IN West Jefferson Hills Spring 2017 | Page 69

As cloud-based technology becomes common place , it is only natural that traditional instruction and learning practices utilize its benefits as they pertain to anytime-anyplace access , meaningful collaboration , improved student autonomy and orientation , and educational equity .

What is the cloud ? Basically , the cloud is made up of remote storage and application resources which users have access to from any Internet-enabled device , anytime and anyplace . At West Jefferson Hills School District , we effectively utilize cloud-based technologies along with traditional instruction , learning , and brick and mortar classrooms . One of the main cloud initiatives in our district is the use of Chromebooks and Google Classroom . Chromebooks are inexpensive laptops and 2 in 1 tablets which are mainly designed to take advantages of cloud-based storage and applications . Most Chromebooks start around $ 200 , as opposed to $ 700 for a traditional laptop . Currently our district has about 620 Chromebooks and we are looking forward to purchasing more as needed and justified .
Google Classroom is a virtual classroom which teachers can use to distribute assignments to students , provide educational multimedia resources , monitor progress , and collaborate in a variety of ways both during school hours and off hours . Our teachers use Google Classroom side by side with traditional instruction to enhance instruction and

Cloud Computing and Google Classroom

SUHAIL BALOCH , TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR
students ’ metacognitive strategies . Google classroom can also be used for enrichment and remediation . Furthermore , Google Classroom effectively promotes higherorder thinking skills such as collection and analysis of provided information , evaluating ideas and information to reach conclusions or to justify / discredit a position or conclusion , and creating or producing something based on learned ideas and information . Specific benefits of Google Classroom include :
• It ’ s FREE
• Logical and intuitive user interface which is easy to use on any device with any operating system
• Serving as an effective and customizable portal for communications and collaboration between students and teachers from anywhere and at any time .
• Paperless environment with robust backups in the cloud assuring that assignments , student work , and instruction are always available and never lost
• Single gateway to share assignments , resources , and evaluations instantaneously regardless of group size
• Supports all learning styles including visual , auditory , and kinesthetic
• Allows shy , anxious or reserved students to contribute and interact with others
• Ability to provide Interdisciplinary instruction to students by teachers sharing resources across content areas and perhaps merging two or more classrooms for group instruction
• Provision for homebound students or inclement weather instruction
• Ability to personalize or pace learning for select students based on their ability or need
• Access to thousands of Chrome apps and extensions which teachers can use to enrich instruction
At the end of January 2017 , approximately 700 of our students were using Google Classroom in some capacity , including 250 Chrome app shares between staff and students and over 300,000 files created in the cloud .

As an innovative school district , West Jefferson Hills is committed to using commonplace and cutting-edge technology tools to augment traditional instruction and learning . We want our students to have the best possible educational experience available anywhere , along with opportunities for improved achievement . We want them to be prepared with 21st century skills regardless of the technology or challenges they encounter . We want them to have the capacity to work both collaboratively and autonomously . Finally , we want them to be aware of their abilities and capacity , and proud of their accomplishments . est Jefferson Hills

WEST JEFFERSON HILLS SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS

School District Real Estate Tax Collection Notification

Due to the recent change in the real estate tax collection as adopted by the West Jefferson Hills School District , all West Jefferson Hills Community members must pay their school district real estate taxes by December 31 of the calendar year to avoid delinquency . Please consult your tax collector with any questions .
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