Pathway: Distance Learning

Our Distance Learning Skills Roadmap describes the foundation for a successful remote learning plan. Teachers can reflect upon their own teaching style and skills to determine where they fall on the roadmap (toe-in-the-water, waist high, all in). Administration can use the roadmap paired with teacher feedback in order to determine what sort of professional development and training they need to provide their staff in order to prepare them for remote learning.

Starting the school year online or in a hybrid setting will present unique challenges to get to know your students and create a sustainable classroom culture. This webinar will cover beginning of the year ice-breaker activities, ways to foster invaluable "hallway" conversations, and strategies to establish norms and expectations online.

Learn different strategies and conventions for how to declutter and organize your Google Drive, ways to stay organized within your LMS, and tips and tricks to help your students stay organized as well.

Google Hangouts Meet is a video conferencing service that helps people easily set up and join meetings with their team. This application makes it easy to connect with anyone, anywhere with the click of a link. Users can use audio, video and even share their screen.

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, collaboration, chat, and webinars across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, conference, huddle, and training rooms, as well as executive offices and classrooms.

Loom is a Google Chrome Extension that enables you to record your computer screen, or create a “screen cast”. Loom is easy to access, easy to use, and can be used in a multitude of ways.

Taking a screenshot is simply taking a picture of what is on the screen of your device, either selecting a portion of it or the entire screen.  Capturing screenshots is the perfect way to create unique images, save important information or student work, and develop engaging learning materials.

A screencast is a digital recording of a computer or mobile device screen. Screencastify is a free Google Chrome Extension that allows you to quickly and easily record your desktop, laptop, or Chromebook screen. You can also use Screencastify to take a video using your webcam.

Choice boards are an awesome tool to promote student centered learning and student voice! By creating a choice board for your class, you give them the power to determine how they learn or how they demonstrate their learning.

Google Calendar is a time-management and scheduling calendar service that helps people organize their responsibilities. One of the many awesome options with Google Calendar is Appointment Slots. With appointment slots, you can block off any amount of time on your calendar and allow others to sign up for time with you quickly and easily by sharing a link.

Flipgrid is an online discussion platform that allows users to submit audio/video responses to topics.  Flipgrid combines an interactive social learning experience with student voice to encourage teachers and students to share their thoughts with others and stimulate discussion in the classroom.

Google Slides Q&A is a feature that can be used during your presentation to allow students or participants to ask questions about concepts in your lesson or discussion.

PearDeck is a tool to make your Google Slides more engaging for students, encourage classroom discussions, collect formative assessment data, and get kids actively participating in your lesson.

Padlet is a free tool to create an online bulletin board that you can use to display information on any topic.  You can add images, links, video, and more.  Walls can be private, open to the public, or moderated by you- meaning that you approve all contributions before they show.

Captions in Google applications are an important tool to provide assistance to students with trouble hearing. Captions provide audio to text abilities that allow students to read what is being said in a video or live session. Google Meet, Google Slides, and YouTube all have the ability to provide captions to enhance student learning.

Google Classroom is a learning management system that allows teachers to create, distribute, and grade assignments in a paperless fashion. Google Classroom is free and helps students and teachers communicate, collaborate, organize and manage assignments, go paperless, and much more!

Schoology is a comprehensive learning management system (LMS) for K-12 schools that allows users to create, manage, and share content and resources.  Schoology “discussions” are online discussion boards that allow students to share ideas, feedback, and thoughts with others.  Students can respond and reply to their classmates and engage in real-time or asynchronous discussions in an online environment.  

An interactive virtual classroom is a creative delivery method that teachers can use to have students interact with various resources. Teachers can add themselves as a bitmoji in the classroom - or another setting - and add links to outside resources and activities through their image. This can be created through Google Slides.

Twitter is a social networking platform that can help you build your professional learning network (PLN) and share the great things going on in your classroom/building/district.

Tweetdeck is a web-based tool that helps you manage your Twitter feed and sort through great content quickly.

HyperDocs are interactive digital lesson plans that combine links, resources, and activities into one central "document."  These aren't just "digital worksheets;" HyperDocs transform the way content is delivered to students, which in turn, facilitates higher order thinking skills and new levels of collaboration.  Even though HyperDocs can be created using a variety of tools, the resources and activities inside every HyperDoc should give students opportunities to critically think, connect, and create.

Google Jamboard is an interactive, collaborative whiteboard tool. Jamboard allows for real-time collaboration and integrates a variety of content like videos, photos or even other GSuite files.

Note: This Badge does not require a physical Jamboard. We will be working with the app that can be downloaded to mobile devices.

YouTube is a video-sharing platform that makes it easy to search, share, and watch online videos.  YouTube is one of the most popular sites on the web, and it's in-depth set of video creation tools helps users develop a profile, create a channel, upload videos, and share content with others.  The site was founded on four principles that champion voice and community including freedom of expression, freedom of information, freedom of opportunity, and freedom to belong.

Book Creator allows teachers to create powerful eBooks that include text, pictures, drawings, video, and audio - for free. Book Creator for Chrome allows teachers to maintain a 40-book library, which students can submit their own books to. The free iPad app permits a teacher to maintain one book for editing. The paid iPad app allows storing unlimited books for editing.

Seesaw is a digital portfolio management system, allowing students to submit artifacts of learning to a class feed that is managed by the teacher. Seesaw is great for progress monitoring, supporting differentiated instruction, and enhancing student voice.  A teacher sets up a classroom, and decides whether students will sign in with their existing e-mail address or via a specially generated QR code.  The QR code option is an easy way to get young children started using Seesaw, and permits students to use a wide variety of devices such as laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, or smartphones.

EdPuzzle is a free assessment-centered tool that allows teachers and students to create interactive online videos by embedding either open-ended or multiple-choice questions, audio notes, audio tracks, or comments on a video. Edpuzzle interactive videos can be made with videos from a number of websites, including YouTube, TED, Vimeo, and National Geographic.

Whiteboard.fi is a digital whiteboard for teachers and classes. Students only need a class code to join (no account set up required)! This is essentially the same thing as using whiteboards in the classroom - but now you can do it virtually!

Quizizz is a tech tool used for student-paced participation in quizzes. It is a game-based review tool that can be played “live” or in “homework” mode. Students can use their smartphone, tablet or computer to respond to multiple-choice questions and receive immediate feedback.

Educreations is a digital white-boarding tool (available on a web platform and as a mobile app) that allows teachers to record their lessons and share recordings with students in a variety of ways.

This demo will show Educreations on an iPad and using Chrome on a laptop.

“Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom.” -khanacademy.org

Khan Academy offers courses for learners in kindergarten all the way through graduate school. Subjects covered on Khan Academy include math, grammar, history, music, computer science, ELA, physics, chemistry, biology, economics, and more!

Khan Academy is available on the web and is also available for iOS and Android devices.

Quill is a lightweight learning management system integrated with a suite of online apps that teach writing, grammar, and vocabulary skills to students. Students using Quill learn English grammar and vocabulary by fixing sentences, proofreading passages, and collaboratively writing passages. - Quill.org