AACPS OIT Byte

This year Computer Science Education week runs from Friday, December 6th through the 12th. Hour of Code, one of their main events, kicks off Monday, the 9th. Hour of code encourages students to code for an hour to hone their skills, but it also allows teachers to discuss careers in coding and computer science how students can explore their interests and plan their path to achieve their goals. Below are several suggestions for how you can get your students involved in CS week or Hour of Code. Hour of Code Activities for PreK through high school. No coding experience necessary! Filter topics by grade level band and then by content to find something that works for your classroom. Topics include Art, Music, AI, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and more! Explore the Hour of Code library directly from Classlink. Minecraft Hour Of Code The 2024 theme is The Show Must Go On! Minecraft invites students to step into the theater to find the show’s missing star, unlock hidden gags, s...

by Tracey Brown Instructional Technology Academic Specialist Did you know that October 14th through the 18th is Digital Citizenship week? While it can be difficult to find time to add more content to your already packed curriculum, in today's digital age, it's essential for students to understand and practice responsible online behavior. Teaching digital citizenship in K-12 schools prepares students for the challenges and opportunities of the digital world including the permanence of your digital footprint, and critical thinking to evaluate the quality and accuracy of online information. If you can find some time during indoor recess, after school clubs, advisory period, or other flex-time, here are some ideas for what to do with students to boost their digital citizenship knowledge: Adobe Express Adobe Express contains multiple templates for students to create a Digital Citizenship pledge or to share what they know. Templates include posters, infographics and web pages. One en...

by Tracey Brown, Instructional Technology Academic Specialist   Microsoft Whiteboard Microsoft Whiteboard is an app that can be found in your AACPS OneDrive/Office 365 account. When you click on OneDrive from Classlink, you want to select your “waffle” in the upper left corner. If the app doesn’t appear in the pop-out menu, select more apps and scroll down as all apps are listed alphabetically in the full list. Check out the Microsoft Support page for Whiteboard for specifics on how to use this application. Nearpod Collaborate Collaborate is an interactive board, great for class discussions and brainstorming. It can be added as a component of a larger Nearpod lesson, or done as a standalone activity from the Quick Launch menu. It can also be delivered to students in a self-paced lesson, like for homework, or in a live, teacher-paced lesson. Check out Nearpod’s Help Center page on How to Build a Collaborate Board for specifics on how to use this application. Lumio Shout It Out! Sh...

  By: Samantha Wilkinson, OIT Teacher Specialist One of my favorite end-of-year activities was to have my students become the teachers. On the smartboard I would introduce this by simply projecting the words "YOUR TURN". They'd get excited to share their expertise and have the attention of the whole class, and I'd get excited to see them in a different role. The end of the year is the perfect time for this as we have established classroom community and learned a lot that they can pull from when picking a topic to teach the class. Not to mention, we know that teaching others is the ultimate level of understanding. And let's be honest, at this point in the year, it really should be their turn to show what they know! This project idea can be as basic or as complex as you choose but I'd usually give them a day or two to brainstorm topics they wanted to share about to the class. Topics that students chose ranged from tips on how to solve multiplication problems, Wo...