#Fakenews, Print Friendly, + Badgewall update.

The 24 hours news cycle creates a seemingly insurmountable amount of content for students and teachers to navigate through.  Unfortunately, not all of it is factual or true, making it hard for readers to distinguish fact from fiction. To empower our students against #fakenews, Google has created Fact Check to supplement the already powerful Google Search.

...when you conduct a search on Google that returns an authoritative result containing fact checks for one or more public claims, you will see that information clearly on the search results page. The snippet will display information on the claim, who made the claim, and the fact check of that particular claim.

Fact Check is not available for every search result. If a fact check made by a publisher meets certain requirements, Google automatically shows a summary of that fact check. In order for a search result to have a fact check, it requires: 

1. The publisher of the fact check must be a trusted source of information (determined by an algorithm)
2. The content must clearly tell you which claims are being checked, conclusions about the claims, how conclusions were reached & citations and primary sources of information

It is Google's position that even though differing conclusions may be presented, they still think it’s helpful for people to understand the degree of consensus around a particular claim and have clear information on which sources agree. As Google makes fact checks more visible within search results, they believe people will have an easier time reviewing and assessing the validity of the search results and making their own informed opinions. Keep in mind that Google does not endorse any of these fact checks.

To find out more about this new feature, visit the Help Center. 

Print Friendly and PDF removes ads, navigation, and junk before your print. Optimize any webpage for the ultimate print or reading experience and save on paper and ink when you print with Print Friendly.

Print Friendly and PDF boast two primary features

1. Edit Before Printing: Click-to-delete any content before printing, remove images or individual images, or change the text size from larger to smaller.
2. Print or Save as PDF: Generate PDFs for archiving, sharing, or saving. PDFs include clickable links, and source URL so you can continue to interact with the content.

Click here for "Print Friendly & PDF": 

Our self-guided EdTech Badge Wall Challenge has been a tremendous success. Over 75 teachers from our district have invested time into building their G Suite Competency! The cut-off to earn up to 15 PD hours is May 17, but the actual Badge Wall will continue to be available going forward. For more information on the White Bear Lake Badge Wall Challange, see this blog post.

Our New Face Lift, Google Classroom PD, Tech Cohort and BrightBytes

As you can see, we've made some changes to the way that we will pass on our tech wisdom to you. On this blog you will be able to search through the whole archive of Tech Tips to quickly find answers to your questions. 

Google Classroom PD for CEUs

On Monday, September 29th Cassie and I will be offering a 45-minute professional development session on Google Classroom. The session will start at 7 am in the South Campus Media Center.

You will receive CEUs for your attendance at this session! You will need to register in PDExpress to get credit for this session. (login here) Once logged in click "In District Events" at the top of the page and select "In District Event Catalog". 

2014-2015 Technology & Leadership Cohort

Starting October 27, 2014, ~30 teachers will begin White Bear’s second Technology & Leadership Cohort focused on improving leadership and technology skills through four blended courses.  Members will also earn 15 graduate credits and a Technology & Leadership Certificate through Hamline. The Cohort will be taught in a blended format with all face to face meetings being held Monday afternoon/evenings once month.

Last year’s Cohort was a huge success, and we are delighted to extend the opportunity to a new group of White Bear teachers!  Learn more in the brief description below and read the full description at bit.ly/WBLAS1415cohortinfo. 

Applications are due October 9th, so start crafting your responses soon!  

The focus of these classes will be to enhance practice of integrating technology into White Bear’s curriculum as well as build leadership skills in teachers in the field of technology and learning. 

Contact the tech department or one of last year's cohort members with any questions.

It's coming...

Be ready to participate in this year's BrightBytes survey in the upcoming weeks. Important technology related decisions for the district are made based on the data from this survey. Those who speak are the ones who are heard. Our goal is 100% participation at every school.