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This padlet shows a small number of tools available online that can be implemented in classrooms. The idea is to explore and find what is appropriate for your students. However, keep in mind the ethical and legal issues related with technology to protect students.

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Formative assessment can be enhanced by the use of technology. It can provide personalized feedback to students to show them where they are excelling and and need improvement. Also, it can tailor lessons to meet their individual needs.

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The application of ethics in education is essential for students as well as teachers. It lets everyone know the right thing to do, and provides a moral framework so that schools and students can work together to pursue learning in the best possible manner.

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There are many tools available that can be incorporated in the classroom to make a lesson available to every single students. Those strategies can also make lessons fun and interactive. It takes the learning process to a new level.

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Teachers, do you... Not have enough time for grading? Want useful measurements on student performance? Want to assess student understanding in real-time? Need a free solution to help? If so, then Flubaroo can help! Grade assignments and assessments in under a minute! Get reporting and analysis on

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Poll Everywhere is the easiest way to gather live responses in any venue... conferences, concerts, classrooms, and company off-sites - anywhere with internet. We've been working to end 'death by PowerPoint' and raise the bar on presenting since 2008. More than 4,000 schools and 100,000 teachers poll with Poll Everywhere.

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Review student understanding at the class, individual student, or question-level.

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Kahoot! | Learning games | Make learning awesome!

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Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that brings engagement and fun to 1+ billion players every year at school, at work, and at home.

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The term personalized learning, or personalization, refers to a diverse variety of educational programs, learning experiences, instructional approaches, and academic-support strategies that are intended to address the distinct learning needs, interests, aspirations, or cultural backgrounds of individual students. Personalized learning is generally seen as an alternative to so-called "one-size-fits-all" approaches to schooling in which teachers may, for example, provide all students in a given course with the same type of instruction, the same assignments, and the same assessments with little variation or modification from student to student. Personalized learning may also be called student-centered learning , since the general goal is to make individual learning needs the primary consideration in important educational and instructional decisions, rather than what might be preferred, more convenient, or logistically easier for teachers and schools.

The term (and related synonyms) has become more widely used by online schools and companies selling online learning programs. It should be noted that "personalized learning," as it is typically designed and implemented in K-12 public schools, can differ significantly from the forms of "personalized learning" being offered and promoted by virtual schools and online learning programs. In some schools, however, personalized learning many take the form of " personalized learning blended learning,"or the practice of using both online and learning experiences when teaching students. When investigating or reporting on personalized learning, it is important to determine precisely how the term is being used in a specific context. For a related discussion on personalized learning and online schools, see the Debate section below.

Personalized learning is intended to facilitate the academic success of each student by first determining the learning needs, interests, and aspirations of individual students, and then providing learning experiences that are customized-to a greater or lesser extent-for each student. To accomplish this goal, schools, teachers, guidance counselors, and other educational specialists may employ a wide variety of educational methods, from intentionally cultivating strong and trusting student-adult relationships to modifying assignments and instructional strategies in the classroom to entirely redesigning the ways in which students are grouped and taught in a school.

Because personalized learning has such broad implications, and the term encompasses such a wide variety of potential programs and strategies, it may be difficult to determine precisely what the term is referring to when it is used without qualification, specific examples, or additional explanation.

The following representative examples will help illustrate the concept. Schools and educators might personalize learning for students by:

Reconfiguring the operational and educational structure of a large school so that students are organized into smaller groups and paired with a consistent team of teachers who get to know the students and their learning needs well. While this strategy takes a wide variety of forms from school to school, a few of the most common approaches are "smaller learning communities," , themed-based academies , or "schools-within-a-school"-an approach that involves the creation of distinct academic programs, or "schools," within the operational structure of larger school.

Eliminating the practice of grouping students into different academic "tracks" or tiered course levels based on their perceived ability or past academic performance-a practice called "heterogeneous grouping" or "mixed-ability grouping," in which students of various ability levels are enrolled in the same course or program. In these cases, as well as in other educational settings, teachers may employ a variety of personalized instructional and academic support strategies generally called differentiation , differentiated learning, or differentiated instruction.

