SET-BC Blog

Are you supporting a student who requires eye gaze access to a computer or communication device? Check out our new online course to learn about conducting trials, calibration, and how to set up and use the various eye gaze technology options!

Sept 21, 2018 – Our first provincial workshop of the year features Amy Block in Vancouver (F2F) and virtually (SD93 and 69). Register quickly!

Check out our SET-BC Quick Start Guide now updated for 2018-2019 – one-page guide to all our services and project deadlines! You can view this guide online or download a copy for printing.

We are pleased to present an online resource highlighting how technology can be used to support the First Peoples Principles of Learning. Thanks to the many teams who contributed their Synergy Project work to this wonderful resource.

On a sunny day in early November 2017, SET-BC Tier 1 consultants, Carmen Cheung and Debby Lee, presented two 2-hour sessions entitled “Using a Range of Technologies as Tools to Teach to Diversity” and “Showing What They Know”.

On April 9th 2018, dedicated team members who support complex needs students met at SET-BC to make custom resources.

This past school year, grade 2 teacher Beth Smith and her class at Brackendale Elementary School participated in the SET-BC Synergy Project: Supporting the Communication Competency with Technology.

At Cowichan Lake School in School District #79, classroom teacher, Lindsay Hartshorn believes in learning by doing, and in using the tools and options in your surrounding community to support educational goals.

It’s minus 17 degrees outside and an impromptu blizzard is blowing in alongside the remaining rays of afternoon sun. But the temperature in Alison Gordon’s kindergarten classroom is far from icy.

Asher is a bright, attentive and social student at View Royal Elementary School in SD #61, Victoria.

In March, Sumeet, Yik-Wah, and Iren, who are Tier 1 Provincial Teachers, facilitated an important conversation on digital citizenship with elementary school educators in the Sea to Sky School District (SD# 48).

What can technology do for my students? This is the million-dollar question that educators around the world have been asking themselves, particularly since the advent of mobile technologies.

On the February 16th Professional Development Day, about 20 Educational Assistants from the Surrey School district gathered at Cindrich Elementary to learn about Clicker 7 and how to implement it with the students they support.

Lance Lloyd is a grade 6/7 teacher in School District 71 who is using iPads in the classroom. He has been teaching 18 years, 13 of which have been at Lake Trail Middle School.

Many teams working with students who have significant physical access challenges look to eye gaze technology as a possible solution.

Siobhan Kivell is a grade 4/5 teacher at Quadra Elementary School in Victoria. She has been teaching for 12 years in the Greater Victoria School District.

St. Patrick Elementary is a warm and welcoming school in the heart of Vancouver. You can feel the spirit of community as soon as you step in the front doors.

Digital storytelling is a powerful and engaging educational practice that allows students of all grades to tell their story.

The Environmental School Project in Maple Ridge is an initiative supported by place-based, imaginative and ecological education. Students and educators teach and learn in their natural environment, rain or shine!

Ron Morwick is a grade 3 teacher at Blakeburn Elementary in Port Coquitlam, BC. He has been using technology for some time and is a great resource for his school and district.

On October 13th 2017, district specialists from the Lower Mainland came together to participate in the Physical Access Provincial Workshop.

As a Provincial Resource Program, SET-BC supports school districts, classrooms, and students in all corners of BC. In the northeastern corner, lies the northernmost classroom to receive services in the 2017-2018 school year – R.L. Angus Elementary, in Fort Nelson.

Embracing Diversity: Timmy Technology and Team Toolbox Take Off

Each spring, interested classroom teachers can apply to their district to be one of the classrooms to receive SET-BC service for the upcoming school year. Each district will set their own application deadlines and will decide which classrooms will receive CBS support.

Over the last few years SET-BC has worked with various French Immersion classrooms, partnering with the classroom teacher to integrate technology into teaching practice.

Could you access a computer without using your hands? Do you know how to provide reading and writing supports for your students using available district technology?

In its third year, the SET-BC Complex Needs Technology Project, opened its application period on November 1st. This very popular initiative provides district specialist teams with bundles of complex technologies to support student trials and assessments.

We are pleased to support a second year of our SETdirect initiative. This provincially coordinated project offers simple technology bundles designed to support social inclusion for students with complex needs.

