Boston Public Schools Technology

Three New Computer Labs Open Thanks to Timothy Smith Network Donation

2011-12-23T13:43:00.001-05:00

Thanks to a generous donation by the Timothy Smith Network, the Hale, Trotter and Blackstone schools have all opened brand new computer labs this year. The Timothy Smith Network donated $25,000 to each of the schools to purchase the new computer equipment. The Nathan Hale school installed a new lab that features a SMARTBoard with integrated projector and 17 new iMac desktop computers. The Blackstone School purchased thin-client multi-seat computers to completely renew two computer labs. They were also able to establish a "mini-lab" of six computers in their Parent Center, which allows parents access to technology for Parent University and Parent ESOL classes that are held at the school. Director of Accelerated Improvement at the Blackstone, Lisa Lineweaver, said "We are very appreciative of this generous donation from the Timothy Smith Foundation and excited about the boost to learning and student engagement that is sparking at the Blackstone."

The Trotter Elementary school used the donation to purchase 25 brand new PC's for their computer lab. They are very excited to use the new machines for research, developing podcasts, presentations and utilizing intervention programs such as First in Math and Reading Counts. They are also confident that the new lab will help to increase participation in their Technology Goes Home program which is a city-wide program that provides families with 15 hours of technology skills training. At the end of the training graduates can purchase a netbook at an incredibly low price as well as qualify for discounted internet access. The computers that were in the Trotter lab before the donation were older had become unreliable, costing the students valuable learning time.

A fourth school, the Higginson-Lewis school, also received a Timothy Smith Grant. They purchased a number of different interactive technologies for their classrooms, including Mobi mobile interactive whiteboards, document cameras and iPads.

The Boston Public Schools would like to thank the Timothy Smith Network and their executive director, Susan O'Connor, for their continued support of our students, families and schools.

Sharing, Collaborating, and Working with Colleagues - 21st Century Leadership Cadres

2011-12-12T15:32:00.000-05:00

Teams ofteachers and administrators in 15 schools and 2 central Academic Departmentscame together this week to share best practices related to learning withtechnology via the 21st CenturyLeadership Cadres Professional Development. Highlights of the day includeduse of QR codes for workflow in the classroom and “above the line” teachingpractices related to 21st Century Learning. The goal of our leadership cadre isbuild a core group of educational technology leaders in each school. Thisyear’s program pilots the use of iPads for instruction. It also provides timeto “share, collaborate, and work with colleagues” which are key needs that teachers shared atthe Superintendent’s Teach + Sharethis week.

The 21st Century Leadership Cadres isa yearlong professional development opportunity sponsored by the Office ofInstructional and Information Technology (OIIT) and Apple ProfessionalDevelopment, that aims to develop cadres of leaders and teachers embedding 21stCentury Skills into teaching and learning. Eachcadre is made up of school teams that include one Principal/Headmaster and twoteachers who participate in face to face learning sessions and onlinecollaborations. This is the third year that the BPS has offered the 21st Century Leadership Cadres.

Senior staff members from the Department of Homeland Security visit students from John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science

2011-12-06T23:13:00.001-05:00

Students from Mr. Henry’s AP Computer Science class and member of O’Bryant’sNavy ROTC gathered in the Science Auditorium on Thursday, November 17, 2011,for a presentation from senior staffers from the Department of HomelandSecurity. Paul Mesterhazy, DeputyDirector of the National Cyber Security Division, and Kristina Dorville,Director of Cybersecurity Awareness Programs were invited to the school as partof Cybersecurity week in Boston (Nov 14 – 18). Paul and Kristina discussed topics relevant to nationalcybersecurity and informed students that there are many jobs in the field ofcybersecurity that require talented students with math, science and programmingskills. Paul and Kristinaresponded to thoughtful questions posed by O’Bryant students. Paul and Kristina also met with BPS CIOMelissa Dodd and TechBoston director Felicia Vargas who shared informationabout the BPS Cyber Safety Campaign. Our guests were impressed with the Internet safety materials developedby BPS students and took samples of the materials to share with otherDepartment of Homeland Security administrators in Washington, DC.

Winter Break Programming Class for BPS Students

2011-11-29T09:15:00.001-05:00

The Boston Public Schools Office of Instructional and Information Technology is offering a free two-day training for students during vacation week. OIIT's TechBoston Unit in conjunction with Machine Science are hosting the two-day Scratch programming workshop. Students will learn how to design and write their own computer program or animation using Scratch, a graphical programming language developed at MIT.

During the training students will also:

Learn how to make programs in Scratch
Learn basic Scratch control structures
Experiment with motion, sensing, looks, and sound
Learn about using variables and operators
Make drawing programs with the pen function
Create original games and animations
Share projects on the Scratch web site
Download and “remix” projects from the web site

The free two-day workshop will be held on Tuesday, December 27 and Wednesday, December 28 from 8:30am-3:00pm at Madison Park High School. This opportunity is open to any BPS students in Grades 6-12. There are a limited number of seats, so sign up early!

For more information please visit http://bpsengineering.wordpress.com/student-resources/december-2011-bootcamp/. Online registration is required: http://tinyurl.com/december2011camp.

For further questions about the training, please contact:
Haruna Hosokawa
hhosokawa@techboston.org

To learn more about the Scratch programming language, please visit http://scratch.mit.edu/.

Target & Heart of America Transform the Hennigan School Library

2011-11-13T16:00:00.000-05:00

On November 2nd, the Hennigan School unveiled a new library, thanks to the phenomenal partnership of Target and Heart of America, a non-profit literacy-focused foundation. For the third year in a row, Target and Heart of America have selected a Boston school to make over as part of Target's School Library Makeover Program. Complete with 2,000 new books, a state-of-the-art technology center, and eco-friendly design elements, the new library is bright and inspirational, just like the Hennigan Students. At the unveiling, students also took seven books for their home libraries.

Target incorporated its Meals for Minds program as part of this year's makeover, partnering with the Greater Boston Food Bank to establish a monthly food pantry site at the school's community center. The pantry will provide fresh fruits and vegetables, among other healthy food choices, to Hennigan families.

For more on the library makeover, as well as photos, visit The Boston Globe article at: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/boston/jamaicaplain/gallery/new_hennigan_school_library/

BPS Technology & Special Education Offices Launch iPad Collaboration to Support Students with Autism

2011-11-13T15:09:00.002-05:00

OIIT is partnering with the Office of Special Education and Student Services on an iPad project for special education teachers and strand specialists within the Highly Specialized Strands for students with autism. The use of iPads as an instructional support is proving to be instrumental in teaching students challenged with autism.

Approximately 60 teachers in 15 schools will began the project this past week with a two-hour training which will include basic operations and settings, overview of apps, use of a blog and wiki and BPS Connect devoted to this project, and small group discussion on how to use the iPad and applications in the classroom.

Each participating teacher will receive a 16 GB iPad 2 with wifi, which will be preloaded with over thirty applications, for student use in their classrooms. Applications will include basic Augmentative and Alternative Communication apps, speech-to-text apps, and literacy and numeracy activities.

For more information on iTouch technologies & OIIT’s app recommendations, visit our iTouch Technology Resources site.

New Student Information System Focuses on Using Data to Improve Instruction

2011-10-30T09:58:00.000-05:00

On October 31st, teachers in all BPS schools will begin entering attendance online in Aspen, our new Student Information System. Over the next twelve months, additional modules will be rolled out as we provide training and support to ensure that schools are poised to leverage the power of this exciting technology to strengthen instruction and accelerate student learning.

Strengthening teaching and school leadership, a key strategy of our Acceleration Agenda, calls for providing schools with timely information to enable them to measure student progress on an ongoing basis and respond with appropriate interventions. The launch of our new student information system ushers in the district's renewed focus on using data to inform instruction in every school, for every student.

Our new SIS is a web-based solution that integrates many critical tools within one cohesive portal. The SIS will allow BPS teachers and staff to report on and access the most up-to-date information about the students in front of them, including student attendance, grades, behavior, assessment and demographic information. And next school year, families and students will be able to log in to monitor progress and communicate with principals and teachers.

As the needs of Boston's students evolve, so too must our strategies and systems to meet them. From the classroom to the district office, data need to be collected, analyzed, and used for consistent and intentional inquiry to inform our collective practice of ensuring that all students are ready for college and career success. Our new student information system is a milestone for our focused effort on using data to transform education.

To log on to the SIS, go to: http://sis.mybps.org. For questions and support, please contact our Office of Instructional & Information Technology (OIIT) at 617-635-9200.

Media Literacy Conference Saturday!

2011-10-21T20:30:00.002-05:00

Media Literacy Conference, a Focus on Youth

Saturday, October 22, 8am-4pm, MIT

HOME, Inc., in partnership with MIT & Barr Foundation, invites educational decision makers, curriculum developers, after-school program coordinators, superintendents, instructors and community leaders are all welcome to attend and participate in relevant panel discussions and breakout sessions. The conference is the fourth to be held on a biennial schedule and will feature today’s most topical 21st Century educational challenges.

The conference will feature leaders in the field including Arnie Packer, the father of 21st Century skills and project based learning; and other prominent educators, filmmakers, public health workers and representatives from organizations dedicated to developing programs that promote and generate awareness and a deeper understanding of media literacy.

The keynote address will be delivered by Scot Osterweil, Creative Director of the MIT Education Arcade and a research director in the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program. He is a designer of award-winning educational games, working in both academic and commercial environments, and his work has focused on what is authentically playful in challenging academic subjects.

To learn more, visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/mlc/2011/prweb8809383.htm

To register: http://www.mlc2011.ezregister.com

Code-a-thon Saturday: Help Make Boston Better

2011-10-21T20:23:00.000-05:00

Looking for something to do tomorrow? Check out the Boston New Urban Mechanics/CfA Code-a-thon.

Boston is one of the most livable cities in the United States. People come from all over the world to experience Boston’s walkable neighborhoods and lively local culture. However, Mayor Thomas M. Menino knows that there is still much that should be done to innovate in how we deliver services and provide information to the public about the City.

To this end, the Mayor Menino’s innovation team, the Office of New Urban Mechanics, is partnering with Code for America to host a code-a-thon that encourages hackers and makers of all types to come together to build tools, visualizations, and apps that enable more people to experience more of the City. Come help us build Boston.

The Challenge for the day will be to create tools that enable people from a wide variety of backgrounds in terms of ethnicity, physical ability, age, etc to access the diverse opportunities that the City affords.

When: October 22, 2011, 9am - 9pm
Where: Boston University, School of Management, 4th floor, Room 424

To register, visit: http://buildingboston.eventbrite.com/

Read what CfA is saying: Code-a-thon Saturday: Help Make Boston Better | Code for America

October Proclaimed National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

2011-10-13T10:10:00.000-05:00

Recently, PresidentBarack Obama issued a proclamationthat October is National Cybersecurity Awareness month, calling our digital infrastructure“a strategic national asset” and its security “our shared responsibility”. Thisis a great opportunity to integrate cybersafety skills with your students andfamilies. Cybersecurity is an important topic to teach to our students andfamilies who live in a digital world where so much of their personal data andfinancial information is online. It is imperative that everyone learnstrategies to stay safe online and keep their personal data safe. Inconjunction with President Obama’s proclamation, the Federal Trade Commissionlaunched a redesigned cybersafety website called OnGuardOnline.gov. StaySafe Online is also promotingOctober as CyberSecurity awareness month and contains numerous resourcesfor the classroom andthe home. The site alsocontains a section of handytip sheets in pdf format that can be printed out and given to your studentsand their families.

Whether the topic is cyberbullying,cybersecurity, or online personal safety, any information you can share withyour students and families is important. Don’t forget to check out the BostonPublic School’s CyberSafety website,which also contains many helpful classroom resources and downloads.

New Technologies Helping Austistic Children in the BPS

2011-09-30T06:50:00.001-05:00

Check out Channel 5's segment on how Boston Green Academy is using iPads and assistive technology apps to support students on the autism spectrum. Boston plans to pilot iPads in autistic strand classrooms around the city as we seek new and innovative ways to support the learning, and success, of all students.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/29335939/detail.html

Community Plan-IT Begins September 15th, Have Your Voice Heard!

2011-09-14T10:29:00.006-05:00

From September 15 - October 20, Community PlanIT will serve as a platform for the district's first "virtual town hall meeting" - engaging BPS staff, parents, students and other members of the community on how we should rate our schools' performance and the opportunities they offer. The exercise will culminate with a real face-to-face town hall meeting for all oparticipants on October 20th at The English High School.

Go to http:communityplanit.org and click on the Boston Public Schools link on the left pane to begin! Over 500 people are already registered, and groups of students across the district will play a more active role - producing video content and posting "challenges" to participants in the conversation. To get your students, parents, staff or partners engaged, contact Carl Allen in the Office of Accountability or send them straight to http://communityplanit.org.

Community PlanIt Introduction from Evan Leek on Vimeo.

New L4L Sessions Posted for Next Week

2011-09-14T10:10:00.006-05:00

Four new Laptops 4 Learning sessions have been posted to My Learning Plan and are ready for enrollment. If you are a newly eligible teacher, or still have your version one laptop, you can go to www.mylearningplan.com to sign up. In order to find the the laptop orientations, sign in with your username and password, click on the district catalog and then do a search for L4L. There are sessions on Monday, September 19 through Thursday, September 22. All sessions are held from 4pm to 6pm at Madison Park High School. If you have questions or are having trouble getting into My Learning Plan, please call the OIIT Service Desk at 635-9200 between the hours of 7:00am and 4:00pm. Please remember, all eligible participants must come to the training session with a valid picture id and their BPS username and password.

BPS CIO talks technology on WCVB's CityLine

2011-09-05T19:58:00.000-05:00

A few weeks back, I had the unique opportunity to speak with Karen Holmes Ward, host of CityLine, Channel 5's award-winning urban news and feature magazine program, about technology in the BPS as we embark on a new school year.

In Boston, technology plays an increasingly central role as a driver of educational innovation to prepare students for college and career success. We aim to provide students and educators with access to state-of-the-art technology tools and support to eliminate access and achievement gaps, personalize instruction, and engage students in meaningful, relevant ways to realize the goals set forth in the district's Acceleration Agenda.

Thank you to the Honorable Thomas M. Menino, Mayor of Boston, the Boston School Committee, and Dr. Carol Johnson, Superintendent of Schools, for their commitment to education and technology.

Check out the short video segment to learn about some of the ways in which we're using technology in the district to strengthen teaching and learning:

CityLine Segment 3 - Technology in the BPS Video - WCVB Boston

Welcome Back to School!

2011-08-31T10:27:00.005-05:00

As schools are gearing up for a new school year, OIIT wants to share some technology updates with you:

What's New?

A new Student Information System (SIS) will upgrade MyBPS, one application at a time, starting with 'daily attendance' this fall. All schools will begin to use the SIS system to take attendance beginning on October 31st. Details about training and procedures will be coming soon! For more information about the district roll-out of the new SIS system, please go to: www.bpstechnology.org/sis

The new L4L laptops are here! Nearly 75% of eligible staff has swapped for a new model. We have also expanded eligibility of the program to assistant principals and assistant headmasters. L4L orientation sessions started up again as of August 29th. To register for a session, go to: www.mylearningplan.com

Support effective teaching with data & reports available in the BPS Data Warehouse. You can access MCAS data, attendance data, 'Leading & Lagging' indicators, GPA data and more. To access the BPS Data Warehouse, go to:
https://bpsdepot.mybps.org/dw/

Need Technology Help?