Schools may create or offer students a variety of learning pathways -i.e., a wider and more diverse selection of learning experiences. Common examples include career-related internships that allow students to satisfy school graduation requirements or meet state-required learning standards ; dual-enrollment experiences that allow students to take courses at alternate institutions, such as colleges or universities, while also earning academic credit at their home school; or independent-study projects, which allow students to self-design learning experiences in collaboration with a teacher, mentor, or advisor.

Students may create and maintain personal learning plans , which describe their academic, collegiate, and career goals, while mapping out the educational decisions they need to make to achieve their goals, or portfolios , which are a cumulative record of a student's academic work and accomplishments. Teachers, advisors, and educational specialists may use these plans and portfolios to guide how they teach and support specific students.

Replacing more traditional homeroom periods or study halls with advisories -time in the school day for educators to meet with small groups of students and advise them on academic, social, and postsecondary-planning issues. Students may also be paired with advisors, adult mentors, or peer mentors who meet regularly with students over the course of several months, a year, or multiple years to help them acclimate to a school, navigate educational options, or plan for higher education and careers after graduation.

Using alternative educational approaches and instructional methods-such as authentic learning , blended learning , community-based learning , or project-based learning , to name just a few-that may give students more personal choice in their education and more opportunities pursue learning experiences that reflect their personal interests, career aspirations, or cultural heritage. Increasingly, a variety of digital and online learning options are being used to personalize learning for students.

Increasing the level of choice and personal responsibility students have in the instructional process. The concept of "student voice" refers to the values, opinions, beliefs, perspectives, and cultural backgrounds of individual students and groups of students in a school, and to instructional approaches and techniques that are based on student choices, interests, passions, and ambitions. As an alternative to more traditional forms of instruction in which teachers may make unilateral decisions with little or no input from students, introducing more student voice into the learning process in one way to personalize learning.

Debate

While personalized learning in public schools may become the object of debate, most debates tend to center on specific applications of personalized learning-such as the strategies described above-rather than on the general concept or pedagogical philosophy (which is so encompassing, multifaceted, and far-reaching that it would difficult to isolate specific arguments for or against it). That said, the idea of "personalized learning," in whatever manifestation, does have its ardent proponents and its equally ardent critics.

In some cases, criticism and debate about personalized learning may stem, at least in part, from a fundamental misunderstanding of the strategy. For example, the idea of "individualized instruction"-creating distinct courses of study and instructional strategies for every student-was popular for a brief of time in the 1970s until educators realized that it was impractical and unfeasible to develop unique academic programs for dozens of students in a class. Personalization, personalized learning, and personalized instruction -the practice of varying instructional techniques in a classroom to effectively teach as many students as possible-is not synonymous with individualized instruction as it was defined in the 1970s. The conflation of related but distinct terms and strategies such "differentiated instruction," "personalized instruction," and "individualized instruction" has likely contributed to ongoing confusion and debates about personalized learning, particularly given that these distinct terms are commonly used interchangeably.

It should also be noted that online schools and educational programs promoting "personalized learning" have also become the object of criticism, debate, and controversy. Many for-profit virtual schools and online collegiate degree programs, for example, have been accused of offering low-quality educational experiences to students, exploiting students or public programs, and using the popularity of concepts such as "personalized learning" to promote programs of dubious educational value.

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Personalized learning refers to educational strategies that address the distinct learning needs, interests, aspirations, or cultural backgrounds of students

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Four years ago, in the shadow of Colorado's Pike's Peak, veteran Woodland Park High School chemistry teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams stumbled onto an idea. Struggling to find the time to reteach lessons for absent students, they plunked down $50, bought software that allowed them to record and annotate lessons, and posted them online. Absent students appreciated the opportunity to see what they missed. But, surprisingly, so did students who hadn't missed class. They, too, used the online material, mostly to review and reinforce classroom lessons. And, soon, Bergmann and Sams realized they had the opportunity to radically rethink how they used class time.

It's called "the flipped classroom." While there is no one model, the core idea is to flip the common instructional approach: With teacher-created videos and interactive lessons, instruction that used to occur in class is now accessed at home, in advance of class. Class becomes the place to work through problems, advance concepts, and engage in collaborative learning. Most importantly, all aspects of instruction can be rethought to best maximize the scarcest learning resource-time.

