Digital Learning Bits and Bytes Podcast- San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools

In this episode of Bits and Bites, we sit down with Rachael Mann, a powerhouse in the world of Career and Technical Education (CTE) and the visionary founder of EdFuture. As the author of the essential guide Pack Your Bags for an AI-Driven Future, Rachael joins us to unpack how educators and leaders can stay grounded while navigating the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

In this episode, host Jessica Boucher sits down with Melanie Janzen, Curriculum Coordinator with the SBCSS Math Department. Together, they explore how educators can transform math instruction to ensure ALL students have access to meaningful and rigorous mathematical experiences. Grounded in the 2023 Mathematics Framework, the conversation unpacks the Skill/Will Matrix, asset-based pedagogy, and funds of knowledge. They also discuss how these approaches honor student strengths while addressing persistent achievement gaps. Listeners will hear practical strategies for using blended learning structures—online tasks, offline learning, and teacher-led small groups—to differentiate instruction, support readiness, and modernize math classrooms. This episode offers actionable insight for teachers, coaches, and leaders committed to building equitable, engaging, and inclusive mathematics learning environments for ALL students. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

In the first episode for 2025-26, the SBCSS Digital Learning team: Sonal Patel, Omar Shepherd, Jessica Boucher, and Tonya Coates, share their excitement and strategic vision for advancing equitable educational technology across San Bernardino County. The conversation highlights key initiatives including AI literacy, blended learning, eSports expansion, and design thinking in computer science education. With a strong focus on empathy, collaboration, and innovation, the team discusses both the opportunities and challenges ahead, emphasizing their commitment to supporting educators and students through transformative digital learning experiences. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

AI Literacy: Ethics and AI: This session will be with Joshua Maples, a High School ELA educator who challenges us to think about important topics related to AI ethics. Sonal Patel, Tonya Coats, and Joshua Maples discuss the implications of AI-generated text for plagiarism detection in education. Joshua shares his experiences with AI tools like ChatGPT and Class Companion, highlighting both the benefits, such as immediate feedback and time-saving, and the challenges, such as ethical concerns and the need for responsible use. Joshua emphasizes the importance of professional development for teachers to integrate AI effectively, suggesting a gradual approach to introduce less intimidating tools. The conversation also touches on the role of AI in differentiating instruction and the need for clear policies to address AI-related issues in education. Joshua Maples: joshua_maples@snowlineschools.com For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

Brenda Dougan, a secondary mathematics coach at Fontana Unified School District, shared her journey from wanting to be a pediatrician to becoming a math teacher. She emphasized the importance of blended learning in math, using tools like Quizizz, EdPuzzle, and Nearpod to engage students. Dougan highlighted the challenges of planning and grouping students heterogeneously but stressed the benefits of active student participation and differentiated instruction. She advocated for using AI tools to streamline lesson planning and enhance student engagement. Dougan's approach aligns with the new math framework's standards for mathematical practice, focusing on collaborative problem-solving and perseverance. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

Zoom meeting with Dr. Christina Pierce. The discussion focused on the Alta Loma School District's computer science (CS) education initiatives, driven by the Educator Workforce Investment Grant. Dr. Christina Pierce highlighted the integration of CS into the curriculum, starting with sixth graders moving to junior highs and expanding to seventh and eighth grades. The district also offers CS enrichment at the elementary level. Key strategies include professional development workshops, collaboration with feeder schools, and involving diverse educational partners like counselors. The conversation also emphasized the importance of equitable CS education, addressing barriers, and fostering a community of practice to enhance teaching and learning. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

Omar, Dana, Devin and Yusuf discussed the potential of AI to enhance personalized learning experiences for students, with a focus on empowering educators and schools to learn about AI through hands-on projects. They highlighted ethical considerations and professional learning required for responsible AI use in education, emphasizing the importance of understanding AI capabilities, data privacy, and human-centered design. Speakers emphasized the need for creativity and ingenuity in leveraging AI resources to achieve a more democratic education system. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

We'd like to welcome our special guest, Dr. Heidi Baynes from Riverside County Office of Education. Dr. Baynes specializes in the integration of technology into classroom instruction, and is a strong advocate for computer science, education and the CS for All movement. Her experience in K 12 public education includes online blended and traditional classroom models, where she has taught multiple subjects and grade levels. Additionally, she is highly invested in the importance of the maker movement and looks for ways to merge the maker mentality with lessons designed to enhance the student learning experience. @baynesheidi https://www.seasonsofcs.org/ For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

