On the DL
Notes from Digital Learning and School Library Services
October 2020
Welcome to the new Digital Learning and School Library Programs Department and our newly repackaged newsletter, On the DL. (Get it?) We have been the Department of Instructional Technology since I returned to Brunswick County Schools in 2008. With that name came constant confusion about our role in both technology implementation and the schools in general. With the name change we hope to focus on our primary goal, helping students and teachers accomplish amazing things using digital resources. Our awesome ITFs will now be even more awesome Digital Learning Specialists (DLSs). Your school libraries will continue to be served by your School Library Media Coordinators.
What can you expect from this newsletter? We hope to provide a place where we can continue to share our resources, as well as, great opportunities available to the BCS community. You will notice a Copyright Corner. Your recent feedback on the Remote Learning PD indicated we needed to follow up with ongoing information on copyright. Ask and ye shall receive. Speaking of asking, you will notice an FAQ area. Ask your questions and we will work hard to get them answered. Additionally, we are including information for all grade levels. Many of you liked the movie trivia in the former ITF newsletter, so we will continue with trivia questions of some sort.
Before I go, we are welcoming our K-5 students back full time this week, and it is important to point out what an amazing job all of our educators have done with remote learning over the last few months. You have stepped up to the challenge because you care about students, and I think you are all amazing. As your student transition back to f2f instruction, reflect on those skills that they didn't quite have mastered during remote learning times. How can we prepare them now, in the event we have to use full remote learning again whether it be for COVID-19, or weather, or any other new surprise. Your DLSs are here to help you as you plan this instruction.
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Copyright Corner
(click the down arrow to see the response to the question)
"I want to teach (insert book title here) and found the PDF for FREE online. I'm good to share it with my students, right?"
The short answer, no! Now for the long answer…
Copyright is the law that protects intellectual property from being used without the permission of the creator or copyright holder. So for something like a novel, while the creator is the author, the actual copyright holder is usually the publishing company. They have signed a contract with the author to co-own that work in exchange for printing and distribution. The fact is both of these entities (the publisher and the author) need to make a living or profit. That is why copying, either physically or digitally, isn’t really allowed. In the bigger picture, if artists can’t profit, they won’t share their works and the world will become a sad place.
“But, I didn’t copy it. I found the file on the internet.” My usual response to this is “Just because you can, doesn’t make it right.” If you deep dive into many of the hosting sites for such works, they include a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) statement that says something akin to “We believe in copyright but we believe in you having this copy more.” The reality is, as adults, you can decide for yourself if you want to access someone else’s intellectual property this way. What you can’t do is use it as a classroom resource.
Classroom resources must be purchased and distributed appropriately or else the district may be held accountable. Publishers have sued districts for copyright infringement previously. As an example, see the article on Houston ISD. (Interestingly enough, we received a cease and desist letter several years ago for materials linked on a BCS teacher website that we believe came out of HISD and the resources referenced in this lawsuit.) So how do you teach in this environment? Plan in advance and work with your school library media coordinator to provide the resources you need. We can purchase or even rent digital copies via our Sora Digital Library, but they need time to prepare these materials. They can also help you locate alternative print materials.
Modeling the respect for artists and creators allows for us to continue to have amazing works of art.
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School Library Spotlight
The Shallotte Middle School library is a highly-used facility that encourages students to study, read, test, tutor, learn and relax, a comfortable and welcoming place for all students. There are many “rooms” within the media center that are used for a multitude of reasons. We have a classroom in the middle of the media center with tables, chairs, and a SMARTboard for presentations. There is a corner with whiteboard tables that are used everyday when students collaborate on projects and when tutors work with students struggling in math. We have bicycles and exercise balls for students who may need alternative seating, a place to “fidget” without disturbing others. And up until recently, students have enjoyed my favorite corner of the library, a place dedicated to relaxed pleasure reading, a much needed, used, and appreciated area of the media center. This area featured four over-sized chairs that students could and did cuddle up in to read and to study. It was the most desired place to be in the whole room. Students would race to claim their place in the comfortable and homey spot.
Sadly, the fire-marshal deemed these long-ago donated leather chairs to be out of fire code and we had to remove them. Since then, there is an empty space in the library as well as in the hearts of the children. Out of habit before schools closed due to COVID, they still flocked to the area where the chairs once were to sit on a rug on the floor and quietly read their books and play chess. Since these chairs were previously donated, there was no budget to replace them.