We are so excited to be welcoming Dr. Jennifer Katz back for another great presentation! Dr. Katz presented Inclusion in the High School last year at our District Partner Conference and many attendees indicated the information shared was important for all educators.

SET-BC got off to a busy and early start this September presenting the first SET-BC workshop only six days into the start of the year.

Looking for Remembrance Day resources to use with your students? resourceSET has a number of student activities you may find useful. For those accessing ARC-BC, there are also a few accessible books available on the theme.

Ryan Nast, a grade six teacher and Laura MacLellan, a Learning Resource teacher at Colquitz Middle School are pleased to share the results of their experience with a Classroom-based Solution (CBS) this year.

Grade 4/5 students at Harry Hooge Elementary and Blue Mountain Elementary in Maple Ridge found multiple uses for the app Explain Everything.

Barbara Sveistrup and Jolene Olsen’s kindergarten classes at Davidson Road Elementary in SD23 were busy this year introducing new technology to their already robust list of teaching tools and skills.

“Scratch for the Classroom” was one of the first applications the Grade 6/7 classroom at Glenbrooke Middle School in New Westminster leapt into with the 15 Chromebooks SET-BC loaned for their Tier 2 Classroom-based Solution.

On a rainy Friday in early May, SET-BC consultants Danielle Verge and Joti Chahal headed to Port Hardy to facilitate a workshop on Place Based Education (PBE) at Port Hardy Secondary School.

Learning to effectively implement technology within the classroom can be a challenge for teachers.

Ford is a bright Grade 1 student who loves to learn. Ford enjoys participating in learning activities in class but has some challenges accessing information because of vision and hearing impairments.

Kristina Carley’s Gr. 4/5 class at Marlborough Elementary in Burnaby are not ‘newbies’ when it comes to using technology. Kristina has worked with each student to set up their own e-portfolios connected to the classroom’s blog.

This school year, Norman Jay wanted to revamp his teaching strategy in order to connect and engage all learners in his Science classroom.

SET-BC Classroom-Based Solutions rely on the Team-building with Clicker 7 committed and invigorating energy that often occurs when teachers collaborate to support their students.

Janine Buckley, Grade 4/5 teacher at Ecole Puntledge Park Elementary in Courtenay, BC, challenged herself to take on a SET-BC Classroom-Based Solution for the 2016-17 school year.

We are very excited to be offering additional Synergy Project support for the 2017-2018 school year! These are district- or school-based projects focusing on four areas. Deadline is June 15th!

Throughout history the practice of teaching has always brought changing ideas. The ability to embrace change is necessary and sometimes intimidating, though teachers are often at the forefront of finding the courage to grow professionally in order to reach students in an evolving world.

We are excited to announce that the applications for the 2017-2018 Synergy Projects (formerly known as the Classroom-based Projects) are now available! Check our our Synergy Project area for complete information!

Is there anything more enjoyable than having time to try, to experiment and to explore? In Andrew’s McPhee’s Grade 5 classroom on Salt Spring Island, learning is measured while observing the growth of students’ interest and problem-solving skills when confronted with various technology challenges.

Enseigner le français langue seconde au huitième niveau demande qu’on cherche toujours de nouvelles façons d’engager les élèves. Jeux, exercices de grammaire, documents authentiques, projets d’art….on essaie tous les trucs pour présenter aux élèves la langue d’une façon intéressante pour qu’on veuille apprendre et qu’on veuille essayer de la parler.

Our online training schedule for March, April, May and June is now available!

Two schools in Saanich are exploring new ways to help students learn to write a five point paragraph using RW4GC (Read and Write for Google Chrome) and G Suite tools on Chromebooks.

During the 2015-2016 school year, SD 63 Saanich participated in a SET-BC District Project in which classes at North Saanich Middle School and Claremont Secondary piloted Read & Write for Google Chrome.

On February 28th, SET-BC will be facilitating a provincial workshop on complex needs technologies that support students accessing AAC and computers through eye gaze.

We are happy to announce that the CNTP 2016-2017 technologies are starting to ship this week! Boxes should start arriving in districts by mid-week - we look forward to hearing from teams as they receive this important complex needs trial and assessment equipment.

Only a short time ago the practice of ‘learning to code’ was very inaccessible. A missing semicolon, an uncapitalized letter, or getting the math not quite right meant that a program would simply crash.

