Microsoft Office 365: I am happy to announce that BSU has signed up for the Microsoft Office 365 Education free online suite. It works just like the G Suite for Education and allows you to use the web version of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Sway, SharePoint and many other features of Microsoft Office 365. Since it is web-based, staff and students can use Chromebooks to access Microsoft 365 Education Suite. If you or your students are interested, use your school email account and sign up for free. Click the following link to get started: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office/default.aspx
Social Media Tasks: Are you interested in growing your online learning network? Complete task A or B below.
Task A: Twitter
1. Setup a Twitter account
2. Explore relevant Twitter hashtags (i.e.,#bsupride, #vted, #bsuJanPD, #edtech, #MakerSpace)
3. Follow a few people on Twitter (i.e., @barreschools, @bsucurriculum, @SpauldingHSVT,@BarreTownSchool, @BarreTechCtr)
4. Setup your Tweetdeck and follow 2-3 hashtags
5. Participate in a Twitter Chat
Task B: Online Spaces for Educators
1. Review the Online Spaces for Educators Table
2. Identify 1-2 spaces that you would like to join to connect with others and grow your network
3. Sign in/sign up for and explore these spaces.
Copier/Printer news - Please continue to use the new Toshiba copier/printers for your copy and print jobs. The Toshiba copier/printers have the most economical per page cost, and the toner is included in our copier contract. Use of the Toshiba Copier/Printers reduces the financial hit on our traditional ink/toner budget.
We continue to seek and learn new ways of bolstering our network security through ongoing professional development for our network team. The team attended a webinar put together by our antivirus software vendor. Discussions, among other things, included a variety of topics on current online security best practices, and how to protect our network from cyber attacks proactively. We will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure that our staff and students data is secured.
Book Creator and VITA - Learn partnered to provide Vermont educators with discounted Book Creator licenses. Book Creator is a tool for creating excellent digital books. Students can combine texts, images, audio and video to create:
| • Interactive stories | • Science reports |
| • Digital portfolios | • Instruction manuals |
| • Research journals | • 'About me' books |
| • Poetry books | • Comics adventures |
Since some of our teachers are taking advantage of this tool to unleash their student’s creativity, I have purchased a few licenses for this endeavor. Connect with Emily Loughlin (elougshs@u61.net), Jennifer LuckHill (jluckcvcc@u61.net) or Ben Matthews bmattbce@u61.net) for assistance.
Technology Bits and Bytes:
4 tips to help boost kids’ online safety, privacy and security (Resource link)