January+2017

The VDOE is starting the year with many projects on our plate:
 * The 2017-2022 Technology Plan for Virginia is going to be written this year, after gathering extensive feedback this coming spring (our planned timeline will be presented to the State Board of Education this month).
 * Computer Science Standards of Learning will be developed this coming year (the planned timeline will also be presented to the State Board of Education during the January meeting).
 * GoOpenVA continues to gain steam as a movement towards creating a statewide effort to support the use and development of open-education resources, within our partnership with eMediaVA.
 * We are hoping to revise the Technology Standards for Instructional Personnel (TSIPs) by the end of the year, with heavy support from VSTE.
 * We will be providing a report on the state of technology in Virginia’s schools next fall, based on our recent survey of schools and divisions (see []).
 * And, of course, the General Assembly may provide us new initiatives as well!

A few highlights from recent technology director updates (sent monthly):

New licensing codes for updating the free version of SketchUp to SketchUp Pro are available. Many divisions are already doing this but some divisions have not yet signed up. If you would like to use this software for your students just let me know and I’ll send you the codes and instructions. This year, we are provided 3 different codes for 3 different versions (2015, 2016, and 2017) which you will use based on the hardware and software you have available in your schools (the instructions will tell you what you need to know).

CTE Credential Requirement for the Standard Diploma []
 * Supt’s Memos you should know about: **

Pilot Program Results for Bandwidth Optimization []

Virginia Reveals School Quality Profiles Online []
 * Virginia in Ed Tech News: **

Radford City Schools is excited to host a Google Summit April 8 - 9, 2017. Please consider being a presenter for this event; all presenters will receive free registration for the 2 day summit. Contact Dana Ratcliffe at 540-267-3310 or dratcliffe@rcps.org if you are interested in sharing your Google experiences in an instructional setting.
 * Professional Development Opportunities from Around the State: **

EdTech RVA 2017, a conference from GRAETC, at VCU in Richmond. March 8, 2017. []

Brainstorm, a free PD event provided by a partnership between VSTE, SVTC and JMU. April 7, 2017 at JMU. Details will follow at later date. []

How to Transition from a Print to Digital Curriculum []
 * Links to resources: **
 * Planning: **

Three Things to Know about the New Title IV SSAEG Program Guidance (blog post) []
 * Federal News/E-Rate: **

U.S. Dept. of Ed. Unveils Free Online Tool for Rapid Evaluation of Edtech Products []

New 'What Works Clearinghouse' Aims to Help Districts Find Research for ESSA []

7 Issues to Consider When Balancing School Surveillance with Student Privacy []
 * Security and Safety: **

The Aftermath of a Student Data Security Breach in Katy Independent School District []

Ready for School: Recommendations for the Ed Tech Industry to Protect the Privacy of Student Data (from California’s DOJ) []?

Boost Online Safety in K–12 Schools with the Help of Technology []

4 Tips to Help Schools with Privacy and Security Compliance []

3 Things That Concern K–12 Schools About the Cloud []

Encryption Sorely Lacking in Ed-Tech Products, Survey Finds []

Preventing Missed Opportunity: Taking Collective Action to Confront Chronic Absence (emphasis put on use of data) []
 * Management and Leadership: **

Throw The Cookie Cutters Away: Remaking High Schools For The 21st Century []

ESSA’s Opportunities to Rethink Accountability for Student-Centered Learning []

High Expectations at EPIC North []

The EdSurge Guide to Becoming a Future Ready Leader []

How Technology Can Close the Education Gap []

What the Savviest School Administrators Know About Education Technology []

What a Decade of Education Research Tells Us About Technology in the Hands of Underserved Students []

Results Of The Fourth Annual Infrastructure Survey (CoSN) []
 * Trends: **

The Trends and Challenges Shaping Technology Adoption In Schools []

7 Ways #TLTechLive Ensured You Caught It All []

An EdTech Buzzword Bingo Card []

How Are Schools Changing? EdSurge Unveils Final Chapter of Yearlong 'State of Edtech' Report []

Essential Extensions: Practical Chrome Extensions for Education (blog post) []
 * Technology: **

Six Best Practices for Wi-Fi Deployment in K–12 []

Twitter Expands 'Mute' and 'Report' Features to Combat Abuse []

Facebook Will Also Cut Off Fake News Sites from Ad Money []

High School Students Receive Free Access to Developer Tools (blog post) []
 * Potential Ed Tech Freebies: **

Kizoa Launches International Education Program ‘Kizoa for Schools’ (blog post) []

Cognitive Bias Cheat Sheet: Because Thinking Is Hard [|https://betterhumans.coach.me/cognitive-bias-cheat-sheet-55a472476b18#.r1a3xwfhc]
 * Digital Citizenship: **

Twitter Expands 'Mute' and 'Report' Features to Combat Abuse []

Facebook Will Also Cut Off Fake News Sites from Ad Money []

Media Literacy is Now at the Forefront of Tech Education []

Fake news & how media literacy is protective [|http://www.netfamilynews.org/fake-news-media-literacy-protective#more-36785]

Students Struggle With Spotting Fake News, Stanford Researchers Say []

How to Spot Fake News (and Teach Kids to Be Media-Savvy) (Commonsense Media) []

Fake News and What We Can Do about It (lesson plan from Anti-Defamation League) [|http://www.adl.org/education-outreach/lesson-plans/c/fake-news-and-what-we-can-do-about-it.html#].

I Made My Classroom Look Like The Real-World—And Test Scores Soared []
 * Pedagogy: **

4 Guidelines for Early Learners Using Technology []

Student Writing In the Digital Age []

Attending to the Digital []

Blending Discussion: Using Technology to Enhance Student Voice and Audience []

The Tuning Protocol: A Framework for Personalized Professional Development []

Crafting Professional Development for Maker Educators []

Using Technology in Your Humanities Classroom []

Google Released a New Citation Feature in Google Docs to Help You Easily Cite Your Sources []
 * Tools: **

Creative Commons License Chooser (a Google Docs Add-on) []

Essential Extensions: Practical Chrome Extensions for Education []

Top Ten Makerspace Favorites of 2016 []
 * Maker Movement: **

Engineering an Enduring Understanding (Makerspace lesson plan for humanities) []

Book Report Keychains (Maker Space lesson plan for literature) []

The Trouble with Rubrics []
 * Alternate Assessments: **

Just Let It Happen: Living with Open-Ended Outcomes []

Jay McTighe’s series of blog posts on Performance Tasks []

10 Ways Data Can Sabotage Your Teaching []

A Huge Library of Tech-Rich Lesson Plans for Teachers []
 * How-to’s and Lists: **

Some Very Good Search Engines for Academics and Educators []

Add Intertitles with Peanut Gallery []
 * Tools: **

Four Tools for Making Audio Recordings on Chromebooks [|http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/11/four-tools-for-making-audio-recordings.html#.WCsforIrLIU]

Library of Congress (updated site!) []
 * Curriculum Resources: **

4 Useful iPad Apps to Help Students Learn about the Body (Science) []

A Mathemagician’s Playbook (Mathematics) []

Literature Map (find authors connected to your favorites) (Language Arts) []

5 Videos to Help Students Understand the Electoral College (Social Studies) [|http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/11/5-videos-to-help-students-understand.html#.WCsfvLIrLIU]

New TED-Ed Video & Lesson: “The Egyptian Book of the Dead: A guidebook for the underworld” (Social Studies) []