Discover the tech tools teachers can use to maintain engagement and focus in their classroom during the weeks before holiday breaks.
Embracing Technology to Set the Tone for the School Year: Communication and digital tools help teachers establish routines, understand student learning styles and simplify administrative tasks
For educators and administrators, the beginning of a new school year brings a sense of anticipation, possibility and planning. But once the novelty begins to fade, educators might be wondering how to keep up the momentum over the months ahead. Here are a few ideas about how teachers can employ technology to help things run smoothly throughout the school year.
Set clear expectations
Students of any age using school devices need to understand the school’s expectations around technology. Answer questions like how students are allowed to use their school-provided devices, what students should steer clear of, and what the consequences of breaking the agreement are.
Along with specific rules around technology use, the beginning of the school year is a good time to integrate some information on digital citizenship.
Continue to emphasize routines
The school day is largely built on routine, and particularly for teachers of younger students, that routine should include guidance on how to take care of any edtech tools the students have access to. Where should the students store their headphones? If students are allowed to take their Chromebook home each day, can packing it up be an explicit part of the classroom’s end-of- the-day routine?
Use Learning Management System to follow student progress
Using a Learning Management System (LMS) like Google Classroom has a number of benefits. Teachers can use it to post important information like assignments, due dates and reminders in a centralized location. It also enables teachers to follow student progress, and quickly intervene if a student is struggling or behind.
Explore personalized learning
It’s never too early to start figuring out how to best support students. Consider creating a brief survey that asks students about their interests, goals and challenges to get an early snapshot of what individual students might need to thrive.
Take advantage of timesaving tools
If your school offers Gemini for Google Workspace, take some time to explore how this AI tool can save you time and effort in the classroom. Gemini can assist with tasks like creating and summarizing emails, generating visuals that make presentations more engaging, and taking notes during virtual meetings with students and caregivers.
Understand your school’s device repair protocol
It’s inevitable that some of your school’s devices will need to be repaired or replaced during the school year. The beginning of the school year is a great time to make sure you have a clear understanding of your school’s edtech repair program. How long does it generally take for a damaged device to be repaired or replaced? Are there extra devices for students and staff to access while their device is being worked on? If not, are there other ways they can continue to do schoolwork in the interim? Device repair programs like JonesCare play an essential role in keeping the year running smoothly, and having a clear understanding of how your school handles repairs can help teachers minimize interruptions to student learning.
Taking the time to communicate with students and their families about technology use, expectations and repair protocol, having systems in place to monitor student progress and personalize learning, and using technology to simplify your workload can help set the tone for a great school year.
Prepping Your School’s Device Management for Summer Break: Inventorying, assessing and planning for the break– and beyond
While the summer break might mean long, leisurely days at home or camp for students, it means something quite different for a school’s IT Team. Depending on the school and its policies, the break presents a window of time to collect, inventory, clean and update devices, as well as assess and plan for the next school year.
Below, we outline some of the common action items IT teams prepare to tackle as the summer break approaches.
Decide whether devices will be returned to school or go home with students
The question of whether districts should allow devices to stay with students over summer break is a controversial one. Proponents argue that allowing students to keep devices offers an opportunity for learning to continue over the summer months. Others, though, might view a summer take home device program as a logistical nightmare that increases the risk of devices being damaged or lost.
Inventorying and inspecting
If your school does collect all school-owned devices at the end of the year, IT departments may commiserate with school librarians– you both spend a significant portion time attempting to track down and wrangle missing (and overdue) items.
Once the devices are collected, they can be inventoried and inspected for damage.
Cleaning devices and identifying devices that are damaged or in need of repair
As students and teachers return their devices, your IT team will be looking for devices that have incurred damage over the school year. Devices will also need to be cleaned– for instance, laptop vents need to be dusted to prevent overheating, and
Consider whether it’s time to retire aging devices
As you assess devices that are damaged, some will likely be at or near the end of their lifecycle. These devices will need to be recycled, and, depending on your school’s needs, replaced.
Coordinate repairs for damaged devices
It’s likely that your team will identify many devices that need repair. Your IT team will want to coordinate the repair of these devices so that they’ll be ready for the new school year
Software and security updates
The summer break presents an ideal opportunity for IT teams to perform software updates with minimal disruptions to students or staff. Security updates and device refreshes can also take place during this time.
Arrange training for staff and students (if necessary)
Is your school introducing new technology to teachers and students? If so, you’ll likely need to schedule training sessions to familiarize staff to new devices.
