VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

Blog

Google Educator Group NoVA (GEGNoVA)

by

What is a Google Educator Group?

Google Educator Groups, GEGs, are communities of educators coming together to share ideas, build connections, and help each other grow. From the very start, GEG NoVA has been a community of lifelong learners - people so dedicated to their craft that they take time out of their personal lives to join us and learn even more. That dedication to students, families, and communities keeps us going. While GEGs are considered local groups, members are not required to live in that area. You can be a member of as many GEGs as you would like! Additionally, membership is not limited to teachers. Administrators, coaches, students, or anyone interested in using Google tools to facilitate learning is welcome to join. 

What inspired us to start GEG NoVA?

GEG NoVA was born out of our passion for both educational technology and community-oriented organizations. Theresa and I met through EdCamp NoVA, an unconference at which participants decide the topics of discussion on the day of the event. We both were passionate about how this learner-centric PD could engage others. We eventually both ended up joining the planning team for EdCamp NoVA, but soon realized that a semi-annual event wasn’t enough. It was from that motivation to find and create learner-centric, in-the-moment PD that GEG NoVA was created! 

Why are we community-focused?

We believe that it’s through open and honest collaboration that education can truly thrive. With this in mind, all of the work and content that GEG NoVA puts out to the world comes from our membership. By focusing on building up each other, we not only share our wealth of knowledge, but we build the leadership capacity of everyone involved. For some of our members, this might be the first professional development organization they’ve ever joined. As a community, we want members to build on that courage to put themselves out there and develop into well-rounded leaders, able to make real change in their schools. 

How can you connect with GEG NoVA?

As a community, we are active on multiple platforms including Twitter, Google Groups, and YouTube. Are you interested in getting involved in GEG NoVA’s leadership or presenting a topic to the community? Fill out our interest form!

Follow us on Twitter for the latest updates: @GEGNorthernVA

Join our Google Group!

Watch our previous webinars on Youtube!

Check out our website for more info!

Written by Tyler Witman. Tyler is an Instructional Technology Coordinator for Arlington Public Schools and co-founder of the Google Educator Group of Northern Virginia.

Offer From NetRef: You’ve Got Questions and NetRef Has Answers

by

The following information is provided as a service to our membership. It does not constitute an endorsement by VSTE.

NetRef graphic

We understand that these are difficult times for all stakeholders in K-12 education and Virginia Schools Divisions may be experiencing challenges around remote, hybrid or technology use in the classroom.   In our discussions with educators across the country we have heard the following concerns and NetRef can help address all of these:

  • Remote Student Attendance
  • Student Engagement
  • Track Usage of Online Programs
  • Equity

NetRef is a Virginia-based technology company and wants to offer any assistance and help to Virginia School Divisions.  We are offering FREE usage of NetRef beyond the 14 days listed on the flyer for Virginia Divisions.

  • NetRef can be set up either with or without teacher involvement.  We understand that teachers have a lot of their plates right now and don’t want to over burden but provide useful data and also ensure kids are using devices appropriately.
  • With teacher involvement provides all classroom management functionality as well as all data and usage reports for teachers and building and central office admin.
  • Without teacher involvement you would still have usage, attendance and engagement data reports and
  • Set up for either implementation would take about 20 minutes or so.  We provide all services – implementation, SIS integration, technical support and training
  • We can set up very quickly and pull data from your SIS so there is minimal effort on your end.

Short 3 minute video on how NetRef tracks engagement and attendance

14 minute pre-recorded NetRef demo from VSTE Leading Ed Forum

See what educators are saying about how NetRef is helping to keep kids focused and engaged

For more information or to discuss setting up your free trial please contact:

Joe Warden
Education Partnerships Manager
NetRef
Phone: (703) 489-7577
Email:  joe.warden@net-ref.com
Web: net-ref.com

Teach Middle Schoolers About Social Media With Fun Online Sim

by

These engaging activities can spark conversations about oversharing, digital footprints, cyberbullying, and more.

As physical distancing becomes a feature of students' everyday lives, social media has emerged as an important outlet for them to stay connected with friends and family. At the same time, not all students have access to the support they need to learn how to use social media in a way that's healthy. And for students from lower-income families, online negative experiences are more likely to spill over into their offline lives. Yet, having a conversation with young people about how they use social media can be a daunting task.

To prepare young people for the real-life digital dilemmas they will face on social media, Common Sense Education, and a group of researchers at the Cornell Social Media Lab co-developed Social Media TestDrive. This online simulation allows middle school students a chance to explore a social media interface without actually having to create a social media account.

