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Digital Responsibility
October 1, 2019
by Beverly Liberato
The Importance of Digital Responsibility
In this technological day and age, it is extremely important that we as educators are serving to help keep students safe online. In doing so, we need to talk to students and teachers about Digital Responsibility. FWISD has decided to partner with Common Sense Media, a non-profit company, to educate all of our students and teachers on how to be responsible digital citizens. This is an exciting time for FWISD as we work toward this goal by becoming a Common Sense certified district with Common Sense Media.
FWISD Needs Your Help
In order for FWISD to become a certified district with Common Sense Media, 75% of all campuses must be certified through Common Sense Media's recognition process. Many of our campuses have already gone through the process, and many more are currently in the works. This is an easy process, and lessons, dealing with every day digital responsibility issues facing our students, are already created for educators. Through these lessons, teachers will help the district ensure our students are choosing to be digitally responsible on and off campus. For more information on the Common Sense certification process for schools, click the following link: Common Sense Media Recognition.
Once on the site, scroll down to the Do, Learn, and Reflect section for all of the requirements. Remember, for questions or assistance, please reach out to your campus Digital Learning Educator or email edtech@fwisd.org.
We look forward to being a certified school district and for all of our campuses to receive this wonderful distinction through the Common Sense certification process.
Spotlight
October 15, 2019
by Daina Roberts
Introducing Jana Hunt - Wedgwood Middle School
At Wedgwood Middle School, they live and teach by the motto of “Transforming Norms to Exceed Expectations”, and Jana Hunt does just that with her Wedgwood Middle School Geek Squad Tech Assistants. Jana is the librarian at Wedgwood Middle School, but she has gone far beyond that role to benefit the students, teachers, administrators, and campus. Jana started the Geek Squad student program last year to have her student assistants learn new, innovative technologies while also allowing them to fill the need of helping teachers with technology integration.
Jana has continued to grow her program this year by recruiting even more students to join her as Geek Squad Tech Assistants. She spent time in June with this year’s current assistants, teaching and training them in several different technology applications and programs. She chose programs that she knew would help the students but would also help the teachers if they needed additional support. As we wrapped up the first six weeks of school, the students completed several projects that they had been assigned through Google Classroom.
One of the main projects during the first six weeks was to choose a staff member at Wedgwood Middle to interview, develop interview questions for that staff member, and create a Google Slide to showcase fun, interesting information about them!
According to Jana, this is “the most fun I’ve ever had in my career so far” and I know the students are feeling the same! You may not be able to implement a program to the same degree as Jana immediately; however, if you’d like to do something similar, consider starting an elective club for students who want to learn new technology skills and then have them help with special events during the school year! If you’d love to try something like this out on your campus but aren’t sure how to start, reach out to your campus Technology Learning Coach! We would love to help! If you’d like to see more of what Ms. Hunt and her Geek Squad Tech Assistants are up to, check out #WMSGSTA on Twitter or Instagram.
Tech Tip in a GIF-fy
Customizing Chrome Bookmarks Bar: How to get the most out of the Chrome Bookmarks Bar
Bookmarks in your Chrome browser are more than just a place to store pages to read later. By simplifying and organizing Chrome bookmarks, you are one click away from the tools and resources you use every day. However, too many bookmarks can quickly clutter your toolbar. To maximize the space on your bookmark bar, remove a bookmark’s name, and it will appear as an icon instead. Another option is to create folders for similar tools and resources. Although it may be tempting to save everything of interest, you should reserve bookmarks for useful tools, webpages, and resources you access regularly. Be honest with yourself, and as Marie Kondo would say, ask yourself, “Do those bookmarks bring you joy?”
To customize your bookmarks in your Chrome browser, follow the steps in the GIF.
Upcoming Events
November and December
Take a look at all of the awesome upcoming learning opportunities.
Face-to-Face Courses:
Our last set of Fall courses will be offered on Saturday, November 2nd. Sign up on Eduphoria to join us.
Morning (8:30 - 11:30)
Afternoon (12:30 - 3:30)
eCourses:
Our last round of Fall eCourses will begin in November. Check our eCourses page later this month for more information and links to sign up in Eduphoria.
November 4th - December 16th
November 15th - December 6th
Blended Learning Modules
Do you want to learn how to seamlessly integrate technology into your instruction? Join our Blended Learning Modules that are differentiated to meet your needs. Contact your assigned Academic Technologist (Technology Coach) to learn more.
Podcast
Listen to the upcoming episodes of our brand new podcast, FWEdCast. Hear our Academic Technologists and their guests talk about Digital Responsibility, Literacy and EdTech Appreciation.
#FWEdChatLive
Watch our weekly livestreams on Facebook Live and Periscope as we catch up with some special guests. We’ll talk about promoting literacy and edtech appreciation in our future segments.
