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
Elementary Esports Divisionals – Planning Time!
With a growing esports presence within Mountain View School Division, I set a goal for myself to help grow opportunities for this type of programming. While our middle- and senior-year students have the option of participating in a variety of games, tournaments, and events through the Manitoba School Esports Association (MSEA), our elementary students do not. I am very much in the introductory stages of this event but I wanted to share the process as we progress for those who are thinking about planning an event of their own. At the current time, our planning includes: Location We have three… Read More
WOW Wednesday – SJS Minecraft Club
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. MVSD is on a roll when it comes to esports and I am thrilled to share our newest addition, the SJS Minecraft Club out of Smith Jackson Ukrainian Bilingual School. In a similar fashion to our other elementary esports teams, the SJS Club is using the Minecraft EDU platform to participate in both school- and division-based build… Read More
WOW Wednesday – Barker Builders
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. I am so pleased to see how esports has been growing across Mountain View School Division as we enthusiastically announce a new esports team, the Barker Builders, out of Lt. Col. Barker Elementary! As a K-5 building, this presence has been mirrored off of our widely successful Macneill Gamers team. A subsidiary of their team, the MVSD… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Bing AI
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. The topic of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been front and center for many of my conversations since it hit the public scene in 2022. In fact, I am currently in Banff attending the 2023 CyberSummit which is focused on AI (watch for a blog post to come). This will also be the 20th post on the blog with an AI tag While this week’s topic isn’t brand new to the blog, I am happy… Read More
Happy Halloween from the Blue Screen of Death
Who doesn’t love a good tech-themed Halloween costume! Since joining the MVSD team as Coordinator of ICT I’ve tried to ensure my costume aligned with my role and it has honestly become one of my favourite traditions. This year I tried to think of one of the scariest things for an ICT Department: 2022 – The Social Butterfly I had recently had an opportunity to visit with Chris Nesi on the House of Ed Tech podcast, in which one of our discussion topics was social media. You can listen to the interview in which this reel’s audio is taken from:… Read More
Convergence Conference 2023
What better way to kick off the school year then with high-quality, inspiring, professional development! Last spring, MAETL reached out to various ed tech committees across Canada who were doing similar work to our organization and, through this outreach, we connected with ATLE out of Alberta. Our friendship was solidified when they sent a fantastic group out to the Riding the Wave conference in Gimli in May and it was decided then and there that we could reciprocate a visit to their Convergence conference in October. Myself and Troy Sigvaldason (MAETL VP and IT-extraordinaire) are taking in the conference, as… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Microsoft Educator Center
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 MVSD being a Microsoft EDU division, one of the reminders I send out every September focuses on the Microsoft Educator Center (aka Microsoft Learn). This is a FREE online community platform in which educators can participate in Microsoft-based professional development, connect with other educators, access virtual field trips, find shared resources and more! With so many topics to choose from, this is one of my go-to resources to share with educators who are looking for support… Read More
WOW Wednesday – Bethany Brade
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. A HUGE shout out to Bethany at Goose Lake High (GLH) who ran with the content they learned at our past mentorship PD and was quick to book a school visit for the GLH Grade 9 ICT classes. I am so thankful that the invitation was extended to visit for the day this Tuesday so that I could… Read More
WOW Wednesday – Gilbert Plains Elementary
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. I am very excited to share that Gilbert Plains Elementary has expanded their Minecraft EDU deployment! Minecraft is now available in their dedicated lab space, as well as on student laptops and compatible tablets. Exploration with Minecraft EDU has been lead by Megan Porter and allows for: student choice for creation and assessment options, as well as during… Read More