2019 Utah Rural Schools Conference

Computer science teacher challenges include isolation, lack of adequate CS background, and limited professional development resources (Yadav, 2016). Implementing equitable district-wide CSforALL brings even more considerable challenges and requires an approach which supports teachers and districts through ongoing PD, district instructional coaches, a focus on content and pedagogy, and collaboration between teachers and with district leadership. Sustainability is an additional challenge requiring a long-term district-wide solution.

Juab School District, with funding from the Utah STEM Action Center, has partnered with the nonprofit organization BootUp Professional Development to support the Juab Elementary Coding Initiative. We have rolled out a computing curriculum for 100% of our 5th - 6th graders and will add all 4th graders to the program this fall. Krystle Bassett, Innovation Specialist at Juab School District will share tangible implementation tips while highlighting and detailing challenges and successes.

The new "Badgr" platform has been adapted by Instructure as the native badging system for Canvas. Do you know how to use it? Stop by for a quick tutorial and some ideas for using Badgr with your Canvas instance to gamify learning, setup a micro-credentialing system, and more!

Overdrive is a great platform for accessing a variety of ebooks and audiobooks. There are a  lot more “behind the scenes” resources that can help you manage and promote your library. We will explore curating lists, assigning titles, using the "Recommend to Library" tool and accessing printable handouts.
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