Welcome to the Technology Design Team Weekly Lessons Learned! This will be a recurring feature on Friday afternoons where the Technology Design Team will share top of mind resources and learning. Each week, we will post a few key things we hope you may find useful. We look forward to sharing our learning with you.
Some of the content may be specific to the realities of Austin ISD though, we hope, much will be useful to viewers worldwide.
The Weekly Lessons Learned Archive contains a list of topics from and links to previous updates.
The Technology Design Team is excited to announce our 5th Annual Blended Learning Summit (bit.ly/blsummit2021) via Zoom on Saturday, March 6, 2021, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and in the afternoon from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
Join us for a day of learning and collaboration to support both our current contexts and moving forward! Austin ISD teachers and Technology Design Coaches will share stories, strategies, and skills to support personalization and blended learning for both academics and the whole child. Participants will choose their own learning path of sessions based on their interests and needs.
Participants may register for the morning, afternoon, or both.
Information updates will be on the TDT Blog.
Registration is now open via HCP (Sections 96628 and 96630).
Sessions are PLED eligible.
When I use the “Copy to function” in BLEND, why is it producing such a long list of courses for me to choose from, and what can I do to easily find my course?
- When you have a large number of similarly named courses where you have a teacher role, your list of available courses can become long and confusing. Rather than using the course name, copy the course number and paste it in the field. The course number is the digits at the end of the address of your BLEND course – https://aisdblend.instructure.com/courses/XXXXX
- This video demonstrates: Direct Share list of courses too long? Use the Course Code instead of the title!
- For a refresher on copying content from one course to another, view this video on using the “Copy To” function in BLEND.
- NOTE: Canvas is aware of the issue that teachers see a long list of courses in their “Copy to” list, and Canvas will be implementing a fix on February 3, as per their Canvas Deployment Notes.
Will the Discovery Education BLEND integration improve? So glad you asked!
This video demonstrates the new Discovery Ed integration.
Is there a way for my students to annotate a PDF in BLEND without additional software or licenses?
This video demonstrates an ingenious workaround using BLEND (Canvas) feedback tools.
How can I request a website unblocked?
If your students are getting a block notification on a webpage needed for instruction, please put in a ServiceNow ticket with the information/link along with the reason(s) it should be accessible for students.
An updated BrainPOP resource for teachers has been added to the BLEND Commons! (Austin ISD only)
Using BrainPOP in BLEND: A Teacher Resource is in the Commons and can easily be imported into any course. It contains pros/cons of the two ways to share BrainPOP Features with students and has 3 teacher step sets (vid, GoogDoc, URL) for creating BrainPOP assignments. To access the BrainPOP in BLEND course, go to your BLEND Dashboard. Then, click on the Commons button in the left vertical menu. Then after clicking on the Commons, click on this link to go to the BrainPOP in BLEND course.
Is there a way to subtitle a presentation in another language as I present?
Microsoft Powerpoint 365 can subtitle and translate (!) as you present. Even better, Austin ISD staff can access PPT 365 from a web browser!
This video demonstrates the process.
Microsoft provides a detailed set of instructions.
Are there any resources for using the New Rich Content Editor in BLEND?
Over the summer, the Technology Design Team created a BLEND Bootcamp video for learning BLEND mechanics. Check out our new BLEND Cruise video series, which shows you tips, tricks, and how-tos for building in BLEND using the New Rich Content Editor. This link will take you to the TDT’s BLEND Cruise YouTube Playlist of videos to help you set sail for building in BLEND.
I am trying to load my BLEND grades and I can’t see any grades for this grading period. The grades show when I have ALL Grading Periods selected.
- If there is no due date set, the assignment will only show up in All Grading Periods.
- The due date must fall in the grading period to show up in the gradebook during that period.
- This videos demonstrates how and why to set due dates for assignments.
Why is my PlayPosit video STILL giving students the error “Video Streams Fail to Load”?
Failed Streams in PlayPosit are usually bulbs that are using YouTube videos that are not approved, have been set to Private, or have been removed altogether from YouTube. A PRIVATE YouTube link will not work in BLEND or Playposit. It must at least be “unlisted.”
If you have confirmed that the YouTube video(s) in your bulb are approved, check the bulb settings under the “Review” tab. Make sure that the bulb is set to either “public” or “visible.”
If this does not work, look at your instructor settings, which can be found by clicking on your profile icon in the top left corner of your Playposit account. Scroll to the “Instructor Privacy” settings and make sure that your visibility as an instructor is set either to “public” or “visible.”
How do I assign a Seesaw activity to only a select few students for differentiation?
This video on Assigning Seesaw Activities to Select Students will help.
How do I (re)connect my student’s iPad to BLEND, Seesaw, and other apps?
This video demonstrates the process.
Connect. Design. Learn 