Q&A with our LMS Specialist
We asked Morgan Thompson some questions about her role in the Office of Instructional Technology, as the Learning Management System (LMS) Teacher Specialist. Here's what she had to say:
Q: What new and exciting things are going on with Brightspace?
A: For anyone who hasn’t seen them yet, the Creator+ Elements and Practices within HTML documents are really exciting. In a nutshell, Creator+ capitalizes on instructional practices that I would use everyday in my classroom, from organizing/chunking information to dynamic questioning types like sorting or sequencing. These instructional practices were then built into a guided creation process that is so easy to use, resulting in extremely interactive displays and activities built into your everyday Brightspace content.
And although it’s not new, something I have spent a lot of time working with lately is Game Based Learning within Brightspace. It incorporates assignments and quizzes that you may already be using with your students anyways, and allows teachers to build a game map, where they become checkpoints for students to complete. Just like a video game, students can’t move on to the next “level” or activity until they have completed the one they are currently working on. It’s fun for students, but is also great for allowing them to work at their own pace.
Q: In your role, you've been able to see hundreds of different courses in Brightspace. What design advice can you give on setting up a course?
A: Looking back on my past courses, I would say my most underutilized tool was HTML documents. There is so much that can be incorporated content wise into them, from videos to quicklinks, and now Creator+, they make sharing information easy to organize for teachers, but also interactive for students.
And one great idea is having students use the highlighting tool within Read & Write with text in an HTML document. Whether it’s for note taking or interpreting key points, it’s a great way to use Brightspace and Read & Write to teach students a skill they can apply to any course. This is making sure the course is accessible to everyone.
Q: In your career, you taught math and were a special educator. Sometimes math can be seen as a subject where people claim "this technology doesn't apply to my content". In your expertise, how can Brightspace be leveraged in math classrooms?
A: In my experience, at least the middle school level, the math office has been providing many opportunities for technology enhanced activities, particularly through Lumio and Brainingcamp. Specifically in regards to Brightspace, I think many math teachers would be excited to use the equation editor in everything from HTML documents, to quizzes and discussions. I think it is important not only for teachers to use, but for students to experience using an equation editor as well. One of the best ways for students to use this is in a written response question on either a quiz or self assessment. As CER writing is a huge focus, students can utilize the equation editor in their written response, in addition to receiving teacher feedback.
Q: To those new to Brightspace, what is your advice on jumping in?
A: I would consider how they can use Brightspace to teacher students a skill. Maybe it is using the Work to Do widget to check due dates, or encouraging students to utilize a checklist for weekly assignments. For younger students it can just be getting into the habit of checking the course announcements each day. These executive functioning skills transcend all grade levels and all contents.
You can reach out to Morgan at BrightspaceSupport@aacps.org
