Learn21's Weekly EdTech Update

October 17, 2024

OH Talks: A Night of Inspiration and Innovation at the ETLA Conference

This year's EdTech Leaders Alliance (ETLA) Conference is set to bring something truly special to the Ohio educational community: OH Talks, a brand-new session format designed to ignite passion and spark innovative thinking in the world of education. Modeled after the popular TED Talk format, OH Talks will feature short, impactful presentations from some of Ohio's most inspiring educators and thought leaders. This exciting session will take place Monday evening, October 21, from 5:15-6:00 PM, as part of the highly anticipated Locals Night, culminating in a night of fun with Ohio’s own DJ Dale.

Meet the OH Talks Speakers

This year's lineup for OH Talks brings together educators with diverse perspectives, each offering insights to inspire, empower, and challenge the audience. Here's a sneak peek at what you can expect:

Ryan Collins: Fun Inspires Great Work

When was the last time you were truly excited or happy? In this talk, I’ll explore the power of fun, happiness, and motivation in the classroom. We’ll discuss how to foster joy, avoid toxic positivity, and cultivate true motivation, all while navigating the daily challenges teachers face.

Mike Daugherty: You're a Mentor to Us All

Get ready for a fun and insightful talk where we'll explore why initiatives, ideas, and careers are successful.

Stephanie Howell: Designed with Accessibility in Mind

In today’s diverse classrooms, it's crucial to personalize learning for all students. This talk explores strategies for supporting learners with disabilities, empowering them to advocate for their needs. Using Stephanie’s story, we’ll gain insight into the challenges students with disabilities face and how educators can better support them.

Scott Frauenheim: Igniting Joy: Amplifying Voice, Cultivating Agency

Imagine a classroom where joy is a pedagogical strategy, driving student-centered learning and fostering a positive environment. This talk explores how joy, voice, and agency ignite curiosity, boost engagement, and enhance both student and adult cultures. Gain strategies to elevate learning, rooted in the research-based LEAP Learning Framework™.

The Perfect Kickoff to Locals Night

OH Talks will be followed by an evening that is sure to be memorable. Kicking off Locals Night is the keynote by Jen Mott, who will present "Leveling Up Our Big Potential: How Educators Can Tap Into the Best of Themselves in Order to Bring Out the Best in their Students." Mott’s keynote will delve into the essential role of self-care, reflection, and growth for educators who want to elevate both their teaching practice and their students’ potential.

After OH Talks and Mott’s inspiring keynote, the night will turn into a celebration with none other than DJ Dale, spinning tunes and bringing the fun to Ohio’s educational community.

Why OH Talks?

OH Talks are more than just a series of presentations. They represent the spirit of Ohio’s educational community: innovative, forward-thinking, and collaborative. They provide a platform for educators to share their stories, strategies, and breakthroughs with a wide audience, fostering a stronger, more connected network education professionals across the Midwest.

Thanks to the exciting new partnership with WOSU Public Media, OH Talks will reach far beyond the ETLA Conference. WOSU will record the sessions, allowing educators who can’t attend in person to access these thought-provoking talks online. In addition, select speakers will present live online throughout the year, continuing the conversation and impact of OH Talks well beyond the conference dates.

Join Us for an Unforgettable Night

Be sure to be part of this transformative experience. Whether you’re attending the conference to expand your EdTech knowledge, looking for inspiration during Locals Night, or ready to let loose with DJ Dale, OH Talks will leave you feeling energized, informed, and ready to make a difference in your classroom.

For more information on OH Talks and the full ETLA Conference, visit learn21.org/conference. We can't wait to see you there—let’s shape the future of education together, one inspiring talk at a time!

Best Practices for Launching and Managing a Successful K-12 Hotspot Program

In 2023, nearly 18 million K-12 students in the U.S. lacked adequate internet access at home. In Ohio alone, data from the Census Bureau shows that about 15% of all households with students are without broadband at home, and about 10% are without a computer at home. At the same time, 70% of teachers assign homework that requires internet access. As school districts continue to adopt more digital learning tools, wireless hotspot programs have become essential to bridging this gap. But not all hotspot devices, plans, and providers are the same.

With over 150 years of experience in telecom, Mission Telecom prides itself on helping schools, libraries, and nonprofits to achieve their connectivity goals. Here are our suggested best practices for managing a successful K-12 hotspot program:

Understand the Need: Work with teachers, administrators, and families to assess the connectivity needs in your district. Focus on underserved populations and those in rural or low-income areas where broadband access may be limited. Consider extracurricular activities and other use cases in your assessment.
Understand Coverage: At Mission Telecom, we use a third-party Signal Strength Map and Speed Test Map to ensure that network coverage is adequate where hotspots may be utilized. If 5G is available, consider purchasing 5G devices to support a better learning experience.
Choose the Right Devices: Ensure that your hotspots are user-friendly, durable, and capable of handling multiple devices per household. Verify that they offer 4G LTE or 5G speeds to keep up with modern digital requirements.
Consider Rate Plans: Many wireless providers offer watered-down rate plans with expensive overage fees and network limitations. Consider unlimited, uncapped rate plans with higher priority, like those offered by Mission Telecom, to avoid expensive bills.
Offer Support: Work with your provider to provide families with simple tutorials and ongoing tech support. Equip your IT team with the resources to troubleshoot common issues, ensuring students can quickly resolve connectivity problems.

