AACPS OIT Byte

By Kerri Lambert, Academic Specialist, Instructional Technology It’s no secret that relationships are key in the education world; whether it's colleague to colleague, student to teacher, or teacher to families, building a strong community is critical to the success of students. In fact, the AACPS Strategic Plan specifically calls out the sense of belonging as one of the 6 core beliefs, stating: “We believe that genuine connections and relationships are the foundation of a successful community. We are committed to nurturing strong bonds between students, staff, families, and community members so everyone feels connected, supported, and valued." Even the Maryland Digital Learning Standards emphasize the importance of collaboration with standard number 7, Global Communicator: Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally. Students: a) Use digital tools to conn...

  By Kerri Lambert, Teacher Specialist, AACPS Office of Instructional Technology This is the seventh and final post in a series about the Maryland Digital Learning Standards.  Collaboration, the third of the famous 4 C’s of the 21st Century is a natural fit for the Maryland Digital Learning Standards as technology allows for a variety of collaborative activities. Whether it’s working simultaneously in a document to meeting virtually with an expert or community member, technology allows individuals to work as a team to expand their knowledge base and find solutions. So what exactly does the standard say about this all important concept?  7. Global Collaborator  Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally. Students:  a) use digital tools to connect with learners from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, engaging with them in ways that broaden...

By Kerri Lambert, Teacher Specialist, AACPS Office of Instructional Technology This is the sixth post in a series about the Maryland Digital Learning Standards.  If you’ve been following along in our series of blog posts about the Maryland Digital Learning Standards, one thing should be clear by now. It is that the standards are designed to encourage students to be active learners, concerned with building their own knowledge base and creating content; not simply consuming it. This is particularly true of Standard 6: Creative Communicator. Let’s take a closer look, but first, the standard as it’s written:  6. Creative Communicator Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate for their goals. Students: a) choose the appropriate approved platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation and/or communication; b) create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix ...

By Kerri Lambert, Teacher Specialist, AACPS Office of Instructional Technology This is the fifth post in a series about the Maryland Digital Learning Standards. The fifth Maryland Digital Learning for Students focuses on a key topic in education: Computational Thinking. While most people consider computational thinking to be a part of Computer Science, in actuality it’s a key component of all content areas and life in general. Here’s the standard as it’s written: 5. Computational Thinker Students develop processes and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technology. Students: a) identify problems that can be solved using data analysis, abstract models and/or algorithmic thinking; b) collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making; c) break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptiv...

By Kerri Lambert, Teacher Specialist, AACPS Office of Instructional Technology This is the fourth article in a series of posts focused on the Maryland Digital Learning Stands for Students. Innovative Designer. Those two words just scream creativity and imagination- and kids. After all, how often have you been greeted with “But why?” or “What if?” or my 6 year old's current favorite “Just imagine if??” The fourth Maryland Digital Learning Standard looks to harness that imaginative quality of children and focus it to solve real world problems using the design process and technology. Here’s the exact wording:   4. Innovative Designer Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful, or imaginative solutions. Students: a) know and use a design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems; b) select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process...

By Kerri Lambert, Teacher Specialist, AACPS Office of Instructional Technology As we head into Thanksgiving and the winter holiday season, teachers are looking for ways to keep students engaged in learning. Many of the activities they may implement involve research into other cultures, holiday traditions, and other seasonal project based learning activities. With this in mind, it seems the perfect time to take a closer look at our third Maryland Digital Learning Standard which focuses on students being knowledge constructors. Here is the standard: Students curate (select and evaluate) a variety of digital resources to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts to make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others. Students: a) plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources; b) evaluate the accuracy, perspective, bias, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources; c) curate (select and evaluate) info...

By Kerri Lambert, Instructional Technology Specialist This is the second in a series of posts about the Maryland Digital Learning Standards. Read the first post about standard 1: The Empowered Learner here .  Every year the third week of October is recognized as Digital Citizenship Week, so it’s only appropriate that our next post in our series on the Maryland Digital Learning Standards should focus on Standard 2: Digital Citizen. Here is the standard: 2. Digital Citizen Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world safe, legal and ethical. Students: a) manage their digital identity being aware of the permanence of their actions in the digital world; b) engage in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when using technology and online social interactions; c) demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property; and d) manage thei...

By Kerri Lambert, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist In 2022, the Maryland State Department of Education adopted a new set of Digital Learning Standards for students. They are designed to ensure that students are college and career ready, have equitable access to resources, are provided learning opportunities to meet their individual needs, and become responsible digital citizens. In all, there are seven standards, each with several indicators, that are based on the International Society for Technology Education, ISTE, standards. Just like the other learning standards, the MD Digital Learning Standards should be referred to and referenced when planning an activity or lesson incorporating technology. In this series of blog posts, we will take a closer look at each of the seven standards, and explore ways that teachers can incorporate them into their everyday teaching. First up? The Empowered Learner. Let’s dive in. Here is the standard as it’s written: 1. Empowered Learner: ...