Let the OIIT Service Desk be your gateway to technology support. Call 617-635-9200 (Mon-Fri 7am - 4pm).

For how-to tutorials, FAQ's, Ed-tech resources, the new Library & Media Services website and technology purchasing support, visit OIIT Online at: www.bostonpublicschools.org/technology.

Comcast is offering monthly, low-cost Internet access ($9.95 + taxes) to families with a student who participates in the free lunch program. Check out this offer today and share it with your school community at: www.internetessentials.com.

Be Safe Online

Bullying and cyber-bullying are crimes and can negatively impact a victim's education. Report incidents to the Mayor's Anti-Bullying Hot Line at 617-534-5050.

Educate staff, students and parents about Cyber Safety. BPS Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) podcasts, Cyber Safety curriculum resources and downloadable materials are available at: www.bpscybersafety.org.

We hope everyone has a great start to another successful school year!

OIIT Conducts Successful Laptop Exchange in June

2011-08-08T10:13:00.009-05:00

During the month of June, OIIT was able to successfully exchange approximately 3400 laptops and give BPS teachers brand new Macbook computers to kick off the second version of the Laptops for Learning Program. Laptops for Learning provides a state-of-the art dual platform Macbook to classroom teachers. By exchanging the laptops in June, teachers were able to take the new computers home over the summer to use while they attend professional development and prepare for the upcoming school year. Teachers were also given an introductory overview of the new Student Information System that will be implemented throughout the district during the 2011-2012 school year.

The June rollout was truly a team effort as all employees of the Office of Instructional and Information Technology took part in the laptop exchange sessions along with interns from TechBoston.

If you are newly eligible for a laptop or you missed the June exchange, sessions will be scheduled at the end of August. Please go to MyLearning Plan to sign up for sessions after they are posted. If you have any questions about eligibility or laptop sessions, please call the OIIT Service Desk at 635-9200.

Boston Celtics Donate Mobile Lab to the Edison School

2011-07-15T07:39:00.008-05:00

The Boston Celtics continued to demonstrate their commitment to supporting the students and families of the Boston Public Schools by donating a brand-new set of 25 Macbook computers and a mobile cart to the Edison K-8 School in Brighton. To further illustrate the importance of community service, Managing Partner Steve Pagliuca and General Manager Danny Ainge also introduced their top two draft picks at the school when they unveiled the mobile computer lab. JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore were introduced as the newest Boston Celtics and then immediately put to work with 23 students of the Edison School on a scavenger hunt activity using the new computers. The students answered questions about the history of the Boston Celtics, including a question about Celtics general manager Danny Ainge, who also worked with the students.

This is the fifth computer lab donated this year by either the Boston Celtic's Shamrock Foundation or Ray Allen's Ray of Hope Foundation. The other new computer labs are located at the Dearborn School, the Hernandez School, the Tobin School and the Sarah Greenwood School.

Check out video from the event below!

Ray of Hope Foundation Donates New Computer Lab to the Sarah Greenwood School

2011-07-08T15:51:00.007-05:00

On June 16, NBA superstar Ray Allen made a visit to the Sarah Greenwood School in Dorchester to unveil a brand new, state-of-the-art computer lab donated by Mr. Allen and the Ray of Hope Foundation. Mr. Allen hosted an assembly for all students from third to eighth grade, followed by an activity in the new computer lab with 20 selected students. During the assembly, Mr. Allen stressed to the students the importance of trying their best in school, sports and at home. Matt Meyersohn, Director of Community Relations/Player Development for the Celtics, led the students in an activity that had them research and then present about Ray Allen's college and professional basketball career. Even Ray Allen's wife, Shannon Allen, worked with a group of students on the activity. Later on, Ray allen and members of the local sports media spoke to the students about how important technology is in their professional lives.

The new lab features 26 all-in-one HP desktop computers along with an interactive SmartBoard, new furniture and graphics on the wall. Check out the video below to see highlights of the event!

L4L Exchange & SIS Orientation Sessions Launched This Weekend!

2011-06-15T18:28:00.000-05:00

On June 11, nearly 600 BPS teachers participated in the launch of the Two for One! Laptops for Learning Exchange & Student Information Intro Sessions. These sessions enable classroom teachers to exchange current L4L laptops for a new, dual-platform MacBooks to support teaching and learning in alignment with the district’s Acceleration Agenda, as well as to learn about the new, district-wide Student Information System that will be implemented next year. These district technology initiatives advance our efforts to ensure that all BPS students are college-ready and success-bound in the 21st century.

While participation in the L4L program remains voluntary, all current laptops will need to be returned to OIIT by June 30th. If you currently have an L4L laptop, register for a two-hour L4L/SIS session on MyLearningPlan at www.mylearningplan.com <http://www.mylearningplan.com/> to receive a new laptop. To get ready for the exchange, make sure you visit www.bpstechnology.org <http://www.bpstechnology.org/> . The site will help you learn how to back up your data (and restore it once you get a new laptop), what you need to bring on the day of the exchange, including links to required documentation, and how you can get your laptop repaired in time for the session.

Contacts: For general questions regarding the L4L exchange, contact Krissy Matthews at kmmatthews@boston.k12.ma.us. For questions regarding the SIS implementation, contact Christine Invencion at cinvencion@boston.k12.ma.us. If your assigned laptop is need of repair, contact the OIIT Service Desk at 635-9200.

Check out photos from our Saturday session!

The energy of the day - and the excitement & engagement of teachers - was amazing. Thank you, teachers and our partners, for making the day so successful!

L4L Exchange/SIS Demonstration Sessions Start Saturday!

2011-06-07T09:41:00.005-05:00

This morning, the entire staff of the Office of Instructional and Information Technology participated in a dry run of the upcoming L4L Exchange sessions which begin this Saturday, June 11 and run through June 30. If you haven't signed up for a session yet, you need to go to MyLearning Plan to find an open session and sign up.

To accomplish the swap of over 4500 laptops over the next few weeks, we are relying on every single person in our department to help out, so it is very important for participants to come to their scheduled sessions on time, with their current, fully functioning, laptop and power adapter ready for the swap. If your laptop is damaged or not functioning, you need to call the OIIT service desk immediately at 617-635-9200.

For more information about the swap and to access FAQ's, please go the www.bpstechnology.org.

OIIT Professional Development - A Pathway to Technology Proficiency

2011-05-27T13:31:00.004-05:00

During SY2010-2011, the Office of Instructional and Information Technology’s EdTech Academic Unit facilitated Pathway to Technology Proficiency, a series of workshops along the strand of multimedia and curriculum integration. The content of courses were broken into 20 teaching modules, all with an overarching theme of providing opportunities for teachers to learn how to use one laptop or device and their tools to differentiate instruction for all students and showcase student work.

Benefits of a pathway approach to providing professional development were that teachers had a multitude of options and flexibility to participate whether it be in 1 or 2 or a multitude of sessions for credit. This enabled us to reach a higher volume of teachers. One hundred seventeen (117) teachers filled 258 seats of technology integration instruction. Some of the most popular workshops were: Advanced Word and Differentiated Instruction, Universal Design and the MacBook, iTunes, Podcasts and Audio Books in the Classroom and The Art of Digital Storytelling and Advanced Editing Features of iMovie.

Some exemplars that were presented at the callback included: Students video taped their science experiments and explained their hypothesis, using the notebook feature in work to take notes, catalog ideas for implementation of a new piece of software and the creation of a keynote presentation to help students in physical therapy learn Yoga.

Moving forward, the pathway approach to providing professional development and meeting the needs of the BPS community is a success story worth repeating. To sign up for OIIT professional development opportunities go to MyLearning Plan!

This article was written by Paula Wilson of the Ed Tech Academic Unit of OIIT. For questions, please contact Paula at pwilson@boston.k12.ma.us.

Laptops For Learning Exchange Coming this June!

2011-05-24T08:45:00.008-05:00

The L4L MacBook Exchange and Student Information System (SIS) sessions are available on MyLearning Plan now! New, dual-platform MacBooks are here! To receive the new MacBook in exchange for your current model, register for a "Two for One!: L4L MacBook Exchange and Student Information System (SIS) Info Session" posted in MyLearning Plan . Sessions begin Saturday, June 11th and run through Wednesday, June 30th at Madison Park High School. The new MacBooks you will be receiving feature a faster processor, larger hard drive, more RAM, a DVD burner, and updated software. For more information about what you need to bring to the swap, please go to www.bpstechnology.org.

Please note: We are NOT able to back up and/or transfer data from a current L4L laptop during the L4L/SIS sessions. To learn how to back up your data, refer to this step-by-step guide: https://connect.mybps.org/docs/QG_Backup_pdf and/or attend an L4L Backup Clinic, which are currently posted on MyLearning Plan. L4L Backup Clinics will run Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays until June 2nd.

Participation in the L4L program remains voluntary. If an L4L user does not wish to exchange his/her current MacBook for a new model, then s/he is required to return the current L4L laptop by June 30th. Details about returns forthcoming. Check www.bpstechnology.org for more information.

For questions regarding the L4L upgrade, please contact Krissy Matthews. For questions regarding the SIS implementation, please contact Christine Invencion.

Apps for Education: Launching, Iterating, and Thinking Big | Code for America

2011-05-10T22:01:00.001-05:00

Apps for Education: Launching, Iterating, and Thinking Big | Code for America

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Scott Silverman in CfA Labs, Dispatches

www.codeforamerica.org

In February, seven Code for America fellows spent 28 days in Boston, embedded in the heart of City Hall and the Boston Public School system. We heard stories of all kinds: a teacher who Tweets daily reminders to her class, a principal who helps families learn to navigate the internet, and students who use an AIM chat room to discuss their Algebra homework. These stories were profound partly because of the dedication they illustrated amongst Boston’s educators, but mostly because we saw our work already underway. Technology and education were intersecting. Now, it was our job to help amplify the trend and institutionalize some of the change we were witnessing.
In February, we repeatedly found that the hub of most students’ lives was their phone: a quick call to dad, a text message (or five) to a friend, an update to Facebook, an email to Mr. B about yesterday’s homework. And so emerged the foundation of our first app, ClassTalk.

Simply put, ClassTalk is an out-of-classroom communications platform. The current version allows teachers to schedule SMS blasts to classes of students, sending targeted, precisely timed messages straight to a student’s phone. Imagine: homework assignments, relevant links, test reminders, a museum to visit this weekend—all straight to the one thing most students never leave home without, their phone.

Last week Fellow Joel Mahoney and I visited Boston to share some of what our team has been up to in the Code for America offices. We demonstrated ClassTalk to Mayor Menino, Superintendent Johnson, their staff, and several high school teachers. In the true style of a v1.0 release, there was interest all around but, more importantly, a never-ending stream of imaginative new ideas. After a rich discussion, we are now planning exciting features like on-the-fly language translations, moderator message approval, bulk student upload, and maybe even a touch of Active Directory integration. These ideas came not from us, but from the public servants who deeply understand the problems of our cities.

For me, our ClassTalk discussion in Boston last week demonstrated the power that lies in Code for America’s model. We are not here to single-handedly develop a perfect technology solution for an age-old city problem. Instead, we aim to empower and partner with those looking to improve their community. For Boston, it’s starting in schools. But if Silicon Valley is any measure, once the revolution starts, it spreads like wildfire. So while ClassTalk may be a small but exciting step, its true value lies in the ideas it generates, the excitement it inspires, and the movement it creates.

Our team has already begun work on the second version of ClassTalk. Meanwhile, a whole city of public servants are back in Boston dreaming up ideas for their next application.

Student Response Systems not Just for Boston Public Schools K-12 Students

2011-04-29T06:40:00.003-05:00

Student Response Systems (aka clickers) are not just used in our K-12 classrooms to promote student involvement and capture real time assessment data. Recently, clickers were used by BPS staff at the Steven J. Parker Memorial Developmental Behavioral Pediatric Conference: Clinical Problems in Primary Care.

Dr. Linda Grant, BPS Medical Service Director experienced first hand the power of this technology to engage learners and identify individual learning needs several years ago, when former BPS Chief Information Officer, Kimberly Rice incorporated clicker technology in her presentation to BPS staff.

Dr. Grant has since used these devices at local, state and national presentations on school health.

“John Verre [BPS Assistant Superintendent of Special Education and Student Services] and I used the clickers to test knowledge and attitudes of clinicians (mostly pediatricians) on their general knowledge of school health and their understanding of Response to Intervention and other special education concepts. This served as a jumping off point for the lecture.”

For more information on Student Response Systems check out BPS Ed Tech Resources

Do you have an interesting story on how technology is being used in your classroom or school? If so, please share it by emailing: jkidd@boston.k12.ma.us

Tech Goes Home, Opening Doors to Equitable Tools and Access and Supporting Academic Success!

2011-04-26T10:04:00.003-05:00

Imagine two Boston Public School students, both juniors in Ms. Jackson’s Advanced Placement English high school class, where there are high expectations on the quantity and quality of research and writing. One student has a computer and Internet access at home. She gets home after school, works on her homework from the study space available in her living room. She shares the computer with her parents and siblings, but knows she will have at least one hour before dinner and another after dinner when she can work undisturbed. She completes her homework, prints, and is ready to turn it in the next morning.

The other student does not have a computer or Internet access at home. He has to rush to the library after school, because he knows that many students need to use the library’s limited computers. He has to stand in line, knowing when it is his turn, he will have only ½ hour to complete his research and writing. Unable to print, he saves his work to a flash drive, rushes to school early the next day because he needs to ask his guidance counselor if he can use her printer to get his homework printed and ready to hand in.

Tech Goes Home seeks to bridge the digital divide that creates a disparity in the potential outcomes of two equally talented and hard working students. By providing training, a netbook computer, and low cost Internet access, TGH can allow the second student to pursue the deeper thinking objectives with the same resources as his peer.

TGH has supported over 600 families this school year alone. The program requires a guardian and child team to attend 15 hours of training prior to receiving their subsidized netbook (cost of $50 to the family) and their opportunity to receive low-cost Broadband Internet access (3mbps for $10.95/month). Training is focused on web-based tools that can help families to improve the quality of their lives over five domains – live, learn, earn, work, and play. Over the next three years, TGH will support over 5000 Boston households!

For more information about Tech Goes Home, please visit their website at http://www.techgoeshome.org/

Ray of Hope Foundation Donates New Computer Lab to the Tobin School

2011-04-20T14:49:00.009-05:00

Boston Celtic's guard Ray Allen took time out of his preparation for the playoffs last week when he presented a new computer lab to the students of the Maurice J. Tobin School. The donation, which was a complete makeover of the school's old lab, was funded through Ray Allen's Ray of Hope charitable foundation. The new lab consists of 30 brand new desktop computers, a projector integrated SMART Board, and new paint and wall graphics around the room.

To kick off the event, Director of Community Relations for the Boston Celtics, Matt Meyerson, introduced a number of speakers from the BPS including: Principal Cheryl Watson-Harris, Superintendent Dr. Carol Johnson, and Boston School Committee member Alfreda Harris. After Ray Allen himself spoke to the attendees, Matt began a research activity with the students. Each group of students had to look up information on the new computers to answer questions about Ray Allen in each stage of his pro career. The groups then presented their findings to everyone.

Check out the video of the ceremony below.

