Wow!  That’s about all I can say.  

Our ISS team has been working around the clock to be “part of the solution” as our districts  work to provide home instruction to students.  We quickly realized we could help our region prepare for home instruction by doing what we do best, providing online professional development to regional educators.   

Over the past eight days, we have convened job-alike educators in online sessions (viz Zoom technology) to share how districts will provide home instruction, to learn new methods and technology tools, and to serve as a "support group" for teachers who are, like their students, trying to make sense of what is happening in our world.
 
Our first sessions were packed with teachers working from home.  And each day since, attendance has grown.  So far, 2,641 participants have signed into sessions!

Working online has been so very rewarding.  Our facilitators “passed the mic” to almost every teacher to build community with a large groups of strangers.  It has been amazing to see our region at kitchen tables and in living rooms trying to take a step forward…and, as you know, any step forward right now feels so good.  We have heard time after time the resolve that teachers have to attempt to connect with their students and to continue their learning.  It has been so inspiring. 

Our support will continue through this journey with new sessions starting on Tuesday (3/31).  Contact your local administrator for our session schedule and connection information.  

By:  Tim Cox, CA BOCES ISS

It seems so much of our world has gone online and so many of us are using Zoom more than ever before.  With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to share some of Zoom’s security features so that any of your hosted meetings are as secure as you’d like them to be. 

• Let’s start with YOUR account:  I recommend obtaining your Zoom account through CA BOCES because we provide licenses included within our DL COSER…so you might as well get your money’s worth.  Anyone can go to Zoom directly and sign up for a “free” account, but those accounts come with limitations and we can’t support them locally.  If you obtain your account through CA BOCES, we CAN support you locally AND we know they’re always encrypted (there should be a little green lock icon in the upper left corner of your meeting rooms – this means your meeting is encrypted).  There is a wonderful Tech and DL team that is VERY responsive too!  Contact anyone on the team at anytime!  You can tell if your account is running through BOCES in a couple different way.  Ways to tell if your account is through BOCES:
  • Email Carrie Oliver ([email protected]).  She can see all accounts and she will let you know.
  • OR - When YOU schedule meetings, the link will always look something like this: “https://E2CCB-GST.zoom.us/xxxxxxxx”.  If it doesn’t have “E2CCB-GST” in the link…your account is directly through Zoom and is NOT a local account.  Email Carrie Oliver and she can set you with a local account. 
• Explore your Zoom security settings in YOUR account:  You can explore various Zoom security settings that are possible with Zoom accounts so your hosted meetings are as “open” or as “locked down” as you’d like them to be.  To explore how your account is set up and to make changes to your account, follow these quick steps:
  • From a computer, on an internet browser go to https://zoom.us (you can check some of these settings on a mobile device but things will look different).
  • Click on “SIGN IN” located in the upper right corner of the screen.
  • Sign in with your Zoom account credentials.
  • You will see several menu options down the left side of the screen.  To review security settings, click on “Settings”.
  • Once on the “Settings” screen you will see a list of features you can enable or disable to personally design features for meetings YOU initiate or host.   
  • Settings you may want to consider: 
    • Host Video and Participant Video Settings – Enabling either of these features will automatically show video upon meeting entry, rather than manually starting video. 
    • Join Before Host – Disabling this feature will not allow participants to gather in a meeting room until you arrive and begin the meeting. 
    • Various Password Settings – Consider using required passwords so only those with required passwords can access your meetings.  Remember, open meetings use links and anyone can access your meeting if they have or obtain the link.  
    • Mute Participants Upon Entry – Enabling this feature will automatically mute incoming participants to your meetings and you can control any participant’s ability to speak. 
    • Private Chat – You may want to disable private chat.  Doing this may allow participants to focus on the reason for your meeting rather than back-channel chats that you have no ability to see.  There is NO way for the host to access private chat messages. 
    • Allow Host to Put Attendee On Hold – This feature is always on and allows you, as the host, to remove any participant from your meeting. 
    • Allow Removed Participants to Rejoin – Enabling this feature will allow previously removed participants to rejoin your meeting.  You may want to disenable this feature so removed participants CANNOT rejoin your meeting if they’ve been removed.
    • Waiting Room – Enabling this feature will create a virtual waiting room for your meetings where you, as the host, must individually admit participants into your meeting. 