No budget? No problem…. I set to work to find funding to create a new and improved reading room in the Pirate Media center and was recently thrilled to find out that SMS was awarded a grant from ATMC to purchase new, brightly-colored memory-foam bean bag chairs for the students to enjoy! It may be awhile before the new furniture is put to use, but when SMS students return to school and to a more normal schedule with library time included, they will have wonderfully comfortable and inviting places to again get lost in their books! And I can’t wait to see them!!
by Jennifer Murphy, School Library Media Coordinator - Shallotte Middle School
Digital Learning Resources
BrainPOP Jr. is available to K-2 students and teachers through the Clever portal and rostered with Powerschool. BrainPOP Jr. includes many different subject areas such as Science, Health, Reading & Writing, Social Studies, Math, and Arts & Technology. Teachers, within their dashboard, can assign introductory level videos on a plethora of topics followed by many different activities such as:
Make a map
Draw about it
Write about it
Belly up
Activity
Talk about it
Wordplay
Closed Captioning is available with each introductory video as well as the capability for students to watch multiple times to retain information. Teachers can also utilize Quiz Mixer to create their own Quizzes using multiple choice, open-ended, as well as poll questions.
BrainPOP ELL is also an available resource for K-2 teachers which supports English language learners with instructional videos and resources.
Need assistance? See your Digital Learning Specialist for more information or check out the 1B@T microunit on BrainPOP Jr.
Discovery Education is a Clever rostered resource available to students and teachers K-8 with Brunswick County Schools. Aligned with standards based resources as well as the middle school Science Techbook, Discovery Education can utilized by all middle school teachers. Content can be filtered by subject and standard, while other opportunities for implementation include instructional strategies, assessments, United Streaming, and student or teacher created boards within Studio.
Teachers assign content that is then accessed by students through Clever.
Teachers can access completed work within their Discovery Education account and provide feedback.
Content is saved in one location for easy access within my content. Content areas include Science, Math, ELA, Social Studies, Health, Career Skills, Visual and Performing Arts, and there are multi-language resources. Searchable content by subject area includes channels, activities, full videos, lesson starters, songs, and skills binder.
Teachers also have full access to coding to allow students to learn many different coding languages such as python, block, and HTML.
Need assistance? See your Digital Learning Specialist for more information or check out one of the 6 Discover Ed 1B@T microunits.
Newsela is now available for all high school teachers and students. So what is Newsela? Newsela is AWESOME! Teachers can assign individual articles or groups of articles (Text Sets). When teachers assign articles, students see the assignments on their Newsela homepage. Newsela is automatically rostered via Clever. Even if the teacher does not customize the assignment, when students go to an assigned article at newsela.com or on the Newsela mobile app they can complete the following actions:
Read the article at all reading levels
Take the quiz at all reading levels
Highlight and annotate at all reading levels
Submit a writing response to the Newsela writing prompt
Complete Power Words activities (when the school has Newsela ELA and the article has Power Words)
Teachers can customize Newsela assignments with Class Instructions, Annotations, and Writing Prompts. See your Digital Learning Specialist or Instructional Coach for more information. We have online, asynchronous PD available as well.
Virtual TECHademy
TCS and Discovery Education are partnering to empower educators nationwide with best-in-class transdisciplinary learning resources designed to ignite action around the critical role computational thinking plays in 21st Century learning with Virtual TECHademy professional learning events. Learn more about the December 9th event (5:30pm-8:30pm ET) and register HERE
Adjust Your Microphone
When students are in a Zoom meeting, teachers have reported robot-like voices and/or the microphone volume is too low. Students must adjust their microphone settings in the Chromebook itself to fix these issues. Have the students adjust the volume up or down to a level that is comfortable for all. Here is a video to help out!
NCDPI's Digital Teaching and Learning Division includes their Innovative Learning Catalysts. This team of educator's provide professional growth opportunities for educators by educators. If you visit their website at bit.ly/NCILC, you find their podcast series and virtual discussions. Their podcast series Moments of Inspiration podcast is just beginning Season 2. Their Podcast PD NC series is what they consider "Listen and launch" rather than "sit and get".
Many classrooms received Newline Panels this year. The Newline Panels come with some great new features to use in your classroom and with students online! Did you know you can broadcast your Newline Panel to your students? This means that remote students receive a link to the panel and can follow along with the lesson being displayed on the panel. Check out the tutorial here and ask your Digital Learning Specialist for more details!
Check out the major updates to SMART Learing Suite online (SLS)! This resource is available to all grades and does not need an interactive panel! SLS is an amazing way to host interactive lessons with your students in class and at home. You can create a lesson, share the link, and students can access and complete the lesson remotely or they can join in class with you! Check out the tutorial here (it is also available in the Remote Learning PD) and ask your Digital Learning Specialist about it today!