April Break Robotics Class for BPS Students

2011-04-16T20:46:00.003-05:00

April Break Robotics Class - The Boston Public Schools' Office of Instructional and Information Technology's TechBoston department is teaming up again with Machine Science to offer BPS middle and high school students a chance to engage in hands-on engineering and robotics activities. Every vacation break, TechBoston offers free training and mini-courses for students who want to roll their sleeves up and learn about as much new and cool technology as possible. Students can pre-register online now to sign-up today for this FREE opportunity: http://techboston.org/register.html.

The training will take place on Tuesday, April 19th and Wednesday, April 20th. The trainings will be held from 9 AM to 3PM on the top floor (Level M3) of Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Roxbury. There is no cost for a student to participate, but pre-registration is required because space is limited. This session is limited to a maximum of 35 participants. Students must pre-register and return completed parent permission form either via email or upon arrival on April 19th. Please contact Eric Esteves (eesteves AT techboston.org, 617-908-1565) for more information.

Henderson School Community Establishes International Virtual Partnership

2011-04-05T12:52:00.003-05:00

Two summers ago, JoAnn Brown, a 4th grade Inclusive Teacher at the Dr. William W. Henderson Inclusion Elementary School participated in two professional development courses, Digital Storytelling Across the Curriculum and Integrating Visual/Digital Media in the Curriculum offered by the Office of Instructional and Information Technology.

Equipped with the experience and tools gained from the trainings, JoAnn returned to school that Fall and trained her 4th grade colleagues Danielle Merdin and Terri Wellner on how to create iMovie videos. She also guided her students through a cross-curricular study of the 50 states, which culminated in the creation of a shared digital photo book.

Inspired by her work, Danielle and Terri expanded the use of these tools internationally when they were awarded a Fund For Teachers grant to establish a virtual partnership with an elementary school in Nairobi, Kenya. They traveled to Kenya during the summer of 2010, collected video, pictures, and created a blog. They used that digital media they collected as content to supplement the 4th grade Science and Writing curriculum, and as a forum to establish the Virtual Information Project (V.I.P.).

The V.I.P. is a partnership and virtual classroom exchange between the Dr. William Henderson Inclusion Elementary School and the Kilimani Integrated Primary School in Nairobi, Kenya. For more information and updates on the current status of the project, visit the V.I.P. Blog at: www.virtualinformationproject.blogspot.com

If you would like to contact the project leaders or join the mailing list, please do so at virtualinformationproject@gmail.com.

Also please watch a mini-documentary about the partnership at http://www1.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=209578&title=Virtual_Information_Project

BATEC College Fair 2011: Our Future Is High Tech

2011-03-31T10:25:00.003-05:00

Snow is not the only thing to descend upon the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center tomorrow! The April Fool’s Day forecast of a snow-rain mix will not deter 1100 Boston Public high school students from attending the 8th Annual BATEC College Fair on Friday from 8:30 – 1:30 pm. The event is sponsored by two National Science Foundation grants – BATEC and CAITE. Boston area Advanced Technological Connections (BATEC) is a regional Advanced Technology Grant that is under the direction of Deborah Boisvert from UMass Boston. Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE) is an NSF grant managed by Renee Fall from UMass Amherst. The goal of these two NSF grants is to encourage under-represented students in Massachusetts to pursue post-secondary programs and careers in information technology.

“Our Future is High Tech” is the theme of the annual college fair that is organized by Boston Public Schools’ Office of Instructional and Information Technology TechBoston unit. BATEC outreach director Jibril Solomon and TechBoston director Felicia Vargas coordinate the event planning team for BATEC and CAITE.

Students from nineteen Boston Public Schools who are enrolled in high tech courses or pathways will attend the event. High school students attending tech-focused schools in five cities outside of Boston are also attending. This year, eighty students from the BPS K-8 school Sarah E. Greenwood will be getting a head start in planning their future by attending the fair. Greenwood Principal Amanda Washington jumped at the invitation to have her students attend. The Greenwood is integrating engineering into the curriculum in multiple ways. The event will give her students exposure to the college selection process.

Thirty-eight colleges offering IT-related majors from the Northeast region will have admissions representatives present to connect with the attendees. In addition, organizations that support students in the college-planning process will have resource tables for students to visit including TERI, Access, and Success Boston.

All student attendees will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with a trained college advisor. The goal of this advising session is to help focus the students on the thinking about the colleges that they should visit while they are at the event. For example, if a student is interested in Computer Science or Graphic Design – the advisor can show the student the listing on the back of the program each student receives that categorizes the schools by the types of majors they offer. Students will be encouraged to visit those specific college representatives during the day.

Before departing, all students will also attend a 45-minute career-focused presentation by representatives from Microsoft, Cisco and ITA Software to gain an awareness of the multitude of career opportunities in the high tech field. That concludes a jam-packed day designed to get the students excited and focused on their future – hopefully in high tech!

Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation Donates New Computer Lab to the Hernandez School

2011-03-29T09:20:00.006-05:00

The students at the Rafael Hernandez School recently received a new computer lab from the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation. The lab, which consists of 30 brand-new desktop computers and an interactive SMART Board, was unveiled in a ceremony last Thursday afternoon at the school. Principal Margarita Muñiz thanked those in attendance, which included a number of representatives from the Boston Celtics, including Managing Partner, Steve Pagliuca, and four current Celtics players; Jeff Green, Carlos Arroyo, Von Wafer, and Avery Bradley. Boston Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Carol R. Johnson was also on hand to speak about the importance of technology and the partnership between the Boston Celtics and the Boston Public schools.

Once the ribbon was cut, students were grouped with a Celtics player and given the task to use the new computers to research information about different Celtics players that were there for the ceremony. The students were able to find a lot of information in a short period of time with help from the players. The students then presented the answers that they found to everyone in the room.

Check out the video below of the ceremony and the activity.

OIIT is pleased to introduce the Data Warehouse!

2011-03-21T15:57:00.004-05:00

The Data Warehouse was designed and built by OIIT staff in order to give teachers and administrators access to a next generation data reporting tool. This tool allows student and school information to be populated into text and graphs that allow Boston Public School staff to make informed instructional decisions.

Since the introduction of the Data Warehouse in September 2010, the site has averaged over 100 unique visitors generating almost 2,500 reports! Reports can be run on a variety of topics, including:

Attendance
GPA
Leading/Laging Indicators
MCAS Results
SUPERA/TerraNova Results
Mailing Labels

The Data Warehouse development team in constantly updating and adding new reports. Starting at the end of this month, OIIT will be collaborating with the office of Research, Assessment, and Evaluation to provide paid trainings for teachers on the use of the Data Warehouse. These training stipends are funded through ARRA funds and will target teachers in grades 3-12. The first round of workshops can already be found on MyLearningPlan and more will be posted soon!

The Data Warehouse can be accessed at http://bpsdepot/dw/

For more information, please email: datawarehouse@boston.k12.ma.us

Educational Technology Resources on OIIT Online

2011-03-14T14:33:00.002-05:00

Did you know that our EdTech Academic Specialists have put together Educational Technology Resources for students, teachers, and parents with an emphasis on curriculum integration? These resources provide students and teachers with the opportunity for learning and the kind of teaching that emphasizes critical thinking, teamwork, consensus building and communication. This kind of teaching focuses on learning communities, content and knowledge, media and information literacy, and fosters the skills needed for success in the 21st century workforce.

Categories include:

Curriculum & Technology Integration by content area
BPS Arts Website
BPS Cyber Safety Campaign
21st Century Teaching and Learning Tools
New Technologies
Resources for Students and Teachers
Tips and Tricks for using the most popular software
Universal Design and Differentiated Teaching Tips

Also on the Educational Technology Resources there are workshops and course descriptions for our professional development opportunities. For the latest PD opportunities offered by the Office of Instructional and Information Technology, go to MyLearning Plan.

OIIT Online offers anytime, anywhere access to technology support resources for Boston Public Schools educators and staff, providing the help they need, when they need it, to strengthen their own technology understanding and use to support the district's Acceleration Agenda. On the site there are support links available to staff which include:

How To Resources
Technology Initiatives
Laptops For Learning
OIIT Links and Resources

If you would like to recommend an App or website to be included in our curriculum resources, complete this Google Form or email it to:
pwilson@boston.k12.ma.us

President and First Lady Hosting Whitehouse Conference on Bullying Prevention

2011-03-09T14:37:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow, March 10, the White House will be hosting parents, students, teachers, and community leaders for a conference on bullying prevention. You can watch the conference live and join in the discussion with bullying experts through an online chat. Please follow this link to see the President's video invitation to the event. You can also go to the website stopbullying.gov for more information and resources about bullying.

President Obama Live From Tech Boston Academy

2011-03-08T15:08:00.004-05:00

President Barack Obama is speaking at Tech Boston Academy this afternoon about "Winning the Future in Education". You can watch the speech live below:

Technology team developing smart solutions to everyday city problems - The Boston Globe

2011-03-05T18:34:00.000-05:00

Check out the recent article in The Boston Globe on the City's partnership with Code for America.

Technology team developing smart solutions to everyday city problems - The Boston Globe

LogOn Online Learning in Boston Public Schools

2011-03-04T15:17:00.009-05:00

In 2009, The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education embarked on developing an online state-wide Virtual High School by awarding eight Massachusetts school districts ARRA Priority One grants.

As a part of this effort Boston Public Schools was awarded an ARRA Priority One grant to develop online courses. In accordance with the Superintendent's Acceleration Agenda the grant proposal was designed to target students who are falling behind and put them back "on track" to graduate by the time they reach grade ten. The result is the Logon Project, a collaboration between the Office of Instructional and InformationTechnology and the Office of High School Support. These Boston Public School courses will be shared with other districts throughout the state of Massachusetts.

BPS teachers worked with the support of two business partners, The Education Development Center (EDC) and FableVision Studios, to develop two online courses for 9th graders, Algebra 1 and ELA 9. The courses are currently being piloted at East Boston High School. Other BPS high schools are using the Logon Course modules to help students who need additional support and practice in particular areas of the curriculum.

EDC helped train a selected group of teachers to facilitate and develop online courses. With their help, 24 teachers worked collaboratively to develop and implement these courses with students. Fablevison Studios helped make the user experience of online learning better for students by designing and developing the LogOn portal page that welcomes students, allows some personal customization and contains access to many teen resources.

The courses themselves were developed in Moodle, an open source course management system, which can be used to supplement face-to-face classroom instruction, or, stand alone as independent online classes. BPS is exploring the possibility of expanding the use of Moodle to other teachers. The Office of High School Support sees LogON as filling a gap for students in grades nine to eleven who have fallen behind and are in need of support. If you have any questions about the LogOn project, contact Ed Considine at econsidine@boston.k12.ma.us.

Boston Public Schools Library & Media Services: Novack Library Dedication Ceremony at the Mary Lyon

2011-02-28T11:22:00.000-05:00

Boston Public Schools Library & Media Services: Novack Library Dedication Ceremony at the Mary Lyo...:

Boston Partners with Code for America to Build Innovative Technology Solutions for Boston Youth

2011-02-26T13:20:00.002-05:00

Online, high school kids today are more connected than any other generation. They share comments, likes and dislikes, and these actions feed off of each other: more friends, more shares, more engagement. Social networking has become a robust, sustaining, and growing ecosystem for youth activity. What if we could harness that online activity to enrich local high school education? Imagine if students could get suggested readings based on current course work or a recent check-in at a museum exhibit. Imagine if students could engage in contests for number of books read or classes attended. Imagine if students could share their experiences, likes and dislikes, and comments about their education just like they do for everything else in their lives. And then imagine what an innovative and responsive educational community could do with all of that information.

The city of Boston has partnered with Code for America to build a platform to make that happen, to build educational services data infrastructure and API. This platform will be the basis for the development of apps that engage high school students in educational and cultural activities in class, after school, and during summer.

Read about the Boston Code for America Project in the Boston Herald.

Blog post originally posted on the Code for America website. Code for America is a new non-profit, and a new kind of organization. Our team is made up of web geeks, city experts, and technology industry leaders. We are building a network of civic leaders who believe there is a better way of doing things and want to make a difference. Spread the Word | Code for America

Get Ready for Summer: BPS Tech Apprentice Program

2011-02-26T13:08:00.000-05:00

The Tech Apprentice Program is a seven-week internship opportunity at local companies for technology skilled high school juniors & seniors from Boston and the Metro Boston area. These talented high school students are considering pursuing IT majors in college and they need a work-based experience to focus their efforts and understand the options available to them in the high tech arena. The internship program runs for seven weeks in the summer from July 5th through August 29, 2011. Prior to the program start date, students participate in a mandatory business etiquette orientation. Students are paid $10/hour for 35 hours/week.

The deadline to apply is Friday, April 8, 2011.

Since its pilot summer of 2006, over 50 Boston-area companies have participated and over 300 high school students have been successfully placed in challenging IT internships. Tech Apprentices work across a diverse number of industries: financial services, healthcare, non-profit, higher education, media and information technology. Several students worked on desktop support and helpdesk teams; others on web development teams; another talented student created an Apache web service front end with a MySQL backend database. From software programmers to web designers and videographers, hundreds of talented Boston Public School students have spent their summers as Tech Apprentices--contributing their talents and learning new skills that could be very helpful to them in their future endeavors in the IT industry.

For more information, please contact:

Cecilia Oyediran
TechBoston Employer Organizer
Boston Private Industry Council
Email: cecilia.oyediran@bostonpic.org
Phone: 617.488.1328 or 617-799-4264

To download application and recruitment forms, go to: http://www.techboston.org/techapprentice.html

TechApprentice is a partnership of: BATEC, the TechBoston unit of the BPS Office of Instructional & Information Technology (OIIT) and the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC).

Students Get Innovative Over February Break with Robotics

2011-02-26T13:01:00.002-05:00

Using foamboard, angle brackets, mechanical fasteners, hot glue, and other craft materials, participants in the BPS Engineering Pathway made an impressive range of robots over the February vacation week. Nearly 30 students took part in the course, which was held at Madison Park High School, and organized jointly by OIIT/TechBoston and Machine Science Inc.

As a first step, students in the course learned how to write C code for Machine Science’s XIPMod microcontroller modules. Then, students built their own robot frames, using only craft tools and materials. The course concluded with three robotics challenges: tracing a pattern on the floor, navigating an obstacle course, and “corralling” foam packing materials into designated areas.

i-SAFE Internet Safety Curriculum Now Available via MyLearningPlan

2011-02-03T13:19:00.004-05:00

We are pleased to make available i-SAFE's K-12 Internet Safety curriculum to all BPS educators. The interactive lesson plans, webcasts, and supplemental videos are being offered so all BPS educators can confidently teach their students appropriate online behavior, awareness and response regarding subjects such as cyber bullying, social networking, sexting, online predators, intellectual property and much more. In order to access the materials, you will need to sign-in to MyLearning Plan and search the district catalog for keyword: i-safe. Once you sign-up, please follow the instructions to access the i-SAFE site, which will allow you online access to grade-specific internet safety lesson plans.

Note: This is for Boston Public School use only, please do not share the district's subscription code with non-BPS personnel.

