Tech Connect August 2025

We encourage you to explore the Davidson County Schools Digital Learning website. It’s a valuable resource designed to help you integrate technology into your classroom, access professional development, and find innovative tools that will support both your teaching and your students’ learning experiences. This site will empower you to confidently utilize digital strategies throughout the year!

The NCBOLD 2025 Digital Teaching and Learning Conference was held in six locations across the state this summer, bringing together educators for dynamic and impactful professional learning experiences. Organized by the Division of Digital Teaching and Learning, the events drew a total of 2,339 educators from 166 public school units (PSUs), including 98% of traditional school districts.

NCBOLD 2025 focused on high-priority topics including the new North Carolina Student Information System (NCSIS), the integration of artificial intelligence in education and NCDPI-supported digital products such as NCEES, Schoolnet, Canvas, EBSCO and Britannica. Sessions also highlighted a wide range of educational technology tools and resources designed to support teachers, administrators and support staff in their evolving roles.

If you were unable to attend, you can still access the shared resources and slide decks from this year’s sessions. These materials are designed to support both edtech integration and NCSIS implementation, regardless of which phase of implementation your PSU is in.

• Opening Slides: go.ncdpi.gov/NCBOLD2025
• Digital Backpack: go.ncdpi.gov/ncbold25backpack

Are you getting a new cell phone? If so, it is critical to properly transfer your Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) settings to ensure uninterrupted access to corporate systems. Here are the essential steps and best practices to include in your newsletter section:

Key Steps: Ensuring MFA Carries Over to a New Phone

• Prepare Before Switching Phones: Whenever possible, set up MFA on your new phone while you still have access to your old device. This greatly simplifies the transfer process.

• Use Authenticator App Backup and Recovery:

  • For Microsoft Authenticator, enable cloud backup (on Android) or iCloud backup (on iPhone) within the app on your old phone. On your new device, install the Microsoft Authenticator app, sign in to your backup account, and restore your accounts.

  • For Google Authenticator, use the transfer feature inside the app ("Transfer accounts" or "Export accounts") to export your MFA accounts from your old device and import them into the new one. For accounts linked to your Google account, syncing may simplify this process.
    
    

Tips and Best Practices:

• Never wipe your old phone or trade it in until MFA is active on your new device.

• Proactively document and maintain your backup authentication methods and codes.

• Test MFA on your new phone before removing your old device from your account settings.

Over the Summer, NCEdCloud got a makeover and some items were condensed. ConnectED is now where you will find a lot of the research sources that originally had buttons on the NCECloud Homepage. The new icons are purple and for students they will appear at the top of their dashboard.

These buttons are pushed out based on grade level and will have resources for those grade levels.

Teachers have a ConnectED Resource Page button as well. This button takes you to a page that includes links to Britannica, Explora, Ebooks, Novelist, PBS LearningMedia, National Parks Services, Digital Archives, EBSCO, NCPedia, SLNC, and many more!

Be sure to check out this resource for you students!

NCDPI offers AI Webinars every Wednesday. Here are the upcoming webinar topics and links to register for each one.

• August 13, 2025 AI for Admins: Heather Pennica & Dr. Ashley McBride Register

• August 20, 2025 Back-to-School with Custom GPTs: Time-Saving Tools for Teachers with Meredith Hill Register

• August 27, 2025 AI and Assistive Technology with Josh Barton Register

• September 3, 2025 Amazing AI Updates: Back to School 2025 with Vera Cubero Register

Sue Tobin - suetobin@davidson.k12.nc.us

Allyson Medlin - amedlin@davidson.k12.nc.us

Libby Moretz - libbymoretz@davidson.k12.nc.us

Listed below are the schools that each of us serve - please feel free to reach out to us!