Flipped classroom teachers almost universally agree that it's not the instructional videos on their own, but how they are integrated into an overall approach, that makes the difference. In his classes, Bergmann says, students can't just "watch the video and be done with it." He checks their notes and requires each student to come to class with a question. And, while he says it takes a little while for students to get used to the system, as the year progresses he sees them asking better questions and thinking more deeply about the content. After flipping his classroom, Bergmann says he can more easily query individual students, probe for misconceptions around scientific concepts, and clear up incorrect notions.

Counterintuitively, Bergmann says the most important benefits of the video lessons are profoundly human: "I now have time to work individually with students. I talk to every student in every classroom every day." Traditional classroom interactions are also flipped. Typically, the most outgoing and engaged students ask questions, while struggling students may act out. Bergmann notes that he now spends more time with struggling students, who no longer give up on homework, but work through challenging problems in class. Advanced students have more freedom to learn independently. And, while high-school students still occasionally lapse on homework assignments, Bergmann credits the new arrangement with fostering better relationships, greater student engagement, and higher levels of motivation.

Once Bergmann's and Sams's lessons were posted online, it wasn't long before other students and teachers across the country were using the lessons, and making their own. Across the country in Washington, D.C., Andrea Smith, a 6th-grade math teacher at E. L. Haynes, a high-performing public charter school, shares Bergmann's enthusiasm, but focuses on a different aspect of the flipped classroom. Smith, who has taught for more than a decade in both D.C.'s public charter and traditional district schools, immediately saw the benefit for students, but says she was most captivated by the opportunity to elevate teaching practice and the profession as a whole. As Smith explains, crafting a great four- to six-minute video lesson poses a tremendous instructional challenge: how to explain a concept in a clear, concise, bite-sized chunk. Creating her own videos forces her to pay attention to the details and nuances of instruction-the pace, the examples used, the visual representation, and the development of aligned assessment practices. In a video lesson on dividing fractions, for example, Smith is careful not to just teach the procedure-multiply by the inverse-but also to represent the important underlying conceptual ideas. Like Bergmann, she makes it clear that the videos are just one component of instruction. She's keen on the equivalent of a motion picture's "director's cut," where a video creator might explain the reasoning behind the examples chosen and how she would extend those activities into class time.

"Flipping" is rapidly moving into the mainstream. Bergmann and Sams have completed a book, are in high demand across the country at educator conferences, and even host their own "Flipped Class Conference" to train teachers. The chief academic officer at Smith's school, Eric Westendorf, is taking the tools he has piloted at the school and building them into a platform for teachers everywhere to create and share videos. Most notable, though, is the emergence of the Khan Academy, an online repository of thousands of instructional videos that has been touted by Bill Gates and featured prominently in the national media.

Given education's long history of fascination with new instructional approaches that are later abandoned, there's a real danger that flipping, a seemingly simple idea that is profound in practice, may be reduced into the latest educational fad. And, in today's highly polarized political environment, it also runs the risk of being falsely pigeonholed into one of education's many false dichotomies, such as the age-old pedagogical debate between content knowledge and skills acquisition.

But the ideas behind flipping are not brand new. For over a decade, led by the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT), dozens of colleges have successfully experimented with similar ideas across math, science, English, and many other disciplines. NCAT's increasingly impressive body of practice shows that thoughtful course redesigns lead to improved learning. Carol Twigg, NCAT's president and CEO, says there is no magic: course redesign is "a hard job." She's not assuming students love homework. But redesign offers an opportunity to reengage students and improve their motivation, while setting proper expectations and monitoring to "push school to the top of the list." And while many course redesigns focus on incorporating more project-based learning opportunities, Twigg's experience leads her to quickly dismiss pedagogical extremes: "If you don't have basic math skills, you can't do an interesting physics project."

