Access to a Learning Management System provides students:

• Continuity in accessing the learning, especially if the LMS is used daily to access resources and tools for learning.

• Ability to easily review and revisit supports and scaffolds (videos, teacher feedback, digital resources, & more).​
• A clear path of communication with their instructors.
• Continuity in learning structures from elementary through high school and on into future career pathways.
• ​Authentic and relevant technology integration when the LMS is utilized to its full potential.
• When schools and teachers coordinate to use the same LMS, students can focus the cognitive load on their learning, instead of working to understand how to access the learning.

Over the past few months Google has made some updates that will allow users in Jeffco to be more productive in the classroom.  Students and teachers both can benefit from the updates.

Ed Tech recommends scheduling your Meets using Google Calendar. Using the calendar to schedule meets adds the following functionality to the meet:

• Change owner of the meet so a different user can have the host controls prior to the meet.
• Preassign breakout rooms by inviting your guests/students.
• Turn off quick access prior to the meet.
• Generate a static link you can use again.

When you present your screen, you can see other participants—and what you’re presenting—at the same time. 

In the meeting window, point to your presentation feed to:

• Unpin your presentation (view it as a tile) so you can view more participants.
• Mute or unmute any audio playing in your presentation.
• Remove your presentation from the meeting.

Note:  You can't interact with content in the meeting window. To move through the document you’re presenting, go to the window or browser tab you're presenting from. 

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Recently, Google announced that they will be retiring Classic Google Hangouts. In August, Jeffco will officially transition from Classic Hangouts to  Meet and Chat. This means that Classic Hangouts will no longer be available. 

Meet and Chat are currently available on the web for those that are interested in trying out the communication tools (see document below for setup directions). 

​Here is the Official Communication 
Here is a Tech Tip to support the transition

​You can now find Google Meet in your Google Calendar! When you create a meeting, you can add a Google Meet to the calendar invite. You can take it one step further and create appointment slots. This would be a great way to set-up specific office hours for students. For support, contact the Ed Tech team.

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It's been a while since we've had information about Schoology shared out so here are a few quick items to help you stay up-to-date. 

In case you haven't heard, back in late 2019 PowerSchool purchased Schoology. What does this mean for current Schoology users? Nothing is changing, and we will see enhanced features and options in the future according to our Schoology connections. We will keep you updated as new features become available. If you want to read more about the acquisition, click here. 

Assessment season is right around the corner and many teachers and students are working on preparing to share their amazing learning and knowledge. Did you know Schoology can serve as a robust platform for digital assessments providing practice opportunities for students of all ages? Schoology Tests/Quizzes have a wide variety of options for teachers to create customized assessments in a variety of ways. 

A few of the customization features for teachers include: 

1. Grading for a Test/Quiz - Any Test/Quiz in Schoology provides a variety of options for teachers to setup grading by category for a dynamic grade book, and grade by points or letter grade. Additionally teachers can assign an assessment to their whole class or just specific students. When grading, any multiple choice can be automatically graded for quick access to data saving time on teacher workloads. Teachers can also control the number of attempts thus allowing students to work on demonstrating mastery over longer periods of time. Last, Grading Statistics can be enabled so students can see how they compare to the rest of the class. No names are shown to student, just the grades/scores of their peers.
2. Question Type - Schoology has a wide range of question types available to create dynamic assessments. A few of the options include true/false, ordering, drag and drop, labeling images, short answer/essay, and much more. With a wide variety of options, teachers can challenge students to demonstrate their knowledge and learning in a variety of ways, as well as, practice using digital assessment tools and strategies. Schoology also has a large question bank which teachers can draw from to easily create and modify their assessment questions. 
3. Results of Tests/Quizzes - Keeping up with student growth is no easy task for teachers but Schoology has made it much simpler. Teachers can get instant results for an easy to understand overview of how students are performing. In addition to an overall view, teachers can dig into each question to determine if there are gaps in understanding for specific topics/content. Teachers can also get a breakdown by student to provide differentiated supports without spending large amounts of time grading and transferring data before making instructional decisions. 

For more information on how to use Schoology assessment features, you can visit the Schoology Help Center. Check out the Course Materials resources or more specifically resources for Tests/Quizzes to get started.

Schoology has a Kiosk available for students on any Jeffco owned Chromebook. The Schoology Kiosk allows students to enter Schoology and work only in Schoology on their Chromebook without having access to any external content such as a web browser. The Schoology Kiosk can be a useful tool for teachers to provide students learning and assessment experiences in a more controlled environment. To learn more about using the Schoology Kiosk on district-owned Chromebooks, take a look at the Schoology Kiosk Google Doc. There is also a link included on the document for access to a quick video demonstration. 

