Highlights from the October 2016 Technology Newsletter: Connecting and Collaborating

Featured EdTech Resource:

Discovery Education 

Did you know that resources and assignments in Discovery Education can be shared directly with your students through Google Classroom? With just a click of a button, you can share:

• videos
• podcasts
• images
• interactive maps and games
• primary source documents (and more!) with your students.

Building multi-media text sets and finding resources to meet

a variety of learning styles has never been easier.

With Discovery Education, you can guide your students as they learn to navigate digital content as well as create their own collections of digital resources.

To get started, contact the Library Media Specialist in your building or Melissa Morris Inoa, Supervisor for Instructional Technology, for support in learning about using these resources from Discovery Education.

Here's a video with some of the new Discovery Education content just released this month:

You can also connect with the Discovery Eduction Community and join a supportive learning environment where you can share resources and collaborate on other educational ideas. Here's what other educators are saying about the Discovery Education Community:

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Digital Citizenship: 

Connecting and Collaborating Safely Online 

It's important for our students to learn how to connect and collaborate online with others. In this video, students share their own experiences communicating online and how they stay safe.

After watching this video, please share your thoughts on the video and ideas for discussing these topics with your students and their families in our Google+ Community. 

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NBPS Technology Academy

& other district resources 

NBPS Technology Academy - a collection of technology-related professional development resources for all NBPS faculty and staff. 

Technology Academy content is organized by individual projects, methods of instruction, or professional development opportunities and is updated periodically as materials change or new content becomes available. 

Shared Resource Folder

- a collection of files and resources for many of our district programs and technology resources. Add the file to your Drive so that you always have access to this content. 

Google+ Community - an online forum for NBPS staff to share resources, discuss ideas, make connections and collaborate. This is a private Google+ Community, and you must be logged in to your NBPSNJ Google account to access it. 

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Sharing & Collaborating in Google Docs

By design, the apps in the G Suite for Education (formerly known as Google Apps for Education) are collaborative. 

SHARING

Knowing how to share files with collaborators is the first step. This  resource from the  Goodwill Community Foundation  takes you step by step through sharing settings. 

We also have some helpful tips on sharing settings here in our NBPS Shared Resource Folder. 

COLLABORATING

Once you've shared a document with collaborators, the real important work can  begin. Here are some other resources and ideas for using Google Docs as a collaborative tool with colleagues and students. 

• "How to collaborate like a pro with Google Docs"
• Lesson idea: "Write collaboratively using Google Docs"
• "Collaborative Note-Taking with Google Docs"

Link to the original newsletter.

Highlights from the September 2016 Technology Newsletter: Back to School

Encouraging Digital Citizenship 

It's never too early to start talking to students about digital citizenship. 

Effective use of technology involves so much more than just knowing how to use a device or an application. 

Keeping our students safe and responsible online is a critical element in our efforts to successfully and effectively integrating technology as a part of everyday instruction.

This video touches upon some of the aspects of Digital Citizenship and will give you a few talking points that you can use with your students in the classroom and families can use at home as well. 

This video is also posted in our NBPS Google+ Community for Digital Citizenship. Please join this community and discuss your ideas about this video. Also, please feel free to start other discussions about digital citizenship within this Community and share resources for teaching digital citizenship. 

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Naming Conventions for Google Docs

There's nothing like the start of the school year! Supplies are all new and fresh...our Google Classroom folders are empty, awaiting the assignments that our students will submit.

Fast forward to just a few weeks into the school year and those folders can suddenly become cluttered, making it difficult to find the documents we are looking for. This doesn't have to be the case if you set up Google Docs naming conventions early in the year. 

Setting up naming conventions for yourself and with your students is a very important step in getting and staying organized for the school  year.

Keep in mind that there's no one right system for establishing naming conventions. You will have to find a system that works for you. The more you work with Google Drive and Google Classroom, the more you will decide what works best for you. 

If you are looking for some suggestions or aren't sure where to start, here is a helpful article from Alice Keeler on 

Assigning Naming Conventions. 

If you have any questions or require additional support with this, please reach out to Melissa Morris Inoa, Supervisor of Instructional Technology. 

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Coming soon...A New Student Portal

In the near future, a new portal for students will arrive on our district website provided by Clever. This portal will give students access to all of their district assigned programs without having to remember numerous passwords. 

By entering their gmail username and password, the student will enter a program called Clever which will house many of our district approved programs. Each student will then see only the programs that are made available specifically to them, giving them a personalized experience.  As additional programs become available in Clever, they will be automatically added by the technology department. 

Please click on the link provided below for a how-to guide. 

Clever Login Instructions

Please stay tuned to the newsletter for additional details and programs that are now supported.

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#ALLIN4NB

We're rapidly expanding our social media presence here at New Brunswick Public Schools and encourage all of you to follow us on  Twitter and  Instagram , while liking us on Facebook. 

Already on Twitter?

Share your Twitter handle in this form and start connecting with other educators in NBPS and around the world: 

  https://goo.gl/kzT0S8

Always remember that your online posts are an extension of the classroom and school community,  so there can never be negative remarks about students or colleagues. We look forward to seeing you online. 

Link to the original newsletter.