By prioritizing accessibility, education, and support, a K-12 hotspot program can help students stay connected and secure so they can succeed, regardless of their circumstances.

To learn more about Mission Telecom, please visit Booth 10 at the EdTech Leaders Alliance Conference October 20-22 in Lewis Center, Ohio, or by visit www.missiontelecom.org.

About the author: Mark Colwell serves as the Director of Broadband Operations for Mission Telecom, a nonprofit grantmaking organization and broadband service provider for educational institutions, libraries, and other social good organizations.

Before joining Mission Telecom Mark was the Senior Manager of Broadband Programs for the Colorado Broadband office, where oversaw federal broadband grant programs, and he was appointed by Governor Polis to serve on the Colorado Broadband Deployment Board. Mark began his career as a Legislative Assistant in the U.S. Congress, focusing on telecommunications and IT issues. He also worked as a Senior Business Analyst at DISH Network and led telecommunications strategy at other organizations promoting digital equity.

Translation Options in Google Chrome

I’ve played around with Google Chrome’s tab groups for a little while now, but couldn’t see a really good use case for how I use the browser. Sure, I could organize my tabs and collapse them to save space on the tab bar, but that wasn’t enough for me to use them every day. That is, until I realized what syncing the tab groups gets me.

During my work day I usually jump between my desktop and my laptop. Sometimes I’ll be using a Chromebook. Since I sign in to my work profile on each of these devices, I knew that tabs would be available across all of them. But, synced tab groups bring something else to the table.

When you sync a tab group, the tabs in the group are synced in real time. This probably isn’t a surprise to most, but I wasn’t thinking that I could have my tabs set up exactly how I want them and then have them on any device automatically.

Using Google Tabs in Your Classroom

In the past I’ve recommended using bookmarks for organizing class materials. With Chrome tab groups, you can organize these materials more dynamically. You may have a folder of bookmarks named Daily in which you keep a list of links to sites you use every single day. However, if you use a tab group named Daily your sites will automatically sync and open across your devices, allowing you to quickly jump into your routine. Furthermore, you can also create tab groups for different classes. Each class’s tab group can be collapsed or hidden, and easily re-opened. This effectively reduces the time you'd usually spend searching for resources. It's an excellent tool for facilitating seamless transitions between lessons and tasks within the classroom setting.

Tips and Tricks

Almost all web browsers support profiles, and using them allows you to not only separate the different facets of your browsing life, they will also backup and sync your settings. Google Chrome is no exception, so along the same line as revisiting Google Tab Groups, let’s revisit creating Chrome Profiles.

Separating Accounts

Without profiles, you can sign into multiple Google accounts in the same profile. However, this means all browsing, bookmarks, passwords, and more are co-mingled, making it quite a mess. Profiles help you separate this information, so your personal stuff doesn’t show up with your work stuff. I recommend creating a work profile and a personal profile, and use each one for its respective task.

Each profile is its own entity. All browsing history, passwords, settings, etc. are contained only in their respective profile and can not be accessed from another profile.

Identifying and Adding Profiles

Profiles show under the icon to the left of the three line menu. PROFILES ARE NOT under the account avatar in the browser window:

To create a profile, click on the Profile icon and then add. Type in the name you want, choose a nice icon and click the Add button. Once your profile is created, you can quickly switch between profiles by clicking on the profile icon. By picking a different color for each profile you can see immediately which profile you are in, so you’re not trying to use Kohl's cash with your school account or entering grades with your personal account.

When creating a profile, it is a good idea to turn on sync. That way all of your settings, including tab groups, are backed up to Google in the case something happens to your computer. This also will let you use the same profile and settings on multiple computers.

Extra Credit

PrintFriendly is a pretty cool site to help convert almost any format, including web pages, images, Excel, PowerPoint, and more, to PDFs. Depending on your use case, this might be an option that works better than the options built into your operating system.

As we rush off into a future where it seems like we can’t keep up, we've got four options. There is only one thing that doesn't make us feel helpless. It's when we acknowledge the chaos we can then move forward.

Cracked magazine has a list of 38 Unbelievable Stats and Mathematical Oddities for you to use the next time you want to share some little known fact with your class. These tidbits include the fact that lightning can heat the air five times hotter than the sun and the fun fact that Melvil Dewey was ousted from the American Library Association.

🙋‍♂️ Bytes and Insights is co-authored by Eduk8me’s Ryan Collins who writes about education and educational technology. He is also the Director of Technology for Kenton City Schools in Ohio. Sign up for his Of Bits and Bytes newsletter at https://eduk8.me!

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