Category Archives: Microsoft Teams

Sharing Microsoft Teams Recordings in Schoology

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Educators in Wood County Schools’ Distance Learning Academy (DLA) adapt their instruction to deliver lessons in ways that make use of several digital platforms. Although this video was created for educators in the DLA, it can be useful for any educator wanting to find additional ways to record (and protect) their instruction for students. Perhaps their students are at home with health issues. Or, perhaps one of their students learns better by viewing a lesson more than once on her or his own timeline.

In this video: Learn how to record your instruction using Microsoft Teams and then share the recording in your Schoology course.

Teams Integration with Schoology Ending in WCS

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When it became necessary for Wood County Schools to switch to remote instruction last fall, teachers rose to the occasion and began learning multiple technology tools to meet with, and meet the needs of, their students. Any option that helped during that period of time was welcomed. One tool was the Teams integration within Schoology. It allowed for teachers to quickly and easily establish a face-to-face meeting with students without having to completely understand how the Teams app itself worked. Today, for most, this tool is no longer necessary. Teachers are still using Teams in all kinds of ways, but have since had the time to get familiar with how the Teams app works.

The West Virginia Department of Education has recently determined that there is a security issue with the Teams integration with Schoology. To address this, Wood County Schools will discontinue its use on November 5th.

What does this mean specifically?

  • If you create links to Teams meetings in Schoology only, this option will no longer work after November 5th.
  • If you create links to meetings (either a one time meeting or ongoing) using the Teams app, your links will continue to work.
  • Any Teams meeting links created in the Teams app can be copied and pasted into a Schoology course or group.

We wanted you to be aware of the changes so that if you are still using this method, you have time to transition to the Teams app. If you have concerns or need some help, please feel free to book an appointment with Eric Murphy or Jimmy Stewart. We are happy to help!

Time to Tidy Up Old Teams

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In our modern era, we tend to collect digital junk everywhere. So much to keep track of! Most of the time, it’s nothing more than an inconvenience. Sometimes, however, it’s important to take a look at items that continue to live on, especially things like old Microsoft Teams. If the ability for students to chat and meet in the old Teams was not turned off, they may be lurking around in there. Bullying, spreading rumors, trading images. Nope! We don’t need any of that. Learn how to simply and quickly delete old Teams and find any hidden Teams that need to go.

Taking Attendance in a Class Teams Meeting

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Learn how to track attendance in your class Teams meetings. Jimmy Stewart shows you how simple it is to stay oh-so-organized.

Please note, this is for your own purposes only. Tracking attendance in a Teams meeting does not interface with Schoology Attendance and is not required by Wood County Schools.

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AI, Sway, OneDrive, Creating Videos and More

Join Mark Moore, coordinator for the WVDE Office of Communications, for training options on a variety of topics… no pre-registration necessary! Visit Mark’s Sway for all the details. Recordings of sessions now available. Tuesday, November 28, 2023 9:00 AM – Artificial Intelligence in WV K12 School – Link to Live Session 10:00 AM – OneDrive…

by Eric Murphy

Canva: Restricted sharing coming Oct. 27

Canva has updated their policy for student sharing. We thought you would like to know. Many of you are using Canva in your classes to engage your students and create exciting opportunities for learning. Please see Canva’s statement below.

by Eric Murphy

West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) Country Roads Codes Grant

COUNTRY ROADS CODES: West Virginia schools and classrooms are invited to apply to the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) Country Roads Codes grant opportunity. These grant opportunities allow for up to $2,000 for events that enable local schools to educate their students and communities regarding computer science as part of Computer Science Education Week (December…

by Eric Murphy

Create a Simple Link to a Class Teams Meeting

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Creating a link directly to a Teams meeting, and then placing this link in a Schoology course, provides a simple way for students to join your live class meeting.

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Dear Educators, As educational technology integration specialists, our primary mission is to support and empower you in effectively utilizing technology to enhance your instructional practices and ultimately enrich the learning experiences of our students. We understand that incorporating technology into your teaching can be both exciting and challenging, and we are here to provide you…

by Eric Murphy

Use a Website Frequently in a Lesson? Preserve it and Make it Better

Do you use webpages or online articles frequently in your lessons? Are you concerned that one day you will discover that it has disappeared or changed dramatically? Perhaps the content is useful, but you are concerned about the appropriateness of the advertising in the sidebars of the website. Have you ever started a lesson only…

by Eric Murphy

Microsoft 365 Workshops Offered

MICROSOFT OFFICE 365 WORKSHOPS: In the month of January, the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) is offering multiple Microsoft Office 365 live virtual trainings that are available to West Virginia education administrators, teachers, service personnel, substitutes, and students. Click here to view the calendar of trainings online. There is also a library of pre-recorded tutorials available to view…

by Eric Murphy

Using a Pointer During a Class Teams Meeting

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When you use an iPad to present to students during a class Teams meeting, you don’t have the advantage of using a mouse pointer to guide students through your presentation as you would on a laptop. You can, however, use an accessibility option to not only mimic a mouse pointer, but also have quick access to shortcuts that come in handy in the middle of a presentation.

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Meet indi by Sphero

Working with early learners? It’s never too early to begin teaching computational thinking skills and problem solving. Sphero, makers of the spherical coding robots, have introduced a new product that is aimed at younger students. Introducing the Sphero indi. It allows students to connect all kinds of ideas and understand how they can be used…

On-Demand Training: Flip Discovery Library

The Flip Discovery Library offers ready-to-use discussion prompts that are sure to get your students talking. Discover their quick intro course (rated 5 stars!) to help you navigate it and find inspiring topics to use with your learning community. Discover the Flip Discovery Library Course (37 minutes) Flip Discovery Library

A Notice About Schoology Conferences Feature

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A notice from Jonathan Farley, Director of Information Technology, and Amber Matty, Technology Integration Specialist

While Microsoft Teams is our supported and preferred tool for hosting conferences and meetings for distance learning, we know that some individuals have explored using the Schoology Conferences tool within our Schoology platform. During our monthly Schoology meeting with our support specialist, we received information concerning this tool. We want to pass along this information to you so you can make an informed decision if you are choosing to utilize this feature within the Schoology platform.

Every district Schoology account comes with a complimentary, basic Schoology Conferencing package. It was brought to our attention that this complimentary package supports a district-wide total of about 250 participants at any one given time. This means that if 10 teachers each had 25 students on a meeting using Schoology Conferences, and they were all using it during the ten o’clock hour, this would max out our district-wide meeting capacity during that time. It would be possible at that point for users to experience instability with the tool — class participants or teachers being “kicked off” meetings, the inability to join or re-join a meeting, sluggish performance, lags in video, or other degraded service issues.

While Schoology Conferences is convenient and handy, our district did not purchase the tool as an add-on because of cost and our existing licensure for Microsoft Teams (part of the Office 365 Suite) that has been purchased by the WVDE.

While Schoology Conferences is still available for use, please note that if you choose to use this tool, you and your students may experience degraded performance during your meetings. We do not have a way to track or limit the number of users of Schoology Conferences, so please use with caution and at your own risk.

Using Microsoft Whiteboard During Teams Meetings

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Have you often wondered how teachers use their iPads to demonstrate content to students? Many teachers utilize Microsoft Whiteboard in coordination with Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Whiteboard is simply a digital dry erase board that you can use as a stand-alone tool or collaboratively with students. This tool also allows teachers and students to create a digital product that can include features such as photos, shapes, drawings, text, backgrounds, etc. To learn more about using Microsoft Whiteboard during a Teams Meeting, please check out this resource. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact one of your Wood County Schools Technology Integration Specialists.