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The Digital Backpack
Your resource for online learning
Your trusted source for K-12 online learning insights, teaching strategies, and success stories from Michigan’s leading virtual education provider. Join us as we explore innovative approaches to help students thrive in the digital age.
Using Genius Hour to help students cultivate their passions and transform their world
Katie Tasch Bielecki
The most powerful thing we can do as educators is to invite our students to explore. Service-learning and project-based learning are two ways to allow students to explore and get involved in their communities. These two experiences continue to be woven into Katie Bielecki’s teaching and have spurred on the implementation of Genius Hour in her classroom.
Using Roadmaps to create deeply digital lessons for students
Denise Gallemore
Roadmaps is an open educational resource that allows teachers to create interactive, graphical, collaborative, and adaptive deeply digital lessons that are easy to use. This tool promotes collaboration between students and teachers which is why Denise Gallemore regularly uses it in her 5th-grade social studies and ELA classroom.
Pacing Guide for Success in Online Mathematics Courses
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
Jemma Bae Kwon & Kristen DeBrulerOnline gradebooks situated within a learning management system (LMS) go far beyond simply a space to record student grades. They offer a dynamic tool for monitorin
Using computer science and computational thinking in the kindergarten classroom
Taylor White
Kindergartners have the ability to do a lot more than we often expect from them. Taylor White’s use of computer science and computational thinking lessons opened her eyes to what kindergartners have the capacity to do at a young age. While she witnessed them break down problems with machines and codes, she began to see it bleed into how the students broke down problems with their peers.
Podcast: Digital Well-being
The Digital Backpack
In this episode, Jeff chatted with Kevin Santer, Lead instructor with the Career & Technology department at Michigan Virtual. Kevin shared his story about coming to education after a successful ca
[Webinar] Supporting Student Success Through Predictive Analytics
Michigan Virtual
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADZAI53Kt88[/embedyt] Learning analytics provides a mechanism to support educational decision-making and provide in-time interventions. This webinar focuses o
Podcast: Strong Student Relationships in Online Courses
The Digital Backpack
In this episode, Jeff chatted with Kevin Santer, Lead instructor with the Career & Technology department at Michigan Virtual. Kevin shared his story about coming to education after a successful ca
Are online courses "easier" than face-to-face courses?
Michigan Virtual
Debunking the common misconception that online courses are “easier” than face-to-face courses.
It’s not about the tech, but how you use it: a mindset for blended learning
Erich Ziegler
In my district, we continue to work on preparing our students for a changing world. Maintaining positive relationships is always important, but we need to get our students to “learn how to learn.” Whi
Using Piktochart in the Classroom
Lauren Graham
Some of my students were struggling with specific aspects of taking a course online, as well as certain assignments. They would send me emails that were along the lines of “I need help with the test I
Reaching the Summit, Scaling the Mountain called Personalized Learning
Sam Sicilia
I’ve been teaching for 14 years, most of which have been at the middle school level in an urban school district. I’m a risk taker, I enjoy trying new things in my classroom, especially when it comes t
Top 10 reasons students choose online summer credit recovery
Lisa Rohde
When a student fails a class — or perhaps multiple classes — they may come to the realization that taking classes over the summer is the only way they can graduate on time with the rest of their peers. For students facing this situation, taking summer courses online can be a great way to recover the credits needed for graduation without missing out on their existing summer plans.
Educating AP Students Across Locales
Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
In 2016, Michigan Virtual, in conjunction with partner schools in the Virtual School Leadership Alliance, published a report on educating students across locales. This report investigated how students
Using Google Slides to showcase student art and create an inviting online classroom
Lauren Nalepa
As an online teacher, Google Slides been the answer to all my hopes and dreams. Using it is like making a collage, but my fingers don’t get sticky! Pretty much everything I post in my online courses is created in Slides. One of my favorite ways to use Slides is for a Class Gallery, a place where students can showcase their artwork.
Using SeeSaw to help students set, achieve, and reflect on their goals
Young students often have a hard time thinking about actions, consequences, and, generally, anything that takes place in the future, so setting goals is not an easy task for them. In this article, Erin walks you through how to use the iPad App, SeeSaw, to help students set and achieve goals.
Using videos to spend more meaningful time with students
It’s my dream is to have a classroom that feels like a Starbucks with students spread all over the room, engaging in a variety of activities, working in a group on a lab, or working solo on an assignment.But how do you make this type of independent learning a reality? For me, the answer was the camera on my phone. I know, nothing fancy, no bells or whistles, just my camera. Thanks to the work shared by Ben Rimes, the power of the camera allows me to be in multiple places at once.
Summer Learning FAQs (with advice from Michigan districts who are doing it well!)
Michigan Virtual
Summer brain drain isn’t a myth. On average, it is predicted that students lose about one month’s worth of learning over the summer.
Step-by-step guide to setting up a successful online summer learning program
Michigan Virtual
If you’re looking to provide students at your school or district with more summer learning options, this step-by-step guide will help you think through the process of building a highly successful online summer learning program.
Podcast: Student Agency and Google Classroom
The Digital Backpack
Welcome to Digital Backpack! In our first Digital Backpack cast, we chat with Traci Smith, a high school English teacher at De La Salle. She shares some gems about connecting with students, creating a
Using PowToon to explain challenging concepts to students
Jaclyn Tyler
One of my challenges as an online teacher is this: I teach in an asynchronous program, so my students are not necessarily online at the same time as I am. One tech tool that has helped me to bridge this divide is PowToon, the video-making software that allows teachers to create engaging, animated clips to help explain challenging content to students.
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