Blog

With the new school year fast approaching, you might be wondering – where can you go to ask questions, share knowledge, and download free edtech resources? That’s right – the LTC Community is the place to be to grow your professional learning network this fall. Join today to take advantage of this new hub for collaboration and problem-solving!

Whether you’re in the classroom, supporting educators, or striving to keep your district’s IT infrastructure humming, the LTC wants to help you start out the next school year with as much access to high quality professional learning as possible. That’s why we’ve taken the time to collect some of our most popular resources from the past fiscal year and package them together for easy navigation.

Back on June 22, 2021, Google revealed a roadmap of its upcoming product and software updates during its The Anywhere School online event. That roadmap featured a cornucopia of exciting developments, including useful enhancements for Google Classroom, Google Workspace for Education, Chrome OS, and more. Check out our update digest to learn about how your classroom can utilize these fresh upgrades during the upcoming school year.

The 21-22 E-Rate Form 471 filing deadline is just around the corner on March 25, 2021. Don’t miss these important E-Rate program updates as you put the final touches on your institution’s submission.

All February, the LTC team has been hard at work creating new resources to support district-level compliance with SOPPA. Collected here are all of the latest resources provided to ISPA members over the course of the month.

Exciting news! The Digital Literacy Conference is now open for registration. This one-day gathering of educators from around Illinois will offer teachers, administrators, library media specialists, and more an opportunity to engage with one of education’s most relevant topics – digital literacy – in all of its forms.

The nature of digital learning has changed a lot over the past year. To celebrate Digital Learning Day 2021, we spoke to education stakeholders across Illinois and heard their perspectives on digital learning – both now and in the future.

The Illinois Learning Technology Purchasing Program (ILTPP) has announced several updates to two of their most popular contracts. These updates will help your school or district blossom into new learning opportunities this spring and budget more effectively for the 21-22 school year.

This summer, the Learning Technology Center (LTC) is proud to host the Digital Literacy Conference, a timely virtual gathering centered on one of education’s most relevant topics. We want you to be part of this conference’s team of presenters, so submit a proposal today!

No matter how you look at it, today’s educators are busy people. The LTC understands this dilemma, which is why we offer a variety of free, self-paced online courses covering topics from Google Forms and Google Drive to Microsoft Teams and Keynote for Mac. You can learn more about and participate in these courses over on our Online Courses hub!

Google Educator certifications are among the most popular today, particularly in this era of remote and hybrid learning. But how exactly do you become “Google Educator Certified”? You’ll find the answer and more in this handy guide to becoming Google Educator Certified.

Today is Safer Internet Day, an occasion to recommit to best practices for protecting digital identity. In the spirit of this important celebration, we’re featuring a special collection of resources and recommendation geared toward helping all students grow their digital literacy and master internet safety.

In recognition of Data Privacy Day, the LTC team has gathered some of our most popular data privacy and cybersecurity resources into one place. Check out each of these overviews, online classes, and more if you’re planning to upgrade your district’s data protection policies to comply with SOPPA.

Back on Friday, January 15, the Learning Technology Center wrapped up a first-of-its-kind conference centered on education’s most recent evolution. The Remote Learning Conference marked a major leap forward for collaboration in Illinois’ edtech community, with educators from around the Prairie State gathering to share their hard-earned knowledge from the past year of distance learning.

The 4th annual SecurED Schools conference concluded back on Thursday, January 14. Though this year’s gathering was held virtually, technology leaders from around Illinois still participated in plenty of insightful conversations about the future of cybersecurity and data privacy.

This year, the Learning Technology Center is expanding its popular Instructional Technology Coaching Program. Learn more about this program and its cost-effective benefits for district-wide technology integration.

The old “sit-and-get” method of professional development isn’t suited to the needs of today’s educators. Micro-credentials are the solution because their offer teachers greater agency while they grow their competency in classroom-ready skills. Read on for a special opportunity to join the LTC’s micro-credential pilot program!

In 2021, the Learning Technology Center remains committed to fostering collaboration within Illinois’ edtech community. That’s why we’re proud to announce our redesigned online Community!

2020 has brought a lot of unexpected changes, from the way we learn to the way we speak. We’ve rounded up some of the words that took on new meaning for remote learners and educators alike this year.

Certifications have become an increasingly popular option for professional learning in the education field. The LTC has scoured the internet for the best certifications and collected them here, in our new Educator Certification Collection.

The Learning Technology Center of Illinois (LTC) is proud to announce its recent acceptance into the Google Cloud Partner Program.