Secondary Digital Learning
Need help? Please email npsdlssecondary@newton.k12.ma.us to ask questions and request support.
What is Digital Learning?
Digital Learning is the integration of technology in the classroom; both the tools and the instructional practices that can be used to improve and deepen learning.
Digital Learning Specialists
Digital Learning Specialists for the middle and high schools work centrally from the Education Center to support staff needs remotely, provide professional development works, and, on a limited basis, provide in person support as needed and time allows.
Vision for Technology Use
- Empower students to think critically, stay curious, create, and collaborate
- Increase access and engagement to differentiated content and rich resources
- Provide options to demonstrate understanding and analyze performance
- Strengthen skills to use technology safely, responsibly, and independently
- Provide insights into strengths and growth areas to guide learning goals
Troubleshooting Guide
Students in grades 6-12 use a variety of tech tools in the classroom. Sometimes these applications do not work as expected. This help document outlines some of the most common errors, and how to fix them.
The Digital Dispatch
Catch up on past newsletters from the Secondary Digital Learning Specialists team!
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Frequently Asked Questions (11/18/25)
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Digital Citizenship Week (10/20/25)
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Digital Learning at Thrive25: See all the sessions! (10/9/25)
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Digital Tools for Classroom Management (9/17/25)
- Meet the Secondary Digital Learning Specialists Team (9/3/25)
Digital Learning Resources
Starting in Grade 6, each student is issued a Chromebook for school/home, which they keep through at least Grade 10. Starting in Grade 11, the 1:1 program shifts to a bring your own device (BYOD) model. Students who need a device can keep their school issued Chromebook through grade 12.
The district’s What to expect from Technology in 2025-2026 document contains information about the software promoted, supported and/or purchased by the district for student use. All software collecting student identifiable data must adhere to the district’s protocol for student data privacy.
Canva is an online design and publishing tool with a mission to empower everyone in the world to design anything and publish anywhere.
Classwize is a cloud-based classroom management software. It is designed to help teachers monitor and manage student devices in a digital learning environment, keeping students focused, engaged, and safe.
Middle school students learn to precisely define the problem, choose the right digital tools, and differentiate between problems best solved by technology and those best solved by humans. This process further develops their computational thinking and problem-solving skills.
High school students continue to refine their skills in computational thinking and problem-solving, learning to distinguish between problems best solved by computers and those best solved by humans. These standards, which align with the College Board’s Computer Science Principles, prepare students for college and careers by helping them select and use technology effectively.
Nearpod is an instructional platform that helps teachers create interactive, engaging lessons for students to participate in via laptops or mobile devices. It offers a library of pre-made lessons, lets educators upload and enhance existing Google Slides presentations, and includes tools for formative assessments like polls, quizzes, and open-ended questions. Students can join live lessons with a code or work through lessons at their own pace.
ParentSquare provides a unified digital platform for communicating with families. Teachers use ParentSquare to communicate with families through various channels, including direct messages, group posts, and alerts. They can share daily classroom news, photos, and files, or use features for event sign-ups, volunteer requests, and parent-teacher conferences. The platform supports automated reminders and offers language translation to improve accessibility.
GBH and PBS have curated FREE, curriculum-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans, and more just for Massachusetts teachers like you.
Schoology is the Learning Management System (LMS) used in grades 6 through 12.
Newton Public Schools uses Linewize for student web filtering.
Turnitin's Feedback Studio is designed to address academic misconduct, including plagiarism and to help streamline the feedback and grading process for writing assignments.
Digital tools address UDL Principles by offering students multiple means of engagement with information as well as multiple means of expressing their thinking.
The Guidelines for Use of AI provide overarching principles and clear expectations for teachers and students.
WeVideo provides full-scale multimedia creation in a web browser.
Google now requires schools to block YouTube as a service used by students. However, specific YouTube videos are viewable by students when embedded in other applications. Click Read More to access directions for embedding content in Google Slides, Classroom, Schoology, and Canva.