Topics in KnightSite

   Over the last several weeks, faculty, students and parents have become increasingly comfortable with our newly designed KnightSite.  As has been mentioned, changes are primarily in design, not in functionality.  What was done in the former version of KnightSite continues to be done in this latest iteration of our intranet.  But there are some genuine differences as well.
   The Activity Stream is an obvious change from the former version.  With the Activity Stream, users are instantly apprised of new postings that may be of direct interest. This change will affect all users. Editing tools have changed as well.  There is drag and drop technology built into the editing views of many pages.  Not everyone will be affected by this change, but for page editors, it is a welcome change.
   Faculty have a new tool as they construct class pages; Topics.  Topics, one of the four pages that comprise each class site, allow individual teachers an ability to show a set of interrelated resources that are thematically connected to a learning topic.  These topics can be used in a wide variety of ways to conveniently present information about a learning unit.  A few newly created Topics can illustrate some of the possibilities.
   In the Lower School, Science teacher Lynn Prosen has created a series of grade-specific Topics.  Each hosts information and resources about a topic of study that is addressed by a grade level.  The screenshot below shows four of her seven Topics:

By clicking the highlighted title of a Topic, the user will open to the contents.

After clicking on the Butterfly Garden Problem, the resources for learning are apparent.

   In the Middle School, Latin teacher Donna Butler has also created a topic, albeit for a different purpose.  Donna utilizes an audio dropbox to facilitate student learning.  Students can record assigned lessons into a cloud-based recorder (the audio dropbox) which Donna, through her account log-in, can retrieve. Then she can listen to the voice recordings of her students.  It functions much as a traditional language lab though it is neither constrained by location or time. Students can record from anywhere (so long as internet access is available), and Donna can listen to the recordings on her schedule. If you're interested in learning more about an audio dropbox, Michigan State's site is the place to check. Below, a screenshot of the Topics section of the Middle School Latin class site. Within the Topic: a link to the dropbox recorder.

A cover graphic, like the microphone above, helps to add interest to your Topic.

   In the Upper School, Allison Kochis, a Science teacher, has been screencasting a few lessons so that students can view a presentation about a learning topic at home.  (Interested in learning about screencasting? Screencast-O-Matic is free and is widely used by teachers and others.) In a sense, this video presentation replaces a traditional front-and-center lecture a teacher may do in the classroom.  This format gives students the ability to start and stop the presentation as needed in order to deepen understanding of the presentation.  Below, Topics for the AP Environmental Science class.

Opening the Chapter 1 topic reveals the lecture links.

   The Topics feature provides a convenient tool for student learning.  Hopefully, as teachers become increasingly comfortable with the newly designed KnightSite, they'll fine additional ways to utilize  Topics.