Reconsider your school’s device insurance
Once your device inventory is complete and you’ve identified which need to be repaired or replaced, it’s an ideal time to decide whether your current device warranty or insurance coverage is adequate. Standard factory warranties for tech devices often don’t provide the coverage schools need, particularly as devices begin to age.
Consider scheduling a JonesCare Needs Assessment. We’ll take an in-depth look at your district’s needs, budget and assess the lifecycle stages of your district’s devices. Then, we’ll work with you to customize a protection plan that’s tailored to your district’s unique needs. Our goal with JonesCare is to provide a seamless experience with minimal disruption to students and staff when devices need to be repaired or replaced.
Reach out today to book a JonesCare Needs Assessment.
Cleaning up your Classroom Tech for Summer Break
Cleaning up your Classroom Tech for Summer Break
As the academic calendar winds down, it’s natural for educators and administrators to daydream about their summer plans. But before you leave your classroom behind for the summer, you might devote some time to do some digital decluttering of your devices. Think of it as the virtual version of wiping a chalkboard clean—it takes a little time now, but you’ll appreciate it when you return to the classroom next school year. Here are a few things to consider as you prepare for the summer break.
Decide on a strategy
Are you a dive-in-and-do-it-all-in-one-day type? If so, get out your calendar and schedule a day to spend on digital clean-up. On the other hand, if the thought of spending hours on end sorting through your devices makes your eyes cross, try setting aside smaller chunks of time. Spending just 15 minutes before or after each school day sorting through files can make the task more manageable.
Delete, delete, delete
With the school year still fresh in your mind, it’s the ideal time to spring clean your devices. Are apps you or your school no longer use taking up space on your devices? Do you have saved parent email lists, photos, or lesson plans from previous school years that you no longer need? Go through and purge any apps, files, bookmarks, emails, and folders that you know you won’t need for the next school year.
File it
“What if I might need it later?” is a common refrain when decluttering. If you’re finding you have a lot of files, apps, or lessons that you think you might need in the future, it might be helpful to create a “maybe” or “decide later” folder. You could even put a reminder in your calendar now for a date a few months into the next school year to review your “maybe” file.
Reflect.
Let’s face it—the last few years have been incredibly challenging for educators. You’ve made it through another school year, enduring difficulties your professional training never could’ve prepared you for. Take a moment to acknowledge the wild ride it’s been, full of rocky moments and silver linings. You could even write yourself a short note summing up aspects of the school year that went well and those that didn’t.
Enjoy your well-earned summer break!
Introducing … The Lenovo Virtual Reality Classroom
Imagine being able to take your students on a field trip to the African jungle, the solar system and even back in time to the creation of planet Earth. It’s possible with the Lenovo Virtual Reality Classroom.
The Lenovo VR Classroom is now shipping out to schools across the country. The kit includes everything administrators need to introduce this type of immersion learning to students. The entire VR system is easy-to-use, easy-to-clean, highly-durable and offered in 3-, 10- and 24-student kits, but adaptable for up to 30 students.
The Specs
At the heart of the Lenovo VR Bundle is the Daydream VR headset. No cables, no PCs and no smartphones are needed to use it. Everything your teachers need is right in the headset. The Daydream VR also offers WorldSense™ motion tracking with a 110-degree field of view. And, bonus, the face and head cushions can be sanitized.
The Lenovo VR kit also includes:
The Tab 4 10 Plus which connects to the student’s headsets, without disrupting the experience, and guides instruction to monitor student focus.
The Bretford Mobile Cart offers secure storage for the headsets and includes integrated device charging. It’s made of sturdy steel, constructed in the United States and is certified for safety. Note - it is only included with the 10- and 24-student kits.
The Ruckus R510 Access Point gives stunning, enterprise-grade Wi-Fi performance. It makes sure there’s a strong connection between teacher and student devices and is included with all kits.
Optional accessories are also available, like the Mirage camera with Daydream. This accessory allows teachers and students to create their own content that can be seamlessly uploaded to YouTube and Google Photos.
The Software
Virtual field trips go anywhere at any time, without the need of permission slips and bus rides, with experiences from Google Expeditions and The Wild Immersion with Jane Goodall.
The free Google Expeditions app has more than 700 virtual field trips. These can be integrated into included Scholastic STEM lesson plans that meet next gen Common Core standards. The environments support nearly every other subject as well.
The Exclusive Wild Immersion videos give students breathtaking views of Africa, Asia, the Amazon and more. Additional content is available from the Daydream OS store.
The Support
Rest assured, Lenovo has your back. Value-added services are included with every kit. Including:
A one-year school-year warranty that can be upgraded to two years.
