Serving students in the communities of Bastrop, Cedar Creek, Red Rock, Rockne, and Paige
Technology
Technology Resources
In 2010 our team updated our Acceptable Use Policy and decided to replace it with a Responsible Use Policy. The decision to replace the word Acceptable with Responsible was made to reinforce the idea that we want our staff and students using technology in a responsible manner. The RUP document outlines the guidelines for using technology in Bastrop ISD. Every user must have a signed RUP document on file before they are able to access our technology. Click on the links to view/download our RUP documents in either English or Spanish.
Moodle is an open source Course Management System. Bastrop ISD utilizes Moodle to create online coursework. The Bastrop ISD Learning Center takes into consideration that time is precious. We have created educational professional development that is available on demand. Currently staff and students may login to our moodle server from anywhere (where internet access is available) and gain access to the courses available on our server. Assignments, forums, tests, videos, and other supplemental materials are embedded to provide support for the learner in this self paced environment.
Having trouble with this resource? For login issues, connection issues, or other technical problems please turn in a helpdesk work ticket. Are you interested in using Moodle in your classroom to create a blended learning Environment? Please contact one of our technology specialists for more information or training on the use of Moodle.
Google Apps for Education is a suite of online tools that Google has made available to educational organizations for free. Find out more from Google here. Bastrop ISD has taken advantage of this offer and we are providing access to these tools for our staff and students. However, in order for our students to be able to have their accounts created their parent/guardian must give us permission to create a third party account for their child (via our RUP document).
The Google Apps tools allow for dynamic collaboration of content. For a quick overview of these tools you can watch this 12 minute youtube video.
Having trouble with this resource? For login issues, connection issues, or other technical problems please turn in a helpdesk work ticket. For more training on the use of this resource please contact one of our technology specialists.
In the fall of 2011 Bastrop ISD migrated our email system over to the free Gmail package provided through the Google Apps for Education Suite. We built a website full of resources that would help our users migrate over to Gmail from FirstClass. This was built as we explored the Gmail option to make sure all of the required pieces were available. You can get to this site here.
This change would help our district save valuable dollars each year.
Do you have questions about this resource? For more information, training or other technical issues please contact Bryan Doyle.
Bastrop ISD has created a searchable repository of online resources for staff and students. These resources include images, audio books, music, video, documents, and more! Teachers have access to curriculum documents and supporting resources as well. All of this is available anywhere (internet access required) through the Bastrop ISD e-Learning Portal. Access is restricted by district login credentials. If you are not on a Bastrop ISD device, you will be prompted for your district credentials. In order to authenticate correctly you must put your username in the following format:
bastropisdtx\username (where username is the login to your computer)
Having trouble with this resource? For login issues, connection issues, or other technical problems please turn in a helpdesk work ticket. For more training on the use of this resource please contact one of our technology specialists.
Accounts and passwords are controlled by our Information Technology team. In order for a staff member to receive their accounts and passwords they must first take the RUP training and sign a copy our RUP. All staff members will receive a computer account. Substitute teachers may receive a computer account at the request of a principal. Long term substitute teachers may receive an email account at the request of a principal. Students must return a signed copy of the RUP form in order to receive their computer account. Students whose parent/guardian does not give us permission to create third party accounts (via our RUP document) will not receive a Google Apps account.
Access the state funded K-12 databases 24 hours a day 7 days a week here (internet access required).
Elementary Resources - Online resources for preschoolers and students in the early grades. Find articles, atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedias, kids magazines, interactive activities, maps and flags, math games, and timelines.
Secondary Resources - Find newspaper and magazine articles, atlases, biographies, country and state reports, encyclopedias, photos and illustrations, primary source documents, radio and TV transcripts, video clips and timelines.
Professional Resources - Find professional journal articles, lesson plans, TEKS aligned activities and state standards. These are updated regularly so educators may stay current.
General Interface - Search within all 34 EBSCO research databases and the elementary, middle, and high school Britannica Digital Learning encyclopedias.
Student email accounts are currently being provided to all students through their Google Apps for Education accounts. These accounts will be created for all students, unless their parent/guardian does not give us permission to do this. Each parent/guardian has this option on the RUP document that is sent home in our first day packets. Currently we have configured these accounts to restrict incoming and outgoing mail to/from the internet. This means that these accounts can only be used to email teachers and other students. Starting in the fall of 2011 parents now have the ability to look up their child's Google Apps account login and password through Family Access. This will allow them to check in on their child's email activity if they wish.
Having trouble with this resource? For login issues, connection issues, or other technical problems please turn in a helpdesk work ticket. For more training on the use of this resource please contact one of our technology specialists.
