Students Win in ConnectME (My Education) Approval

On April 14, 2020, the Boulder Valley School District School (BVSD) Board took a giant leap forward to ensure the digital divide, otherwise known as the homework gap, is dramatically reduced for the students of our district. They did this by approving a long term contract with Live Wire Networks to provide over the air broadband to qualifying students for free. This public-private partnership is the culmination of 5+ years of work to close the digital divide in BVSD. It has taken a broad team to support the pilot as we slowly progressed to a scalable district-wide solution.

When the major internet providers did not provide free internet to those in need, and the FCC rules would not allow BVSD to run E-Rated internet into the Boulder Housing Partner facilities, a new way to connect students was needed. As a result, ConnectME launched and Live Wire Networks leaned-in as a partner, putting their FCC-approved equipment on three schools in Lafayette, CO, allowing them to connect over 50 qualified students to free internet.

My drive to close the digital divide has always been about ensuring our district provides every student an equitable opportunity to learn. Our current situation with the Coronavirus and remote learning has shed an intense light on the homework gap and how it is real, even in BVSD. This national blog put out by SHLB (Schools-Health-Libraries-Broadband) further explains the challenges students face without internet access.

Boulder Valley School District has set a local, state, and national precedent in solving the digital divide that we hope others will use as a model to build upon. In addition to Live Wire Networks providing free internet to eligible students, BVSD will also share in the revenue generated by providing an over the air alternative for internet access to the BVSD communities in Boulder, Nederland, Broomfield, Erie, Louisville, Lafayette, and Superior.

I appreciate this tremendous team effort, and I am pleased we will now move from pilot to full implementation. As always, please share your thoughts by chiming in below.

Andrew, CIO Boulder Valley School District

   

How Technology is Embedded in the Success Effect

By now, most readers of my blog will know about the Success Effect, but if you do not, it is the strategic plan centered around learning, talent, and partnerships for BVSD. In July of this past year, our superintendent, Dr. Messinger, published a blog detailing the work of six Priority Action Teams for the implementation of the BVSD Success Effect.

The question has come up, where is the technology goal or initiative in the plan? That is a great question which I will explore in this blog.

I look at technology as a tool to enable components of learning, such as student engagement or collaboration, to be successful. Technology is a means to the end, not the end itself.   

With that in mind, the implementation of technology in the learning environment is an expectation embedded within each plan. BVSD also has technology standards and skills embedded in all BVSD curriculum and in Educator Effectiveness standards.

I encourage you to read the BVSD Ed Tech Blog posts detailing how BVSD students are using technology for unique digital learning experiences. This work, along with the ways technology will be utilized to develop the Success Effect, paints a picture of why bridging learning with digital tools is valuable and necessary.

Technology appears in each strategic goal as a tool, outcome or both. For example, in Literacy & Early Learning, there is a task that will determine how to utilize technology to deliver high-leverage strategies in literacy, scaffolds for language development, and opportunities for differentiation. Once the tools are selected, teachers and students will then use these tools for literacy instruction and assessment.

Another example of how technology is embedded into the BVSD Success Effect is through the priority action team of Educator Growth & Development. This team is evaluating how professional development for BVSD educators can be personalized, differentiated and on-demand.

This will require exploration of digital tools in order to provide personalized professional development. An example could include using video conferencing and online webinar software to provide distance and blended learning opportunities for professional development in order to reach all teachers when they are available. It may also include the use of Schoology for managing discussions and example student products shared by teachers. Technology will be an integral part of the learning experience for our educators.

I believe technology is a valuable tool to enable our students with differentiated experiences to prepare them for the digital world in which they live. Working with my peers and the Superintendent, my team will stay abreast of technology in education and select the tools that are most effective. Transformation is happening with tablets, Chromebooks and more advanced software to help our students and teachers thrive. 

What you have just read is in alignment with the vision of the Boulder Valley School District: We develop our children’s greatest abilities and make possible the discovery and pursuit of their dreams which, when fulfilled, will benefit us all. We provide a comprehensive and innovative approach to education and graduate successful, curious, lifelong learners who confidently confront the great challenges of their time. I believe technology is an essential element of the BVSD educational program to realize this vision and graduate successful, curious, lifelong learners who confront the great challenges of their time.

I’d like to know your view on technology and how it enhances the learning experience.  Please chime in below.

Andrew

iBoss - New Web Filter this Summer

A modern, reliable web filter is a necessity for all school districts, especially as more learning is done online. As technology changes, we continue to enhance our tools to ensure a safe computing environment for our students. To that end, over the summer we are installing a new web filter called iBoss that will replace and improve upon our existing web filter. iBoss is widely used in school districts across our state.

When you return in August, you will notice a few differences in your web filter experience:

• You will see a different block page, similar to the example below.

• There will be a simpler way for staff to override the filter. Instead of entering a district-wide username and password, you will enter your BVSD username and password.
• Students will never have the option to override a blocked page.
• Staff will not have the ability to override certain categories, like Pornography and Malware.
• Web sites categorization is a vendor-specific process, which means that sites may be placed in a different category in the iBoss filter than they were in the previous solution. This may result in some pages being blocked that currently aren’t, and vice-versa. Through our testing this summer we hope to identify and resolve many of those issues before you return.

The process for requesting that a site be blocked or unblocked will remain the same. Submit an IT Service Request and include the URL (web address) and the reason why you want the site blocked or unblocked. The Ed Tech team will review your request and notify you of a resolution. Remember that during the first few months the iBoss web filter is in place, you may notice a difference in which sites are blocked/unblocked. Please submit an IT Service Request when you notice these discrepancies.

It’s important to remember that any web filter, no matter how sophisticated, is only one part of keeping kids safe online. Digital citizenship skills are more effective than any web filter, but they require education, evaluation, and effort. I encourage everyone—teachers, students, staff, and parents—to learn how to be good digital citizens. You can learn more by visiting Ed Tech’s Digital Citizenship website, as well as the Digital Citizenship resources from Common Sense Media.

Please chime in below with your thoughts on web filters and digital citizenship.

Andrew