BPS Students and Teachers Learn Computer Programming from MIT

2011-01-24T11:25:00.018-05:00

For the past two years, the Scheller Teacher Education Program (STEP) and MIT Media Labs have collaborated with the TechBoston unit of Boston Public Schools' Office of Instructional and Information Technology (OIIT) to conduct workshops for the BPS middle and high school STEM, computer science and technology teachers to learn about integrating computer modeling, programming, and 3D games into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) classes. MIT professor Eric Klopfer and his team developed StarLogo TNG that enables teachers to design ready-to-implement curricular units and activities that complement existing Mathematics, Science and Technology curricula and introduce techniques that enhance student learning.

Since 2009, 15 BPS educators have explored diverse computer modeling and games units using the StarLogo TNG educational software tool which is a graphical programming environment designed with the goal of providing free access for teachers and students who are interested in creating 3D games and simulations. More information about The StarLogo TNG Project and the development team can be found at: StarLogo TNG Information.

A classroom of sixth grade computer students at the Jackson Mann School have been programming their own computer games using the StarLogo TNG software under the instruction of their teachers, Loi Ngyuen and Chi Tran. They have been working in conjunction with two of the instructors from MIT, Wendy Huang and Daniel Wendel, who have connected with the students via Skype video chat and come in for a visit. Check out the video below about the program and their most recent visit to the classroom!

For questions regarding the BPS StarLogo TNG Project, please feel free to contact:
Daniel Wendel, MIT StarLogo TNG Team Lead @ imaginationtoolbox@mit.edu
Rashmi Pimprikar, TechBoston, OIIT, BPS @ rpimprikar@techboston.org

Please click on the BPS StarLogo TNG Online Project Wiki Link to view:

A list of BPS schools that are part of the BPS StarLogo TNG Project
A link to pictures of the BPS StarLogo TNG Team
A link to StarLogo curriculum Moodle interface
A link to videos from some BPS StarLogo TNG classrooms
A Link to StarLogo Online Community (A Great Resource)
Information regarding participating in the BPS StarLogo TNG 2011-2012 Project

LiveWire Learning Community Video Contest!

2011-01-07T10:12:00.003-05:00

How and where does learning happen in your community? What does learning look like? What inspires you to learn? Create a three minute video or digital story that answers these questions and you could win some great technology prizes! The LiveWire Learning Community Project has announced its 1st annual LiveWire video contest, which will recognize student and teacher-created digital storytelling that promotes the concept of community learning. The contest is open to city of Boston youth (grades K-12) and the community learning organizations that support them. All contest entries must be submitted by January 15, 2011. Please click here for submission guidelines and specific contest information.

The LiveWire Learning Community Project is a partnership between the City of Boston, Boston Public Schools, Boston Public Library, Boston Center for Youth and Families and Fablevision with the purpose of uniting schools, libraries, community centers and families to improve academic achievement and promote creativity, literacy and 21st century skills.

Mentor a BPS Student on Job Shadow Day - February 2

2010-12-26T11:38:00.000-05:00

Demonstrate your commitment to supporting Boston's youth by participating in the Boston Private Industry Council's (PIC) annual Job Shadow Day on Wednesday, February 2nd from 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Each year the PIC matches hundreds of BPS students to shadow professionals around the Boston-area. It is a wonderful opportunity for high school students to connect with a professional, explore a career field and observe the world of work firsthand. On Job Shadow Day, students visit the work setting and shadow professionals for two to 3 hours, observing and assisting them with their work. To conclude the session, the student and host are encouraged to have lunch together (provided by the host). Registration is easy and can be done online at: http://www.bostonpic.org/employers/job-shadow-day.

Contact: Cecilia Oyediran, 617-799-4264, coyediran@techboston.org

BPS Students Learn Programming Over Winter Break

2010-12-26T11:25:00.000-05:00

The Office of Instructional & Information Technology's TechBoston unit is teaming up again with Machine Science to offer middle and high school students a chance to engage in hands-on engineering and robotics activities. Students will learn how to use digital/analog sensors and the C programming language to control their own digital electronics and robotics technology.

This year's December vacation break training will take place on Tuesday, December 28th and Wednesday, December 29th from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. There is NO COST for a student to participate, but pre-registration is required because space is limited. Students must pre-register online and return a completed parent permission form either via email to eesteves@techboston.org or upon arrival on December 28th.

*Due to an overwhelming demand, pre-registration is closed.

Contact: Eric Esteves, 617-908-1565, eesteves@techboston.org

Weekly Podcast Production at the Blackstone

2010-12-10T17:18:00.002-05:00

The Blackstone Elementary School recently began creating a weekly podcast to help bring the school’s newsletter to parents. Fifth grade students begin the process by practicing their lines in drama class with their teacher and record the podcast on Monday mornings using Garageband software with the Science/Technology Specialist. Every student has a role in the podcast, whether it’s behind the scenes or in front of the microphone. The podcast is posted on the school’s website (http://www.blackstoneschool.com) along with the translated text. You can even subscribe to the podcast by visiting the iTunes store! To the right are students producing a recent podcast. Tune in to listen to the news!

L4L Update: Annual Laptop Registration Deadline is December 17th

2010-12-10T09:14:00.007-05:00

On November 15th, OIIT pushed out an updated registration application to all L4L laptops. All L4L users are required to update their laptop registration information prior to winter vacation. Registering laptops enhances laptop security, ensures accrurate user information, and provides updated laptop inventories to schools.

All users will need to register their laptops while connected to the BPS Network. OIIT recommends that laptops are hard-wired to the BPS Network (i.e. connected with an Ethernet cable). The registration application requires the user to log into the BPS Network, i.e. log out of the laptop and log back in while connected to the BPS Network. Upon log-in, the application will automatically launch. It takes approximately 5 minutes to complete and requires a reboot of the laptop.

You can click here for step-by-step instructions.

OIIT will also host a registration clinic for users who need assistance registering their L4L laptops.

Dates: December 13th, 14th, 15th & 16th
Time: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Location: Campbell Resource Center
1216 Dorchester Ave.
Dorchester, MA 02127

Please bring your laptop and allot 10-15 minutes to run the updated registration application.

If you have any questions, please contact the OIIT Service Desk at 635-9200, Monday through Friday from 7am-4pm.

2010 L4L Registration is Here!

2010-11-22T07:52:00.000-05:00

Annual Laptop Registration – Deadline December 17th

Starting November 15th, OIIT will push out an updated registration application to all L4L laptops. All L4L users are required to update their laptop registration information prior to the winter vacation. Registering laptops enhances laptop security, ensures accurate user information, and provides updated laptop inventories to schools.

All users will need to register their laptops while connected to the BPS Network. OIIT recommends that laptops are hard-wired to the BPS Network (i.e. connected with an Ethernet cable). The registration application requires the user to log into the BPS Network, i.e. log out of the laptop and log back in while connected to the BPS Network. Upon log-in, the application will automatically launch. It takes approximately 5 minutes to complete and requires a reboot of the laptop.

Users that have recently changed their password in The Hub should use the new password.

Click https://connect.mybps.org/QG_RegisterMacBook10.pdf for step-by-step instructions or visit OIIT Online to watch a short podcast on how to register.

Note: As of 11/19/10, over 1230 L4L users have registered laptops. Keep them coming!

Raytheon and the Boston Celtics Team up for the Dearborn!

2010-11-17T22:54:00.003-05:00

Engineering giant Raytheon and Boston’s favorite basketball team partnered together with the Boston Public Schools to create the new Dearborn Middle School technology lab! The donation, which includes a room of new, state-of-the-art desktop computers, and a wall mounted SMARTBoard with integrated projector and sound system. The room also features motivational graphics on the walls featuring players from the Celtics. To celebrate the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new lab, representatives from the BPS, Celtics, and Raytheon attended and offered words of encouragement to the students on hand for the event. Those who attended from the Boston Schools were Superintendent, Dr. Carol Johnson, Dearborn principal, Jose Duarte and Chief Information Officer, Melissa Dodd. A number of Raytheon engineers who volunteered to help set up the lab were in attendance at the ceremony, as well as vice-president of Engineering at Raytehon, Mark Russell. The Celtics contingent featured team owner Wyc Grousbeck, former Celtic Superstars, Cedric Maxwell and Dana Barros as well as current Celtic star, Ray Allen. Ray even walked around and spent some time with each student while they used their new computers.

The donation represents a true collaborative effort between the organizations as the equipment was donated by the Celtics and Raytheon and volunteers from Raytheon helped to set up the lab. Electrical wiring and other construction of the room was completed by the facilities department of the Boston Public Schools. Imaging and delivery of the computers was completed by the Office of Instructional and Information Technology of the BPS. Check out the video of the event below!

President Obama Speaks About Bullying

2010-10-26T09:02:00.007-05:00

The White House Blog posted a video last Friday of President Barack Obama speaking about bullying in school. The short, three minute video is titled "It Gets Better". In it, the president states that bullying is not a "normal rite of passage" and that "we have an obligation to ensure that our schools are safe for all of our kids". He also uses the video to speak directly to students who are being bullied and encourages them to seek help, letting them know that they are not alone. If you can't see the video below, please click on this link to the White House Blog.

Remember, if you are a resident of the City of Boston and you need to report bullying, you can call the Boston Bullying Hotline at 617.592.2378. Parents and students can leave anonymous tips about bullying that is happening inside and outside of school.

OIIT 21st Century Leadership Cadres 2010-2011 are Underway!

2010-10-08T11:54:00.001-05:00

Thirty-four educators from nine Boston Public Schools and two Curriculum Departments were selected to join OIIT's 21st Century Leadership Cadres, 2010-2011. This year long, hands-on professional develpment opportunity allows teams of educators to explore a range of technology tools that can support teaching and learning. The impact of this professional development reaches beyond the Cadre participants as each team shares their learning with colleagues and students at their schools. Workshop content is designed and facilitated by the Office of Instructional and Information Technology and Apple Professional Development. Face-to-face sessions are held at Apple Headquarters in Boston. Collaboration and discussion between sessions takes place online on a wiki located on BPS Connect. Last year, thirty educators participated in the 2009-2010 leadership cadre.

Looking to transform your practice with technology? Take a look at our online Ed Tech Resources.

Safe Driving Law Takes Effect in Massachusetts

2010-10-01T12:22:00.005-05:00

The new Safe Driving Law has taken effect and it is now illegal for anyone to read, write or send text messages while driving. State and local police are already handing out citations to drivers who are caught violating the new ban. Drivers can be expected to pay a $100 fine for their first offense. Fines can reach up to $500 for repeat offenders. 16 and 17 year-old drivers may also face a 60-day loss of license and mandatory driver training. All cellphone use while driving is illegal for 16 and 17 year-old drivers (except for emergency 911 calls). While older drivers are permitted to make calls on their cellphones while driving, police can give out $35 fines for improperly using a cellphone. These offenses include anything that might interfere with driving, such as not having at least one hand on the wheel. For more information on the Safe Driving legislation, please click on the link below.

Massachusetts Safe Driving Legislation

Taking a pulse in roiling online world - The Boston Globe

2010-10-01T08:10:00.000-05:00

Taking a pulse in roiling online world - The Boston Globe

City of Boston Receives $4.3 Million Grant That Will Give Training, Computers and Opportunity to Underserved Communities | City of Boston

2010-09-26T14:59:00.000-05:00

City of Boston Receives $4.3 Million Grant That Will Give Training, Computers and Opportunity to Underserved Communities | City of Boston

Verizon Grant Supports Effort to Raise Awareness About the AUP

2010-09-17T12:19:00.002-05:00

The Boston Public School district will roll out the Everyone Needs to Know the AUP initiative in fall 2010, thanks to financial support from the Verizon Foundation. Verizon joins Microsoft, Boston Society of Information Managers and Bunker Hill Community College in supporting the five-year-old City of Boston's Cyber Safety Campaign.

Last spring, with the increase in cyber safety issues facing students and school districts, combined with the new Massachusetts' anti-bullying law now in place, the BPS Office of Instructional and Information Technology (OIIT) decided to use the opportunity to ratchet up the focus on the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). OIIT's TechBoston unit director, Felicia Vargas, led the process to revise the Boston School district's Acceptable Use Policy for computer usage in the school district.

This past summer, OIIT's TechBoston unit hired 14 high school Cyber Safety Mentors and three college-age supervisors. The cyber mentors worked over an intensive seven-week period conducting over 60 internet safety presentations throughout the city of Boston. The mentors also developed podcasts and presentations about the district's new AUP.

Beginning in September, OIIT will be working to increase the visibility and understandability of the Acceptable Use Policy for all students. With Verizon's financial support, OIIT will hire several BPS graduates and will deploy these Verizon Cyber Mentors to conduct cyber safety presentations in BPS schools during the year. The Verizon Cyber Mentors will be paired with schools to help educate the entire community about internet safety.

The AUP materials that the Cyber Mentors developed this summer are now posted online where the teachers, parents, administrators and students can access them throughout the school year. Check out the lesson plans, glossaries, and cool podcasts developed for all grade levels at www.bpscybersafety.org/aup.html

For more information about this initiative, please contact Felicia Vargas, fvargas@techboston.org, or Eric Esteves, eesteves@techboston.org

Photo Caption: BPS Cyber Safety Mentors pose for a photo with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley after briefing her on the cyber safety during a visit to her office on August 19, 2010.

BPS Launches New Acceleration Agenda Dashboard

2010-09-15T16:00:00.002-05:00

The BPS Acceleration Agenda Dashboard delivers on two central promises the district made when Superintendent Johnson presented the Acceleration Agenda last year: to share information with the community, and to hold ourselves accountable for results. The Acceleration Agenda sets aggressive goals for our students. The Acceleration Agenda Dashboard provides up-to-date information on where we are, where we are going, and what we are doing to get there.

To access the Dashboard, go to: http://dashboard.bostonpublicschools.org

For more information on the Dashboard, read the BPS Press Release.

2010-09-09T12:58:00.001-05:00

Testing out Ping for some of OIIT's social media tools. Do you Ping? Do you like it?

OIIT Retreat @ Wentworth Today

2010-08-30T21:17:00.004-05:00

We're looking forward to an engaging & innovative school year with BPS schools & central offices!

Welcome Back Principals & Headmasters!

2010-08-16T21:57:00.005-05:00

What's New?

We’re moving to the clouds with Google Apps & Student Email.
SEIMS is going live online. Create & monitor student IEPs 24/7.
BPS has a new wireless carrier & phones. Check out the Wireless Phones MyBPS page for info & resources.
A new Student Information System will upgrade MyBPS in fall 2011. Help pick the tool by joining the selection committee.

Need Technology Help?

Let the OIIT Service Desk be your gateway to technology support. Call us at 617-635-9200 (Mon-Fri 7am-4pm). Average wait time is only 1 minute & 11 seconds! Principal/Headmaster calls are priority. Hit #6 to jump to the top of the queue.
For tutorials, FAQs & ed tech resources, visit OIIT Online at: www.bostonpublicschools.org/technology.
Take an OIIT technology PD or schedule a PD for your teachers at your school. Visit MyLearningPlan for more info.

Foster 21st Century Skills: Communicate & Collaborate with Technology

Wikis, blogs & podcasts, oh my! BPS Connect (http://connect.mybps.org) is the district’s online community for communication & collaboration. Request training to create an online group for your school.
Incorporate information literacy into your curricula with support from our new Library Director, Amy Short.
OIIT & OHSS will launch 2 online HS courses in 9^th grade Math & ELA this fall. HS students will LogON for Success.
BPS can now access Internet2. Leverage a high-performance network & worldwide partnerships to enhance your mission.
New teacher L4L orientation sessions begin on August 31^stand run through September. Register on MyLearningPlan.