There is also some danger that the flipped classroom could be seen as another front in a false battle between teachers and technology. Yet Bergmann and Sams emphasize that the "only magic bullet is the recruiting, training, and supporting of quality teachers." And while Khan Academy's prominence engenders fear of standardization and deprofessionalization among some critics, Bergmann, Sams, and Smith see instructional videos as powerful tools for teachers to create content, share resources, and improve practice. Smith admits that if such tools were available when she first started out, she "would have run to this every week when planning."

It seems almost certain that instructional videos, interactive simulations, and yet-to-be-dreamed-up online tools will continue to multiply. But who will control these tools and whether they will fulfill their potential remains to be seen. As Scott McLeod, one of the nation's leading thinkers on educational technology and the director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education, observes, the "reason Sal Khan is so visible right now is that nobody did this instead. It would have been great if the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics had been doing this, but someone from the outside had to fill the vacuum." His guidance to educators: "Start making!"
Bill Tucker is managing director of Education Sector. For more on this topic, please read "The Transformational Potential of Flipped Classrooms," by Michael Horn, from the Summer 2013 issue of Education Next.

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Four years ago, in the shadow of Colorado's Pike's Peak, veteran Woodland Park High School chemistry teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams stumbled onto an idea. Struggling to find the time to reteach lessons for absent students, they plunked down $50, bought software that allowed them to record and annotate lessons, and posted them online.

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Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule

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John Newman & Amy Ritchie, Bureau of Competition

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Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (“COPPA”)

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COPPA imposes certain requirements on operators of websites or online services directed to children under 13 years of age, and on operators of other websites or online services that have actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information online from a child under 13 years of age.

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Family Education Right and Privacy Act

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The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.

FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are "eligible students."

Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school. Schools are not required to provide copies of records unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible for parents or eligible students to review the records. Schools may charge a fee for copies.

Parents or eligible students have the right to request that a school correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student then has the right to a formal hearing. After the hearing, if the school still decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student has the right to place a statement with the record setting forth his or her view about the contested information.

Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):

School officials with legitimate educational interest;

Other schools to which a student is transferring;

Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;

Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;

Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;

Accrediting organizations;

To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;

Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and

State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.

Schools may disclose, without consent, "directory" information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. Schools must notify parents and eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA. The actual means of notification (special letter, inclusion in a PTA bulletin, student handbook, or newspaper article) is left to the discretion of each school.

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policy; privacy; academic records; technical assistance; parent rights; student rights; ferpa

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Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

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Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Home Page.

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Bring Your Own Technology

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During the School Day

Security, Theft, or Damage

Policy for Charging Personally-Owned Devices During the School Day

Application (Apps) and Software Used in the Classroom

If a Device is Damaged at School

Internet Content Filtering

Purchasing a Device for Your Child

While FCPS does not recommend specific technology products, the FCPS program enables FCPS students and staff members to purchase and download technology products for home use directly from vendors at discount rates. It includes computers, software, and other technology products.

Activity Monitoring of BYOD Devices

Tips

Students Should

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While FCPS does not recommend specific technology products, the FCPS program enables FCPS students and staff members to purchase and download technology products for home use directly from vendors at discount rates. It includes computers, software, and other technology products.

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for FCPS

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Social media can play a powerful role in communicating and engaging with parents, students, staff, and members of the community. Our students are "growing up digital," with social media being an essential part of their lives. As FCPS employees, modeling appropriate behavior in the social space will help guide our students on the path to becoming good digital citizens. It will also help prevent any mishaps or misunderstandings that could affect us personally and/or professionally.

Social media describes online technologies and platforms that enable individuals to share information, opinions, experiences, and perspectives with each other. Examples include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. This document solely addresses social media use by staff in a non-instructional capacity, such as communicating with parents and other stakeholders about important news and updates, classroom activities, events, achievements, and other items of interest. Many of our employees already do an amazing job of using social media to showcase creativity, collaboration, and learning at its best. As a result, the excellence within #OurFCPS, in its pure, unfiltered form, becomes available for all to see.

Guiding Principles

The values, professionalism, and confidentiality that employees are expected to embrace in their daily lives also apply online. Bring your best self to social media just as you do in your classroom or office.

FCPS' expectations for employee use of social media are based on the three principles below. Understanding these concepts will help empower you to make smart choices and feel confident about your online interactions.

