Schoology and Academy District 20

We have over half of our pilot members at some stage of the Getting Started with Schoology course. We have almost 300 discussion posts and over 5500 page views. It’s great to see so many people interacting with Schoology! Additionally, we have people attending the drop-in support sessions every week.

Your classes have been appearing in your 20Learn (Schoology) Courses section. Students are being uploaded, too (students won’t be able to see anything in Schoology until the grading period officially begins).

What you can do:

• Link sections
• Import your materials from Resources to your active course
• Add due dates to assignments
• Use the Google and Microsoft Assignment apps
• Create units
  
• Create lessons
  
• Curate resources
  
• Start your professional learning experience.
  
• Explore examples
  
• Participate in a variety of activities - There are more every week!
  
• Don’t forget about the Recent Activity feed - ask questions and provide feedback as necessary. It's great to see people helping each other!
  

Worth noting:

You won’t be able to create a class. Classes will be imported from IC in the beginning of August. Don’t worry, creating in Resources is a best practice. Grade passback and parent account access won’t be available during the fall semester. As we make progress with those features we’ll communicate updates.

Keep in mind that we’re at the beginning of a journey. We have a lot of ground to cover and we’re just learning the terrain. Partner with us by participating, asking questions, and providing feedback so that we can continue to grow. That participation is helping us work to meet your needs.

Over the past few days, we’ve brought IC and Schoology together. You should now see all of your courses for the entire school year. What’s next?

How about some personalization? You can personalize your course view in the Course Dashboard. Drag and drop your courses to order them. The first 12 will appear in the Courses drop-down menu. You can also change your course profile picture. Use the avatars provided or add a picture or gif of your own.

Of course you’ll want to prepare your courses. Bringing your material from Resources in is easy! Under Add Materials, choose Import from Resources and choose your materials. Here’s a tip: if your course materials are all in one folder, open the folder and choose the contents rather that the entire folder. If you choose the entire folder, it will be imported as a single folder. Then you’re done!

What if you don’t want students to see all the course materials? You’ll want to Unpublish anything you don’t want students to see for now.

Do you teach multiple sections of the same course? Section Linking is for you! Link sections together so that you only need to add an assignment or announcement once - it's will definitely help your workflow! You will still be able to group assignments so that they have different due dates or only go to a particular section. The grade books will also remain separated. The following video walks you through this process. You can also find detailed directions on Schoology's Support site.

What else? You’ll need to do your Grade Setup. There’s a link below to specific directions. This is important because any assignment you create in an active course needs to be attached to a Category. That Category (or those Categories) will need to be exactly the same as you would setup in IC. The Grading Periods are linked to IC, so you don’t need to create one. The Grading Scales provided are those most often used in IC, but you are still able to create one of your own.

Check out the links below for directions and helpful links. Additionally, the Resources section of this newsletter has some handy Reference Cards to download and print.

Schoology’s social media-like design in general is intended to be used for collaborative purposes. Groups are where you can build and share resources with your team members. It’s where those course templates can be created and shared.

At the moment you’re unable to create groups on your own. There are some steps that have to happen before each building will be able to create their own. Don’t worry, submit a Help Desk ticket (help@asd20.org) with your name, your school name, and your grade level or department or team name. We’ll get that created for you.

Feel free to explore all the resources Schoology has available. Not sure where to start with them? Try these links:

• 7 Simple Ways to Setup your Courses with an LMS
• 4 Next-Level Ways to Use Schoology You'll Want to Try
• Schoology Assessments - the new assessment feature
• Schoology Videos - 63 of them!
• Google Assignment App
  
  

You will be able to import your ALEC files into Schoology. To assist in this process, we are creating backups for you!

Use the attached PDF to assist you with downloading your ALEC files and uploading them to a Collection in your Resources. You are also welcome to visit us during one of

our support sessions for help with this process.

Having problems migrating courses to Schoology? Here are some tips:

• Try downloading a backup without the question bank.
  
• Try choosing the Schoology option to import into a “New Collection” (see instructions).
  
• Join us during a support session and we’ll work through the process with you.
  

Please keep in mind that these are two different platforms. Things in Schoology may not look exactly the same as they did in ALEC. Join us in a support session if you have concerns.

Your first step will be to join our ASD20 Getting Started with Schoology course. This course will walk you through some of the basics about using Schoology as a Learning Management System.

1. Login at asd20.schoology.com (Chrome is the preferred browser.)
   
2. For your initial login, use your complete email address: first.last@asd20.org (Subsequent logins will not require your complete email address. Schoology should remember you.)
   
3. Click on “Courses” in the top menu bar.
   
4. Click on “See All Courses” at the far right.
   
5. Click the “Join a Course” button on the right.
   
6. Use this course Access Code: 5XK69-CHSJH.

(More units will appear as we progress along our journey.)

Want some guided help?

Great! Your Digital Integration Services team is here to help you! We’re offering drop-in for support next week from 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM in the EAC Training Room (upstairs):

• Friday, August 3

Visit the course Calendar in Schoology for dates and time of additional drop-in support sessions.

Need Technical Help?

• Contact your DLC regarding any District apps that need to be integrated. They'll submit a Help Desk ticket if it something that can be integrated.
  
• Having technical troubles? Submit a Help Desk ticket (help@asd20.org) with the subject heading "Schoology."

Learning Services and Digital Integration Services are partnering with Schoology to develop our training program. You will be receiving online and face-to-face learning and support opportunities.

There are two (2) courses for you to join:

• In Schoology - Getting Started with Schoology = this is growing and developing course to walk you through the process of getting to know Schoology. Join code = 5XK69-CHSJH.
  
• In the SPOT - Schoology Support for Pilot Participants: Foundations and Best Practices = this is where you register in order to receive credit for your work. Course ID=1819-017-20.

In time, this process will become more streamlined and Schoology will link with our Professional Learning program at ASD20.

Your support will include online instruction and resources in the Schoology platform, face-to-face drop in sessions throughout the summer and school year, webinars, plus additional workshops and formal training opportunities. Do you need instant support? Schoology has an extensive resource collection to help, too!

Keep logging your hours!

Technology Integration Specialist - Learning Management System

Email: susan.murray@asd20.org
Website: www.digitalteachingandlearning.com
Location: 1110 Chapel Hills Drive, Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Phone: 719.234.1471
Twitter: @FrauSusi