Sooke teacher, Melissa Dorran, has excitedly embraced the opportunity to work with a SET-BC Consultant to implement a Tier 2 Classroom Based Solution at Ecole John Stubbs Memorial Elementary.

SET-BC is hosting an exciting conference on February 21st and 22nd! The conference, entitled Supporting Diversity in the Secondary School Setting, is an opportunity for educators (and District Partners!) to get together to learn how to support students who may be using technology in their educational programs.

From January to March, our consultants have a great lineup of online training opportunities that we hope will interest teams using technology with students.

A morning spent in Andrew McPhee’s classroom in Salt Spring Island’s Fernwood Elementary beautifully illustrates the benefit of integrating technology into the heart of the classroom curriculum.

There have been a number of new trainings added to the amazing list of FREE 30 Minute trainings in the on-line calendar for the month of November.

At this time of year, we would like to remind you of some of the Remembrance Day student technology-based resources we have available in our collection.

We are excited to announce the second year of our Complex Needs Technology Project! District teams are invited to apply for participation in the project over the next three weeks.

On December 5th, Darren Laur makes a return visit to SET-BC presenting his very popular Internet Safety for Educators workshop.

It has been a very busy October as we approach the October 31st Collaborative Action Plan deadline. SET-BC consultants have been focused this month on completing the planning process with district and school teams for services in all three tiers.

While most teachers in BC were enjoying the first Professional Development day of 2016-2017, many SET-BC consultants were busy facilitating Tier 1 and Tier 2 Pro D sessions all over the province.

We were excited to launch our new SETdirect Social Inclusion Project in October. The focus of SETdirect is to support social inclusion for complex needs students by providing district teams with simple technologies that can be used for a variety of activities by complex needs students and their peers.

On September 26th, SET-BC was delighted to host a large group of Korean students, support workers, teachers, and Korean education ministry delegates as they visited our program as part of their BC tour.

On September 30th, eight vision resource teachers and two student support workers came together at the SET-BC Provincial Centre in Vancouver to attend a workshop to learn more about the Focus 40, a refreshable braille display from Scientific Freedom.

SET-BC’s Retired Inventory Program 2016-2017 started this week! District Specialists are invited to request specialized equipment that has been retired from our Provincial Loan Bank.

Our SET-BC consultants are providing a large number of online training sessions for teams interested in implementing some of the more commonly used software and apps.

We are so excited to be welcoming Adrienne Gear back for another great presentation! On November 16th, she will be presenting Nonfiction Reading Power at the SET-BC Provincial Centre with streaming to other locations around the province.

With the cool days of fall coming soon, you may be looking for some technology-based resources to support student learning. Take a moment to check out a few examples of our autumn-themed student resources currently available in pictureSET and curriculumSET!

SET-BC provides three tiers of both core and supplemental services. We’ve created a “Quick Start Guide” for BC educators to use to determine what services are available, how to apply for the services and where to go on our site for more information.

We are very excited to be starting the new school year with new staff, new projects, and renewed energy! After enjoying the summer break, our SET-BC consultants are anxious to begin supporting teams using technology to support students.

In Shelly Chandra’s grade 4 classroom at Fraserwood Elementary, students are learning how to identify their own “Success in Progress”. Students select, reflect, and share their learning in FreshGrade using a blend of devices provided by SET-BC, the school, and a new BYOD program at the school.

iPads and Clicker Apps are having a big impact on learning at a little school in northern BC. A few years ago, the highly collaborative staff at Kitwanga Elementary began assembling a bank of iPads and experimenting with apps.

Eralee is a cheerful grade five student living in Kaslo, B.C. She has a wonderful sense of humour and loves to laugh, but she her lack of functional language makes it very difficult for her to express her wants, needs and knowledge to others.

In the past month, we’ve been delighted to hear about students all over our province using classroom- and student-based technology solutions to support their learning.

Look at all the great learning opportunities available on-line through SET-BC in the month of May.

We are excited to announce that the third provincial classroom-based projects – innovative projects – is now available for team application.

Eda is a grade 2/3 student in the Vancouver school district. She is an independent, happy girl and this has allowed her to quickly learn how to use technology to help her participate in class and express her learning.