 
There are many settings worth exploring.  And, there is a great team of people that can help you navigate these features.  Feel free to reach out to anyone on our team for assistance:

• Amy, Windus, Program Manager   [email protected]
• Karen Insley, Coordinator  [email protected]
• Carrie Oliver, Technical and Support Specialist  [email protected]           
• Nate Malick, Technician  [email protected]
• Mike Meyers, Technician  [email protected]

​By Tim Cox, CA BOCES ISS

​In my short experience working with the Instructional Support Services Team and being introduced to the online world that is available to our students, I have come to realize that I could have done so much more for my students in the classroom.
OK…. OK…. Don’t get all in a bunch!! I know that for us educators, doing more is always included when we are preparing for our classrooms of students each day…… BUT …… had I known about MOODLE I could have created blended learning experiences that also made my valuable time more efficiently used. Possibly even giving me some self-care time!!
I have been working and creating course work in MOODLE for the past few months, as well as completing some of free training that is available to help maneuver all the options within MOODLE. Of course…..it is something that will need to be created and set up, but once it is done it will allow for more time.  Great resource and great experience for inclusion of the classroom.
We are always available to assist with any questions or concerns. 

By: Lisa Scott, CA BOCES Learning Resources

By: Christina McGee, CA BOCES Learning Resources

Have you ever taken an online course? Do you have any idea what is available in the catalogues of online providers? Well… I sure didn’t have any idea of the range of availability to our students. I entered into a new position this school year with Instructional Support Services Division as a Distance Learning teacher for Learning Resources, and let me share with you that I am very excited and in awe of what I can now help offer to our students through CABOCES. Even amongst all of the overwhelming moments that the new school year brings I am HOOKED ONLINE and sinker!!

As I started being introduced to the inclusions of the position, I began to realize all that was available and waiting for students to utilize. The course catalogues, with content areas across the board, displayed on the website and promising  to enhance the educational experience in addition to the core and elective selections offered within their district. I would encourage you to take a moment and browse the listings, share it with your friends, coworkers, even your children at home. The students are supported through the Learning Resources department with any technical difficulties or questions as well as communications with course instructors as needed. It gives the students more choices, individual learning skillbuilding, and support as needed. What more could they want ?? 😊

I look forward to working with all the students in all the districts who are taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity. If you have not done so already, take time to check out the long list of opportunities available to our students. Pass the line (HAHA).... and enjoy the atmosphere of being HOOKED ONLINE for learning.

By: Lisa Scott, CA BOCES Learning Resources

​It’s a new year and CA BOCES’ is releasing its new online course catalog for electives and core courses for the Spring 2019 semester, bringing updated information and an easy guide to signing your students up for online courses. 

The online department has been growing and perfecting its offerings for over a decade. Through that process, the distance learning team has searched for the best possible classes to offer students residing throughout Allegany and Cattaraugus counties. The team is constantly on the lookout for new opportunities to make sure that students in this region can compete with college-ready students across the nation, including having the technological skills and online interactions necessary to compete in today’s world.

Literacy is an invaluable tool, and digital literacies are a vital part of that. Educators are responsible for teaching this aspect of education as much as any other both ethically and as emphasized through the ESSA guidelines and funding opportunities for school districts. According to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology, “Technology can be a powerful tool for transforming learning” and “can help […] reinvent our approaches to learning and collaboration, shrink long-standing equity and accessibility gaps, and adapt learning experiences to meet the needs of all learners.” Accordingly, students who have opportunities in online education learn how to participate in discussion forums, online collaboration, and digital assignment submission. Further, students receive feedback in a digital format (video responses, interactive comments, and email to name a few), develop self-advocacy skills, and experience giving online presentations and conducting online research. Through all these experiences, they become adept and fluent contributors and collaborators in a digital learning environment.

Looking into our students’ futures, online courses are part of most college and university programs. As educators, we have an obligation to make sure that students are ready to navigate all types of course content and structures, learn to communicate in a fully digital realm, and have a firm grasp of online etiquette in order to be prepared for their future college classes in an ever-expanding digital world. Offering online classes to our students in high school, means that they will have a guided experience with a mentor, have the flexibility to develop their own online learning style, and have the safety of someone to assist if the need arises, unlike in many college environments where students are on their own to figure out the details AND to succeed in an online environment with often costly outcomes if they are unsuccessful.

Knowledge gained in online classes is essential both from the experience of learning in an online environment and from the strategies acquired to learn in a different. These skillsets are broad and range from practicing collaboration needed work with a team in most occupational environments to knowing online platforms enough to attend Harvard’s next online business course. Students will be ready to compete for college acceptance letters and job markets because they have had a chance to experience online learning in a high school setting. 
​
For more information about online learning, video conference courses, or credit recovery options, please contact Distance Learning at 716-376-8270.

