Digital and Personalized Learning Updates: Virtual Tours, EdTech for Formative Assessment, Google Classroom Mobile, and More

Leveraging Virtual Tours in the History Classroom We all strive to help history come alive for our students.  One proven strategy is to have students engage in experiences that put them right in the action, whether it’s ancient ruins of great civilizations or those more aligned with modern historical developments.  The constraint that we face, …

Exploring Learner Profiles: Resources, Examples, and Questions to Consider

By Tom Driscoll, BWRSD Digital Learning Director As next-generation assessments and instructional data can help educators gain a deeper understanding of students, the sheer amount of information available can prove challenging.  As discussed in a prior post, educational technologies can amplify the impact of proven formative assessment strategies. But in doing so, educators must often …

Levering Virtual Tours in the History Classroom

By Tom Driscoll, BWRSD Digital Learning Director The except below is from an article that I published in “Digital Learning” Magazine.  It was co-authored with friend and EdTechTeacher colleague Shawn McCusker. VIRTUAL TOURS We all strive to help history come alive for our students.  One proven strategy is to have students engage in experiences that …

Making Time for Social Emotional Learning

It's been a bit more than a year since RIDE adopted Social Emotional Learning Outcomes for all Rhode Island students. While time never seems to be on our side, making time for social emotional learning needs to be a priority not only for students in our district, but in every school across the United States.

Google Classroom: Mobile Notifications Explained

By Tom Driscoll, BWRSD Digital Learning Director (@Mr_Driscoll) A valuable feature of Google Classroom is it's mobile notification tools. This helps keep students informed of announcements, upcoming assignments, teacher feedback and more. Educators can also leverage these notification tools to streamline their workflow on when using mobile devices. Below is a slides presentation that provides …

6 EdTech Resources and Strategies to Gain a Deeper Understanding of Students

By Tom Driscoll (@Mr_Driscoll) A foundational piece of any learner-centered approach involves gaining a deeper understanding of our students. We know that learner variability exists, and research suggests it is growing in classrooms across the nation. It is therefore essential to personalize instruction based upon learner differences if we are going to ensure that all …

Green Screen by DoInk: Quick Guide and Resources

Thanks to Nicole Galipeau (@guiteraslibrary) and Kahley Gerrior for creating and compiling the resources below! BWRSD has recently purchased licenses to the Green Screen by DoInk app for all Elementary Library Media and K-2 Teacher iPads. What is Green Screen by Do Ink? You know what a "green screen" effect is, right? It's used in …

Can SEL Spark the Shift to Student Agency?

BY TOM DRISCOLL (@Mr_Driscoll – Digital Learning Director @BWRSD) As referenced in a prior post, emerging student-centered instructional models attempt to shift much of the ownership and control (agency) of the learning process over to students.  Whether it is an approach that customizes the student’s path and pace through the curriculum, or is an inquiry-based environment that has students …

Digital Learning Resource Updates: Adobe Spark, SeeSaw for Schools, “New” Google Sites

BY TOM DRISCOLL (@Mr_Driscoll – Digital Learning Director @BWRSD) Adobe Spark for Education Now Available Grades 3-12 Our district has recently upgraded all teachers and students (grades 3-12) to Adobe Spark for Education.  This product is offered free to school districts and provides educators and students with access to premium media content and added layers of protection regarding …

Learner Variability: The Why of Personalized Learning

BY TOM DRISCOLL (@Mr_Driscoll – Digital Learning Director @BWRSD) Over the past few years, in several different roles, I have researched and experimented with various frameworks and approaches to Personalized Learning.  Despite the vast amount of resources out there that describe what personalized learning is and how to implement it, it is often difficult to find quality research …