Maximize Your School's Technology

Improve L4L laptop performance by running critical software updates. Remind teachers to connect laptops to the BPS network on a weekly basis. Also, fall is L4L registration time! Register laptops early in October.
Consider virtualizing your computer lab. Virtualization saves money, space & energy.
Soon all BPS passwords will be one! Check out boston.k12.ma.us/password to learn more.
Using the latest software? Extend the capacity of computers with software upgrades (Office 2007/Parallels 5 more).
Leverage limited funds for technology! Contact OIIT to set up a technology purchase consultation.
Access new reports & data via the BPS Data Warehouse – Student attendance, MCAS, GPA & mailing labels.

Be Safe Online: BPS Cyber Safety Campaign

Educate faculty & staff. Bullying & cyber-bullying are now crimes in Massachusetts.
Don’t be a bystander. Report incidents to the Mayor’s Anti-Bullying Hot Line at 617-534-5050.
In response to new technologies & social networking, the BPS has a new student Acceptable Use Policy! Check out AUP podcasts, cyber safety curriculum resources & downloadable materials at www.bpscybersafety.org.

LINC 4ward with Technology!

In today’s digital world, technology literacy & 21^st century skills are critical for student success. This year, OIIT will launch the development of LINC4ward, a new & innovative vision for technology in the BPS that will prepare all Boston students to be active & engaged citizens in a multi-faceted, global society. Look for invitations to participate this fall.

To learn more about these tech updates visit OIIT Online at: www.bostonpublicschools.org/technology

Mason School Uses Skype for "Dad's Reading Day"

2010-06-07T10:32:00.008-05:00

Recently, the Mason School held its "Dad's Reading Day" and used the web conferencing application, Skype, to bring in a father all the way from Italy to read to his daughter's kindergarten class. According to Keri Purple, the teacher of the class, the father of one of the students is currently working abroad in Italy. They decided to Skype conference with him so he could be part of the event. He read the book, "A House for Hermit Crab" by Eric Carle. He used his webcam to show them some landscape of Italy (he was outdoors). He also read a little to the class from an Italian copy of Harry Potter.

Skype is a great way to be able to connect with other classrooms, as well as bring guest speakers into your classroom. Below are some links to resources on ways to use Skype in your school. If you are already using Skype to collaborate with others outside of your school, please comment on this post and share with us how you use it!

Around the World With Skype: Presentation from the K-12 Online Conference on getting started using Skype int he classroom.

Skype an Author Network: A site that has a list of authors that will Skype with a classroom.

Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom: Site with ideas and links on using Skype in the classroom.

If you have any questions about safely setting up Skype for use with your classroom and making sure you avoid receiving Skype spam, please call the OIIT Service Desk.

Sumner School Video About Trees

2010-06-03T11:31:00.008-05:00

What a great way to show what you know. The second grade classes at the Charles Sumner School students completed a tree unit by creating a song and video about what they learned. The song, entitled "Sweet Trees Alive" is sung to the tune of "Sweet Caroline". Sumner science teacher, Theresa Lee and technology teacher, Kate Klein, teamed up to teach the unit. It is a fantastic example of a technology teacher and subject area teacher collaborating to effectively integrate 21st century learning skills into an instructional unit. Ms. Klein uses the unit as an introduction to using the internet for research. The students use keywords and learn about finding important information from a website. One of the websites that they used was Trees are Terrific...Travels With Pierre. Ms. Lee works with the students on science skills as well developing a sense of environmental stewardship. She takes them outside to practice observing, collecting data, and comparing and contrasting. She also reads a number of books with them to build background knowledge and understanding the importance of nature. Two of those books include, The Lorax and Tell Me, Tree.

In the Spring, they went on a field trip to the Arnold Arboretum. They also made a field journal to help connect their classroom research with their real life experience, as well as support their writing. As the culminating project, they created the song "Sweet Trees Alive" with the important ideas they learned about. The teachers chose to use animoto.com as the publishing platform of the project using a free educator's account. Ms. Klein said that animoto.com was a practical, easy and polished way to present their student's work. You can check out their video by clicking the link below, be sure to leave them some feedback in the comments section:

http://animoto.com/play/K2J2iOsXy2lXcpjodK8HTw

Donors Choose Helps Fund Classroom Projects

2010-05-20T14:00:00.009-05:00

If you are a teacher looking to fund a classroom project, DonorsChoose.org is one of the first sites that you may want to explore. There have been BPS teachers who have had their projects fully funded by donors who go to the site, read about the proposed project, and donate money so that the teacher can purchase the supplies they need to implement the project in their classroom. Recently, Megan DePalma, an occupational therapist from the Paul A. Dever elementary school, used Donors Choose to fund a project which created a new therapy space for students with sensory-motor and attentional issues. Megan put together a proposal on the website and listed the therapeutically and educationally appropriate materials she needed to purchase in order to create the space. The total cost of the project came to approximately $990. She posted her proposal on Donors Choose and within two months the entire project was funded thanks to 31 different donors from across the country. The materials were ordered easily through vendors that have their online catalogs linked to the Donors Choose website. Today, Megan's new therapy space has a trampoline, therapy balls, gym mats, scooter boards and other sensory calming tools that allow the students to have scheduled movement/sensory breaks built into their school day. This helps enable the students to better focus during instructional time as well as enhance their sensory and motor skills.

Donors Choose is one example of a method teachers can use to raise funds for classroom projects. Below is a list of some other websites that also fund special classroom projects. If you have any others to share, please leave a link in our comment section with a short explanation about the site.

DonorsChoose.org
Adopt-A-Classroom.org
DigitalWish.com
iLoveSchools.com

BPS Technology Showcase Coming to Wentworth Institute of Technology

2010-05-12T12:20:00.004-05:00

The Office of Instructional and Information Technology (OIIT) invites you to attend a full day of technology events! On Saturday, June 5, 2010, the BPS Technology Showcase Day will feature three events at Wentworth Institute of Technology to highlight the district's efforts to make technology more accessible to students, families, and teachers. Please join us in celebrating the following initiatives:

21st Century Leadership Cadre Showcase: The day will kick-off in the morning with the 21st Century Leadership Cadre Showcase from 8:30-11:30 in Beatty Hall, Lower Level. The showcase will serve as an opportunity for schools to share their learning and how technology training has impacted their work. If you are attending the Cadre Showcase, please RSVP here.

Technology Goes Home (TGH) Graduation: The annual TGH Graduation Ceremony will occur from 1:00 to 3:00 in Tansey Gym. Certificates will be given to teachers to pass out and families will have an opportunity to celebrate together.

Robotics Olympics: TechBoston's Robotics Olympics will take place in Beatty Hall, Upper Level, from 12:00 to 4:00, as more than 150 BPS students compete in the annual event showcasing engineering designs from students in all grades. The Robotics Olympics is an annual event where students from BPS schools come to compete on a variety of LEGO robotics challenges. The theme for this year's challenges is "Animal Kingdom". Students in all grade K-12 are eligible to participate. For more information, please visit http://bpsrobotics.wikispaces.com/.

Please contact Eric Esteves at eesteves@techboston.org or Paula Wilson at pwilson@boston.k12.ma.us for details or questions about the showcase.

TechBoston Academy Students Receive PSA Award

2010-05-06T12:27:00.004-05:00

Eight TechBoston Academy high school students and their teacher arrived in style at the Youth Summit and Awards Ceremony on April 30, 2010. The students were treated to a limousine ride to the event at Bridgewater State College because they won first place in a PSA (Public Service Announcement) Contest sponsored by MARC, the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center.

TBA's 2-minute submission entitled, "Keep it Social", was the runaway favorite, earning kudos from everyone who attended the awards ceremony on Friday, April 30th. The goal of the PSA contest was to raise awareness about various forms of cyberbullying and improve other teenagers, attitudes around the issues of aggression and bullting in school.

The students are pictured here along with their teacher, Mr. Robin Citrin, and Dr. Elizabeth Englander, MARC founder/director and a professor of Psychology at Bridgewater State College.

All of the winning PSA's can be viewed at: http://webhost.bridgew.edu/marc/winners2010.html

Congratulations Laptops for Learning (L4L) Story Raffle Winners!

2010-04-15T07:09:00.002-05:00

The Office of Instructional and Information Technology (OIIT) invited educators to share their Laptops for Learning (L4L) stories. We received over 50 submissions and we were impressed to find out what BPS educators are doing with the laptops to improve teaching and learning. OIIT would like to recognize all of the educators for sharing their innovative use of L4L laptops to support student achievement. Two educator's names were selected through a raffle drawing and they will receive special prizes for their submissions. Congratulations to the winners!

Individual Winner:
Kathleen Burns (Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) has discovered a number of ways to use the L4L in her practice. To foster vocabulary development, slide shows are created and burned to DVD's for home practice. She also downloads wordless video clips onto her laptop to engage students with limited language fluency. Kathleen's students enjoy working on the L4L as well. Using the writing process as a model, students tell stories in American Sign Language and record them in iMovie. After several revisions, they proudly publish their video stories.

School Winner:
Deborah Froggatt (Boston Arts Academy/Fenway) uses the L4L to foster information literacy in her entire school community. As a library media specialist, Deborah collaborates with colleagues throughout the district, and at the Boston Public Library. The laptop allows Deborah to locate resources for teachers at two schools in a timely fashion. She also maintains a robust website of print and media resources available to students. As a student herself pursuing doctoral studies at Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Deborah's laptop seldom gets a break.

L4L story submissions will be on display at the upcoming BPS Technology Showcase at Wentworth Institute of Technology. OIIT is inviting educators who would like to submit ideas for showcasing technology innovation taking place in the BPS to participate. Please contact Eric Esteves at eesteves@techboston.org for details or to submit your ideas. Details to be announced.

Great Digital Resources From Gale Cengage and The Boston Public Library

2010-04-08T14:18:00.006-05:00

Did you know that Boston Public School teachers and students have free access to great educational content through the Boston Public Library and Gale Cengage Learning? In fact, any residents of Massachusetts have free access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to the electronic resources hosted by the Boston Public Library. In order to use the BPL's electronic resources, you will need to have a computer with internet access and a BPL virtual library card, or e-card. Recently, the BPL and Gale Cengage held an online tutorial session for the Boston Public Schools technology support teachers. If you want to learn more about these resources, see your school's TST. You can also watch the video tutorials that the TST's were presented with.

The first tutorial explains how to obtain the free BPL e-card you will need in order to access the electronic resources, including e-books and audiobooks.

http://www.gale.cengage.com/media/training/BostonPublic_Access/Access.htm

The second tutorial explains the Gale Cengage resources available online through the BPL. This video starts by explaining how a teacher benefits by using the Gale resources as opposed to searching the open web for information. It also explores some examples of resources and materials teachers can use with the curriculum to enhance their instruction.

http://www.gale.cengage.com/media/training/BostonPublic_TeacherCurriculum/BostonPublic_TeacherCurriculum.htm

The final tutorial is about how students can use the resources for classroom projects and research. This is an excellent video to show your students and their parents to make them aware of this fantastic free resource through the Boston Public Library. The Gale resources give students access to reliable information through podcasts, videos, images, digitized magazines, journals and reference books.

http://www.gale.cengage.com/media/training/BostonPublic_StudentCurriculum/BostonPublic_StudentCurriculum.htm

TechBoston Academy Students Win PSA Contest!

2010-03-30T12:36:00.001-05:00

Students from TechBoston Academy have won the 2009-2010 MARC Public Service Announcement Contest for grades 6-12 for their video about cyberbullying titled, "Anti-Social". The Massachusetts Agression Reduction Center will hold their annual youth summit on April 30. The summit is a free event open to all students in grades 6 to 12 and their teachers from any schools in Massachusetts. Students from all over the state talk about their school's programs and strategies to combat bullying. During the summit, the TechBoston Academy students will receive their award for winning the contest. They also get a limo ride to the event which is being held at Bridgewater State College. You can read more about the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center by going to their website. Below, you can view the "Anti-Social" video.

Fablevision Partners with City of Boston to Create Live Wire Learning Community

2010-03-23T11:22:00.007-05:00

Last Friday, The City of Boston and Fablevision launched the Boston Live Wire Learning Community Initiative at the Lee Elementary School and Lee Academy. The Boston Live Wire Learning Community is an innovative, cross-sector approach to transforming education by changing expectations of when and where students learn. The goal of the initiative is to unite schools, libraries, community centers and families to improve academic achievement and promote creativity, literacy and 21st century skills by providing a common set of tools, training and expectations to students, teachers and families. The pilot project includes four leadership venues: Lee Academy, Lee Elementary, Boston Public Library Codman Square Branch, and The Perkins Community Center. Each site received:

Copies of The Dot, -Ish, and The North Star by New York Times best selling author and Fablevision co-founder, Peter Reynolds.
A suite of Fablevision software, including, Stationary Studio, Brain Cogs, Essay Express, Smart Moves and Animation-ish.
Wacom digital graphics tablets.
Professional development training for teachers, librarians and community center leaders.

To read more about the initiative, check out the article on the Boston Public Schools website or click on the Live Wire Learning Community website.

Using Wordle in the Classroom

2010-03-11T10:49:00.006-05:00

Wordle is a great tool that teachers can use to visualize groups of words into word clouds. The way that it works is that you go to wordle.net and type or paste groups of words into the box. When you hit enter, the words are arranged in a cloud with the the words that appear most frequently being more prominent than the other words in the cloud. The teacher also has control of the color scheme and font of the text. Some very creative ways that teachers are using wordle in the classroom are:

As discussion starters for new topics that are being explored in class
A creative way to publish poetry in Writer's Workshop
Create digital word walls
A new way to look at famous historical documents and speeches
Helping students understand the theme of texts

Here are some resources for using Wordle in the classroom:

Wordle Ideas: A slideshare on ways you can use Wordle in the classroom.

Interesting Ways to Use Wordle in the Classroom: A presentation with ideas and tips on using Wordle in the classroom.

For other educational technology resources, check out OIIT Online, your anytime, anywhere access to technology support resources for BPS educators and staff.

PBS Frontline Special: digital_nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier

2010-03-05T16:50:00.004-05:00

Two weeks ago, PBS Frontline aired its special, "digtial_nation - life on the virtual frontier". This new look into how digital media has transformed our lives is from the same producer that brought us the ground-breaking Frontline special, Growing Up Online, back in 2008. The 90 minute documentary takes a closer look at both the positive and negative effects that are the result of our now constantly connected lifestyles. There is a fascinating look at a group of MIT students and how the distractions caused by multitasking with technology may be a disservice to them. There is also a look at a high school which values technology as a vital teaching tool for today's students. The documentary does a very nice job of not creating a viewpoint that is slanted for or against technology, but the impact that technology has on many different facets of our lives. You can watch the video in its entirety on the PBS Frontline website, or you can watch it in smaller segments. The website also has lots of extra videos that weren't included in the original airing of the episode.

Mayor Menino and Superintendent Johnson Host Meeting with Cyber-Mentors at City Hall

2010-02-25T12:23:00.004-05:00

As part of the Mayor's ongoing campaign against bullying in the city of Boston, he and BPS superintendent of schools, Dr. Carol Johnson, hosted a meeting about cyberbullying with past and present Boston Public School's cybersafety mentors. The cybersafety mentors are BPS high school students who have been hired during past summers to create materials and perform presentations to educate others in the community about the importance of cybersafety. Two weeks ago, Mayor Menino announced the city's campaign against bullying which included a hotline in which students and parents can anonymously call to report incidents of bullying. The hotline is up and running through the Boston Health Commission and has already received some phone calls according to this article from the Boston Herald. The bullying hotline number is 617.534.5050.