Creating awareness of tools and strategies that help support Universal Design for Learning and Project Based Learning is an important goal for SD #48 (Sea to Sky) this year.

We are already planning our events for the 2016-2017 school year and wanted to give everyone an early notice of our scheduled District Partner Conference.

On April 15, 2016, Prince Charles Secondary School in Creston hosted a SET-BC facilitated student workshop focusing on how to build their individual Universal Design For Learning (UDL) Tool Kit.

At John Henderson School in Vancouver, Grade 4 students are using iPads and Clicker apps to develop writing fluency. Classroom teacher Joan Jung and resource teacher Kim Grey have been busy implementing a Tier 2 classroom-based solution they received from SET-BC this year.

Sherri’s class continues to amaze us with their latest inquiry-based project. The class has produced a short informational video about Green Screen Technology to introduce parents to the technology that they had been using.

We have great 30 minute online training opportunities for the end of April and beginning of May. Are you looking for training in Kurzweil 3000, Clicker 6, SOLO 6, Boardmaker, Chrome extensions, Digital Citizenship, Co:Writer app or Sensory apps?

Brian Ee, a teacher at Lord Selkirk Elementary in Vancouver, embraces all his superhero powers to help his students learn to write.

With a Tier 2 classroom-based technology loan of 15 Chromebooks from SET-BC this year, Shelley Putman is “Going Google” in her grade 5 classroom at Mountain Elementary in SD #34 (Abbotsford).

Our SET-BC consultants are providing a large number of online training sessions for teams interested in implementing some of the more commonly used software and apps.

Each year SET-BC supports a small number of classroom-based technology projects. These are provincially coordinated and different from the Tier 2 classroom-based solutions that are supported through our standard service delivery model.

Join us for face-to-face sessions at the SET-BC Provincial Centre during April, May and June to explore common technology tools you already have in your classroom!

At Sir Alexander MacKenzie Elementary School in Vancouver, teacher Sean Martin has taken a thoughtful, logical approach to introducing technology to his students.

Maggie Wherle, an award winning writer, accomplished musician and innovative artist has been sharing her creative gifts since she started as a Kindergarten student at Margaret Jenkins Elementary 4 years ago.

The students in Christine Lang’s Grade 2 classroom at Lord Roberts Elementary probably have no idea what Universal Design for Learning is but they experience it every day!

For some district teams, the change to SET-BC’s three-tiered service delivery model had initially necessitated facing some challenges around how the district would meet the needs of those students requiring intensive technology supports who were not going to be brought forward for SET-BC Tier 3 services.

The North Saanich Middle School team is implementing Google Apps for Education (GAFE) and Google Read Write in order to support grade 6/7 students in an inclusive model middle school.

Students in Ted Coombs’ Grade 3/4 class at Livingstone Elementary in Vancouver are finding new and innovative ways to connect with each other and their learning.

As you may know, we shipped the Complex Needs Technology Bundles to districts just before spring break.

With spring upon us, we naturally think of celebrating our favourite planet – Earth! These resources will help your students participate in Earth Day type activities.

As SET-BC consultants delivering technology training to educators all over the province, we hope we are making a difference for students and building team capacity to use technology to support them in the classroom setting.

Our Technical Support Team is very busy this week shipping the many (many!) boxes of equipment for the Complex Needs Technology Project.

District teams are already meeting to plan for their SET-BC services in the coming school year.

With the support of Lynnmour’s Principal Kelly La Roue and help from SET-BC consultant Nedra Post, Kindergarten teacher Tessa Harrington has been incorporating the technology loaned by SET-BC into her daily teaching practice.

At Juniper Ridge Elementary in SD#73 (Kamloops), Grade 1 students are using iPads and the “Explain Everything” app to practice reading and to receive self-feedback.

Teacher Josh Withrow and the Grade 7 students at John Knox Christian School are creating podcasts with their SET-BC Tier 2 Classroom Based Solution.

Educators around BC have created some “love”ly resources for February. Check out these popular activities from curriculumSET and pictureSET.

Salt Spring Island Middle School’s grade 6/7 teacher and students have been learning together this year. Teacher, Kim Moffat, with the support of resource teacher, Tom Langdon, has embarked on the use of iPads as a key tool in her inclusive classroom.

