Connect Colorado with Schoology

Earlier in October, Jeffco hosted the Connect Colorado with Schoology conference at the Ed Center. There were participants from all over Colorado and over 17 school districts, including some travelers from Nebraska and Wyoming. Jeremy Friedman, founder and CEO of Schoology, was the keynote speaker and provided a great overview of the many new features Schoology has added, as well as features that are in various plans of development that will make using Schoology even more robust and efficient.



Three big takeaways for our Jeffco teachers include the following:

1. There is an optional new Assessment Management Platform (AMP) which could be purchased and used for the development of district-wide common assessments. Additionally, there are new question types associated with this platform, some of which are to become part of Jeffco Schoology in the future.
1. Shared Passage
2. Label image
3. Highlight
4. Hotspot
5. Highlight Image
6. Highlight text
7. Math short answer
8. Number line
9. Chart
2. Using Schoology for “Techquity”
1. Sarah Woodward of Collegiate Prep Academy in Denver Public Schools discussed how she used Schoology to increase student achievement at her turnaround school. A couple of the many things she uses Schoology for are to post mentor texts and Cloze-style scaffolding discussion templates in her Schoology course. Once students master the technique, the scaffold is removed from assignments. Additionally, she posts an A-B-C protocol to support students as they learn to develop rich discussion posts.

3.  Integration of Google with Schoology - Sign up for an upcoming training on November 8th at Stevens Elementary)

• Link Google Drive to assign and submit work: This is a one-time easy process to have the ability to link Google Apps within Schoology assignments, discussions, pages and quizzes. Students will also be able to link work from their Google Drive to Schoology. Having this ability increases the use of documents in Google Drive and eases the workflow between student and teacher.
• Use Google Classroom to Complement Schoology: The role of Google Classroom is to manage your Google Drive. Google Classroom handles the sharing permissions and folder management for you and your students so assignments are assigned and collected through Classroom within Schoology. Using the two together can help maintain a consistent workflow between teachers and students, while keeping your Google Drive organized.