Category Archives: Technology

Email Storage Expansion for All & Productivity PD for ACPS Teachers

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ACPS teachers, office associates, and other support staff engage in a high volume of email correspondence with families, colleagues, and school administrators. Currently, ACPS employees have access to 250MB of email storage through Outlook Exchange, the email application provided by Albemarle County Public Schools. In an effort to further support teachers and all employees, the Department of Learning Engineering, Accessibility and Design (LEAD) will adjust the storage limit of all email accounts to 2G. Doing so will expand email storage by 800%. This change will take effect on February 1.

In addition, the Learning Technology team will host a series of professional learning opportunities for ACPS teachers in February titled, Tips for Managing Your Digital World as an Educator. Continue reading →

Changes to Teacher Landing Pages

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ACPS Teacher SitesTeacher Landing Pages are no longer required by ACPS, and we are beginning the process of transitioning away from those sites hosted on the ACPS website (a.k.a., “SharePoint”) at https://www3.k12albemarle.org/teachers. Links to all old SharePoint-based landing pages will be removed from School Staff Directories on November 16!

We urge teachers who wish to maintain an ACPS-hosted web presence to act now to choose an alternative: Continue reading →

Improving Teacher-Family Communications

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VoIP PhoneTo better communicate with all families across the division, teachers now are able to use their classroom phones to make long distance calls to the parents and guardians of their students. This change will make it easier for teachers to engage students’ families. It also recognizes the diversity represented across our school populations, especially given the number of families with cell phone area codes other than 434.

Long distance calling will require the use of a passcode that will be unique to each school. Continue reading →

Teachers Needed for Learning Management System Demonstrations – Respond by Oct. 12

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BlackboardThank you to all ACPS staff members who provided feedback about our current Learning Management System (LMS), Blackboard Learn. The results of our surveys are available on the Learning Technologies Blackboard page.

Based on this feedback, the Department of Student Learning and the Department of Learning Engineering, Access, and Design (LEAD) have issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) to begin a search for a new LMS. Continue reading →

Blackboard Learn Resources for 2018-19

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BlackboardBlackboard Learn (Bb Learn) is now set up and ready for the 2018-19 school year. Teachers interested in using Blackboard this school year will need to activate classes using the Blackboard Class Request Form (PDF version or MS Word version). The form contains important information about how to request classes and when to select a master class. You also can view a sample form to assist you as you complete the form for your classes. Continue reading →

Technology Standards for Instructional Personnel (TSIP)

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Educational TechnologyThe Governor recently signed a new law that eliminates the requirement for teachers seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license to demonstrate proficiency in the use of educational technology for instruction. Therefore, the Virginia Department of Education has recently clarified the TSIP requirements for all licensed personnel in Virginia. The actual Technology Standards certainly still exist; however, they are not required for licensure. You are welcome to explore the Virginia Society for Technology in Education’s Standards as well. Continue reading →

Teacher Laptops

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Lenovo 11eBeginning in the 2018-19 school year, all new teacher laptops and all replacement laptops issued to teachers will be the Lenovo 11e model, similar to those used by our students in the 1:1 laptop initiative.

This upgrade will better serve you as you design learning activities and projects for students informed by our Lifelong-Learner Competencies and Seven Pathways, particularly Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Interactive Technologies, and Connectivity. Continue reading →

ActivInspire Update

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ActivInspireTeachers: Due to changes in the way that Promethean licenses their products, the interactive whiteboard software ActivInspire will not be included on our instructional laptop computer image for the 2018-19 school year.

Despite this change, all teachers and students who routinely use a Promethean ActivBoard for instructional purposes will be able to use ActivInspire on their laptops. Continue reading →

ACPS Learning Management System Follow-Up Survey: Please Respond by June 30

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BlackboardTeachers: As part of the school division’s model of continuous improvement, we are evaluating Blackboard Learn to determine if it continues to meet the division’s commitment to quality learning. Thank you to everyone who participated in our initial survey (May 25-31), which helped us gain insight regarding current use of Blackboard Learn.

After reviewing this feedback, we created a follow-up survey that further explores the specific needs and preferences of our students and teachers as they interact with Blackboard Learn. Your feedback will be valuable in helping us construct our evaluation criteria and rubric. Please participate in our follow-up survey by June 30 »

Continue reading →