The following blog post was initially shared this past April and remains relevant for a growing number of district laptop users…. At some point you may see a blue alert window declaring Your Windows license will expire soon; You need to activate Windows in settings. There is no need to panic.

Our laptop’s Window licensing usually renews automatically through the district server, however you need to be on our network for that to happen and many haven’t been for long enough to trigger this warning. To reset your license for another 180 days of use, when convenient within two weeks of first seeing that warning, head to any district building with your laptop. You don’t need to actually enter the building, you just need to be close enough to have the laptop connect to the district Wi-Fi. It’s even possible at some of our locations to remain in your car and still be close enough to get a signal. While remaining connected to the district Wi-Fi (either PCCSK12- Secure or PCCSK12-Staff), completely restart the laptop, then log into it and make sure it completes the log in process. Surf somewhere on the internet to confirm that you remained connected. Doing this should suffice to reset the license counter for another six months and you’re good to leave, mission accomplished.

If you still cannot get the alert to go away after doing the above, please submit a service ticket and our department can assist you with other steps to take.

On June 30th, Flipgid announced the all new Flipgrid with updates during their biggest annual educator celebration: FlipgridLIVE! Every change to Flipgrid is driven by your ideas, your stories and your feedback.

These Flipgrid updates will launch starting August 5 and continue monthly into the fall. Check out the full FlipgridLIVE broadcast and keep reading for a look back at Flipgrid’s biggest updates: https://blog.flipgrid.com/news/flipgridlive2020

 

As Wayne RESA continues to develop new ways to support literacy across Wayne County, they are sharing their first Wayne County Summer Learning Blitz. The Learning Blitz consists of free webinars offered daily in August from 3:00-4:00 pm. 

Although the focus is on implementing essential practices in remote settings, technology integration within face-to-face settings can be used to enhance current practice – making these sessions applicable no matter the school model for the coming school year. 

To provide synchronous and asynchronous options, sessions will be recorded and emailed to all who register. These recordings will also be archived on the Literacy Learning Network website.

In addition to the webinars, interested coaches and instructional leaders are invited to join a 30 minute facilitation debrief, immediately following most sessions. During this time, participants will be provided ideas and facilitation resources to support the delivery of this learning within their own school setting. The goal is to empower literacy coaches and staff responsible for professional development within their individual districts. 

All webinars are grounded in early literacy and all educators are welcome.  There is no cost.  See the attached flier for topics and registration links.

Summer Learning Blitz

For those interested in reviewing the confirmed digital subscriptions for the coming 2020-2021 school year, please check out the dynamically linked spreadsheet below. It will be updated with any new information should changes or new subscriptions be adopted. This sheet will be published via the Home Teaching Hub as well. If you need additional support please connect with a Tech Integration Specialist at tis@pccsk12.com

Summer is here and we want to remind you that we’re here to support your personal and professional learning over the summer. We know that next year is going to look a bit different with all of the challenges of Covid-19 and re-opening schools and we want to support you in any way we can! There are some opportunities we’re creating to support you as you think about next year and we will be announcing them via The Home Teaching Hub, Tech Blog, and Professional Learning Calendar.

Please note, we have summer 1:1 appointment hours available Monday through Friday. Just navigate to our Calendly link to schedule time with a Tech Integration Specialist. We can help you with specific tech tools or planning for a blended or virtual learning environment or assist you with other tech integration wonders: https://calendly.com/tis-pccs/15min

Consider also adding the professional learning calendar to your Google Calendar so you can get updated directly on your Google Calendar of any newly released learning opportunities. To do so, see guidance below.

We hope this blog post finds you safe and well.  

The Technology Integration Team wants to ensure that EVERY staff member feels supported. Please read on to learn how we are working to support you. 

ONLINE HOME TEACHING HUB

We created a GREAT site (but don’t take our word for it) thoughtfully filled with resources to assist you in successfully navigating online teaching and better understanding various tech tools and services. Please consider bookmarking (click star in the address bar) our home teaching hub site: links.pccsk12.com/hth. 

USING WEBEX 

With Webex being our required platform by May 15th for any student video conferencing, we have created a dedicated Webex and Videoconferencing page filled with how-tos and best practice guidance on the Home Teaching Hub. 