Another part of the campaign was to meet with students to solicit their ideas on how the city can better respond to bullying, what schools can do to help parents and students and how the city can work with social networking websites on providing protection for victims of cyberbullying. As both the mayor and superintendent stated during the meeting, the students are the experts when it comes to cyberbullying and social networking issues and it is important that they play a key role in the way the city and schools respond to cyberbullying incidents. Mayor Menino hosted 16 cybersafety mentors for lunch in his office to get their input. The students had a number of great ideas including:

We need to find a way to get the message out to parents. a lot of parents don't know what their kids are doing online...we should have classes for parents.

A group task force should be created to specifically deal with cybersecurity and cyberbullying in the city of Boston.

Companies providing the technology should provide the user with basic safety knowledge. Facebook and other sites like it should provide online training tutorials to educate the user how to properly use the site. Scenarios about cyberbullying with instructions on what to do if you are cyberbullied should be included on that.

Facebook and other social networking companies should make you go through a safety training before allowing you to create a profile.

Advertise the bullying hotline on the MBTA. Students are always taking trains and buses, the anti-bullying campaign should be publicized there.

There should be a city wide cybersafety week to highlight all of the issues. There should be activities during that week to educate students and parents about cybersafety.

Educate all people on the statistics of cyberbullying. How many victims there actually are. People respond to statistics.

Create a fan page on Facebook so students can forward information and follow the campaign.

There needs to be clear, appropriate consequences and consistent enforcement of cyberbullying policy in the district that will act as a deterrent to those who are thinking of bullying someone.

There should be counseling services available not just for victims, but for the bullies as well. A lot of times people bully others because they are suffering from low self esteem or they have other problems in their lives.

Mayor Menino and Superintendent Johnson will take a closer look at these recommendations from the students as they expand and define Boston's anti-bullying campaign this spring. There is also a planned spring forum on social networking that will take place and possibly include representatives from social networking sites Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and MySpace.

Mayor Menino Announces Anti-Bullying Campaign

2010-02-16T15:59:00.003-05:00

Mayor Thomas Menino made an appearance at the McCormack Middle School Health and Wellness Day last Friday to speak to eighth grade students about bullying. The McCormack school Health and Wellness day featured community organizations making presentations to students on a variety of health related subjects. The Mayor used the event to announce a campaign against all types of bullying. The Mayor has proposed the following for the residents of Boston:

A new hotline for young people to report incidents of bullying
Outreach efforts to parents and families through flyers, letters and workshops
A letter to parents from the Mayor and Superintendent Dr. Carol Johnson about the efforts to confront the issue head-on
Providing increased training for employees who work directly with youth to help identify and prevent bullying

Mayor Menino will also be meeting this week with a group of cyber mentors from the Boston Public Schools to discuss what else the city can do to support students and their families. The cyber mentors are high school aged students who have been hired by the BPS in the past to create educational materials and deliver presentations to younger students about cyber safety. The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald both ran articles about the event.

During the event, students from TechBoston Academy also unveiled a video PSA they created about cyberbullying. The PSA can be accessed from the BPS Cybersafety website, or by clicking here.

Take Your Class Around the World with Google Earth

2010-02-10T15:21:00.005-05:00

If you are a teacher looking for a great way to infuse technology into your instruction, take a look at Google Earth. Google Earth is free digital satellite imagery software from Google that allows you to take your students all over the world, while remaining in the classroom. You can type any location into Google Earth and the software will instantly send you to that place with a satellite view. On the surface, it looks as though Google Earth is great to use only for geography, however, it is capable of so much more. The newest version of Google Earth also allows for ocean exploration and space exploration in Google Sky and Google Mars. Google Earth has layers that will show real time traffic data, weather data, pictures, 3-D buildings, and much more! You can measure distances using Google Earth, teaching students about perimeter and area. You can also download KMZ files which add even more functionality to using it in the classroom. KMZ files are Google Earth's file format for storing placemarks, network link information, and much more. For example, the website, Google Lit Trips has a library of files you can download and use with Google Earth. All of the files are based on different works of literature your students might be reading. In order to use Google Earth, you must download the application to your computer. You must also have an active internet connection while using the application.

Here are some great educational resources to get you started using Google Earth:

Basics of Google Earth - Slide share presentation on the basics of Google Earth

23 Interesting Ways to Use Google Earth in the Classroom - Slide share presentation with ideas on ways to use Google Earth in the classroom.

Google Earth User's Guide - The official guide from the people at Google.

Google Earth Video Tutorials - Fantastic short videos on how to use Google Earth. Must be able to view YouTube to watch them.

Apple Learning Exchange - A teacher's guide to Google Earth for the 21st Century Classroom.

Google Earth Lessons - This website has video tutorials on how to use Google Earth as well as lessons for teachers and students to integrate Google Earth in the classroom.

Google Lit Trips - An incredible resource of Google Earth files based on the settings of many stories. This site is an experiment in teaching great literature in a very different way. Using Google Earth, students discover where in the world the greatest road trip stories of all time took place

The Google Earth Blog - Updated blog that included Google Earth news and downloadable files.

Sumner Students Use Technology to Raise Funds for Haiti

2010-02-05T12:00:00.004-05:00

Schools from all over Boston have come together to help the Haiti Relief Efforts. Many schools have been devising ways to raise money for the earthquake ravaged nation. Some schools have raised money by having bake sales, while other schools have raised money by having special non uniform days, such as "crazy hat day" and "pajama day". You can view a list of what schools have done on the Boston Public Schools Support For Haiti web page.

The Charles Sumner Elementary School in Roslindale is using technology to help raise money for those in need. They used a Flip video camera to film their students and started a web page on the Partners in Health website with the goal of raising $1,000. Kate Klein, the technology teacher at the Sumner, sent me an email about the project. In it she wrote, "The earthquake in Haiti has affected our school deeply. Our students have family members who perished there. Our school is trying to empower our students. We are currently making a video of them to raise funds for Partners in Health (one of our teacher's fathers, a doctor, is currently in Haiti through this organization)." The video they created is below. If you would like to contribute to their efforts, please click on this link: http://act.pih.org/page/outreach/view/haitiearthquake/sumnerkids

How an 8 Year Old Can Help Haiti from Sumner Elementary, Boston on Vimeo.

L4L Annual Registration Clinic

2010-02-02T07:55:00.005-05:00

L4L registration clinics are taking place at the Campbell Resource Center this week from Tuesday, February 2nd through Thursday, February 4th. OIIT is hosting these clinics for users who need assistance registering their L4L laptops.

On December 3rd, OIIT launched an updated registration application to all L4L laptops as part of the annual L4L registration process. All L4L users are required to update their laptop registration information by Friday, February 5th. Registering laptops enhances security, runs routine laptop maintenance, ensures accurate user information, and provides updated laptop inventories to schools. For instructions on how to register your laptop, please click here.

Please note that after the February 5th deadline, OIIT will need to collect laptops that have not been registered to run routine maintenance and software updates. As part of the process, data will unfortunately be lost. OIIT will redistribute laptops to teachers at a later time.

The registration clinics will take place:

Dates: February 2nd, 3rd, and 4th
Time: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Location: Campbell Resource Center
1216 Dorchester Ave.
Dorchester, MA 02127

Please bring your laptop and allot 10-15 minutes to run the updated registration application
Contact: OIIT Service Desk, 635-9200.

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Laser Tag Reigns During Winter Recess

2010-01-26T15:27:00.008-05:00

For three days, from December 28^th - 30^th, over 30 students stormed OIIT’s computer lab at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School to participate in a series of Digital Electronics workshops offered by Machine Science and TechBoston. During the training, many students had the opportunity to acquire a first-hand experience in electronics and computer programming. The students were introduced to the new Machine Science XIPMods and basic concepts of C programming. Students worked for countless hours programming these XIPMod devices to produce unique and individualized light and beep patterns. While coaching these teens, we were astounded by their abilities and how quick they caught on to programming. Everyone was engulfed in the work, and, as they finished each project, everyone seemed eager for more.

For the culmination of the three-day training, the students created their very own laser tag game. They combined the general concepts of C programming with the introduction to electronics they learned to create an amazing game that pitted two teams against each other to capture the opposing team member who possessed the flag. The game revolved around the students using remote control devices to illuminate the defenders' XipMod that all the students programmed to light up when "hit" by the remote.

The collaboration of Machine Science and TechBoston was a big success thanks to dedicated students, incredible staff, and the amazing XIPMods. This collaboration will continue in the New Year with Machine Science and TechBoston teaming up to offer free digital electronics workshops at the Science Building located at the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science. For more information, contact Eric Esteves from TechBoston at eesteves@techboston.org or call him at 617.908.1565.

This post was contributed by Phillip Simon and Sam Francois, TechBoston and Machine Science Teaching Assistants. For more information about TechBoston programs, please go to www.techboston.org.

Edutopia's Top Ten Tips for Teaching with New Media

2010-01-20T09:12:00.002-05:00

Edutopia, the George Lucas Educational Foundation, has a very helpful resource to teachers who are interested in learning about ways to incorporate new media into their instruction. The website itself has a plethora of resources, case studies and short videos, but they are also offering a pdf document with it's ten tips for teaching with new media. The ten tips offer practical ideas and starting points for teachers as well as links to online tools. The document discusses ways to get started, finding hardware resources, integrating 21st Century learning skills like global collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. You can download the pdf document from this link.

When thinking about using new media with your students, take the opportunity to teach them about digital citizenship! How to safely collaborate, interact and present work online are important skills for students to learn nowadays. Check out the BPS cybersafety campaign for information and links about teaching cybersafety to your students.

Teacher Spotlight - Joe Herrington - John D. O'Bryant School of Math and Science

2010-01-13T08:37:00.006-05:00

Springfield native Theodor Geisel once summed up the difficulties of stimulating creativity as such:

"Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"

Dr Seuss was an illustrator, not an engineer. Yet, challenges will always exist. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States face a shortage of well trained and well qualified graduates to fill all the openings in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields now and as we move into the future.

Technological literacy has become essential to informed participation in the democratic process and to our economic well being as individuals and as a global community. Yet few citizens are technologically literate, largely because technology and engineering are not taught in most of K-12 schools. To fully develop a 21st century curriculum that focuses on technological literacy and the integration of STEM education, technology and engineering need to be a core content area in K-12 schools.

One way of approaching that challenge is by creating or enhancing STEM learning experiences for young people in the schools. One BPS teacher is tackling that challenge head-on.

Meet Joe Herrington, a sixth-year physics and pre-engineering teacher at John D. O'Bryant School of Math and Science. Armed with a degree in Physics from Northeastern, Mr. Herrington strives daily to inspire his students to pursue STEM careers.

One of his recent student projects involved the design of truss bridges made out of balsa wood and modeling glue. Truss bridges are typically made of straight components that can be stressed from tension and/or compression in response to dynamic loads. While staying within certain size constraints, the students' main objective was to design and construct a bridge that would support the largest amount of weight while being composed of the least amount of material. Thus, in addition to learning the fundamentals of the engineering design process, students also had to explore the economics of engineering and project management.

To test the bridge, a wooden block was placed at the midpoint of the students' bridges from which a 5-gallon bucket was hung. Water was then added at a constant rate to the bucket until the bridge it hung from experienced structural failure. Prior to building their final designs, the students were also required to build at least one prototype out of a material of their choice (as long as it was not balsa wood). Along the way, each group of students were required to complete progress reports detailing work completed over the course of the previous week and projected progress over the coming week.

This is but one example of how connecting the dots between the classroom and the real world can have profound effects of the career aspirations of students. Maybe one of Mr. Herrington's students will end up in charge of making sure the next phase of the Big Dig is most cost-effective!

This post was contributed by Eric Esteves, TechBoston Program Director. He can be reached at eesteves@techboston.org.

Happy Holiday Greetings from OIIT!

2009-12-23T09:02:00.001-05:00

As students and teachers leave school for winter recess, OIIT offers a few technology reminders:

1) End 2009 with a fresh backup of your data! Take some time to back up your important files on an external hard drive, flash drive or CD. Backing up your data protects you from losing your files in case of computer damage. You can watch video tutorials on backing up your data on OIIT Online's video tutorial section.

2) Make sure your L4L is secure! Remember, you are responsible for the security of your laptop. If you are bringing your laptop home, make sure it is being stored in a secure, locked location. If you are leaving it at your school, it must be placed in the school's secure, locked location that is identified by your school principal or headmaster. If you are traveling with your laptop, here are some tips to keep it safe:

While on an airplane, place the laptop under the seat in front of you. Do not place it in the overhead storage area as it could easily get bumped and damaged there.
Do not pack your laptop in your checked baggage.
Do not leave the laptop in your car. Extreme cold temperatures can cause damage to the laptop and leaving it in the car leaves it subject to theft. (Please note that leaving a laptop in a car is a violation of the district's laptop security guidelines).
If your laptop is stolen from you during the winter recess, do not wait to begin the recovery process. Notify the police as soon as you discover your laptop has been stolen and then notify OIIT at 617.635.9200.

Please refer to the Laptop Security Guidelines document for more information.

3) Register your laptop before you go or as soon as you come back to school! All L4L users are required to update their laptop registration information by Friday, February 5th (even if you just received a laptop). Details for registration can be found here.

4) Check out all the great resources located on OIIT Online. If you are looking to integrate some new technology into your instruction while planning lessons over the winter recess, then go to our Educational Technology Resources section for some fabulous ed-tech links. You can also access some basic troubleshooting tips and tricks in our How-To Resources section.

OIIT wishes all of you a very happy, healthy new year and will be open during the winter recess to support you.

OIIT Launches Awesome New Site for “Just-in-Time” Support

2009-12-15T16:34:00.007-05:00

The Office of Instructional & Information Technology recently launched a new site on BPS Connect called OIIT Online. OIIT Online offers anytime, anywhere access to technology support resources for BPS educators and staff, providing the help they need, when they need it, to strengthen their own technology understanding and use to support the district's Acceleration Agenda. Through its tutorials, video podcasts, and links to innovate educational tools, OIIT Online builds technology capacity across the district to ensure that our students acquire the technology fluency and 21st century learning skills needed to compete in the world of tomorrow.

Looking for free outstanding educational resources? Check out OIIT Online’s educational technology resources section with links to all types of technology tools that can be used in the classroom to inspire learning across the curriculum.

Having issues with your computer? Go to the how-to resources section. This page contains basic technology solutions and tips based on some of the most frequent calls that come into the OIIT Service Desk.

If you have any questions about L4L policies and procedures, OIIT Online has got it! You can also check out our video tutorials section for a number of L4L videos about using your MacBook.

While you are there, please fill out our feedback forms so that we can continue to improve to site for you. OIIT Online is your new one-stop shop for “just-in-time” technology support!

Laptops for Learning (L4L) Update: Annual Laptop Registration

2009-12-07T15:32:00.007-05:00

It's that time of year again! On December 3rd, OIIT launched an updated registration application to all L4L laptops as part of the annual L4L laptop registration process. All L4L users are required to update their laptop registration information by Friday, February 5th (even if you just received a laptop). Registering laptops enhances laptop security, runs routine laptop maintenance, ensures accurate user information, and provides updated laptop inventories to schools.