​By:  Christina McGee, CA BOCES Learning Resources

The distance learning team at CA BOCES, including Christina McGee, Justine Lombardi, and Karen Insley, have been busy traveling all over the region getting students enrolled in credit accrual and credit recovery courses. Students have a chance to increase the breadth of their transcripts, develop interests, try out vocational fields, and develop skillsets that can’t be offered within their districts. Further, if students are on medical leave or injured, they can keep up with their curriculum, and even with gym classes, in an online setting. Students also have opportunities to recover lessons, units, quarters, and semesters through the CA BOCES credit recovery program, meaning that students can catch up before they need further interventions. The CA BOCES team offers courses through seven different providers, including courses taught by our own teachers, Christina McGee and Justine Lombardi.

The most popular courses this year are Sociology, Health, Forensic Science, Marine Science, Physical Education, Spanish, Careers in Criminal Justice, English 10, Introduction to Military Careers, Physics, and Psychology. Students are also learning about astronomy, sports marketing, digital art, 3D Modeling and animation, world religions, mythology and folklore, social problems facing the world, and many other notable studies.

For more information please contact Distance Learning at 716-376-8270.

​By:  Christina McGee, CA BOCES Learning Resources

Last week District Superintendent Lynda Quick, Esq. learned that Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES has been awarded a grant for $466,686 from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The grant, known as the Rural Utility Service (RUS) Distance Learning grant, will be implemented by Cattaraugus Allegany BOCES and eleven area school districts to upgrade video conferencing equipment and other technologies.

The equipment upgrades will provide all three Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES Career and Technical Education (CTE) Centers, as well as Belfast, Bolivar-Richburg, Cuba-Rushford, Franklinville, Friendship, Genesee Valley, Hinsdale, Olean, Salamanca, Scio, and Wellsville Central School Districts, with new portable, high definition video conference capabilities that schools will use to provide students and teachers with a variety of distance learning opportunities including videoconference courses, virtual field trip experiences, and expanded access to nanotechnology capabilities.

This is not the first USDA RUS Distance Learning grant received by Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES and component school districts. The Distance Learning Team at CA BOCES has been applying for and receiving RUS grants since 1997, resulting in eight previous awards and millions of dollars in equipment for our schools.

“Over the years, USDA funding has built a virtual school in our region," stated Lynda Quick. Over forty virtual classes connect via video conference every single day, allowing schools to share the instructional expertise of their outstanding faculty members. Additionally, hundreds of students to take other online courses because of this funding. These virtual courses are critical in expanding offerings in small rural schools that, over time, have been stripped of the ability to offer many (or any) AP, college credit, or elective courses to their students.
​
Lynda Quick also shared, "This award helps put a dent in leveling the playing field. It helps our students build a transcript that can be competitive in the post-secondary arena." Grant implementation will begin immediately.

Are you looking for resources and don’t know where to turn? Maybe you have some idea of what you are looking for and don’t have the time to cull through the myriad options available. At the CABOCES Learning Resources center in Allegany, we will have a training in January for the teachers in our two county area, highlighting all that our Staff Specialists here can do for you and your students.
​
Learning Resources has recently had an increase in the amount of resources being used by our component schools, but there are still so many things being underutilized. So as part of this training, the Staff Specialists went through each branch of Learning Resources and how they can assist with curriculum and content, utilization of online and digital support, as well as providing tangible resources to use in the physical classroom. The teachers who have gone through the training before have been amazed at the hundreds of thousands of resources available and how each department can either assist with or provide instruction on the various aspects of digital resources and technology, STEM, Library services, and distance learning. 

​Both STEM and the Digital Media program provide kits that can be used in the classroom to aid instruction and provide hands-on activities. Online resources accompany those kits, as well as accessing the SNAP system to find additional support. The Distance Learning branch has many components, including Moodle and Mahara, credit recovery, virtual field trips, collaborative classrooms, online learning, and Adobe Connect. Additionally, our Library Resources offers support to all 22 school libraries in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties, implementation of the inter-library loan system, and provides online usage of Britannica and World Book.
 
If you are not utilizing any of these resources, only using some of them, or need to know more, come join us on January 12 at our Learning Resources center in Allegany, NY.
 
