Supporting Learning with Technology Blog

Welcome to 2025! My topic today is webpages and why they are important for schools, teachers and families.

As you can see, CVSU and all of it's schools have a new and refreshed looked. I hope you like it. The mobil view is much more user friendly. I will continue to be editing content and getting everything where we want it. If something isn't where you think it should be, please let me or Trey know. 

In today's digital age, a school's website is often the first point of contact for parents, students, and the wider community. It serves as a virtual front door, offering a glimpse into the school's culture, values, and educational offerings. A well-designed and informative website can make a significant difference in how the school is perceived and can even impact enrollment decisions.

Our website is an important marketing tool. Imagine you live in Wisconsin and you have just been offered a job at Darn Tough. You need to decide what town you will move to and enroll your children in the local school. You start looking at websites for all of the towns surrounding Northfield. We want to draw families to our school communities and having an informative and appealing website is critical.

Why Your School Needs a Good Website

• First Impressions Matter: A visually appealing and easy-to-navigate website creates a positive first impression. It reflects professionalism and shows that the school values communication and engagement.
• Accessibility to Information: A good website provides easy access to essential information, such as school calendars, contact details, staff directories, and curriculum information. This saves time for parents and staff and ensures that everyone stays informed.
• 24/7 Availability: A website is available 24/7, allowing parents and students to access information and resources whenever they need them.
• Enhanced Communication: A website can be used to share news, announcements, and upcoming events, keeping the school community connected and engaged.
• Showcasing Student Work and Achievements: A website can be used to showcase student work, highlight achievements, and celebrate successes, fostering a sense of pride and accomplishment.
• Parent and Community Engagement: A website can facilitate parent and community engagement by providing links to resources, volunteer opportunities, and ways to get involved.

Key Elements of a Good School Website

• Clear and Intuitive Navigation: The website should be easy to navigate, with a clear menu structure and search functionality.
• Visually Appealing Design: The website should be visually appealing, with high-quality images and a consistent design aesthetic.
• Mobile-Friendly: The website should be optimized for mobile devices, as many users will access it on their smartphones or tablets.
• Up-to-Date Content: The website should be regularly updated with fresh content, such as news, events, and announcements.
• Accessibility: The website should be accessible to users with disabilities, following web accessibility guidelines.

A well-designed school website is more than just an online brochure. It is a dynamic communication tool that can enhance parent and community engagement, showcase student achievements, and support the school's mission and goals. By investing in a high-quality website, schools can create a positive online presence and build a strong sense of community.

 

Last week I spent Thursday and Friday at Vermont Fest, the annual Technology Conference in Killington, VT. What a busy 2 days! I love this conference because it reinvigorates me and I always learn new things. I love that I get to spend time with my educational tech colleagues who do the same work as me in our schools. I even got to spend some time with a CVSU colleague! Networking is important. 

VITA-Learn is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to preparing today’s learners for the demands of tomorrow. Our mission is to promote and support the use of information technology to transform Vermont education through the provision of professional development, training and networking opportunities. You can find out more about this organization and what it can offer you by going to their website

My focus was to learn about AI in our schools. Specifically, I attended sessions on developing policy for teachers and school use as well as sessions about good tools for teachers. I also spent time looking at digital maker spaces for STEM education. I think one of my next projects will be to develop a Chatbot. 

I was very impressed by the keynote speaker on Thursday. Richard Culatta is a dynamic speaker who has written a book called Digital for Good. The premise is that we need to teach students how to use technology to be proactive and productive citizens.He takes a positive approach with his framework for preparing students. I can't wait to read his book.

Feel free to ask me more about the conference and I'm happy to share what I have learned. I will also be sharing out more specific information in my weekly blog. Have a great week.

I need your help!

Today I want to bring your attention to a tool we should all know about and ensure that our students are aware of. This Chrome extension is called Read&Write. Please make sure your studetns have the extension and are able to use it for text to speech in Google docs and the web.

Read&Write for Chrome is tool that all staff and students have access to. It allows for text to speech in Google docs, webpages, gmail and other Google products. I am strongly encouraging all teachers to check with their students to make sure this is in their toolbar to the right of the URL window. it will be a small purple puzzle piece. Once you click on the extension, a toolbar appears. Select the text you want read outloud and then press the play button. Students will need to make sure their audio is on etc. It should be pretty simple and there is always support available for you and your students. Watch the video below to see how it works.

Here is a link for a video on the fully functional tools 

As always, please feel free to contact me for more information. Please leave a comment below if you are already using this tool.

thanks,

Brucie

Welcome to my Tech Tip Tuesday Blog! It's been a while since I've done this (pre-covid) so I thought it would be a good time to come back to this work and help support all the instructional CVSU staff. My goal is to post every Tuesday about the CVSU tech tools that you have access to but might not know about these tools that support teaching and learning.

Beginning on Tuesday October 22, 2024, I will be hosting Tech Tuesday After School support sessions from 3-4pm. I will be rotating between the four Paine Mountain Schools. You will receive a certificate of attendance that you can use for re-licensure. 

What is the #1 program that you want to know more about? Please put your answer in the comment section below. You have to click on the word comment to see the input box.

These sessions will have a focus, but we can cover topics that are relevant to you and your work in the classroom. I will send out a registration form where you can add additional topics you want covered.

Here are the dates and topics until the first of the year: