Atomic Learning helps lighten the Curriculum Director’s workload in regard to guiding teacher’s integration of technology in their classrooms. Through workshops, projects, as well as PD tools like the PD workbook and ePortfolio, teachers can work at their own pace to achieve the goals the Curriculum Director has set for them.

The library of workshops available in Atomic Learning help teachers understand why to include technology in their instruction.  Workshops can be used individually or through your professional development program.

Tech integration projects give teachers guided practice integrating technology into their classroom while the PD workbook helps teachers analyze their own curriculum and plan how the PD will be written into the curriculum.

Aligning curriculum and technology successfully requires strong cross-departmental communication. Join us for an online panel discussion on Aligning Curriculum and Technology to hear the successes and challenges two districts have experienced.

Register now.

Are you wondering why your staff isn't using your Atomic Learning access? Or are you a teacher with access to Atomic Learning but you don't know how to where to start? Learn from your peers, start a monthly or quarterly newsletter to share with your team highlighting all the new features of Atomic Learning along with tips for using technology in the classroom. You can even include usage stats to show how you and your peers are utilizing your technology resource!

Need more inspiration? Take a look at what our friends at Fort Bend ISD in Texas are using to get the word out to their team here!

Guest post by Sarah Fudin, University of Southern California

To ensure the best results for students, it's important to be deliberate and thoughtful in the way technology is incorporated into the curricula. Just layering tech on top fails to take advantage of the technology tools' full potential.

Join this complimentary webinar to hear how those 'in the trenches' are working together to find the best ways to integrate technology into teaching and learning.

Thursday, March 1st at 2:00 EST | 1:00 CST | 11:00 PST

Register now.

Are you struggling to find PD with relation to technology? Look no further, Atomic Learning IS your PD resource for tech integration!

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In this video, customer Monica Nahas shares how Fort Bend ISD in Texas has successfully implemented the Atomic Learning PD solution to encourage tech integration to positively impact student achievement.

Learn more.

SEG Measurement, a recognized education research firm and Atomic Learning partner, completed a thorough analysis of the impact of teacher technology integration training on student achievement during the 2010-11 school year. You can read more about the results here, but what we found interesting (and thought you might too) are the top 10 Atomic Learning resources the teachers used.

In no particular order, here are the most viewed videos, are these your favorites too?

It's that time of year again. This year, Atomic Learning continues our tradition of supporting green giving through providing virtual gifts to all of our wonderful partner schools and districts—ultimately helping the environment, while providing educators with valuable tips and tools for use at both school and home.

We're excited to announce the release of this year's eCard:

Mark Diehl, district technology coordinator at Little Falls Community Schools ISD 482 in Little Falls, MN was recently recognized as a runner-up in Tech & Learning magazine’s 24th annual Leader of the Year program. According to the publication, the visionaries who were named winners and runners-up exemplified extraordinary education technology leadership, often working within budgetary restrictions and limited resources.

Little Falls Community Schools was nominated for the award by its technology partner, Atomic Learning, who has been an integral part of the district’s Project REAL program, most recently bringing iPads to students in grades 5-12. To learn more about the district’s iPad initiative, download the eBook.

Atomic Learning has once again proved it has something for everyone! Take a look at this video to see a preview of what’s coming soon. And, if your school is considering moving to the cloud, you’ll really want to see this!

Whether you’re a Tech Coordinator or Curriculum Director working with tech integration, a PD Director assigning training, or even a teacher or student learning new software, Atomic Learning has the training to meet your needs and guide you through successful technology efforts at your school.

Did you miss the fireside chat with seasoned ed tech veterans from Atomic Learning last week? Catch the archived recording to hear best practices from their work with educators across the country (and around the globe) to implement tech integration programs.

Listen now.

Grab a cup of java, snuggle in, and join the discussion. This 30-minute web-meeting includes interviews with two seasoned ed tech veterans from Atomic Learning. Hear best practices from their work with educators across the country (and around the globe) to implement tech integration programs.

Hope you can attend! Register now.

Technology Integration Best Practices
Thursday, December 1, 2011
12 PM CST | 1 PM EST | 10 AM PST

Learn how Brad Flickinger, an Elementary Tech Teacher in CO flipped his classroom - the students learn content on their own and get help from the teacher later when they are working on their skills - to best reach his students with the help of Atomic Learning. Read more.

Grab a cup of java, snuggle in, and join the discussion. This 30-minute web-meeting includes interviews with two seasoned ed tech veterans from Atomic Learning. Hear best practices from their work with educators across the country (and around the globe) to implement tech integration programs.

To ensure the discussion addresses the topics of most importance to you, Atomic Learning is currently accepting question suggestions. Simply include your proposed topic in the notes field of the registration form.

Technology Integration Best Practices
Thursday, December 1, 2011
12 PM CST | 1 PM EST | 10 AM PST

Each year, CoSN (Consortium for School Networking) honors leaders in ed tech with the Withrow CTO Award for Educators and the TEAM Award. Nominations have been extended through November 12, 2011, so we invite you to take a moment to nominate your technology leader or team for the hard work they’ve done to enhance the educational experience through technology.

Learn more on the CoSN website.

Cyberbullying has become a topic of concern for all digital citizens and in honor of the recent National Cyber Security Awareness Month, we created this webcast to help educators like you bring awareness to your students. By teaching critical online safety and security skills, your students will become more cyber aware, both at school and at home.

This on-demand webcast walks you through all you need to know about internet safety. In only 10 minutes, learn how you can do your part to protect your students.

