Google Sites updates

Good morning colleagues! Let me ask you a question... how do you find out about updates to your favorite websites and applications? For me, I learn about it through Twitter. One would think that's the quickest way to find something new, but with the new Twitter algorithm, you don't always see updates in real time. Plus, I follow 200 some people (and now view their likes in the timeline) so Twitter gets to be pretty messy. I know that I should also follow the Google Blog(s), but I don't check my RSS feeds in Feedly as often as I should...

So...

Did you know there were changes to Google Sites?! If your answer is "yes," then good. You're in the know. If your answer is "no," outstanding. You're right there with me :)

I figured out there were changes to Google Sites when I went to update my digital portfolio. I update the "What I'm Reading" page quite often, but never noticed the big, new, honking icons on the editing side.

So, of course, I get curious and actually read through the G Suite blog. Phew... layouts have only been available since August 14th. Wait... it's September 22nd. It's been a MONTH?!

So I did what any "normal" teacher would do... I wanted to see how these layouts work. And let me tell you, these new layouts make your Google Site look AWESOME!

I tried to make my Site look as professional as possible before the layouts, but I thought it was pretty challenging. I liked that I could hide a page from navigation (i.e., it would not appear in the list of sites on the top navigation bar), but the only way to link to all of the subpages was through a list. It didn't look bad, but it didn't seem professional. With the new layouts, I was able to update my Tech Training page with images (using the built-in Google Search for commercial reuse images) and descriptions of what the viewer will find on the page. The pictures are professional, high-quality, and relevant! I also updated my professional presentations page by keeping the same "list" layout by adding an image and description for each page but changing it so the picture and text switch alignment on each row. Finally, I updated my Broadcasting student work page by adding buttons for our Instagram page and Youtube channel instead of having them as links on separate rows.

Even though I'm stoked about my own professional page, I think I'm more excited about how these layouts can be used with students! I know that Skyview is slowly moving towards accepting digital portfolios, so this isn't something that I would introduce yet. I do believe, however, that the 8th graders should be using these layouts to their benefit. We'll see... another goal for the future. 

Thanks for reading! I'll see you next week!





- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website

Vetting Apps

Good morning colleagues! I'm back! I was going to post last week... I had this great plan of reading The Innovator's Mindset and doing a book review blog post. But then Spring Break happened, i.e., I sat around and did NOTHING and enjoyed my time off. So then I was going to finish it this week, but we started track practice, and having two and a half hours less each day really cramps my time! SO...  I have a completely different blog post this week!

While reading The Innovator's Mindset, I saw a great quotation from George Couros, "My belief is not that teachers don't want to change, but they sometimes lack clear guidance and support to make the desired change." This bit of information has stuck with me this whole week as I've thought about supporting teachers in my position, but also as I've read more on the news about Cambridge Analytica. If you don't follow the news, Cambridge Analytica is a political consulting firm that mines and analyzes data. Why this story is huge is because they accessed private information from between 50-80 million Facebook users to influence and target American voters in the 2016 Presidential election. Cambridge Analytica is mostly funded by two people: Robert Mercer and Steve Bannon.

So why am I bringing up this breach on my educational blog? Because I, along with a group of three other teachers, have embarked on an ambitious program to "vet" apps for our school district. Traditionally, large school districts have an "edtech" team that does this, but because our district is still designing (hopefully) this team, some of the responsibilities have fallen on everyday teachers.
What is app vetting and why do we do it? In simple terms, we are auditing/reviewing apps to ensure that they meet student data privacy laws such as FERPA and COPPA. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. One aspect of this is that schools must have written permission from the parent to release any information from a student's education record which includes their name, location, student ID, etc. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is a law created to protect the privacy of children under 13. COPPA imposes specific requirements on operators of websites or online services directed to children under 13 years of age, and on operators of other websites or online services that have actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information online from a child under 13 years of age.

Right now, D49 is not meeting the requirements of these two federal laws. After the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it is even more imperative to be in compliance ASAP! We have to ensure that our students' data is not being accessed, let alone mined, for nefarious purposes!

So why did I bring up the George Couros quotation? Because it has been briefly mentioned to my 1:1 colleagues that there will be changes next year and some apps will not be able to be used. Some teachers were quite frustrated and wanted to know why this change was happening. I even mentioned FERPA and COPPA, but the teachers didn't know what those laws were and wondered if they were new. After looking at, reading, and thinking about the quotation,  I've realized that the frustration stems from teachers lacking the guidance and support for the change.
So I'm going to lay out how we vet apps (what we're looking for) and how we will make changes for the next school year.

• We look at the applications that teachers want to use and determine if they will be used for educational purposes. 
• We access the iOS application's App Store page so that we can quickly find the developer website and privacy policy. 
• Once on the privacy policy, we scour for a few things. What types of information are being shared?  Is there any information shared that could be considered sensitive?  Are students sharing personally identifiable information? How does the application gather data? Does it share or sell the data? Does it retain the data after the account is deleted? Does the application have ads? Are students under 13 allowed to use the application? Does the app require parental consent before use? Are students generating content? Is that content shared publicly? What happens if there's a breach of data?
• After finding answers to all of the questions that we have, we put the application on a spreadsheet. The app will fall under one of four categories: 1) approved with no limitations, 2) approved with limitations, banned completely, approved for a teacher account only. 
• By the end of the year, all 1:1 teachers need to make a list of applications that they want to use in the classroom. We will compile the list and vet apps over the summer. At the beginning of year registration, parents will sign off on all applications to be used. 
• If a teacher wants a new application through the next school year, at SMS I will vet the app. Once approved, the teacher will have to send home a parent permission form, receive all forms back, then I will add the application to the 1:1 device. 

This is all a work in progress, and it is very slow moving as there are only four of us teachers vetting applications. I hope, through this process, that teachers understand the importance of vetting apps to keep our students safe in the 21st century.

Thanks for reading! I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website

Getting the most from Chromebooks

Good morning on a FINALLY sunny day in Colorado Springs! There are good vibes around me because our school received two new Chromebook carts this week. It's always a good day when new technology shows up in the building!

Half of my job is teaching students about broadcasting, but the other half of my job, being a "technology specialist" is supporting teachers in the use of educational technology. My technology specialist position has been pretty quiet... teachers may be using technology, but they are not asking for support. I keep telling myself that it is the first quarter and this year the teachers are completely inundated and overwhelmed.

I am not the type of teacher who sits idly by and doesn't cherish and use the gift of time that I'm given. So I've been trying to think of new ways to get teachers to use Chromebooks, iPads, and desktop PCs. In my last five years as a 1:1 teacher, I've had many conversations about the use of technology in the classroom. Many teachers shy away from because of a few reasons:

1) They do not know how to use an application and want to learn before the students in order to model while also keeping control of the class. Because they don't have time to learn the technology, they do not use it. I've realized that part of my job is supporting teachers in the use of the application. This can be done through a screencast or YouTube tutorial. 

2)  They do not know how to use an application, and even if it looks cool, they do not know how to apply it to their content. This prevents them from creative insight which helps think outside the box. I started putting together a spreadsheet of ways to use various web applications with the four core contents to help promote innovative thinking. 

This document is still a work in progress (it is woefully incomplete).

Until teachers start using me as a resource, I will use my time to create documents like this to get teachers to use my time! :) I hope that more teachers will come to me to think through their unit and use technology applications. I said this before, but my principal's goal was to have every student access technology once a week. This can happen as long as teachers are bringing Chromebooks and iPads into the classroom (or are going to the lab).

Thanks for reading. We go on FALL BREAK next weekend, so I'll see you in three weeks!

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website