Advanced Exchange for quick, no-hassle equipment swaps.
Premier Support with one direct number to call.
Device connection, testing, and access point provisioning all built in.
Full setup so you can open the box and go right away.
Virtual reality not only helps students keep up, but stay ahead in a world that’s learning faster every day. Lenovo is leading the way with solutions to fit your school’s needs. Contact us to see how we can help put this new technology into your teachers’ hands.
30 Educational Technology Tips in 30 Days
We all want to be more productive, rested, calm, collected, alert, and generally amazing. Here are 30 tech tips that can help you leave the month better than you found it.
Drink your coffee from a spillproof mug. Trust us.
Work in 90-minute intervals.
Schedule breaks into your schedule to do something fun on purpose.
Add a calming picture to your desktop screen.
Then hang a pretty picture in your office, about 20 feet away. Looking up at every 20 minutes for twenty seconds can prevent eye fatigue.
Silence notifications to minimize distractions.
Use Microsoft Word’s Gridline tool to keep your document in line.
Dedicate a set time each day to read and respond to emails, and stick to it.
Drive the above message home by adding a statement to your email signature like, “I check emails every morning and will respond by 10am.”
Set an out-of-office message for after-hour emails that reminds senders you don’t take work home with you. Remember. Those who need to contact you for true emergencies will likely have your cell phone.
Create embedded links in a Google Doc by clicking CTRL+K and searching for the content within the pop-up menu. No more extra tabs!
Use Microsoft OneNote in your next meeting for amazing notetaking.
Organize your desktop files into folders.
Empty your trash.
Schedule coffee with a friend via a calendar appointment, so you both remember.
Treat yourself to a new laptop or phone case. It will feel like a brand new machine at a fraction of the cost.
Organize your GDrive or Cloud files.
Follow Arey Jones on Facebook.
Put a seven-minute workout app on your phone and challenge yourself to do at least one circuit daily (here’s one to try)
Listen to an audiobook on your commute.
Sort and empty your Download folder.
Go absolutely tech-free for at least 30 minutes a day (when you are awake).
These are just a few ways to boost your productivity and get more out of life in general with (and without) technology. How many did you do? We'd love to know.
Tech Cleaning Tips From Your Grandmother
My grandmother fit every grandmother mold possible. Impeccable hair. Crisp aprons. Mouthwatering homemade bread on the counter. She ran a tight ship with even tighter hair. For Grandma, spring cleaning was as much a celebration as it was a chore (but then she always smiled most when she was working).
I have more than a little of her blood coursing though my veins, and now that the weather is shaking off winter’s chill, I have the urge to clean as she used to do. And I can apply her methods to my phones, laptop, and tablet just effectively as I do everything else in my home.
Get sorted. While my grandmother had an eye and a hand for organization, my grandfather had a different method. Every weekend, she would group the mail, his receipts, and his tools and put everything back where they should have gone in the first place. Take the time to organize your documents and files in a system that makes the most sense to you, and delete files that are no longer relevant. For every minute spent here, you’ll save twice.
Put the right things into the right storage. It’s okay to hold onto things (I myself am pretty sentimental). The trick is figuring out where to put them so that they can be reached where you need them and out of the way when you don’t. Consider organizing your files in bulk by year, and clearly label each file and folder with its exact contents. This saves you stress and energy, whether you are looking for Aunt Lucy’s china or last year’s lesson on volcanoes. And no, “Science stuff” doesn’t count.
Clear your desktop. If Grandma could see my laptop screen, she would sigh, “Clutter, clutter, clutter, dear. How can you see what you mean?” It was an odd expression, but I understood it. If you save everything to the desktop, you’ll never find what you really need. This works just as well for your desk as well as your desktop. Save it only for items you need to find quickly or things you use every single day. Rely on your filing system for the others. Delete the rest.
Clean your Windows. Grandma loved a clean window (even if the birds didn’t). If you are running the digital version on your laptop, Windows 10 has a handy Disk Cleanup tool to clean up temporary and unnecessary system files that could be obstructing your computer performance. Use this handy guide for additional information.
Empty the trash. Now that you’ve gotten everything where you want it, it’s time to remove what you don’t need once and for all. My grandma always emptied the trash as the last part of her cleaning routine, grabbing a bag and hitting every bathroom and bin on her way out the door.
Grandma made the most of everything (I can still taste her creative leftovers), and I hope these above tips help you make the most of your time and managing your technology this spring. If you found any of these valuable, we’d love your feedback--follow us on Facebook for more!
