RUSD Gooru Innovation Lab

In partnership with Gooru, RUSD hosted our monthly Innovation Lab.  K-12 teachers and support staff personnel volunteered an hour and a half of their time to:

• learn about and provide feedback to Gooru Product Team members for new features coming out soon.
• learn how to best utilize all the collection data analytic features in Gooru.
• Watch interview videos with RUSD Power Users, and learn how to follow Gooru users inside and outside our district.

Check out RUSD's highlighted Power Users and learn how to follow their Gooru profile. We held the meeting in a station rotation model which allowed attendees to collaborate and ask questions in a more intimate fashion.  When reflecting on the meeting a teacher stated, “Loved that you had rotating stations. It reminds me how kids love that too. Just the simple act of going through the motion and practicing with helpers ‘in the know’ cleared up so much of the fog that permeates our classrooms when there is NO ONE THERE!” As the meeting was wrapping up, an elementary teacher expressed, “I could go to these meetings all day long!” Participants were asked if they were willing to commit to the Innovation Lab for the remainder of the year and all participants noted on the exit survey, “Yes, I’m in!” Participants who are in attendance for all the meetings will receive a professional Gooru Co-Creator Innovation Lab Badge, which will be linked to their haiku profile.  We look forward to an ongoing partnership with Gooru and our dedicated teachers.

Digital Citizens and Digitally Literate @ Magnolia

While on a site visit to Magnolia Elementary, I stumbled across some technology savvy kindergartners in the library.  They were working on the Effective and Efficient part of RUSD’s mantra as they worked on right and left hand placement while keyboarding on a web based programed called Keyboard Zoo by ABCya.com. One of the requirements for the Common Core State Standards is for sixth grade students to key a minimum of 3 pages in one setting. In order to prepare our students to be successful, we start them keyboarding in kindergarten. Take a look at our K-12 Keyboarding Standards. Other Kindergarten students were listening to digital stories on Starfall and then chorally reading them with their elbow partner.

The sixth grade students at Magnolia learned about Twitter and how your tweets can positively build an online reputation that future employers or college admissions officers can reference.  First they learned the vocabulary and functions necessary to be a Twitter user.  Then students drafted up a tweet to a classmate that was a simile about their digital life. Some of the sixth graders tweeted, “My media life is like an amusement park because it is so fun. My media life is like a day at school because I am eager to learn new things.” After students got the gist of tweeting on paper, their teacher opened a mock tweeting area on Haiku (our district’s LMS). Students began tweeting to classmates on about what they learned in class. One students online tweet read, “I learned how to make sense of equations and also learned how to protect private information. I am impressed with these sixth graders digital literacy skills and how they are learning to leave a positive digital footprint. 

The 3 Es

RUSD is well on its way to providing students with the necessary lessons to prepare them to be digital citizens and digitally literate. This year, we rolled out a K-12 Digital Citizenship and Literacy curriculum.  We branded this curriculum with the mantra of The 3 Es.  RUSD’s Digital Citizenship and Literacy curriculum prepares students to be Effective, Efficient, and Ethical users of digital media and technology. A sample of our K-12 Digital Citizenship Scope and Sequence (adapted from LBUSD) is available for viewing at http://bit.ly/13yg3LR.   

As we transition into the Common Core State Standards, Bryant Elementary has recognized the importance of integrating technology along with the Ethical piece of becoming a digital citizen. Mrs. Austin, a Technology Integration Coach, worked diligently with teachers and students as she hosted “Technology Specials” that taught students how to be Ethical users of digital media and technology devices during school and at home. Check out Bryant’s Kinders as they learn from Moby about the how the rules about staying safe in the real world are very similar to the rules about staying safe on the Internet. Fourth grade students participated in a lesson from  Common Sense Media  about their responsibilities and how to positively impact far more than just themselves.

Adblock Plus

Today, many students are using Chrome browsers for educational purposes. Common Sense Media has provided Chrome users with a helpful video tutorial that teaches students how to instal an add on called Adblock Plus. This add-on blocks annoying ads on YouTube, banner ads, and potentially harmful pop-ups and pop-unders. Keep your information safe and your computer protected with the Adblock Plus add-on. Watch the tutorial and try it out.

MackinVia at RUSD

On November 19th, teachers and Library Media Assistants from five elementary schools joined MackinVia for an innovating training on how to start the process of ordering digital books for all students to access on any device. MackinVIA is a platform that hosts numerous digital books leveled by subject, genre, and reading level.  Students will be able to virtually check out the digital books and interact with them by highlighting important text, taking notes and exporting them into their work, using the dictionary to define unfamiliar words, and citing the sources directly into their work.  Teachers were granted 37 ebooks, 30 audiobooks, and additional funds to purchase digital books.  They will  start to use the digital books with students during whole class close reading, literature circles, and read alouds. MackinVia offers a platform for teachers and students to easily access digital books. Students can choose books at their reading level, and most importantly they are able to take control of time, place, and pace with the content. We are excited to see the the awesome ways the teachers at these five schools begin enhance students’ reading experiences with digital readers. Check out this demonstration video illustrating the power behind digital books in the classroom MackinVIA Demo Video.

Gooru Innovation Lab

On November 18th, the Department of Innovation and Learner Engagement hosted our first kick off meeting for the 2014-2015 RUSD Gooru Innovation Lab. We had over 50 teachers interested in the Innovation Lab.  The meeting had a nice turnout of K-12 teachers and Instructional Support Staff. Gooru’s representatives came down from Palo Alto to partner with our teachers and support staff in a unique way. The kick off was a collaborative effort to gather information to see how Gooru can further support the needs of our students, teachers, and support staff. We are very fortunate to be able to partner with Gooru in a way that all our educators’ voices are considered in the future development of such a powerful learning platform.