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Moodle: It’s not just 4 nerds.
Over the past 12 years, many teachers in our district have tried using Moodle (in Dearborn, we call our Moodle site iLearn). A few absolutely took off with it. Many of those teachers are still using it, and at increasingly higher levels each year. Most, however, got...
The Ramblings of Bob Harrison, Father of Four
Please allow me to get a little personal with this one: My point of view from another role.
Tech Tip Tuesday: Embedding YouTube Videos into Google Slides
Did you know you can embed a YouTube video into a Google Slide? And it's pretty simple, too! When in Google Slides, navigate to the slide in which you want to embed your video. Click the Insert menu, and select Video. You can search for the video on YouTube, or,...
Tech Tip Tuesday: An Alternative to Tri-folds
Students love to unleash their creativity by creating elaborate tri-fold boards or brochures. Can we give students another option? How about using Google Drawings to create interactive poster boards? By using Google Drawings, students can create colorful multi-media...
Hybrid Assessment: The Best of Both Worlds
Just because one part of an assessment requires paper doesn’t mean the whole thing needs to. If you can automate part of what you do, you should.
Tech Tip Tuesday: The Onscreen Keyboard
Chromebooks have many accessibility options, but the one most frequently seen is the onscreen keyboard. The onscreen keyboard may take the place of the physical keyboard, if necessary. To turn the onscreen keyboard on or off, click on the settings in the bottom...
Tech Tip Tuesday: Changing Ownership of Google Files
Oftentimes, I will create, or begin to create, something for a teacher to use in the classroom. Yet, once I've created it, I have no use for the file any longer. If I delete it, the teacher and the class will no longer have access to the file. In this case, the...
If You Don’t Print It, Did It Really Happen?
One indicator that we may not yet have fully embraced technology in the classroom is the fact that physical products are preferred, if not strongly demanded, over digital.
Tech Tip Tuesday: Annotate Video
Take your Reading Apprenticeship strategies to the next level while incorporating a little digital media by empowering your students to “talk-to” video…
My Best Failure Yet
I've heard it time and time again in the Tech Coach role, "It's perfectly acceptable to fail." I don't take failing lightly, so this is hard advice to take. But I did it. I failed. And it was wonderful. I am working in a fourth grade classroom with an extremely...
Tech Tip Tuesday: Stop Right-Clicking on Google Images
…Modeling courteous and legal behavior for students is an imperative for teachers as students develop digital citizenship. Students are watching what we do.
Glue, Glitter and Gold – Part 2 (2017)
The providers of technological glitter will continue to produce it. New and fancier glitter will continue to catch our eye. We will continue to be lured by the latest tech tool, app, website, device. But the glitter we use today will be the stuff of tomorrow’s digital landfill.
Tech Tip Tuesday- New Google Classroom Interface
For those of you who use Google Classroom, you may have noticed that it looks a little bit different than it did last school year. Google is seemingly always changing it's products for more of a user-friendly experience. Here's a quick lowdown of some of those most...
Glue, Glitter, and Gold – Part 1 (2017)
Sometimes technology’s the glitter. The glued-on afterthought of desperation designed to captivate “kids nowadays”. All the while–running just as fast as we can to stay in the same place–we’ve searched and sought, learned and prepared, thinking it necessary to become the expert in everything that happens within our realms in order to maintain relevance.
Doing What Doug Digs
At the beginning of the school year, teachers had the wonderful opportunity to engage in conversation with Dr. Douglas Reeves at Stout Middle School. During this time, Stout teachers Marla Wiacek and Julie Wooton shared with Dr. Reeves the activity they have done...
Happenings at Haigh
My last Technology Integration Partnership, or TIP, occurred at Haigh. Teachers Anne Joachim (3rd grade) and Erika Izbicki (4th grade) very graciously agreed to share their classrooms with me so that we could work together to infuse their classes with some new...
Tech Tip Tuesday- Screencasting
For this week's Tech Tip Tuesday, we are going to talk about some nifty uses for screencasting, specifically with Screencastify. What is screencasting? Screencasting is when you record what is happening on your whole computer screen, one tab, or just your webcam, and...
Tech Tip Tuesday- StudentSites
Did you know that we have our own blog site for students? It's called StudentSites and you can find it at https://studentsites.dearbornschools.org/. What is StudentSites? StudentSites is a blogging site for our students. It can be used as a publishing tool for...
Tech Tip Tuesday: Don’t tell mom your password
As any teacher knows, there’s often a direct correlation between the things we emphasize and the things students find significant. And we often show emphasis by the way we model behaviors. For instance, we speak in complete sentences, use proper punctuation and spelling when we write on the board, say please and thank you, and the like. These are some of the areas in which students like to take short cuts, and in the long run it will pay off.
When it comes to technology, however, there are shortcuts we like to take–and even encourage students to take that will eventually and inevitably be harmful to students.
Tech Tip Tuesday- Recording in Moodle (iLearn)
Let's Hear it for the Recording Tool! One of our favorite tools in Moodle (iLearn) is now built right in! The recording feature allows you and your students to record voice and add it right into your Moodle course! Why is this important? Because the possibilities...
Tech Tip Tuesday- Using Google Keep for Feedback Comment Banks
Since we have been focusing on the importance of timely and actionable feedback, we wanted to share another quick, simple way to provide feedback using Google Keep. In cases where you find yourself providing the same feedback for the same errors over and over, you...
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Meet the Tech Coaches
Teacher Perspectives
Dearborn Teachers discuss their experiences with using the Moodle Workshop module in their instrution.
Early Childhood / Preschool
Use technology in beneficial ways with your child
Google Apps
Help, tips, and hints for using Google Apps for Education (G Suite)
ePortfolios
Help students collect and curate artifacts of their work, set goals and develop plans.
Moodle
Transform the way students learn in your classroom with iLearn
iBlog
Form a working partnership with parents and students by communicating effectively
Accessibility
Everyone has a right to information. Learn how to make your materials accessible to all.
Technology for Lifelong Learning
As technology increases exponentially, learners in the 21st century have the opportunity to go far beyond the boundaries of the traditional classroom. The available technology provided by the Dearborn Schools allows students to interact in the digital community, collaborate with peers, and engage with the world from their seats in our classrooms. The possibilities for learning know no boundaries online. Learn how to help students become lifelong learners in the digital community.Our Goal
The goal of instructional technology coaches is to help teachers become effective at using technology to provide the most technology-rich, positive learning environments possible. To this end, we believe effective teachers…- Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity.
- Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments.
- Model digital age work and learning.
- Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility.
- Engage in professional growth and leadership.
from Standards for Teachers.