K-12 Blueprint Faces Privacy And Security Challenges Head On
One of the most important factors in making educational technology more accessible is making sure it remains in a safe and secure environment at all time. Protecting student, administrative, and institutional data is an important concern and one that organizations like K-12 Blueprint take seriously.
With almost 20 informational presentations and programs, K-12 Blueprint guides teachers and educational leaders in protecting student and institutional information. Measures like “need to know” access and secure student profiles are addressing the privacy and security issues head-on.
“A breach of a school’s student information system raises massive privacy concerns, but it starts as a security breach,” said Bob Moore in his Analyst Report for K-12 Blueprint. “Ensuring security of data does not ensure privacy, but without effective security measures, there can be no expectation of privacy.”
Fortunately, K-12 Blueprint believes security is a top priority for education technology and has designed a security and privacy toolkit to address threats and concerns before they emerge. From device to data and third-party apps, K-12 Blueprint offers detailed plans for addressing third party advertisement vendors, mobile device student privacy terms, and how to create a healthy metadata environment for parents, teachers, and schools.
We believe technology should always enhance a classroom, not distract from it. When you need an integrated technology architecture that works seamlessly with your classroom, school, and district goals, we at Arey Jones can help you design a solution that works.
A Crash Course In Managing Classroom Technology
Today’s classrooms look nothing like they did 20 years ago. Notebooks are being replaced with laptops, chalkboards with smart boards, cursive with typing. Say what you will with the changing of the times, students today have the ability to participate much more actively in their education, and technology has a huge hand in making sure it happens smoothly, effectively, and measurably.
How well that classroom technology works depends on how it is designed, implemented, and supported. The actual classroom computers play a relatively small role in today’s modern educational environments; more important is how easy software is to find and use, which peripherals are connected, the strength and security of the network, and how well it is balanced with offline curriculum objectives.
In fact, when it comes to managing classroom technology, there are six questions you should consider.
Will technology engage my students and make them active participants in learning?
It absolutely can. Technology, when used properly and when it works consistently, is an amazing classroom tool to support and engage students. However, simply having classroom computers or several available apps will not make every student learn and retain more or better information. The key is having the devices, peripherals, network, and support in place to make sure you have the right classroom technology for your age group, interests, and goals. Most importantly, remember that classroom computers are there to support the learning, not to drive it; they will never replace the most important element of the classroom--you, the teacher.
Will the technology help me measure their individual progress so that I can better assess their needs and align them with their personal and classroom growth?
There are several apps and programs available that will both enhance your curriculum and provide you with supportive feedback to gauge your classroom learning and information retention. True retention and understanding are demonstrated in a student’s ability to put the information into practice and into their own words; technology helps support that process by allowing teachers measurable data on which to base individual and future instruction.
How much technology am I comfortable with in the classroom? How much time do I need to reasonably allow for distribution, powering up and logging in, use, and powering down?
Much of this is a personal preference of the teacher and the actual learning environment. Classrooms with a 1:1 device ratio typically have a more streamlined approach to technology; everyone can start and stop a lesson plan at about the same time. Those classroom environments that share technology must rotate the use of their electronics as needed. The key is balancing the type of learning taking place and whether or not it helps you achieve your overall curriculum objectives. This takes time, discipline, awareness, and flexibility; the active use of these four components will help you discover the right mix of technology and traditional learning that works for your unique classroom needs.
Which comes first: the lesson plan, or the technology used to support its instruction?
It’s our opinion that the offline lesson plans—and teachers—should always drive the classroom experience. Technology is an amazing away to support classroom objectives and, while there may be some instances where an application or program could inspire additional or new learning, the key should always be how best to engage students to be active participants in their own education, social awareness, and personal lives. Technology can support these goals in huge and impactful ways, especially when it is balanced with other "unplugged" directives.
Which technology apps are best for me and my classroom?
You can imagine we get this question a lot at Arey Jones, and we answer it differently every time because no school, classroom, and teacher are the same. That said, educational applications and programs can help integrate awareness, practice, and retention throughout every step of the learning curve. We can help you discover which of these would be right for your district and classroom needs.How do I minimize distractions?
The best way to ensure technology does not increase or create distractions is to use it purposefully. Your students should be aware of how the technology supports the specific lesson and what goals they are trying to achieve while using it. Providing the proper balance of online and offline time will help students stay focused and engage with the material in different formats, allowing for deeper learning and understanding.
We believe technology should always enhance a classroom, not distract from it. When you need an integrated technology architecture that works seamlessly with your classroom, school, and district goals, we at Arey Jones can help you design a solution that works.