CALENDAR OF AVAILABLE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

In addition, on both our Webex Help page and the professional learning page, we have a public calendar listing available webinars on how to use Webex Meetings and Webex Events offered both by Cisco Webex staff and by the TIS team. Other training sessions are available through Teq(OTIS), Seesaw, and other vendors. The district-led training offered by Rick and Matt can be identified by the label “P-CCS” at the beginning of the webinar title.

Please note we have 2 Webex training sessions this week. 

Wednesday, May 6th- Webex Meeting Training- 12:00-1:00 p.m. – Click to copy to calendar

Thursday, May 7th- Webex Events Training- 12:00-1:00 p.m.- Click to copy to calendar

TO ACCESS and REGISTER for TRAINING and WEBINAR EVENTS:

Click on the specific event shown on the calendar (see sample below from our Professional Learning Page):

Then click on ‘copy to my calendar’. It’s now on your calendar. Happy learning!

PERSONALIZED APPOINTMENTS

We also understand that some staff would like more individualized support. We’d love to help! Both Matt and Rick have open virtual office hours four hours every day, two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon (9-11 A.M. & 1-3 P.M.) To make a 15 minute (or longer) appointment with us, please click on this link: https://calendly.com/tis-pccs/15min. This link is also located in the signature of our emails.

Please know that we are here to support you however we can.

Thanks!

Your TIS Team,

Matt & Rick

tis@pccsk12.com

Our Assistive and Instructional Technology colleagues have a spring newsletter staff are invited to check out. Their main website can be found at https://pccsa-it.weebly.com/ and their Read & Write for Google website can be found at https://sites.google.com/pccsk12.com/rw4g-pccs/ 

Pictures of the newsletter are below. Click on the link to go to the actual newsletter where features are described with hotlinks to videos showcasing those features.

https://www.canva.com/design/DADy5KzWpkI/Zm55pKeeg1a92SGFPvoQRg/view?utm_content=DADy5KzWpkI&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=homepage_design_menu

The online Sora app was designed around the modern student reading experience. This app, developed and curated by Overdrive, empowers students to discover and enjoy ebooks and audiobooks, for both leisure and class-assigned reading. ALL STUDENTS in schools that don’t already have an OverDrive subscription AND ALL STAFF can now log into our Sora page using their Google Accounts at http://links.pccsk12.com/sora and begin checking out ebooks!

Students at all of our middle schools and three of our elementary schools already have OverDrive and Sora account access and should continue to access their collections as they normally have in the past, with the new knowledge that all of the additional premium titles our district account has access to also have been added to their respective school’s collections. For those uncertain how students can access Sora and your schools’ OverDrive account, please contact your school’s media specialist.

Inspired by educator and student feedback, Sora was created to excite kids about reading and remove distractions to promote a focus on learning.

Once logged in, students are able to “check out” for free one or more ebooks from a selection of more than  200 premium ebook titles, some with audio accompaniment.  Sign in to see what’s available or browse this list of titles that were available earlier in the month. The selection of what’s free and available for unlimited simultaneous check out changes monthly, and while access to some of the premium titles will end in late June, access to some titles will continue throughout the coming school year.

Below are some of the available titles and a brief introductory video.

Time sensitive – Happening today, Thursday, April 23rd, so heads up. This swift-paced free session (offered from 10:30 am – 11 am and again at noon – 12:30 pm) is a very efficient use of 30 minutes! Join Google Certified teacher Matt Bergman for a fun and exciting session that will leave you walking away with 10 new tools to implement in your Google Classroom immediately. He will introduce the tools, show you how to use them, and provide practical classroom examples of when you might want to use ’em.

Register and more info here: https://simplek12.lpages.co/event-10googleapps-v1/

This is sponsored by SimpleK12, a site and service that offers PD. While this is a free session and no purchase is necessary, should you sign up, you might get future email alerts for both free webinars they offer as well as ones that involve a subscription that they will encourage you to purchase.  To learn more about their offerings, including future free webinars, visit https://www.simplek12.com/tier/free-event/

Some of their upcoming free events…