NEW DRAG AND DROP FEATURE COMING TO CANVAS!
Canvas users no longer have to upload content prior to adding it into the Rich Content Editor in Canvas! You can soon just Drag and Drop the content directly on to the page, quiz, discussion or anywhere the Rich Content Editor is in Canvas. This feature will go live on December 20 – follow this quick tutorial for how to use this new feature. Any files that are dragged/dropped into the RCE even save to your course’s uploaded media repository!
P-CCS remains committed to keeping student data protected and secure. We strive to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and review companies’ policies around their digital offerings to ensure student data is safeguarded. With this as a backdrop, we chose to disable access to certain Google apps, including Google Earth, several years ago when Google changed their access requirements for those additional services. Very recently though Google introduced a way for districts such as ours to meet compliance expectations so we can again make them accessible to our students; the apps are Google Earth, CS First, and Google Read-Along.
As the blog post title states, this is for eligible students. Meaning, students whose parents have digitally agreed in MISTAR Parent Connection to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act paperwork when registering their children for school. If you are unsure which of your students do not have permissions, you can have the students try and access one of those services or you can check with your building secretary (they can run a MISTAR report on COPPA sign ups).
As always, if you need any assistance, or ideas on how to utilize these great programs in your classroom, reach out to the TIS team via a technology service request!
This year computer science week is December 5-11, 2022. Computer Science Education Week week is an annual call to action to inspire k-12 students to learn computer science, advocate for equity and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers and partners to the field. Computer Science Education Week is held annually in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906). One way to celebrate Computer Science week in your classroom is by participating in the Hour of Code!
Check out our blog for featured unplugged activities, lesson plans, virtual field trips, and more!
It’s called Coding Cup. Tynker for Schools’ parent is sponsoring FIFA World Cup 2022, and this gives students a chance to code their own team and engage with students all over the world. You can join two LIVE learning events around Coding Cup!
*First* – Join the FREE Web PD for Wayne County Teachers
In this FREE 60-minute webinar, explore Tynker’s brand-new collaborative coding experience that lets students control their own soccer team! In this webinar, educators will create their Tynker classrooms, enhance their own soccer skills with Tynker, compete in matches, and discover more CSEdWeek activities!
Register Here: gotyn.kr/MI_CSEdWeek
Date: Dec. 1st
Time: 3:00pm ET
Recorded? (for all registrants)
*Second* – Add CodeLab on Tynker LIVE: Coding Cup to Your Calendar
Like last year’s NASA events, we broadcast LIVE Webcasts called CodeLab: a live learning show for students, hosted by Tynker Teachers, which includes a LIVE walk-through of the Coding Game/Activity during CSEdWeek.
Register Here: evt.to/aiiaheshw
Date: December 6th
Time: 2pm ET
Recorded? (for all registrants)
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Lately, we have received a few tickets about blocked websites. Please keep in mind that certain websites may not be blocked for teachers, yet are blocked for students. As far in advance as possible before starting a lesson with students that involves an online activity, please confirm that a student can successfully get to the website and the activities you hope to use with them on the site. If the site/video/activity is blocked you can submit a tech ticket to request that it be unblocked. Keep in mind that we have different access permissions set at our three grade levels – elementary, middle and high – and you should confirm with an account of the same level as your expected lesson audience. So for example, if you teach middle school students, but have an elementary student at home, testing a site on their account may not be an accurate picture of access for your middle schoolers.
Related Notes:
Check out the November edition of Connecting the Dots with Canva for Education. In it you’ll find awesome features like the video background remover, comic strip templates, and design playbooks for subject areas.
Canvas is an important learning tool in our district. We hope that you continue to find it a valuable teaching and communication tool. If you are new to the district or have questions come up about it, we want you to be aware of several resources that are available to you.
First, click the “Help” icon on the Global Navigation Menu. For general and common questions try searching the Canvas guides. If your problem or question is unique and specific to your situation you can chat online or call the Canvas Support hotline. You can be connected with a support agent that can help you almost immediately.
If you would like to slowly browse resources, please check out our resources at the P-CCS Tech website, https://tech.pccsk12.com/canvas-lms/
If you are instructional staff working on meeting your PD expectations, please note we have a number of courses including the following listed below (all of them are 3 hours) that can help increase your understanding of how to use Canvas effectively available for you in the Catalog. https://catalog.pccsk12.com/
As always, please submit a tech ticket if you have any questions. https://links.pccsk12.com/helpdesk
Highlights in the BrainPop’s November Teacher’s Lounge
Click here for all the details!
Many teachers have heard of break-out style lessons that build problem-solving and collaboration skills in students. They may be used more often to help engage students as holiday breaks inch closer. Did you know you can create your own digital break-outs with a Canvas module? You can go beyond a one time game and gamify an entire unit with a storyline. Check out the guest blog post on Ditch that Textbook for more information. https://ditchthattextbook.com/gamify-canvas-lms/
While you are there, you might consider signing up for the annual, free Ditch Summit.
In this online “summit” there are nine video presentations from awesome presenters on topics related to tech and solid teaching and learning. Including previous years’ sessions, you’ll have access to more than 80 video presentations!
This year, it’s scheduled for December 12, 2022, to January 6, 2023.
Get registered for free at: DitchSummit.com.
HOW IT WORKS: New presentations are released every day. They remain available until the end of the summit so you can re-watch or catch up on any you’ve missed. They’re pre-recorded, so you can watch them whenever you want until the summit closes. After that, the summit ends and the videos are unavailable to watch anymore.
Sign up for the digital summit at DitchSummit.com.
This year’s speakers include:
Ken Shelton, education leader and techquity advocate
Cornelius Minor, author and consultant, The Minor Collective
Jed Dearybury and Julie Jones, authors and playful learning advocates
Holly Clark, author, speaker, and blended learning expert
Amanda Sandoval, history and EL teacher
Hedreich Nichols, consultant and award-winning educator
Mandy Froelich, educator mental health change agent
Al Thomas, educator, filmmaker, photographer, YouTuber
Michele Eaton, online academy director, author, speaker
EdPuzzle is introducing a design time for teachers in grades 6-12. This month they will demonstrate (15 minutes) the Live Mode feature and then allow for 30 minutes of design time with personalized support from members of their School Success Team.
With Edpuzzle’s Live Mode feature, you can project your video live in front of the whole class while students answer in real-time on their own devices!
Why might you use Live Mode?
Design Time will be on Wednesday, November 9
3:00-3:45 ET: Register here
4:00-4:45 ET: Register here
5:00-5:45 ET: Register here
Beginning on November 8, 2022 staff will have the option to log into their MiStar accounts by clicking and signing in with their district Google accounts. Since we now have two-factor authentication for Google account access, using this log in option will not trigger an emailed log in code that needs to be retrieved and entered.
Feel free to give this login option a try on November 8th when you are not in front of students to see how it operates. See the screenshot below for what it will look like. Clicking the Local Login link will render the familiar login option we have been using.
Please note, if and when you are going to be logging into MISTAR on a mobile device, you will either want to use the Local Login option to enter your familiar User Id/Name and password (what you had entered prior to November 8th) and retrieve/enter the emailed code OR choose to open MISTAR on the desktop site view so you can select the Sign in with Google option.
