Copy Tech is Happening @

 Last year we started exploring the idea of student digital portfolios. In English 9 students created their own Digital Portfolio Google site.They experimented embedding, linking and uploading different types of work, including Google Docs, Word Docs, scanned docs, screencasts. Visual Arts also joined in the experience including pictures of their work, reflections and art resources. This year started very busy with Grade 10 taking over the already created student portfolios and Grade 9 students started creating their own as well. Many conversations emerged about how this might look like in terms of checking progress. The English Dept  took the initiative to go for the organization of subjects under each grade level. At the image above you can see an example where the student organized the English work from last year under "Grade 9", creating new pages for "Grade 10". Visual Arts also continued using digital porfolios this year, and discussed how progress could be se...

 We kicked off the year with a technology integration partnership for using Diigo Social Bookmarking as a tool for collaboration in reading and in the development of a research databank. Caitlin decided to explore this tool that we have been talking about for some time last year right at the beginning of her new International Relations class, setting the tone for how students will manage reading. A Diigo group was created for the class and the students were invited to the group. The first activity involved using the powerful Diigo toolbar to collectively highlight an articled shared/bookmarked by the teacher. Therefore, all students in the class were able to read and highlight the same article, keeping a record of their activity for later access. The screenshot below shows the web article with highlights. The students then started their own research, adding individual bookmarks to be shared with the class. Together with the highlights, it is also possible to add "sticky notes...