Requirements to launch the 2009 Registration Application:

Minimum Apple Operating System version 10.5.3 (Go under the Apple>About This Mac); if not updated, click the Software Update... under the Apple.
Connect to the BPS Network with an Ethernet cable.
Parallels should be turned off (Shut down Windows properly; once XP has shut down, close Parallels by clicking on the red radio button in the upper left-hand corner of the screen). To avoid Parallels from opening after you log out, click and hold the Parallels icon in the Dock, uncheck "open at login".
If the laptop is on, log out, and then log on again by clicking on the Apple Menu. Upon log-in, the application will automatically launch.
Users are able to by-pass registration up to 5 times. After the 5th time, the application will lock users out of the laptop until registration is completed.

Registration takes approximately 5 minutes to complete and requires a reboot of the laptop. Step-by-step instructions and a video tutorial are provided on the L4L website. Upon successful completion, users will receive a date & time stamped registration PDF confirmation on the laptop desktop.

To ensure a successful registration process, users must have recently run software updates (Mac, Windows & Parallels). Software updates should be run regularly (i.e. weekly) while connected to the BPS Network to ensure laptops run at peak performance. Visit the L4L website for a tutorial on running software updates.

Please note that after the February 5th deadline, OIIT will need to collect laptops that have not been registered to run routine maintenance and software updates. As part of this process, data will unfortunately be lost. OIIT will redistribute laptops to teachers at a later date.

Nearly Boston residents receive free computer support and training at BOSTON TECH DAY

2009-11-25T15:08:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, November 21st, nearly 100 Boston families received free computer repair services and computer training at BOSTON TECH DAY. Many Boston residents would love to use computers and the Internet but are stymied by broken equipment that they can't afford to fix or replace. In order to help these families succeed in an increasingly online world, 30 volunteers from business and academia and 10 students from the Boston Public Schools' OIIT/TechBoston program worked one-on-one with families to diagnose and fix their computer problems and to teach them new programs and skills. The event was hosted by three non-profit organizations, Open Air Boston, Castle Square Tenants Organization and TechBoston.

Participants at BOSTON TECH DAY reported that it was their first opportunity to sit with someone who was knowledgeable about computers and ask questions. They also said that they left the event with new confidence that they would be able to use their computer to improve their lives.

"Having a working computer at home is becoming a necessity", said Gabriel Fishman, the event's lead organizer. "Families need information technology for schoolwork, to find jobs, to access government services and to feel like they aren't being left out of today's culture. We've seen too many families invest money in a computer that they don't know how to fix. We are hosting Boston Tech Day so that some of these families will have the opportunity to see that they don't have to be afraid of computers; that they can learn how to use and fix computers themselves in order to see the same benefits from information technology that many in our society have taken for granted."

MassIMPACT, a non-profit organization promoting local efforts to bridge the Digital Divide, and WinnDevelopment, a Boston-based firm which has developed a portfolio of properties valued at over $1.5 billion, have provided funding for three Tech Days. The first event was hosted at Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology in the South End in 2008 and the second at the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Dorchester in early 2009.

openairboston.net is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping all of Boston's families succeed in an online world. Organized out of Mayor Menino's 2007 Wireless Task Force, openairboston.net provides wireless Internet access as well as training and support to hundreds of Boston families in the Dorchester, Fenway and Mission Hill neighborhoods.

Castle Square Tenants Organization (CSTO) represents the 1,500 tenants of Castle Square Apartments, a low- and moderate-income housing development in the South End, which CSTO co-owns. CSTO provides an array of services to Castle Square residents as well as the community as a whole, including afterschool and summer programs for youth and teens, a Digital Film and Music program, and activities for seniors. CSTO also operates the Castle Square Technology Center, which promotes technology use in the community by offering free WiFi for Castle Square residents, a computer repair clinic, where residents can receive free computer support, a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher program, providing dozens of used computers to low-income residents at minimum cost, as well as computer classes in English and Chinese.

TechBoston is a department within the Boston Public Schools' Office of Instructional and Information Technology (OIIT) that supports advanced technology courses in the district's schools. TechBoston's mission is to inspire the next generation of technology leaders by providing access to cutting edge technology resources and opportunities that positively advance their academic and career aspirations. TechBoston carries out this mission by structuring events to build technology awareness among younger students; providing classroom materials, support, and teacher professional development to improve teaching and learning; and through working with the Boston Private Industry Council to place technology-skilled high school students in jobs and internships.

- Contributed by Eric Esteves, TechBoston Consulting Group Program Director, OIIT

State Lawmakers Discuss Bills on Bullying Crackdown

2009-11-18T10:09:00.003-05:00

On Sunday, the Boston Globe ran an article about a number of bills scheduled for hearings this week that would crack down on bullying among schoolchildren. The article describes some real life examples of bullying and cyberbullying experiences from Massachusetts teenagers. With the rise in high profile bullying cases, most notably the suicide of an 11 year old Springfield boy earlier this year, supporters of the bills believe that anti-bullying legislation will be passed. Approximately 37 other states have already passed bullying prevention statutes.

There are many resources for teachers and parents to help students learn strategies to prevent and deal with cyberbullying. The Seattle Public Schools created an entire curriculum about cyberbullying. The National Crime Prevention Council has many resources on their website to help parents and teachers learn more about cyberbullying prevention. You can also read past posts on cyberbullying with links to resources from BPS Internet Safety Blog.

21st Century Learning Tools for the Classroom - Wikis

2009-11-13T08:09:00.009-05:00

Imagine a world in which students could access class work anytime, anywhere, and learning happened all the time. Young people going online for class study guides, reviewing notes, practicing math problems with classmates or sharing essays and reflections, is not a fantasy. It’s a reality in many k-12 communities. Educational wikis provide students access to anywhere, anytime to classroom lessons and resources. Teachers are finding out how online learning activities can help students succeed, as well as promote family-home communications and provide collaborative workspaces for educators. This tool engages students in the world they are already accustomed to. Students speak the language of the web; they operate in a digital world full of rich media and connections. Free online digital tools for the classroom are resources we cannot afford to ignore.

Wikis and other collaborative tools for teachers are a big hit in Boston Public Schools. In the past two years, over 300 teachers have participated in a wiki workshop or course through OIIT’s Professional Development. Teachers, principals, teacher leaders, new teacher developers, and family and engagement centers among others are using wikis to provide resources to their schools and community groups. And this is just the tip of the iceberg! Check out Mr Hupe’s wiki at the Mckinley Middle School. You can also find OIIT's wiki on BPS Connect which contains a wealth of educational technology and how-to resources.

Why are so many educators using wikis? They are easy and quick, which is what the Hawaiian word means. Wiki is “quick”. Once you’ve created an account in wikispaces, google sites, or a number of other free wiki sites, it’s easy for educators to design and populate a wiki with rich content that is interactive and engaging. Wikis are web pages that allow members to connect to one another, share files and media, post resources, and plan projects. Some wikis are being used for online courses, engaging participants in in-depth discussions in the forums section of the wiki. New Teacher Developers used a wiki for beginning teachers to organize course content, to reflect and collaborate with other members of the class.Wikis operate much like a Word document turned web page. On the wiki, it’s easy to write a message, post a document, add or embed video, display photos, and add Internet links to educational websites. The rich multi-media environment is diverse and provides the differentiation that is often needed in the classroom to individualize learning. Slide shows, study guides, videos, podcasts, and links to educational websites that enhance student learning, as well as engagement and outcomes for student achievement are available anytime and anywhere. We have the opportunity engage, excite, and intensify the learning experience, and at the same time prepare our students with the skills they’ll need for success in 21st Century careers and lifelong learning. Here is Smartteachings' collections of 50 ways to use wikis in the k-12 classroom.

If you build it they will come!

Well, building it is really only the beginning. Like other resources and tools for learning, Wikis are only as good as the plan, the purpose, and the design for its use that will make them come and learn, and come back again. Sustaining a classroom wiki is a commitment on the part of the teacher to monitor, to update it and to promote its use. In addition to setting up a wiki, it's important for teachers to ensure safe and responsible behavior online by adhering to these guidelines:

Receive permission from your principal or headmaster before implementing a wiki or blog project with your students.
Make sure all students and parents have signed the District's Acceptable Use Policy from the student handbook and that the document is on file at the school.
Send a letter home to parents explaining what the project is and the expected learning goals of the students. Give parents the option to opt their students out of the project if they do not feel comfortable with it.
Before you begin the project, take the opportunity to educate students about appropriate use of online tools and discussions. For more information about cybersafety, check out the BPS Cybersafety Campaign.
Keep in mind your responsibility regarding student confidentiality. At no time should confidential student information be made available on an any wiki or blog including first and last names.
If you are allowing people to comment on your wiki or blog, please set it up so that you moderate those comments before they are published as this will help to eliminate any inappropriate or spam comments being added.
Student work and pictures of students should not be posted unless you have explicit parental consent pertaining to this project. All last names should be omitted from pictures posted online.

Setting up a Wiki for class study guides, collaborative learning environments, student reflections on the week’s readings, or links to curriculum resources has the potential to draw students into extended learning activities. While reinforcing class content they are also learning important collaboration and communication skills. Teachers are opportunistic, always seeking out the next best resource tool to support their teaching efforts and their student’s success at school. That’s why tools like wikis are a popular choice for 21st century learning.

These are just a few recommended guidelines to help you get started using web 2.0 tools with your classroom. If you have any questions, please contact OIIT. If you would like to inquire about receiving professional development on using online collaboration tools, contact Ed Considine with OIIT at econsidine@boston.k12.ma.us.

Kevin Youkilis Delivers "Batting for Books" Donation to the Edison K-8

2009-11-05T19:08:00.005-05:00

On Monday, Mayor Thomas M. Menino joined Boston Red Sox All-Star Kevin Youkilis to celebrate the delivery of new books to the Thomas A. Edison K-8 School's library in Brighton. Last July at Fenway Park, Mayor Menino and Kevin Youkilis launched the “Batting for Books” program, a new initiative run through the Red Sox first baseman's foundation Hits for Kids that collects books for the libraries throughout the Boston Public Schools system. The program surpassed its goal of collecting 100,000 books.

The “Batting for Books” campaign benefits Boston Public Schools libraries at no cost to the City of Boston. The program was originally conceived by Youk’s Kids during a visit to one of the public school libraries in 2007 and the resulting realization that a little help from the community could vastly improve the quality and amount of books available for children to read.

hile all children’s books titles are welcome in the book drive, Boston Public Schools has compiled a recommended list of titles for the libraries. Each of these titles is available at a 20 percent discount at the New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton, and online at www.ecookbooks.com/battingforbooks.

In addition to the City of Boston and the Red Sox, Youk’s Kids has also partnered with the following organizations to ensure that the drive runs smoothly and successfully: Valvoline Instant Oil Change, Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt, Mark’s Movers, New England Mobile Book Fair, Rounder Records, and Lesley University.

To read more about Monday's event, visit the BPS website. For more information, please visit http://www.youkskids.org/index.html.

"Extreme Makeover" Transforms Mather Library

2009-11-04T09:40:00.000-05:00

In October, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Superintendent Carol R. Johnson, students, families and staff from the Mather Elementary School, along with The Heart of America Foundation® and Target Volunteers gathered to celebrate the unveiling of the school’s newly renovated library.

As part of the Target Volunteers School Library Makeover program, the Mather Elementary School in Dorchester, North America’s first public elementary school, received a complete transformation this summer, including 2,000 new books, technology, paint, lighting, carpet, shelving, customized wall art and murals, as well as reading corners – all just in time for the new school year. In addition, every student walked away with seven new books to add to their own at-home reading collection.

To read more about the library makeover and to watch a video on the event produced by BPS-TV, visit the BPS website.

BPS Internet Safety Campaign Presents at MassCue Conference

2009-11-02T14:42:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, October 28, Eric Esteves and Joe Kidd presented a session about the BPS Cyber Safety Campaign at the Massachusetts Computer Using Educators Conference. The Conference took place at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and drew teachers, principals and tech directors from districts all across the state. During the session Eric and Joe shared information with other educators on what the Boston Public Schools is doing to educate the community about internet safety. They spoke about how the campaign was started, how TST's in the system became iSAFE certified and were asked to do internet safety activities in their schools. They also spoke about the very important partnerships that have been created between the BPS and other outside agencies over the past few years. These partnerships include Microsoft, Bunker Hill Community College, the Boston Police Department, the Boston District Attorney's Office, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office and the Mayor's Office. It would be impossible to put on this campaign without their help and support. Joe shared what the Office of Instructional and Information Technology's outreach to schools has been during the campaign. He gave a sample of the different types of presentations and workshops OIIT has done for elementary, middle and high schools as well as community centers and parent groups.

A lot of the educators in the session were already performing internet safety related activities within their schools, but wanted to know how they could take it further, especially with high school age students. Eric did a great job sharing with the group how he engages BPS high school students through the Cyber Safety Mentor Program. He also explained how the summer intern program draws on students' creative design talents and presentation skills. All of the student interns receive internet safety and presentation skills training. They then develop internet safety lessons that they bring out to educate the community. Last summer, they gave over 90 cyber safety presentations to over 5,000 children! The students also created new cyber safety materials that are available for download from the BPS cyber safety website. During the presentation at MassCue, Eric shared those materials with the teachers who were in attendance. They left the session with posters, buttons, bookmarks and the BPS cyber safety comic book. Below is a presentation of the materials that were shared with the participants during the MassCue conference.

BPS Internet Safety Campaign

View more presentations from jkiddtech.

President Obama Talks About Cyber Security

2009-10-21T19:25:00.005-05:00

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama released a video about Cyber Security Awareness Month. In the video, the president stresses the importance of keeping our computer networks safe. President Obama also states that he has created a new white house cyber security office which will be led by a cyber security coordinator he will appoint in the future.

During cybersecurity month, some websites are stepping up their efforts to provide quality cybersafety materials. Stay Safe Online has an entire section of their site dedicated to October being cyber security awareness month. They have links to resources, ideas on how to educate your students and schedules of cybersafety events across the country. Google is also celebrating cyber security awareness month. They have recently created the Google Cyber Security Awareness Channel on YouTube with videos dedicated to internet safety. They have also written vearious blof posts with cyber safety tips including choosing a smart password. Also, be sure to check out the Boston Public School's cyber safety website and resources!

Media Literacy, Teaching and Learning and 21st Century Skills Conference on October 24

2009-10-09T07:53:00.007-05:00

Home Inc., TechFoundation, and MIT's Comparative Media Studies Program partner on their biennial one-day conference on Media Literacy on October 24, 2009. Prominent educators, filmmakers, public health workers, and representatives from dedicated organizations will highlight programs that promote and teach 21st Century skills and new media literacies.

Keynote Presentation: Alan November, author, leader, and innovator

Keynote title: Digital Nation - Education in Transition to 21st Century Learning

Event Logistics:

Date: October 24, 2009

Time: 8:00 am-4:00 pm

Location: MIT, Bldg, E-51 (Tang Ctr.), 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge, MA 02142

For more information and/or to register, visit the conference website at: http://ezregister.com/events/536/

Home, Inc., is offering free registration to the first 30 BPS teachers who register for the event. If you are interested in attending, please contact Melissa Dodd at mdodd@boston.k12.ma.us for the BPS registration code to use when you register online.

Hub On Wheels This Weekend!

