Digital Learning Resources

Distance Learning Resources in Granite School District

March 2020Josh WhitingLeave a Comment

During school dismissal and this period of distance learning, Granite School District and the Educational Technology Department have created two centralized resources to provide students, families, and teachers with access to essential digital tools, best practices, and resources for distance teaching and learning.

distancelearning.graniteschools.org

This website is intended to help students and families access digital tools that Granite teachers may be using during school dismissal. Your student’s teacher will provide you with detailed information about accessing learning during this time. Please reach out to individual teachers with questions.

distanceteaching.graniteschools.org

The purpose of this website is to provide Granite School District teachers with resources to support them in setting up, creating, and distributing distance learning to students. Click on the images below or the tabs at the top of the website to navigate to the different pages. Please reach out to your STS or LMETS for training on these tools.

You can find all updates from Granite School District on school dismissal and COVID-19 at this link: https://www.graniteschools.org/blog/category/covid-19/

Digital Learning Day 2020

February 2020Josh Whiting

In the Granite Educational Technology Department we celebrate learning with technology every day, but today, February 27, 2020, is Digital Learning Day! This day was created to give educators nationwide a platform to showcase the innovative teaching and learning happening in their classrooms and libraries.

[Read more…]

Teacher Spotlight: Kim Gardner, Upland Terrace Elementary

February 2020Josh Whiting

Kim Gardner, fifth grade teacher at Upland Terrace Elementary, and Kacie O’Maley, school technology specialist, were featured in the most recent episode of UEN’s PDTV web video series. The episode focuses on the innovative ways their students are exploring and creating worlds in Minecraft EDU to engage in social studies core curriculum and showcase their learning. Watch it below!

Granite Sora Circulation Highlights | 2019-2020 Midyear

January 2020Josh Whiting

Granite students and staff have checked out nearly 65,000 ebooks and audiobooks since the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year! This is according to the statistics shown on the Granite School District Sora Usage Site kept by Alyssa Carraway, Administrative Secretary in the Educational Technology Department. This infographic highlights some of the statistics collected as of the end of December 2019.

Hour of Code and Computer Science Education Week, 2019

December 2019Josh Whiting

Computer Science Education Week is December 9-15, 2019. During the week many educators use Hour of Code activities to introduce students to computer science. These activities are fun and easy to run, and can be done not only in a classroom but as an after school or library activity, or at home. There are activities for any kind of computer or device, as well as analog “no-device” activities that teach coding and computational concepts

You can learn more about how to run an Hour of Code activity in these simple how-to guides:

How to teach one Hour of Code with your class (for teachers)

How to do an Hour of Code with your child (for parents)

You can also skip right to the collection of suggested activities by clicking on the image below, or visiting https://hourofcode.com/us/learn

Featured Resource: Windows 10 Video Editor

November 2019Josh Whiting

Did you know that there is a video editor already installed and available on all PCs with the Windows 10 operating system? It is found in the Photos app, and although a slightly hidden feature it is very functional and simple to use. It includes all the video editing basics you would expect, as well as inking and animated special effect options that students and teachers can use to quickly polish or spice up a video. [Read more…] about Featured Resource: Windows 10 Video Editor

Library Spotlight: Student-led Maker Space at Jefferson Jr. High

May 2019Josh Whiting

Michelle Reed, Library Media Educational Technology Specialist, and students at Jefferson Jr. High were featured in the most recent episode of UEN’s PDTV video series. Watch below to find out how the library makerspace at Jefferson Jr. High works and see the students in action.

Summer Reading and Learning 2019: Sora, Granite’s Digital Library

May 2019Josh Whiting

Looking for great resources for summer reading and summer learning? In this post series we round up programs and resources from Granite School District, community public libraries and organizations, and other resources from the web in general. Today we are featuring Sora, Granite’s Digital Library.

Featured Resource: Creating Student Portfolios Using Google Sites

May 2019Josh Whiting

Post by Teresa Bruin, originally published in our monthly Ed Tech Newsletter for teachers.

We often get asked to recommend a way for students to create digital portfolios. There are several online tools for creating portfolios, but Google Sites is free and easily started straight from their granitesd.org Google Drive.