Jeffco Schoology is set up to automatically create courses for every teacher coinciding with their class rosters in Infinite Campus. Teachers will see their classes auto-populating the Course Section of their Schoology account. It is asked that teachers DO NOT DELETE these auto-created courses in Schoology. When a teacher deletes an auto-created course, it creates a backlog of Schoology sync issues and also causes students issues with seeing current or future courses they are auto-enrolled in. Once an auto-created course is deleted by a teacher, it cannot be reinstated. It is asked that if teachers aren't using those courses, or they don't want them interfering with current courses, they move them to the bottom of their course list. This can easily be done in the My Course section of Schoology by dragging courses in the order of desired preference. Teachers can delete any courses they have created at anytime without issue, this only applies to the auto-created courses within Schoology. If you have questions or would like further support, please reach out to either Nick Steinmetz or Lisa Summit in the Jeffco Educational Technology Department. 

More Schoology updates, new features, and opportunities for learning will be coming in the next few months. If you have questions about Schoology you can contact the above supports at anytime or reach out to your Jeffco Ed Tech Specialist. 

Staff members have the rights to switch to personal accounts on district Chromebooks.  They must log into the Chromebook with their district account but can then add a personal account to access certain resources. This process looks different on Chrome 78 than it has in the past. Please see this document for support. 

Although it appears that students can toggle off the ability to save their browing history in their individual Chrome settings, this is not the case.  You will notice that the individual check boxes cannot be selected for our domain. The district is able to override these settings in Jeffco's Google Admin Console, which stores student browsing history in Vault.  

Many people connect 3rd party apps through Google, giving those apps permission to the user's G Suite Data. Google is beginning to limit the ability for less secure apps (LSAs) to access that data, so that the user's account is less susceptible to hijacking. As this change is occurring, we are finding that some vendors are not choosing to make the necessary security updates and are choosing to discontinue their products. If you are experiencing difficulty using Google to log into 3rd party tools, outside Jeffco's 8 Digital tools, please reach out to the vendor for support. 

Check out some of the neat features available on Chromebooks! 

At Governor’s Ranch Elementary, the Digital Teacher Librarian, Rachel McKenzie has been using WeVideo with several groups of students.  Recently, Ms. McKenzie had her 2nd grade WIN group use WeVideo to explain their understanding of severe weather.

They started with hurricane research, coming up with some guiding questions together about what they would need to know to do a weather broadcast (wind speed, common locations, etc) and then she had the kids look through library books and resources she sent them in Google Classroom to research. They organized with thinking maps.  ​They used the research to build their script for the video, trying  to put realistic facts into the video that were inspired by their research. They watched weather forecasts on YouTube so that they could try and use similar vernacular, such as "back to you in the studio!"

After filming, students were able to collaborate on the video and decide what they wanted their post production video to look like. Ms. McKenzie, with student input, edited the video, added transitions and captions and then had the students give their critiques.  Once the students chimed in, the video was completed.  Finally, the group showed it to their classmates and community so they could see their learning.  This lesson was a great way to show how WeVideo can be used to help synthesize learning and allow students to show their understanding through their own creations.  The students stated that they loved having choice in their project.  They got to decide what to research and how to create the video.  They said it was fun, engaging, and even though it was a lot of work, they really learned a great deal.  One student said that it was really cool to come to WIN and ​they were so excited to share with friends and family.

Google has developed an email subscription to a series of bite-sized videos that support educators in learning how to use the G Suite for Education. For those that subscribe, you will receive 8 weeks of short videos, delivered to your inbox. These video-based tutorials cover Drive, Docs, Classroom, Forms, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, and Gmail and should take less than 15 minutes to complete each week. To sign up for these videos, please visit the Google Teacher Center.

Would you like access to bite-sized videos without having to sign up for the 8-week email subscription? Three times a month, the Google for Education YouTube Channel publishes a 90-second video to their Edu in 90 playlist. If you choose to subscribe to the playlist, you will get an email notification when a new video is created. Each episode will focus on an important topic for educators, administrators, and school leaders - things like product updates, new programs, and helpful resources for the classroom.

Last year, Classic Hangouts broke apart into two new products: Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet. Hangouts Meet is a video conferencing tool that allows participants to create virtual meeting spaces. Although Hangouts Meet is not available for Jeffco students, it is available for all Jeffco staff. This product has had a few changes over the past month that might support your work! 

1. You can now invite up to 150 people to participate in your Hangout Meet! These participants will all have screen sharing and speaking capabilities. 
2. Hangouts Meet now supports a closed-captioning feature. This is excellent for those needing additional hearing support or for those that need to  listen into a meeting with the sound turned off or down.

A few people have requested the ability to remove the Read and Write extensions from their pinned app bar at the bottom of Chromebooks. We have removed forced pinning of these extensions, but you will need to physically remove them from your app launcher. To un-pin, right-click in the tab and select "Unpin tab." There is no keyboard shortcut for pinning or unpinning a tab.

Generally speaking, Chrome Apps are bookmarked websites. Drive, Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides, Hangouts etc. are all native G Suite Chrome apps. These apps can be found by clicking on the app icon (the "waffle") in the top of your chrome browser. You can also install third-party Chrome apps from the Chrome Webstore; however, fewer companies are continuing to manage and develop Chrome apps, as many people just choose to bookmark the website for easy access. 

Pro Tip: When bookmarking a website, delete the words to create a simple favicon. This allows you to add many more bookmarks to the top of your browser. 