2009-09-25T06:59:00.004-05:00

Ignore the weather forecast and join us on Sunday, September 27th at City Hall Plaza for the annual Hub on Wheels event!

On Sunday, nearly 6,000 riders, young and old, beginner and experienced, will take to the streets for the Hub On Wheels citywide ride and festival to help raise money for the Technology Goes Home at School Program, a technology training program serving urban families through the Boston Public Schools.

The night before, more than two hundred top professional racers, including Olympic cyclists and national champions, will descend on Government Center for high speed, fast-action racing.

Hub on Wheels is Boston's only citywide bike ride and festival, and the largest city-sponsored sporting event. Imagine being able to bike down Storrow Drive with no cars to get in your way. It's an experience you'll never forget.

Not into biking? Sign up to volunteer at www.hubonwheels.org.

Welcome Back!

2009-09-16T10:03:00.001-05:00

The new school year has kicked off with excitement and anticipation for students and teachers in Boston. Last Thursday morning, students entered newly organized & prepped school buildings, many in their new uniforms, eager to reunite with friends and teachers, share stories of the summer, and embark on a fresh new school year full of opportunities to learn.

On Thursday morning, OIIT staff volunteered at many schools throughout the city, handing out pencils, conducting Internet safety workshops, and providing last minute technology support to principals and teachers to help get schools ready for the big day. On Monday, other OIIT staffers will be welcoming kindergarten students, for many their first time attending school, as part of the Countdown to Kindergarten program in Boston.

While it's been a busy summer in OIIT supporting the district's Pathways to Excellence initiative and providing engaging and innovative educational technology professional development & support to hundreds of teachers, OIIT is thrilled that the new year has arrived. As we continue to provide high-quality support to schools and central offices, we've also got some new projects in the works, including:

Roll out of the Data Warehouse with Attendance and MCAS data to replace TestWiz functionality
Roll out of tiered technical and instructional technology support via the OIIT Service Desk
Professional Development offerings to support 21st Century Learning Skills and the infusion of technology and L4L tools into teaching & learning
Pilot implementation of Google Applications for Educators and iChat for communication and collaboration
Annual registration and password refresh for BPS applications and network access, including Laptops for Learning
Network and infrastructure upgrades – security, fiber and wireless

Stay up-to-date on technology news & happenings by subscribing to the OIIT blog!

Laptops for Learning (L4L) Updates

2009-09-15T21:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome Back!

We hope you have had a wonderful start to the new school year. Make sure the L4L laptop assigned to you is working at peak performance to accelerate student learning by following these important L4L guidelines.

Connect to the BPS Network: Software Updates

The start of the school year is a key time to connect laptops to the BPS network for Mac, Windows, and Parallels updates.

Critical updates to improve the laptop's performance and security are only pushed out via the BPS network. Save time and hassles now by connecting to the BPS network via an Ethernet cable. Running updates will require a reboot of the laptop to complete installation.

L4L laptops are scheduled to check for Mac and Windows software updates on a weekly basis. Updates are pushed out over the BPS network. Therefore, laptops must be connected via an Ethernet cable to the BPS network on a weekly basis to receive required updates. Updates take less time when they are run on a regular basis.

Please note: L4L laptops need to be running Mac OS X 10.5.8. To see what version of the Mac operating system you're running, click on the "Apple" icon in the upper left-hand corner of the Mac toolbar and then select "About This Mac."

OIIT has created a couple of quick guides to help you with running software updates. Use this quick guide or check out the L4L website at: http://boston.k12.ma.us/techhelp/L4L.htm.

Did You Know? Reporting L4L Hardware/Software Problems

Apple stores offer a wealth of support to help you effectively use a MacBook in the classroom, including free workshops and expert advice. However, they are not authorized to repair L4L laptops.

If you have a hardware or software problem, contact your school's TST or call the OIIT Service Desk at 617-635-9200, Mondays-Fridays, 7am-4pm to report an issue. OIIT provides a 24-hour turn around for hardware-related problems.

Coming Soon! L4L Fall Registration 2009

It's getting to be that time of year again! Starting in October, OIIT will release a new registration application for L4L users. All L4L users will need to register their laptops (even if you just received a laptop in September).

Please note that prior to registering laptops ALL Apple software updates need to be run. Follow the quick guide at: http://www.boston.k12.ma.us/inst-tech/qc_software_updates.pdf.

OIIT will collect laptops that have not been registered to run routine maintenance and software updates. Please note that as part of this process, data will unfortunately be lost. OIIT will redistribute laptops to teachers in the winter.

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Remember to check out the L4L website for resources and tutorials.

And as always, check out available professional development workshops at www.mylearningplan.com. OIIT offers courses and workshops for all technology proficiency levels!

President Obama's Back-to-School Message

2009-09-14T16:56:00.000-05:00

A number of schools have contacted OIIT asking about how best to view Obama's back-to-school message to students. While we block YouTube on the BPS Network, the video message is available for download here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/videos/2009/September/090809_ArlingtonVA.mp4

If you are interested in showing the video message at your school, speak to your Principal/Headmaster and check out the Media Resources page at the White House website for classroom engagement resources.

Welcome Back Principals & Headmasters!

2009-08-24T08:29:00.006-05:00

As OIIT embarks on a new school year, with laser-like focus we strive to provide the foundation, vision, leadership, and support for schools to use technology as a tool to accelerate progress for ALL students to ensure they are college-ready and success bound.

Ed Tech Support – OIIT Service Desk at 5-9200
• OIIT provides just-in-time support, school-based and central PD, on-site & remote support, and guidance for tools/software to enhance teaching, learning, & data-driven decision making.
• Need Support? Call the OIIT Service Desk at 635-9200 (7am-4pm). We’re implementing a new tiered technical and instructional support to address your needs in a timely fashion. You can also enter your ticket online via MyBPS OIIT tab.
• Need Professional Development Visit MyLearningPlan for currently available PD opportunities or check out the OIIT PD Brochure on MyBPS.

Laptops for Learning (L4L)
• L4L is a dual-platform laptop for instructional use in the classroom to support 21st century teaching & learning.
• All L4L laptops need to be connected to the Internet and BPS network on a weekly basis for critical software updates. Fall is registration time! Have teachers (& you) register laptops early in October.
• Schools must communicate to teachers a secure location to lock laptops up overnight.
• Orientation sessions for new teachers will be posted on MyLearningPlan staring August 31st.
• Visit the L4L website for policy documentation, support resources, and tech infusion strategies to transform learning.

Communicate & Collaborate in the 21st Century
• L4L includes tools for you and your teachers to foster 21st century learning & communication/collaboration.
• BPS Connect (http://connect.mybps.org) is the district’s wiki, blog and podcast online community. Contact the Service Desk to request training and to create an online group for your school.
• MassOne provides a virtual hard drive, curriculum resources, and online discussions groups for teachers and students. Access MassOne directly from MyBPS and contact OIIT for training.
• Connect-ED offers an efficient tool to communicate with families. Contact the Operations Office for access/training.
• BPS Email Go paperless with school announcements using BPS email. Create list serves for efficient emailing.

Student Data Systems
• MyBPS is the central portal for a variety of tools like MCAS data, scheduling & attendance, ELD level, & EPPs. Request access for transferred staff via the Service Desk and assign staff to teams via the MyBPS School Admin tab.
• LIZA is the repository for student data reports. Did you know that LIZA is available from home? Visit the P/HM tab on MyBPS for website links.
• BPS Data Warehouse will launch this fall as the new clearinghouse for data & reporting. Attendance data is currently available and MCAS data will be online soon to replace TestWiz. Check out MyLearningPlan for training sessions.
• Please note that, to date, funds have not been secured for a student information system.

Cyber Safety
• New federal requirements require schools to educate students on cyber bullying. Integrate cyber safety materials into your school day.
• The BPS Cyber Safety Campaign has updated its resources to educate the BPS community on safe, online habits. Visit the Cyber Safety website for curriculum resources for all grade levels. To request materials and/or support to conduct cyber safety events at your school, contact the OIIT Service Desk at 635-9200.

BPS Students Graduate from Apple Internship Program

2009-08-23T08:21:00.004-05:00

On August 20th, three BPS students from Fenway High School and Boston Arts Academy graduated from an intensive eight-week, paid internship program with Apple. Apple launched the junior internship program in Boston in fall 2009, the second city to host the program. Apple is now running the program in New York City, Boston, and Miami.

Students participated in learning and professional development seminars, engaged in technology bootcamps to learn Apple products and software like iMovie, and worked on the floor at the Apple Boylston Street store, the largest store in North America, helping customers find the right Apple product for their needs.

At the graduation, the students shared how much the internship program has prepared them for the future -- and taught them about themselves in the process. Amaly and Jasmine, who recently graduated from the BPS, will take their learning experience and apply it toward their undergraduate work this fall. Orlando, a senior at Fenway, mentioned that he plans to offer his support and knowledge to BPS teachers to help them use their MacBook in the classroom when asked how the students plan to bring back what they learned to their communities.

The internship program proved to be a life-changing experience for the Apple employees as well. In a video to the students, Apple employees shared how much the students have enriched their lives, and the environment at Apple. Apple hopes to continue the internship program in the fall, bringing on a new cohort of student interns.

Kevin Youkilis' Hits for Kids Foundation Brings in Thousands of Books to the BPS

2009-08-22T20:32:00.002-05:00

In July, volunteers from BPS and Lesley University collected new and gently used books for BPS libraries at Fenway Park thanks to the Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids Foundation as part of the first annual Batting for Books book drive. With already tens of thousands of books donated, and thousands more new books from Houghton Mifflin and New England Mobile Book Fair on the way, OIIT will distribute books to BPS libraries this fall.

A HUGE thank you to the Batting for Books sponsors. We are extremely grateful for your support and dedication to the Boston Public Schools!

Kevin Youkilis Foundation
Mark's Movers
Houghton Mifflin
New England Mobile Book Fair
Lesley University
Valvoline Instant Oil Change
Rounder Records

Check out the July article in the School Library Journal on the Batting for Books campaign.

2009-07-10T08:59:00.003-05:00

Check out the recent article in School Library Journal on the Kevin Youkilis Foundation's Batting for Books Book Drive this weekend at Fenway Park!

Meet the 2009 Tech Apprentices!

2009-07-07T13:33:00.004-05:00

OIIT successfully reached our goal and placed 101 Tech Apprentices in Boston-area companies for the summer! The Tech Apprentice Program is a seven-week paid internship opportunity at local companies for technology skilled high school juniors and seniors from Boston and the metro Boston area. A collaboration between TechBoston/OIIT, the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC), and Boston Area Advanced Technological Educational Connections (BATEC), the program offers students a great opportunity to explore their technology interests while developing professional skills in a real-world setting. It also gives companies the ability to develop a much needed pipeline of technology-skilled individuals while also providing Boston youth with a unique experience to gain hands-on learning. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Massachusetts hosted a luncheon to welcome the apprentices. Have a productive summer!

Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids launches “Batting for Books” campaign to benefit BPS libraries

2009-06-22T09:36:00.006-05:00

BOSTON — Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids announced the launch of the first “Batting for Books” campaign to benefit the Boston Public Schools. Together with the City of Boston and the Boston Red Sox, the slugger’s charitable organization is dedicated to enhancing the Boston Public Schools by collecting over 100,000 new or gently used books to donate to the schools’ libraries. Book donations will be collected at each of Fenway Park’s five gates during the Red Sox weekend series against the Kansas City Royals on Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12.

“We are so excited to launch this program because we know that it will have an immediate positive impact on the public school libraries throughout Greater Boston,” said Youkilis, one of the Co-Founder’s of the organization. “Our school’s libraries are in desperate need of new books, and without spending a dime, contributors to the book drive will be able to directly support the reading skills and overall education of our city’s children.”

The “Batting for Books” campaign will benefit the Boston Public Schools libraries at no cost to the City of Boston. The program was originally conceived by Youk’s Kids during a visit to one of the public school libraries in 2007 and the resulting realization that a little help from the community could vastly improve the quality and amount of books available for children to read. Currently, the average age of a book on the shelf at the libraries is twelve years old.

“We want this campaign to be as successful as possible, and that is why we are swinging for the fences and have set our collection goal at over 100,000 books,” said Enza Sambataro-Youkilis, Co-Founder & President of Youk’s Kids. “Judging by the passion that the Red Sox and their fans have for the City of Boston, we are confident that we will surpass our goal.”

“We are very grateful to Kevin Youkilis and Hits for Kids for launching this exciting campaign,” said Dr. Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools. “This partnership will make a tremendous difference in our work to strengthen literacy skills among all Boston Public Schools students.”

While all children’s books titles are welcome in the book drive, Boston Public Schools has compiled a recommended list of titles for the libraries. Each of these titles is available at a 20% discount at the New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton, and online at http://www.ecookbooks.com/battingforbooks.

In addition to the City of Boston and the Red Sox, Youk’s Kids has also partnered with the following organizations to ensure that the drive runs smoothly and successfully: Valvoline Instant Oil Change, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Mark’s Movers, New England Mobile Book Fair, Rounder Records, and Lesley University.

Valvoline Instant Oil Change will also be accepting book donations at all their MA, NH & RI locations starting on June 15, and there will also be a collection point at the New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton. Houghton Mifflin has also pledged to match the number of books donated at Fenway Park on July 11 and 12.
For more information, please visit http://www.youkskids.org/index.html

About Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids

Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids is a charitable organization focused on raising support and awareness for the health, advocacy, safety, and well-being of children. Rallying the support of individuals and businesses Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids teams up with existing community-based children’s charities and medical research efforts, which currently lack sufficient funding. Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids also identifies and partners with businesses that can deliver products and services to children in need, on the behalf of Youk’s Kids. To learn more about Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids, or to make a donation, please visit www.youkskids.org.

BPS Celebrates the Power of Technology to Transform Learning

2009-06-12T19:50:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, May 30, 2009, the Boston Public Schools Community came together for a technology-infused day at Wentworth Institute of Technology.

In the morning, teams of elementary school principals and teachers, along with their Academic Superintendents, came together to kick-off a year-long professional development program focused on 21st Century Skills & Technology Leadership in conjunction with the district's Laptops for Learning (L4L) initiative. L4L is a four-year, strategic initiative that establishes a solid technology foundation in Boston Public Schools classrooms by providing teachers with a state-of-the-art, dual-platform MacBook for instructional use to engage students, differentiate instruction, and inspire learning. In August, middle, K-8, and high schools will begin the year-long technology leadership program.

In the afternoon, two great events took place for BPS families and students. In a packed gymnaisum, nearly 900 families came together with Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Reverend Gregory G. Groover, Chairperson of the Boston School Committee, BPS Superintendent Carol R. Johnson, and Dr. Zorica Pantic, President of Wentworth, to celebrate their graduation from the Technology Goes Home (TGH) Program. TGH fosters family-school connections by providing technology training to families at the school.

And right across the quad, over 90 students from seven BPS schools competed for medals in the annual Robotics Olympics sponsored by OIIT's TechBoston unit. Principals, teachers, and families came to the event to support their students and children. This year's competition focused on "Green" robots with 8 challenges ranging from fuel-efficient vehicles to recycling.

The wealth of excitement and the richness of learning that occurred across the Wentworth campus with these events exemplifies the seamless power of technology to not only engage students, families, teachers, and instructional leaders in their own learning but to help them develop strategies and practices to transform learning for others.

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the BPS Technology Day!