FROM THE OFFICE OF
Jodi Wirt
ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION
Stacie Noisey
DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM
Dr. Terry Mootz
DIRECTOR OF DATA & ASSESSMENT
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO:
Dr. Michael Egan
FROM:
Jodi Wirt and Crystal Steker
DATE:
August 28, 2014
SUBJECT:
Mobile Learning Initiative Update
PURPOSE OF REPORT:
Informational
BACKGROUND:
The Technology Department and building administrators and administrative assistants distributed 2129 iPads to middle
and high school students over the course of 8 days in August. This left only 23 to be distributed to middle school
students and 70 for the HS. Having such a high percentage of students “IPad ready” for the first day of school maximizes
instructional time.
To support teachers in planning on how to utilize the iPad with their students, the Curriculum Office offered the
following professional development opportunities:
iPad Blaster
June 26-27, 2014
46 participants
This two day workshop on iPad provided opportunities to explore a variety of apps and ideas for how these apps might
be used in the learning process. The training included conversations about the use of multimedia, improving workflow,
recommended apps, classroom “best practices”, and more.
Connecting Curriculum and Technology
August 13-14, 2014
55 participants
Participants spent two days of training focused on Understanding by Design as a curricular framework, the power of
inquiry across the curriculum. The workshop focused on how the iPad provides teachers and students with the
opportunity to:
 Pursue in depth questions generated during the learning process
 Use essential questions and planning for students to use the iPad to investigate, curate, collaborate and
communicate
 Explore how Google Apps assists us in meeting the Common Core Standards
 Use SAMR to migrate practice
 Develop new classroom project
The Connected Educator – Began June 30, 2014
13 participants
This 6 week, online course promoted autonomy and choice in learning with a focus on the range of applications that can
be used in the new 1 to 1 classroom environments. Each participant created 3-5 job-embedded projects for their
classroom along with a mini portfolio of work to celebrate success. Some project options included:
 iPad Apps for Education
 Google Apps
FROM THE OFFICE OF
Jodi Wirt
ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION
Stacie Noisey
DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM
Dr. Terry Mootz
DIRECTOR OF DATA & ASSESSMENT




Multimedia
Web Publishing
Online and Blended Learning
Social Media and Professional Learning Communities
August 22- Opening Day Institute- Utilizing Canvas
9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
All secondary teachers were provided the level of support that met their needs. We were able to offer these sessions
thanks to our Technology Integration Specialists as well as some of our faculty who were willing to share their expertise.
Sessions were offered for:
Session
Description
First time users
Anyone who had not yet logged into Canvas or set up classes meet with Alice,
Emily and Relton to get started.
Exporting/importing preexisting content
This session was for anyone who may have created a free Canvas account and
needed to transfer (input and export) content from the free account or Moodle.
– Peter Kupfer, Marcia Day & Jackie Haney were available to help with this
process.
Creating new content
This session was for anyone who had set up classes but needed help with the
basics- how to create the syllabus/assignments/ pages - Beth Schoo , Libby
Reimann, Eric Hamilton, and Brian Agustin were available to assist individuals.
Independent team work on
Canvas
This session was for teams who were ready to create content to add to the
course. Teams used this time to collaborate to create/design/ plan for opening
week or the first unit.
Learning Management System: Canvas
One of the ways we are measuring the effectiveness of these trainings is through the use of the Learning
Management System- Canvas. Last Spring, after a 3 month search, a districtwide Committee selected Canvas as the
tool that would best fit our environment. Why do we need a Learning Management system? Many teachers were
using a variety of resources including Moodle and Edmodo which meant students were navigating multiple sites or
resources. It was suggested that we could work more efficiently as we explored how to use technology to deepen
student understanding of content. A LMS is one way to enhance our use of technology while moving to simplify the
number of resources we expect students to learn and use. Canvas is a web-based teaching system that can be used
by teachers and students anytime, anywhere and with multiple devices in order to access learning content. Some
of the features teachers will use in Canvas are:
FROM THE OFFICE OF
Jodi Wirt
ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION
Stacie Noisey
DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM
Dr. Terry Mootz
DIRECTOR OF DATA & ASSESSMENT






Multiple ways to deliver content through posting documents, embedding multimedia links, creating video
or audio recorded messages
Provide feedback on assignments through written, video or audio messages
Communicate to students by using course notifications- calendar updates, due dates, posting assignments
or announcements, or discussion replies
Provide students with collaborative workspaces using GoogleDocs, threaded discussions, gathering for realtime chats or web conferencing, etc…
Provide students with a variety of tools to demonstrate understanding
Speedgrader which allows teachers to give audio and/or written feedback to students
Using the Canvas API, we developed custom programming which integrates Canvas with our student management
system, eSchool. Each teacher has the ability to push course and students from eSchool to Canvas and then to push
grades and assignments from Canvas to eSchool.
By the end of the day on August 25th, there were:
327
137
1,143
1,576
142
3,841
6
Courses
Teachers
Students
Assignments
Discussion
Files
Media
Topics
Uploaded
Recordings
FISCAL/PERSONNEL IMPACT:
The district paid $30,000 for teacher stipends and $14,000 for the development and facilitation of the workshops. These
expenses were budgeted in the Curriculum and Instruction Office’s budget. The Learning Management system is an
annual cost of $53,000 and is budgeted through the Mobile Learning Initiative 1B.