These Atomic Learning projects will help you integrate these concepts into your classroom:

The new project "Tour My School" takes your students through the process of creating a video presentation using iMovie® '09. The tutorial movies demonstrate, step-by-step, how to construct a multimedia slideshow using the sample images provided in the downloadable resource packet. This project can be easily modified or adapted for creating presentations related to other curriculum areas where the integration of images, text, narration, and music might be desired.

Students will learn how to import and edit images, record their voice, add transitions, music, and finally export their project as a movie file. The example project could be easily adapted to present information about your own school, or for projects in any curriculum area that could benefit from integrating images with music and sound.

Take a look at the project here.

Colorado tech teacher, Brad Flickinger, blogged about what he learned when he discovered Atomic Learning Spotlight training topics when he logged into Atomic Learning recently.

"The first thing to impress me were the Goals — they are broken down into three quick-read bullet points of Identify, Reflect and Plan. I could quickly review them and see if this was the right course for me. It was, so I continued."

Read more here.

Congratulations to Atomic Learning customer, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, named the 2011 winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education.

Recognized by US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, the district’s success in narrowing achievement gaps faster than any other district in North Carolina earned them the title.

Also recognized as runners-up were other Atomic Learning friends: Broward, Miami-Dade and Ysleta. Congratulations on all your achievements!

Read full article here.

A recent article in the New York Times highlighted a technology-rich school which had stagnated test scores. The premise of the article was that technology does not increase test scores, therefore it has little benefit to the classroom. What the article does not explore is the impact of professional development in the use of technology in the classroom.

Without instruction, most tools are less effective. Atomic Learning has recently partnered with SEG Research to complete a year-long study to determine the effects of technology in the classroom when teachers have been given access to professional development on technology integration and the infusion of 21^st Century Skills. A full research report will be released soon, but the preliminary data has reflected significant improvement in students test results when their teachers receive additional professional development on technology integration.

Online collaboration tools like Blogs, wikis, Linkedin^®, Twitter™, and Facebook^® open doors for us to interact and be more social in the ways we use the Internet. Educators in all areas can benefit by infusing some or all of these technologies in their learning environments. The new Collaborating with a Global Community Spotlight helps educators identify how teachers and students can connect themselves to a global community, reflect on the best global project(s) to introduce into the classroom and plan the necessary steps for implementing a project.

Spotlights provide a structured training path around important topics related to 21^st Century Skills and Technology Integration. The path allows teachers to quickly:

In the last year, a major change happened in education. The change is not one which grabbed headlines, but it did strongly influence education throughout the United States. Everyone involved in education knows of the Common Core State Standards, but very few understand how the new standards will influence classrooms on a day-to-day basis.

Six states have not adopted the Common Core State Standards, but all students will be influenced through text book changes, professional development planning and shared curriculum resources. For the first time, an eighth grade student in Tennessee will be required to learn the same curriculum as a student in California, Wisconsin, or Florida. As a result of this change, curriculum directors throughout the U.S. will be searching for ways to integrate the new standards into the classroom.

For years, Atomic Learning has been helping align standards and technology for easy classroom implementation. Our Tech Integration and 21^st Century Skills projects not only help integrate technology into the classroom, they also align with each state’s standards.

Atomic Learning projects align to:

Atomic Learning recently added new content to the site which includes new tutorials on Blackboard® 9.1, GAME:IT, Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion), and a fully updated Google Docs training series. Also included in this new content release are a new tech integration project on SMART Board Notebook 10 and a new workshop entitled The Social and Interactive Web: Today’s Web 2.0.

In the new Blackboard® series, students will learn how to navigate the application, retrieve and submit assignments, take tests online, and use features such as a calendar and address book.

Created by award winning high school technology teachers specifically for high schools, GAME:IT is an introductory level game development course. This series features training for 11th and 12th grade students to learn the basics of game development, programming & graphic design along with the accompanying physics and math concepts used in building a real, working game.

"Integrating technology" is often talked about, but not always taught about... what are effective strategies for integrating technology, where's a good place to start, and how can Atomic Learning help?

Atomic Learning customers are invited to this free online training session to learn more about the key features of Atomic Learning for professional development, how-to training, and classroom tech integration. This session will cover:

-  How to access just in time training
-  An overview of professional development tools
-  Resources to integrate today’s technology into your curriculum with one easy search

Learn how our resources can assist with all curriculum areas at each grade level, and share with you tools to enhance and build your classroom into a 21st century-rich learning environment.

Register for a session now by clicking a date below:

Tue, Aug 9, 2011 1:45 PM - 2:45 PM CDT

Funding for education is always a concern, but when tight budgets force heavier workloads and elimination of positions it becomes even more important. Investing your grant dollars in Atomic Learning eases the strain on your tech and professional development teams so they can continue to bring effective embedded professional development to your district.

The just-in-time platform brings the professional development to teachers when and where they need it, and keeps them in the classroom to continue to create college and career ready students. Learn about how your school or district might qualify for funding you can apply to professional development efforts here.

After teachers have identified the workshops for delivering online instruction, the next step is applying the concept to their curriculum. Atomic Learning makes this easy with Tech Integration and 21st Century Skills projects which include:

• Step-by-step tutorials that walk you through the projects
• Project Activity Guides
• All the resources needed to recreate the example projects

Put the Effective Online Teaching & Learning concept into practice with these classroom projects:

Cyberbully? No Way, Not Me
Internet Safety: Be Aware
Internet Safety & Social Networking