This year the Cariboo-Chilcotin school district selected Lac La Hache, a small rural school consisting of 22 students, as a priority for receiving SET-BC Tier 2 classroom-based support.

Allison Bos, a teacher in the Cariboo-Chilcotin school district, explains how supporting Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies with iPad technology has transformed her students’ learning and her own teaching.

On January 21st, 2016, the SET-BC Provincial team was delighted to welcome Adrienne Gear back for her third presentation.

Creativity abounds in a Grade 3/4 class at Ecole Sandy Hill Elementary where teacher, Nancy Desormeaux, has embarked on a SET-BC Tier 2 Classroom Based Solution.

Relevant, individualized and evidence-based professional development is an important goal for all school districts in British Columbia.

Friar William of Occam is often (mis)quoted as stating, “The simplest solution is the best solution.”

As in past years, we are provincially supporting a number of classroom-based projects this year around the province.

SET-BC is pleased to be hosting a second virtual District Partner Conference on February 16th and 17th. For those who ​attended sessions last year, you will notice some changes!

There were are few ‘Aha moments’ at Ecole Aubrey Elementary School recently as classroom teams discovered Clicker 6 resources in SET-BC’s CurriculumSET and the Cricksoft collection.

We are very pleased to announce that applications are now available for our Complex Needs Technology Project.

SET-BC consultants will be facilitating a wide variety of online sessions between January and March.

Happy New Year to everyone! If you’d like to jump into learning in 2016, Dr. Bruce Beairsto is hosting an SFU CSELP Symposium: Purposeful Use of Technology: beginning with the end in mind, and keeping it on February 13, 2016.

We hope you have a wonderful holiday season with family and friends.

Over the past couple of months, there has been a different buzz around Lois Scott’s grade one classroom at Pebble Hill Elementary in the Delta School District.

Weimen is a curious, determined and affectionate teenager attending school in Vancouver.

Araina is a bright little primary student at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School in Vancouver. There is never a day that she is not smiling.

The holiday season has begun. Along with decorations, crafts and sing-alongs, curriculumSET and PictureSET offer great themed activities that are easy to download and start using with students and classes.

We are pleased to highlight two new areas of our ​online technology tutorials – Chrome Extensions and iPad ​Accessibility.

​We were very pleased last week to host Caroline Musselwhite and Adrienne Gear here at the SET-BC Provincial Centre.

SET-BC will be hosting its first ever “unconference” or Edcamp style day of learning on December 10th in Vancouver.

The SET-BC team passed two milestones in this first year of provincial implementation of the new service delivery model.

Upcoming SET-BC provincial workshops – There is so much going on! Our provincial team is coordinating several upcoming Professional Development events.

On November 11th, members of the Canadian Armed Forces are commemorated. This day marks the date and time when armies stopped fighting in World War I.

On Friday, September 25th, there were no children roaming the halls of Trafalgar Middle School in Nelson, BC. But learning was definitely taking place!

We are very pleased to be hosting Dr. Bruce Beairsto on October 29th – live in Vancouver and streamed to Coquitlam, Quesnel, and Kamloops.

BC School Districts around the province have completed the first critical step in acquiring SET-BC services in the 2015-2016 school year.

SET-BC consultants kicked off the 2015-2016 school year at a three day Provincial Plenary Session where they prepared for the coming year, explored effective Professional Development strategies, and reconnected with colleagues and met new team members.

SET-BC will be starting the school year missing some of our long time staff. We wanted to wish the following SET-BC consultants the best of luck in their new personal or professional “adventures”.

As we roll into the new school year, there are several new SET-BC initiatives that have been designed to improve our Professional Development and training services.

Taking the concept of the help you receive from a hotel concierge, our SETconcierge can offer you personalized Professional Development and training help designed to meet your individual learning goals, style and schedule.

We are so excited to be hosting a newly finished self-directed course called Curriculum for All. This course has been developed by Shelley Moore and it is full of great information and strategies to help educators plan to provide an inclusive learning environment for all students.

After a very successful pilot year in 2014-2015, we are excited to be bringing our three-tiered service delivery model to all districts in 2015-2016.

It’s hard to believe that PSAP – the Provincial Software Acquisition Plan – is going into its 11th year! The Plan started with a focus on Kurzweil 3000 but, after a couple of years, grew to include many other literacy and communication software programs.