By Clarissa Silva
Texas City ISD Media Relations
Today’s society has gone digital. From social media to ordering our groceries and paying our bills, we can do almost everything online and digitally. The use of technology and the cultivation of digital literacy has become more important than it’s ever been, according to Texas City ISD Chief Technology Officer Gina Covington. It’s why the district’s technology department has made it their mission to provide students with the necessary hardware and applications to prepare them not only for school, but also for their futures.
The district has integrated several applications into the curriculum to assist students both in the classroom and at home. One of the biggest is Canvas, TCISD’s learning management system that is used to provide content.
“It’s interactive; it’s where teachers provide content,” Covington said. “It allows kids to go back and practice and have links to the activities they’ve had – whether it’s a video the teacher wanted them to see or an activity they wanted them to do. It’s all there.”
An added benefit to Canvas is the recent addition of the parent portal where parents get a view into their child’s to see their course work, grades and communications with the teacher. They log into the parent app, get a code from their child and then have access to see everything that’s going on academically. “It’s powerful,” Covington said.
In addition to Canvas, the district currently has 17 different learning applications available for students to access to further develop the skills they’re learning in the classroom – everything from Typing.com that includes fun typing games and interactive lessons to BrainPop where students can watch and make videos about a variety of topics or even create or play games.
“These apps are really in alignment with what’s happening in the curriculum and how the STAAR test is now online,” Covington said. “We’re trying to practice the way we play so these tools are helping these kids learn how to do it so when they’re in the STAAR test, they can focus on the question and not on how to navigate the technology.”
The best thing is that students do not have to visit multiple websites to access the apps. Everything can be accessed through their Classlink Launchpad, which can be found on the TCISD website under Quick Links. It’s a single sign-on site and each student’s Launchpad is tailored to their grade and skill level.
“We’re trying to do more with fewer clicks,” Covington said. “So, they sign on once, they go to their Launchpad and they have all these applications that they can play with and work with at home.”
When it comes to students working with the apps at home, Covington recommended parents limit the amount of time students spend working in the app and how many apps they visit at a time.
“They shouldn’t be on there for hours; the time really depends on their age,” she said. “Kids will click anywhere. Communicate with the teacher to find out what they should be visiting and working on.”