For Digital Citizenship Week 2020, we encourage you to try out Social Media TestDrive in your classroom. Each Social Media TestDrive module is aligned to one of the core digital citizenship topics and lessons from Common Sense Education's K-12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum (for more information, see the educator guide). Each module is organized into four sections: a tutorial, a guided activity, a free-play section, and a reflection page. A module takes 20- 25 minutes to complete.

Here are some ideas for how you can implement TestDrive during Digital Citizenship Week and beyond:

For review: If you taught one of our lessons at the beginning of the year, you can have students complete a TestDrive module as a way to revisit key digital citizenship concepts they might have forgotten or that might have become more relevant since the start of the school year.

For homework or asynchronous activity: TestDrive modules are designed to be self-directed, so you can have students complete them as homework. Ask students to save their answers to the module's reflection questions as PDFs so they can share them with you.

For synchronous class discussion: Have students complete a module and discuss their experiences with the rest of the class. You can use the guiding questions below to make sure students address key topics from the lesson.

Once you decide which approach works best for you and your students, identify which modules align best with the topics or themes you want to emphasize this year.

Media Balance & Well-Being

The Ups and Downs of Social Media: Students reflect on how social media can make them feel and learn how to use social media in a positive and balanced way.

  • Discussion questions: What is oversharing? Give an example. How can oversharing affect the way you or others feel when using social media? What can you do if you experience a red flag feeling when using social media?

Healthy Social Media Habits: Students explore how social media platforms are designed to keep their attention and practice healthy media habits to achieve media balance.

  • Discussion questions: What is the attention-grabbing design? Can you share an example of a feedback loop you have experienced in your life? How can you build healthy media habits?

Privacy & Security

Scams and Phishing: Students understand the consequences of identity theft and learn how to identify and take action against phishing scams on social media.

  • Discussion questions: What are some examples of private information? What are some clues you can use to identify phishing scams? Why do you think it is important to protect yourself from phishing scams?

Social Media Privacy: Students understand how social media sites collect information about users and learn strategies for protecting privacy on social media.

  • Discussion questions: What are the privacy settings? Why is it important to read the privacy policy of a social media app? What can you do in the future to protect your privacy on social media?

Digital Footprint & Identity

Shaping Your Digital Footprint: Students explore how actions on social media create a digital footprint and learn skills to positively shape digital footprints.

  • Discussion questions: What is a digital footprint? What are examples of things that contribute to your digital footprint? What can you do in the future to be mindful of your digital footprint and that of others when you use social media?

Online Identities: Students learn how to manage self-presentation and how online identities can change with different audiences on social media.

  •  Discussion questions: Did you create a post on the TestDrive timeline? If so, did you think about your audience? What are the benefits and drawbacks of having multiple social media accounts?

Relationships, Communication, & Cyberbullying

Is This Private Information?: Students learn what is safe to share with different social media audiences and what kind of information is inappropriate to share on social media.

  • Discussion questions: What are examples of private information? How did you respond when you received a message asking for private information? What can you do in the future to protect your private information and that of others when you are on social media?

How to Be an Upstander: Students identify signs of cyberbullying and practice how to respond when seeing cyberbullying happening to others.

  • Discussion questions: What are the signs of cyberbullying on social media? Did you notice any on the TestDrive timeline? Why is it important for people to act against cyberbullying on social media? What will you do in the future to be an upstander if you see cyberbullying on social media?

News & Media Literacy

News in Social Media: Students learn why fake news exists and how to identify the telltale signs of fake news on social media.

  • Discussion questions: What are the benefits and drawbacks of getting news on social media? Why is it important to evaluate the information you see on social media? What would you do on real social media sites to make sure the information you see is credible?

Responding to Breaking News!: Students learn how to react to breaking news on social media and practice strategies for identifying reliable news online.

  • Discussion questions: Did you read any of the articles on the Social Media TestDrive timeline? Did you notice any signs that an article may be inaccurate? What strategies can help you know whether the information in a news article is accurate? Why is it important to get the full story before reacting to or sharing breaking news on social media?

Using Social Media TestDrive as a family engagement resource.

Social Media TestDrive works best with students who are considering joining social media in the near future or those who are new users. This makes TestDrive a great way to spark conversations with kids about thoughtful and responsible social media use. Here are a few ways to engage families using TestDrive:

  • Assign Social Media TestDrive as a family activity after teaching one of the aligned digital citizenship lessons.
  • Encourage family members to go through the simulation with their students. Each module introduces digital citizenship topics that can help family members better understand the challenges and dilemmas their students might encounter online.
  • Share the above discussion questions or the ones in the educator guide to help family members have a nurturing discussion with their kids.

