AACPS OIT Byte

   Link Don’t Embed! By Tracey Brown, Teacher Specialist, Office of Instructional Technology You may have heard the specialists in OIT say you should link resources shared with students through Brightspace instead of embedding. And maybe you are thinking, WHY? When I embed it looks so clean and pretty. Not to mention linked files keep opening in a new tab and my students get lost with 30 tabs open and they can’t find anything. Embedding does look pretty ON YOUR SCREEN… on the students’ Chromebook it causes multiple problems! The content is often too small to see or display properly. Depending on the type of file, a scroll bar appears along the bottom and the side for students to scroll both horizontally and vertically in an effort to see the whole file. When it is something like Google Slides they can’t even see an entire slide without scrolling. Embedding files can affect accessibility features that many of our students rely on. If it is a Google Slides file and they try to u...

By Dan Fitzgerald, eCoach and STEM Teacher @ North Glen Elementary School Hello everyone! My name is Daniel Fitzgerald, and I'm the STEM Teacher and E-Coach at North Glen Elementary School. Over the past two years, we've been using WeVideo as a tool to build our morning announcements from a brief, over-the-loudspeaker statement, to a full production with students, staff, and community members getting involved, and our student engagement and excitement has never been higher! I'm someone who loves making videos for our students and staff, and I've always tried to use that in my teaching and position at the school. I've found that editing software can often be overwhelming, and people who are new to the idea can be turned away by some of the more complex programs out there. Luckily, WeVideo has been so welcoming to teach and jump in on, giving both students and teachers an easy entry point to video creation and editing, yet with deeper opportunities to grow your skills...

 By Kerri Lambert, OIT Teacher Specialist It’s been said a million times. The 2020-2021 school year was like no other. Teachers and students were suddenly faced with teaching and learning entirely online. In a matter of weeks, teachers had to suddenly learn and supposedly master new applications and new instructional tools; in short they had to learn an entirely new way to teach. It was exhausting. It was stressful. It was heart-breaking. And now that we are back in buildings face to face with our students every day, it’s easy to slide back into the way things were pre March 2020. Back to “normal” school. But should we? Should we revert back to doing everything with paper and pencil? Should we revert back to keeping learning between the four walls of our classroom? Should we revert back to using the technology as a time filler for early finishers? Some may even be phrasing these questions as “Can we…?” Regardless of how it’s worded, the answer is the same. No. We can’t go back. We ...

By Tracey Brown, OIT Teacher Specialist Back to school activities are a great way for teachers and students to get to know one another. They have always included opportunities to learn and practice names, share fun facts about your life or your summer and just work on building a classroom community where everyone feels valued. Below we share our top 5 favorite digital back to school activities. Looking for templates for any of the activities shared? Check out the Back to School page on Digital Takeout . 1. Scavenger hunts:  A scavenger hunt is a great way to introduce the students to the digital tools they will use this year. A traditional scavenger hunt might have had them discover the book shelf, the homework folders, or the hand washing station in the room. A digital scavenger asks them to explore their digital world in much the same way. It might begin by having them locate certain apps on Classlink that you will use frequently. It might continue by having them open Brightspac...

By Kerri Lambert, OIT Teacher Specialist Learning a new tool, digital or otherwise, can always be intimidating and a little unnerving. Brightspace, the new LMS in AACPS is no different. Recognizing the magnitude of learning required in this new digital classroom platform, OIT is pleased to offer staff a variety of supports to assist as they familiarize themselves with Brightspace’s capabilities. On-Demand Support Stuck on how to do something in Brightspace? There are several places you can look for answers, regardless of the day or time: Teacher Intro to Digital Tools> Brightspace - Found on Classlink, this website is the go-to resource for teachers on all applications that OIT supports in the district, including Brightspace. This site includes dozens of videos and printable directions walking teachers step-by-step through common actions in Brightspace including how to customize courses, use Google applications effectively with the LMS, and communicate with students. This site will ...

By Stephanie Kelly, Senior Manager of Office of Instructional Technology Why a blog? OIT has provided a monthly newsletter for our teachers for several years now, but a blog is our opportunity to provide smaller chunks of information more frequently and in an informal manner. This is where you can find updates to instructional technology information and resources. We'll share tips and best practices, links to our favorite technology gurus, dates for major events and training opportunities for our teachers. Why now? So many things changed during the 20-21 school year. We transitioned from being entirely virtual to hybrid and now we are preparing to welcome all students back into buildings for the 21-22 school year. With so many changes teachers need immediate access to new information. This is where we will share important and interesting instructional technology info as soon as we are able. So What's New? OIT has spent the spring and summer creating self-paced  and instructor l...