By: Alexandra L. Freer, CA BOCES

​Online learning has had a twenty-one percent increase in enrollment numbers since 2014 alone.  The distance learning team at CA BOCES has been busy traveling to many districts helping students with their online classes.  The most popular courses this year are Computer Science, Psychology, Sociology, Veterinary Science, Criminology, Game Design, German, Creative Writing, Engineering Design, Introduction to Entrepreneurship, Law and Order, and Personal Finance. Although these are the most popular, students are also learning about astronomy, sports marketing, digital art, 3D Modeling and animation, world religions, mythology and folklore, social problems facing the world, and many other diverse and remarkable things.

Every year the online enrollment numbers seem to increase due to students’ curiosity shifting and job markets broadening the skills required for employment. Students say that online courses give them a chance to try out many things that aren’t offered in their districts. As juniors try to determine where their enthusiasm lies for future college degrees, they use online courses to test out content areas and to deepen their skills in areas they are already passionate about.

​By:  Christina McGee, CA BOCES Learning Resources

Over the past six months, I’ve had the pleasure of serving as a mentor for Patrick Coyle as he wrote his way through an online English credit recovery course.  Patrick is an intelligent young man who loves fishing, hunting and working on engines.  We studied together once or twice a week to help hone his English skills as he worked on his class. Patrick had a study hall set aside for his course, but was also willing to meet me after school to work on specific areas he was struggling to understand. 

Jamie is Patrick’s mother and she is rightfully proud of her son and his accomplishments.  I got to know them both over the time that I spent at Andover and enjoyed that time immensely.  I sat down with Jamie and Patrick at our last tutoring session to find out how they felt about Patrick’s online experience.  I wanted to know how Patrick felt as a student taking an online course and how Jamie felt as a parent of a student taking the course. Patrick said, “It was pretty straight forward, not very difficult.  It was a lot easier for me to work on my own than it was to sit in a classroom.  I’m easily distracted.”  He laughed a little then.

“Thinking back, how did you feel about the program going into it?” I asked.

“I wasn’t really sure.  I was kind of nervous because I hadn’t really done an online class before.  I don’t know. I knew I was going to need help because I usually tend to get off track. I just wasn’t sure about it at first.”

Jamie said almost the same thing when I asked her how she felt as a parent, “I wasn’t sure, going into it. I didn’t know what all it involved.” But as the course progressed and she saw how it worked, she began to really like it.  She said, “Well, what I really liked was him being able to do the work here in the computer lab. It was such a help. The biggest benefit for me was being able to do the online part here.”

Patrick said it was beneficial to him for a different reason.  He said, “It gave me an opportunity to work on it by myself. Whenever I could work on it, I could go and work on it. It was a lot easier for me to sit at a computer to do it than to sit in a classroom and do it.” He would also recommend it to other students who have a similar learning style – students who are self-motivated, able to push themselves, prefer working at their own pace and are willing to ask for help, if needed.

I then asked them both how they felt about feedback they received from their online teachers and coordinators.  Patrick said, “My feedback from my teacher, she always gave me feedback. It would take a day or two, but she always gave me good feedback on what I wrote about.  And you always gave me good feedback when we were working and it was always a great help to have you here and help me through this.”

Jamie said, “Yes, I mean with the emails saying this is how he did, he needs to work on this, he needs to add more to this, and you know, with somebody correcting it and then saying, you did well, but it could be better if you do these things, and then he could take that and then add more and take their constructive criticism and build on that to make it a better paper.”

Finally, I asked them whether they would recommend online classes to other students, teachers, and administration and I received a big and wonderful yes.  In Jamie’s words, “I would. Actually, administration, the superintendent who is no longer here – he retired last year, he actually suggested it to us because Patrick got hired by BOCES last year to work during the summer and he was so excited about that,  so he couldn’t go to summer school and work at BOCES, so the superintendant actually told us about this program.  I had no idea.  Yes, I would recommend it, especially for someone who has plans for the summer, whether it be a job or traveling or whatever.  It worked out great.” 

Then Jamie went on to say that the program was very beneficial for Patrick, “I’ve told you that with Patrick getting constructive criticism from you, it meant so much more to him than coming from mom.   In the way that you presented it to him, saying, you did good with this, but we need to work on this and here are some suggestions, now you go do it and you take the suggestions and do what you think you need to do.  I could see, and my mother-in-law mentioned that she could see, such a difference in Patrick with his self esteem, saying, you know, I can do this.  He just has a whole different attitude.”

And that is what online learning opportunities are about – helping students feel successful and achieve their goals.

By:  Christina McGee, CA BOCES