Google add-ons live within G Suite for Education Chrome apps: GMail, Docs, Sheets, Forms and Slides. Add-ons are often created by third-party developers, and they enhance how the app functions.  

• Add-ons in Sheets, Slides, and Docs can be found in the Add-on tab in the top menu. 
• Add-ons in Forms can be found in the 'More' (three dots) menu. 
• Add-ons in Gmail can be found in the 'settings' cogwheel. 

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Pear Deck, one of Jeffco's digital tools, is an Add-on that functions within Google Slides and is available for all staff and students. It allows for interactive slides that provide opportunities to formatively assess students while delivering direct instruction! 

Jeffco Ed Tech's G Suite Add-on Webpage

Extensions boost the functionality of your Chrome browser. They customize the experience you have while browsing the internet, and are often created by third-party companies. Extensions can, and should, be managed regularly to ensure your browser is functioning efficiently. If your browser is acting slow or inefficient, clean out the extensions you are no longer using on a regular basis. Also, consider only adding extensions that provide a strong value to your daily browsing experience. 

Read and Write for Google and EquatIO, two of Jeffco's digital tools, are extensions that alter how the Chrome browser works.

• Read and Write for Google has two extensions (Read & Write and PDF Reader) that are automatically installed for all staff and students on Chromebooks (they must be manually installed on a laptop).
• EquatIO has a single extension that must be manually installed from the Chrome Web Store by staff and students on both Chromebooks and laptops. *EquatIO is purchased for grades 6-12 in Jeffco. 

The Power Up Pear Deck extension can also be added to increase the functionality of Pear Deck Slides. This extension ensures that videos, animations, and GIFs embedded in your Pear Deck slides play at full resolution. 

Jeffco Ed Tech's Extensions Webpage

 Android Apps are new in Jeffco and are available on TechforEd 5th and 9th grade Chromebooks; they can be installed through the Google Play Store. Android Apps were built for mobile, touch-screen devices and are similar to iPad apps. ​Although many of the Android apps also exist on the web (or as Chrome apps) the functionality between both versions may be different. For example, the Google Classroom Android app contains an annotation feature not available on the Chrome App (web) version of Google Classroom.

All apps available in the Jeffco Android App store are free to download and have been vetted for student privacy and security. You may request Jeffco add additional Android Apps through the standard district-vetting process. 

There is currently an Android App for several Jeffco digital tools: Soundtrap, WeVideo, Schoology and many of the G Suite for Education tools. 

*Currently the Seesaw Android app does not function on student Chromebooks 

Jeffco Ed Tech Android Apps Webpage

All Chrome Apps, Extensions, Add-ons and Android Apps used in the classroom should be vetted for student privacy and security. You can find out which have been approved thus far by searching Jeffco's Digital Tools website! To request that additional tools be vetted and added to the site, please complete the district's vetting process. District tool vetting occurs twice a year, during summer and winter break. If you would like to submit tools for second semester, be sure to submit them for vetting by December 1st. 

Jeffco loves Seesaw! Teachers, students and parents across the district are using Seesaw as a digital workflow in their classrooms. What is app smashing and how can that improve the student experience when using Seesaw? 

The term “app smashing” was coined by former history teacher and current edtech guru, Greg Kulowiec.
Back in 2013, he defined app smashing as “the process of using multiple apps in conjunction with one another to complete a final task or project.”
These apps could range from the most basic, like the ones that come built-in on your iPad or Chromebook (think the camera app), to the latest and greatest edtech apps in formative assessment, video-editing and so on.
By using multiple apps, not only will you become an edtech legend, but you’ll also create wildly engaging lessons and projects for your students, sparking engagement and keeping your parents and admins happy and singing your

 Students and teachers can create in Google Draw and then upload the link to Seesaw to share with their peers and their parents.  You can also have students record a voice or caption. You can control the file type. Download as a JPEG and then upload into Seesaw.

There are multiple ways to add a file to Seesaw from the G-Suite tools. ​ The tools in the G-Suite smash well with Seesaw!

Flippity is an add-on, not an app. You need to open a  Google Sheet, click on "Add-Ons" and then  "Get Add-ons" and choose Flippity from the G-Suite Marketplace.  Fippity turns information from a Google Sheet into Flashcards. You can make interactive flashcards around vocabulary. 

You've heard the EdTech department talking about "digital tools" a lot this year. What exactly are those tools? How do you use them? What do they look like in the classroom? We know it can be confusing, so in this post, we will be de-mystifying the digital tools. Below are the core applications and add-ons purchased and maintained by Jeffco Public Schools for use by students and teachers! Each tool is outlined with a short description and helpful links for getting started or diving deeper with each application. If you dive in and something doesn't make sense or you want to know more, please contact your EdTech Specialist for more information!

Remember, your EdTech Specialist is here to support you! Contact yours with any questions or wonderings you are having about any of the above tools. 

Elementary schools: Keri Douglas, Kala Munguia, Amy Oelschlager
Middle Schools: Kali Devor
High Schools: Nick Steinmetz
Central Support: Amie Adams