The Ontario Ministry of Education licensed virtual learning environment (VLE) is a learning management system through Desire2Learn (D2L) which is sometimes also referred to as Brightspace. A wide variety of tools are integrated in one location for you to manage your class. Students can easily access using their school board Single Sign On (SSO). Currently, your course shells exist and your students' names are on the Classlist in your course. The system is integrated with OneDrive and Google Drive, so students can submit work directly from their school board accounts.
Within your course shell you have the following tools available to use:
Content - add your own resources or online sources
Assignments - hand in folders with Turnitin capability & a suite of marking tools
Discussions - use forums for online discussions or blogging
Email - internal email system, BCC email several students at once using Classlist tool
Quizzes - create quizzes (and tests) that self-score multiple choice, true/false, and matching
Checklist - create checklists for students to self-manage assigned work
Calendar - add items from checklist or add your own deadlines
Groups - assign groups for different purposes, e.g. peer support/review or smaller discussions
Portfolio - build portfolios; students can upload artifacts with any mobile device using the app
Video Assignments - to assign, collect and grade video assignments
Video Note - add short webcam videos in any tool (from computer only)
Microsoft Teams integration- great for meeting with students and video conferencing (Office365 Account needed)
How to login to the VLE using your school board Single Sign On (SSO) that is used for numerous products, like MyBlueprint, Office365 and the Virtual Learning Environment.
How to get started in activating and setting up your course shell:
activate
edit banner and navigation bar
check classlist
More information on what you can do with a course shell (class environment). This video briefly outlines the full set of tools.
How to add materials to your Content area. You can add most file types, eg. PDF, Microsoft files, Google Drive files and images, as well as links to websites, virtual tools and videos. Instructions for how to create an easy to manage/grade Mindomo Assignment in the content area here.
How to create a submission folder and choose your settings. Watch the Annotations Tool video as well to learning about grading work in the web browser or Assignment Grader video to learn about the iPad app. Watch the Turnitin integration in the Assignments tool to learn about originality checking.
How to use the Discussions tool to for asynchronous class discussions, class Q&A, blogging, and small group peer review/support.
How to use the Checklist tool with students so they can self-manage their work. Chunk tasks, provide a daily or weekly checklist, etc.
The email is an internal system, not meant to be used with external email. Use for students to communicate with you about the course work.
How to use the Quizzes tool for formative learning checks or actual quizzes/tests. Multiple choice, matching and true/false questions are self-scoring.
More information on additional question types that are available to you.
An overview of how to use the integrated Portfolio app with students.
An explanation of the main homepage features.
Scan Work to PDF
How to download, install and use the Office Lens scanning app on your school board iPad or personal mobile device (Android and iOS).
Submit Work
An overview for students of how to submit work in the VLE in the Assignments Tool. Instructions for how to submit a YouTube video to an assignment hand in folder available here.
Upload Scanned Work from OneDrive - Mobile Device
After scanning written work to PDF, students can follow these instructions for uploading that scanned PDF file to an assignment hand in folder in the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) directly from your OneDrive.
Connect GAFE Account
Connect your GAFE account. This is a great integration for students who are working in Google Drive as they will be able to submit work directly from their drive when submitting work. (Students can also submit work from their OneDrive without completing any set up steps.)
The Pulse App
An overview for teachers and students on how to set up notifications and use the companion Pulse App. It is available in the Catalog (school board iPad) and App Store (iOS or Android).
Instructions for how to insert a YouTube video in any WYSIWYG editor, i.e. like the email text editor box.
Instructions for how to insert a link in any WYSIWYG editor, i.e. like the email text editor box.
Instructions for how to insert an image in any WYSIWYG editor, i.e. like the email text editor box.
Instructions for how to insert audio in any WYSIWYG editor, i.e. like the email text editor box.
Instructions for how to insert other stuff, e.g. embed an object, in any WYSIWYG editor, i.e. like the email text editor box.