Michael Arrington is a behavior strategist and consultant with 20 years of experience as a motivational and keynote speaker. He is also the founder of MEA training and Program Development LLC, which supports adolescents aging out of foster care. In addition to his work, he frequently serves as an educational consultant on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. Registration for DigCit Week Webinars: https://bit.ly/SBCSSDigCit2 Michael's Website: https://www.michaelarrington.education/ For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

We have a very special Esports episode today. SBCSS and our department Digital Learning Services have been passionate about growing and expanding Esports programs within San Bernardino County. Esports is a great way to help students connect to school through something they enjoy doing, and are passionate about, not to mention the opportunities eSports now provides with CTE scholarships, and job opportunities. With all that excitement around eSports we're very happy to introduce our guests for today's podcast, Chris Shima, Scholastic Esports specialist with Generation Esports and Jacob Beach, the director of Esports at University of Redlands. Contact for Shima: https://www.generationesports.com/ https://www.highschoolesportsleague.com/ https://www.middleschoolesports.com/ Contact Jacob on Discord Blitzkrieg30#3764 For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

We'd like to begin by introducing our very special guest, Dr. Roy Rogers principal at South Ridge Middle School and Lauren Freeman, who is an extraordinary educator for history, social science, and she's a yearbook and IB coordinator. We're just so pleased to have them both here today. They're here to share information about how to use Chat GPT, which is a language model developed by open AI that uses deep learning to generate human like responses to natural language inputs. You can find Dr. Rogers on Twitter @edurlrogers and Lauren @freeLaurentech For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

We are very excited to introduce our awesome guests for this episode. Katie Henry, head of partnerships for North America from Microbit Educational Foundation, Alinda Beiter from Melva Davis Middle School in Adelanto School District and Dominique Conerly from Kelley Elementary School in Rialto. They came today to our changing the world bit by bit with microbit workshop to help engage other teachers just like themselves in microbit endeavors. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

Sue Thotz and Leticia Citizen from Equity in Action CA, a group of educators who are working to diversify conference spaces in Southern California. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

We'd like to introduce our special guests Lauren Tyler, who is the Curriculum Program Specialist in Ed Tech, and Jamal Boyce, who is the Chief Technology Officer for Colton Joint Unified School District. They're here to share with us their current CS initiatives and their plans for CSEd Week, which begins on December 5 For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

Krist Ott, is a curriculum coordinator with San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools in the ESS Department which is our Educational Support Services Department. Krista is here to share information with us about her expertise in Universal Design for Learning, and how she uses technology to enhance the work she's doing to support educators within the county with implementation of the UDL framework in the classroom. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

We 'd like to begin by introducing our special guests. Dr. Emily Thomforde, computer science coordinator for the California Department of Education, and Omar Shepherd curriculum specialists, stem and career education for the Orange County Office of Education. They will be speaking with us today about our CSforAll script workshop. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

We'd like to begin by introducing our special guests Shehzad Bhojani. He is the program manager for Alliance for Education. And he's here today to share information about the new cyber watchdog game. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

Darren is heading into his eighth year in his role, and his focus is on the integration of technology into teaching and learning. He provides professional development for teachers, instructional aides and administration and is an advocate for computer science throughout his K-8 school district. He has presented multiple times at the National CUE conference and fall CUE conference, collaborated multiple times with us here at SBCSS on a number of projects, and also currently serves as a board president for the Inland Area CUE affiliate. He is here to share information with us about his expertise in computer science, and how he has been able to support the growth and development of teachers and students in the Cucamonga School District. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

Today we would like to welcome Nyree Clark to the bits and bytes podcast. Nyree Clark is an ed tech curriculum program specialist for Colton Joint Unified School District. She's also a founding co- member of hashtag equity in action CA, and was appointed to the instructional coaches advisory board for future ready schools organization. She is passionate about culturally responsive teaching edtech and Twitter. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour

Welcome Robert Ruff, elementary educator, and Shandrica Williams, program specialists, both from San Bernardino City Unified School District, they will be speaking to us today about their experience with micro bit, which is a physical computing device that can be used in all academic areas, in alignment with our state's newly adopted computer science standards. For more Digital Learning Services information text DLS news to 22828 or find us on Twitter @sbcss_edtech Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Wataboi Flavour