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. In Manitoba, November is a whirlwind month for educators. We start off strong with the Halloween candy-hangover, jump right into a time-change, and hit the ground running to complete report cards and book parent-teacher interviews! One of my favourite methods to assist with this is the implementation of student portfolios. Student portfolios can be a fantastic practice in the classroom as they: develop student metacognition selecting exemplars reflecting on their learning journey encourage transparent conversations… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Microsoft Templates
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. Mountain View School Division operates within a Microsoft Office 365 (O365) environment and this is the system that I have the most experience with as I also used it as a student and in my former teaching position with Turtle River School Division. As they have expanded their suite with purposeful education content, the template feature of O365 has grown immensely. They currently offer templates for the most-used Microsoft tools: Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Why… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Email Security
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. As October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, all of the tips shared this month will tackle common cyber security concerns (both student-related and work-place related). Almost everything online is now asking you to create an account using your email address; I can’t even read the online articles from the Winnipeg Free Press without creating a “free” account to gain access. It is no surprise that one quickly loses track of just how many… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Phishing Emails
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. As October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, all of the tips shared this month will tackle common cyber security concerns (both student-related and work-place related). What is a Phishing Email? Phishing emails are fraudulent messages designed to obtain sensitive information such as financial information, usernames, or passwords. These emails often include links which sends recipients to a website where they are directed to enter personal information into a platform that, while appearing authentic, is fake. The… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Secure Passwords
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. As October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, all of the tips shared this month will tackle common cyber security concerns (both student-related and work-place related). Today’s post is focused on tips and tricks involved in strong password development as well as some habits we need to break as educators. Next week’s post will help you determine if any of your accounts have been compromised, which provides the opportunity to update those passwords to increase security! Password… 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. This week marks the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation which will be held on Thursday, September 30th (formally referred to as Orange Shirt Day). As we move forward in a spirit of truth and reconciliation, I know that many educators are looking for resources to support this action. In response, today’s Tech Tip is focused on Create to Learn. “Create to Learn is pleased to offer this free online learning resource in partnership… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – PowerSchool Resources
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. In MVSD we use PowerSchool as our Student Information System (SIS). This means that this platform is the go-to program for our staff when it comes to student records, assessment reporting, daily attendance, etc. There are many different elements of the program that are applicable depending on your role within the division. While this means that all stakeholders have easy access to the information that is needed for their position, it can also make PD… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Location Based Reminders
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. In my role I am shared between 16 schools in 7 different communities. It is quite common that many of my school-based enquires aren’t necessarily urgent enough for a planned meeting so I often get the phrase, “can you pop in and check on this with me next time you’re at my school?”. As such, at any given time I have a list of potential conversations on the go and I want to ensure that… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – Disinfecting Technology
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. As we prepare to welcome staff and students back into our buildings in the coming weeks our ICT Department has been working to help ensure that the use of shared digital devices is as safe as possible. From our perspective we want to help make sure that anyone who uses one of our shared devices can do so as safe as possible while ensuring appropriate disinfection practices are occuring that won’t damage our devices. What… Read More
#TechTipTuesday – YEAR END TECH CHECKLIST – Pt 1
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. As we progress through June, these posts will focus on the implementation of the Year End Tech Checklist that was introduced in this month’s newsletter. (For a history behind this initiative, check out my post from 2020). Each Tuesday of the month will look at a specific topic from the checklist in more detail. FILE ORGANIZATION As we progress from one school year to the next it is important to organize any professional files; whether… Read More