text size, and more. Sora is also available in both browser and app format to increase access on-the-go! SORA- Browser… Read More
The Role of Audiobooks
On Mondays, I share a different ed tech quote on our Thompson Classroom social media pages for our staff to consider. February is upon us and schools across the country are busy with “I Love To Read” activities. With a literacy focus for the month, our Tech Tips will follow suit as we explore the many ways in which digital tools can be a part of your overall literacy toolkit. If you missed this month’s ICT Newsletter, I recommend you check back and see some examples of how our Tech Kits can support literacy development from K-12. One of these digital tools… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Digital Book Reviews
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. February plays host to I Love To Read month in our schools which serve as an opportunity to celebrate all things book-related! With February now being half done I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to mesh ed tech with this celebration. When it comes to providing digital library options, MVSD offers divisional subscriptions to OverDrive for ebooks and audio-books and many schools also utilize platforms such as Epic Books and RAZ Kids. One… Read More