AACPS OIT Byte

written by Tracey Brown, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist Fonts The first consideration for readability is font size, style and color. Fonts smaller than size 12 are problematic for some readers, especially emerging readers and older adults. So you should always consider your audience. Lesson materials should always include body font that is a minimum of size 12, but 14 is preferred if possible for younger or adult learners. Sans-Serif font styles are considered to increase readability as are mono-space letters with open typeface. For more on font considerations see the Typefaces and Fonts guide from WebAIM. One last consideration for fonts, think about color combinations. Black text on a white background is considered most readable. But it has also been shown to lead to eye strain if the sample includes a lot of text. Other dark colors can work well on white, and light or bright colors work well on dark backgrounds. Avoid bright colored fonts on bright colored backgrounds...

b y Tracey Brown, Office of Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist Are you ready for the possibility for your school to offer virtual learning for a few days or a few weeks? Community spread of COVID is leading to staffing shortages and large numbers of students in quarantine. Neighboring districts have already made the decision to close individual schools for a period of time, and while nothing has been determined surrounding virtual learning in AACPS, we need to be prepared for a seamless transition to the virtual environment. The good news is, if you were teaching last year, you already know how to do this! You just need to dust off that knowledge, throw in a dash of “how to do this in Brightspace” and a pinch of “what is new in my favorite applications” and you have the recipe for success. So let’s break down some top tips to get ready for virtual learning: 1. Create your nicknamed Google Meet link(s). Nicknamed Google Meet links provide important added security like preventi...

 by Sarah Morin, SMART Ambassador and HS Math Teacher, Washington County Public Schools Imagine you’re sitting in a high school math class just after returning from break, and experiencing several snow day interruptions. This is a stressful time of year for kids and teachers alike. We’re all tired. Keeping students engaged in my class around this time of year is tricky. Thanks to Lumio, formerly SMART Learning Suite Online, this task is much easier than it once was.   Lumio has amazing features to make any lesson engaging; graphic organizers, templates for notes and quick checks for understanding, direct access to outside platforms such as YouTube and Desmos. While it’s possible to create content in the Lumio platform, my FAVORITE way to engage my students and save time is to simply add something engaging to lessons I’ve already created. I start by importing an existing Google Slides, PDF or other file; and that’s when the magic begins. Let me share my top three tools I use ...

By Tracey Brown, Teacher Specialist, Office of Instructional Technology In 2018 Google Arts and Culture was trending across all of social media for its Art Selfie feature that allowed a user to capture a selfie and be matched with famous artwork. When contacted for comment on the sudden interest in their app, Google reps admitted, “ It Took us by Surprise! ” Many people probably uninstalled the Google Arts & Culture app immediately after sharing their selfie match across their preferred social platforms, but for educators and students GA&C is so much more than just the Art Selfie tool. “Google Arts & Culture is a non-profit initiative. We work with cultural institutions and artists around the world. Together, our mission is to preserve and bring the world’s art and culture online so it’s accessible to anyone, anywhere.” If you have visited Google Arts & Culture and clicked around a little, you might be thinking, “Wow, there is so much here. Where do I even start?” Here...

 by Darren Towers, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist LMS Every time I have interviewed for a job and was asked the question about what my strengths are, my first answer is always, “I am very organized.” Throughout my career as an educator I have used this strength to keep myself, my classroom, and my students on the right track. My organizational tools have changed and evolved throughout my career. In the beginning it was color-coded folders or bins and specific spots throughout the classroom students could ALWAYS find the materials they needed for learning. In recent years, as we have shifted to more online or even asynchronous learning, my go-to organizational tools have evolved into an elaborate system of Google Drive folders and sub folders, or even websites to point my students and other teachers toward necessary learning materials. When the Brightspace LMS came along, I was not sure what to expect when it came to organizing learning materials for students and other ...

By Kerri Lambert, Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist Sub plans. A necessary evil in the world of teachers. How many of us have gone to work sick simply because we dreaded having to write up lessons for the day? And when you find a good sub, you cross your fingers they never stop subbing! Adding to the stress of writing sub plans is the ever growing number of digital resources that substitutes need to access in order to fill in for the day. What can they access? What can’t they access something? How can they get all the links and videos needed? To help plan for those inevitable absences, here are some FAQs about substitute teachers and technology: Do I need to leave my log in for the sub? NO!!! Please don’t give your AACPS login information to ANYONE. This is a major security risk both for your personal information and that of your students.   Then how do subs login? All AACPS substitutes have their own AACPS username and password to get them into the system. This is what t...

by Heather Schrader, Education Sales Consultant at SMART First and foremost, if you haven’t heard, SMART Learning Suite Online (SLSO) is now “Lumio by SMART”!  Lumio makes it easy to transform your PDFs, Google Slides, PowerPoint, and SMART Notebook files into lessons that you can send to student devices (anytime, anywhere) with interactive activities, games, group workspaces, and assessment tools. This change took effect in June and, here at SMART, we couldn’t be more excited. Finally, SLSO has a short and sweet name that reflects the illumination of learning, those “ah-ha” moments, that our online tool is built to inspire . So, besides the name, what’s new in Lumio? In two words: A LOT! Changing the name from SLSO to Lumio was just the beginning of a marathon of updates. July brought two major changes that teachers had asked for: new editing tools and undo/redo functionality! You can copy and paste, group and ungroup, and even order elements within a page in your Lumio lesso...