1) Protect our students.

The safety and well-being of FCPS students is our primary concern. FCPS has the same obligation to protect student privacy online as it does offline. Federal law permits the disclosure of "directory information" from a student's record without the parent's prior written consent, unless the parent has opted out of such disclosure. Directory information includes, but is not limited to, the student's name-we recommend using first names only-school name, photos, and awards.

If a parent has submitted a signed Opt-Out Form noting the Comprehensive Opt-Out Option or Choice C, you may not disclose his or her student's directory information in social media without the parent's written consent. Students over age 18 may sign their own Opt-Out Form. See FCPS' Opt-Out Forms Packet for complete details.

If teachers plan to feature students on their FCPS social media account, it is important for them to let parents know. Any concerns about a student being featured in social media posts, whether from a parent or student, must be respected.

Also, please avoid inadvertently disclosing personal information about a student that would identify him or her as being enrolled in special education or another program which a parent may wish to keep private.

2) Be professional.

There are numerous benefits to engaging in social media, but we all need to be aware of potential pitfalls. Maintaining professional boundaries is one way to avoid them.

As always, please use particular care where our students are concerned. You must maintain a professional relationship with students at all times. Private, one-on-one online or electronic communications with individual students that are unrelated to school activities or any conduct that violates the law is inappropriate and prohibited, and may be grounds for discipline up to, and including, dismissal. (See 4444.1 Prevention of Sexual Misconduct and Abuse.)

We recommend you avoid issuing or accepting requests from students or parents to friend or follow them. (They can follow you, if they choose.) Though it may seem harmless to retweet, like, favorite, tag, or engage with student posts in other ways, doing so can be misinterpreted as your having crossed professional boundaries. Establishing personal connections with parents may lead to the appearance of favoritism being shown to their student.

In addition to your actions remaining professional, it's best to keep your tone professional in social media as well. Stay positive. Don't get caught up in negative or critical conversations, especially ones that involve students. If it's an issue involving a stakeholder that needs to be addressed, politely offer to take the conversation offline. Consider reading your tweet aloud or have a colleague read it before you tweet. Whatever you do, be respectful-even if someone is not returning the favor.

Lastly, personal social media account(s) should be kept separate from your professional account(s). And, do not post photos of FCPS students on your personal social media accounts.

3) Use common sense.

For better or worse, what you say or show on social platforms becomes part of your digital footprint. While your posts may intend no harm, the wrong one can put you in the center of controversy. As an FCPS employee, your posts-whether personal or professional-reflect not only upon you, but also upon the school division. The content of your posts should not impair your capacity to maintain the respect of students and parents, or impair your ability to effectively perform your job. Any action that brings the school system into disrepute may be just cause for dismissal. (See Regulation 4293.6 Dismissal-Definition of Just Cause.) Making smart choices or using common sense is essential.

Posting any content related to alcohol, tobacco, and/or illegal substances is not permitted on FCPS-related social media accounts unless it is for approved safety and wellness education purposes. Other content to avoid includes obscene, defamatory, discriminatory, harassing, violent, vulgar, or sexual material, or material that advocates the commission of a criminal act, violates FCPS policy, or that reasonably may lead to the substantial disruption of or material interference with school system operations. Think twice before posting that type of content on your private social media accounts, too. They still reflect upon your role as an FCPS employee. For guidance around political posts, view these policies (intranet link).

Please remember that the internet doesn't forget. Your posts may be available to the world for years to come. Establishing appropriate privacy settings to limit access to personal information on your social media account(s) is a good idea. But, that's no guarantee that the photo you send on your private Facebook account won't end up being shared by one of your friends. Before posting, ask yourself if you would want your significant other, grandparent, or the superintendent to see it. If not, don't post it.

Finally, be transparent. Only a few people within FCPS are charged with speaking on behalf of the school district. Please don't make statements on social media that could be construed as you representing FCPS in an official capacity.

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Social media can play a powerful role in communicating and engaging with parents, students, staff, and members of the community. Our students are "growing up digital," with social media being an essential part of their lives. As FCPS employees, modeling appropriate behavior in the social space will help guide our students on the path to becoming good digital citizens.