AACPS OIT Byte

By: Samantha Wilkinson Did you know that we've designed activities with the intention for students to get practice with AACPS applications? They are designed to be open-ended for creativity and for all levels.  Once students click on the Student Intro to Digital Tools app, they will have a toolbar where they can select Fun Activities . Students then get to choose a path: creator, explorer, gamer, or influencer.   For the creative mindset students, we have activities designed to stretch the imagination and explore their own ideas. Activities in creating their own comics in Wixie, writing a book , creating a piece of original artwork in Adobe, and even creating a meme in WeVideo. Each option has directions and either links out to the app or tells students where to go to get started. For the curious learner , who wants to explore unknowns and learn more about the world around them, the explorer page offers a lot of options. Some activities include learning about money management...

It's the most wonderful time of the year! It is also a wonderful time for building our students' tech skills. Check out these engaging seasonal/ holiday activities that will make hearts glow and spirits bright. Lumio: A collection of featured Winter themed Lumio lessons . Some of my favorites include the giving vs. receiving argumentative essay lesson where they have to give strong evidence about which side our society demonstrates more of an importance on. For our middle schoolers, the Middle School Math Choice Board is a fabulous choice for independent practice time. The Winter Close Reading activities are fabulous if you have any piece of text for analysis and Winter Woodland Friends is super cute for our littles working on drag and drop. Nearpod: There are wonderful lessons built about the history and culture of various winter holidays that include videos, collaborate boards, draw it activities and more for elementary students. You can find   Christmas Around the World...

When I think of my list of favorite Brightspace features, I’m immediately drawn to the possibilities for enhancing student feedback. Providing digital feedback isn't just tech-savvy; it's a game-changer for accessibility, ensuring students can easily access and benefit from personalized guidance. Brightspace rubrics shifted my feedback routine to incorporate images, audio, and videos, which increased student accessibility and engagement. Instead of just suggesting a student refer back to a particular content video or resource as feedback, I love the ability to link it directly in the rubric. This is all made possible through “Insert Stuff” and “Other Insert Options” within the criterion level descriptions and initial feedback. With these buttons, users can insert images (including Bitmojis!), insert existing audio/video content from the Media Library, or even link back to Assignments, Content, and more.                         ...