Written by Daniel Vargas Campos, an Education Content Specialist with Common Sense Education. This post was originally published on their blog.

ITRT-Created Resources in #GoOpenVA

by

As with all educators, ITRT’s are scrambling to adapt to a new way of doing their jobs, and mentoring teachers in new skills and educational approaches. Luckily, nearly every division is doing the same thing at the same time, developing resources to help teachers handle virtual and hybrid learning. And, also luckily, we have a new place where ITRTs can share their professional learning resources with each other, assisting each other with the many tasks to be done.

#GoOpenVA has a new Collection which is a set of links to ITRT-created resources designed to help teachers during these hectic and stressful times.  The Moving to Virtual and Hybrid Learning: Professional Learning for Teachers Collection includes not just technology how-to videos and handouts, but also resources to support the pedagogy involved in both virtual and hybrid learning. 

Many of the resources were developed specifically for a particular division---but are great starting points for other divisions to use to develop their own customized versions.  They are ready to be edited as needed—just make sure to include acknowledgement of the original creator.  Getting a pat on the back from a colleague is always welcome and even more so in these stressful times.

If you, as an ITRT, are seeing the benefits of sharing resources with others in order to lighten the load for all, then you might want to do some training on how to leverage #GoOpenVA for sharing, collaborating, professional learning, and customizing resources for students.  VSTE’s Education Committee worked this past winter and spring to develop a Workshop in A Box website for you. There, you will find some grab-and-go training sessions on the Foundations of #GoOpenVA, Curation, Customizing, and Creating. Each Module provides a slide deck, Facilitators Guide and Participants Guide (all ready to be edited if you want to customize your own training sessions).

The Foundations module covers the basics of OER (openly-licensed resources), need-to-know copyright law, and ways to navigate around #GoOpenVA. The Curate module demonstrates several ways that #GoOpenVA registered users can evaluate and rate content for both themselves and for the good of the community.  For those who want to delve into editing content (called remixing or customizing in OER-speak), the Customize module does a quick repeat of pertinent copyright information, and then provides instruction on how to use the Open Author editor on #GoOpenVA.  The last module, the Create module, goes into more depth on how to use Open Author and how to choose your metadata (which helps others find your posted resources).

As a supplement to these workshop pieces, you can use any of the helpful resources listed in the Users Guide, which includes rules and guides, screencast how-tos, hints, and other information.  These all are openly-licensed as well, so you can edit and re-purpose as you need.

Take care of yourself, and use these resources as short-cuts for some of the training and support you need to provide.  #GoOpenVA is there to help you feel less alone (and more supported by the state’s education community).

Written by Jean Weller, Teaching and Learning Technology Integration Specialist for the Virginia Department of Education and member of the VSTE Board. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jean at jean.weller@doe.virginia.gov.

Featured Resources from #GoOpenVA, October 5, 2020

by

Swirl with word Go Open VASince its debut in January 2020, #GoOpenVA has been building its collections with the help of Virginia educators. This collaborative initiative enables educators and others throughout Virginia to create, share, and access openly-licensed educational resources (OER, also known as open education resources). OER are free digital materials that can be used or modified to adjust to student needs; they are openly-licensed unhampered by many traditional copyright limitations.

Jean Weller, VSTE Board Member and VDOE Technology Integration Specialist, leads this effort. We asked her to periodically curate a few of the resources to give a sense of what is available. Start with these but stay for so much more! And be sure to follow Jean on Twitter.

 

Water Scarcity – Change the Course:  Sandy Chalke of Loudoun

https://goopenva.org/courseware/lesson/1575/overview

This lesson emphasizes the importance of renewable resources (like water) and encourages students to be reflective writers. It uses one of Dan Myers 3 Act Math videos as a starting point, plus a variety of other resources to provide students information on which to reflect.

Experimental Design Process Skills:  Jane Brown of Hanover

https://goopenva.org/courseware/lesson/1498/overview

This activity is designed to be a self-paced activity to review students on the parts of Experimental Design while at home or in the classroom. There is a simple experiment for the students to complete to generate and collect data and a second example in which they design their own experiment and collect data. They are then led through the process of analyzing their data and writing a conclusion.

Grade 1 & 2 Roll and Sort Difference: Elizabeth Silva of Virginia Beach

https://goopenva.org/courseware/lesson/1503/overview

As a teacher, one of your goals is to provide practice using carefully selected strategies. Here are some strategies to develop the basic addition and subtraction facts. By providing experiences to learn these strategies, students will develop number sense and understand how to compose and decompose numbers.  This in turn will help students to develop basic fact fluency and learn while having fun playing a game.