Starting in the Fall of 2011 all students and staff are allowed to bring their own technology provided they have signed and returned our updated RUP document. These devices can be connected to the BISDGuest wireless network, which is filtered by our content filter. This initiative covers a wide range of devices, from cell phones and iPods to laptops. In the classroom our teachers will determine when it is acceptable to use these devices and when they should be put away.
Do you have questions about this initiative? Please contact Bryan Doyle for more information.
This site welcomes you to the Bastrop ISD libraries. First came card catalogs, then singular computer look up by the librarian, and now any device with internet access can determine if a book is available. However, it is not only the books on campus that students have access to, but all of the books in the entire district. Additionally, students may look to see if there are authorized, web links, videos, or other resources available within the system. Click here to start your search!
If you can't bring your students to the expert, bring the expert to your class through technology! Every school in Bastrop ISD is equipped with Polycom video conferencing units. We also allow (and encourage!) the use of the Skype software for video conferencing. These tools allow staff and students to participate in presentations and interactive conversations that are taking place at a different campus, in a different state, or even a different country!
Having trouble with this resource? For login issues, connection issues, or other technical problems please turn in a helpdesk work ticket. For more training on the use of this resource please contact one of our technology specialists.
Bastrop ISD utilizes the TIPWeb software from Hayes Soft. to keep inventory of our textbooks. Our district staff can access this online tool here.
Having trouble with this resource? For login issues, connection issues, or other technical problems please turn in a helpdesk work ticket. For more training on the use of this resource please contact one of our technology specialists.
Discovery Education Streaming (formerly called United Streaming) is a comprehensive library of digital resources that enables seamless integration of standards based material into classroom lessons. Discovery Education Streaming offers full videos, concept level video clips, virtual labs, interactives, audio files, lesson plans and more to meet the specific needs of today's learners. Access a world of learning here.
Having trouble with this resource? For connection issues, or other technical problems please turn in a helpdesk work ticket. For login issues or for more training on the use of this resource please contact one of our technology specialists.
TEA has created Technology Applications TEKS for grades Pre-K - 12. These TEKS can be found here. We have also created a reference document that breaks some of the TEKS down into groups. This document can be found here.
Do you have questions about this resource? Please contact Bryan Doyle for more information.
In our 2010 Technology Planning Committee Meeting we created three sub-committees. One of these sub-committees will be working to gather feedback and help make recommendations on the creation of social media guidelines for our district. These documents will help to outline the recommended ways our staff and students should use social networking in the classroom. It will also provide suggestions and requirements on how to utilize social media responsibly.
You can find a draft of our Facebook guidelines document here.
Do you have questions about this initiative? Please contact Bryan Doyle for more information.
You can find all of the TEA Educational Technology information here.
Do you have questions about this resource? Please contact Bryan Doyle for more information.
In 2010 our Technology department created a way for staff, students, and parents to more easily find resources about internet safety. We reviewed many resources and organized them for you. You may find these resources broken down by age group at our Internet Safety Wiki.
Do you have questions about this resource? Please contact Bryan Doyle for more information.
Our Technology department has created a Technology Planning Committee that helps to provide feedback and suggestions as we create and update our district technology plans. This committee is made up of staff, students and community members. We have one major meeting every year in the October-December time frame. In our 2010 meeting we created three sub-committees that will meet regularly throughout the year in order to gather more feedback from staff, students and community members on our plans. You can see what we are currently working on, and what we have done in the past at our Technology Planning Committee wiki.
Do you have questions about this committee? Please contact Bryan Doyle for more information.
In the fall of 2011 our department created a new web 2.0 wiki. This wiki can be editing by any staff in our district. We hope it will grow and develop in an expansive resource as our amazing staff add to what we have. You can find this wiki here.
Do you have questions about this resource? Please contact one of our technology specialists.
The STaR Chart is an evaluation tool that TEA requires Bastrop ISD to complete. Every teacher and principal in Bastrop ISD is required to complete this survey every year. Our goal is to have this survey completed by the end of October each year. The survey questions are about the state of educational technology in different areas of our district. The results of this survey are used by our Technology department and our Technology Planning Committee to help create and update our district technology plan. This evaluation tool is a very critical piece in our technology planning.
You can see a comparison chart of our last four years of Campus STaR Chart data here.
Do you have questions about this resource? Please contact Bryan Doyle for more information.
Eduphoria is one of our data disaggregation tools. Our district staff can login to our Eduphoria site here (requires a district login).
Please see the following reference documents below for help with Eduphoria:
Do you have questions about this resource? Please contact one of our technology specialists.
906 Farm Street · Bastrop, Texas 78602 · Phone: 512-321-2292 · Fax: 512-321-1371