Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)

MySchool has implemented a solution for schools to offer a virtual learning environment for their students. The module allows for Teachers to create content, videos, forums and assignments. These can be shared with their course students via the MySchool portal.

This module needs to be mapped to your school instance, for the moment it is designed for  Teacher/Students only, please contact our support desk for further information.

Course resources

The course resource management page, will be accessible to course Teachers, and Administrators based on your user group access. 

It provides the following tool kit for online learning materials:

• Lesson planner - Use this to provide information surrounding a specific lesson or content matter to be covered within the curriculum.
• Forum - Open a forum where Teachers and students can communicate.
• Assignments - My School assignment functionality with a simplified user interface. Create, manage submissions and grade returned work using the new VLE tool kit. Assignments created on the VLE will populate the new assignment grade grid.
• LTI integration - We can integrate with a growing list of LTI compliant providers. This allows MySchool to link with other software providers. Check out this article for more information. 

Student Access

Students log into MySchool as usual, and we will activate a dashlet which gives them easy access to the course resources. When new content is added a student can be notified via mail, and the counters show unread and available resources.

How to build the resources

First steps would be to create folders or Topics. Items can be dragged and dropped into the folders.

Use the folders to structure your content, either created time based content, or keep it in line with the subjects curriculum. 

For younger students, we advise using topics with a date range, this makes it easier for them to follow the lessons. Use the title 'Lessons for week starting 11/03. 

Lesson content

Once a Topic has been created, you have the possibility to crete content within folder or outside of the topic.

Open the icon and create content for the lesson.

1. Title - Use numbers to show as a list in the topic folder. Why not explain the lesson steps in the description to allow students to plan their learning.

2. Available from/Active date - Allows teachers to release content on set dates to ensure that the students are not overloaded and that content can be released periodically inline with the curriculum.

3. Send notification to students/Guardians - Send them an announcement informing them of the new content. Users must have a valid,active email in order to receive these notifications.

4. Description - Enter hyperlinks, tables, and images.  

5. Add content - Add files, add youtube links or URL links to content.

Forum

Attach a forum to a topic to allow students and Teachers to exchange questions, provide discussion topics or discuss the tasks attached to the topic.  Reply in line with the student or in general. 

Assignments

Create assignments within the VLE resources, using a simplified UI designed for the VLE resources.

Give a descriptive title to the assignment, this will appear on the student/guardian portals but also in the assignment grade grid. The due date will close the assignment, and stop further submissions. it will also appear grey in the course resource lists. Types are set within the assignment configuration screen or via subject management. 

Click on the blue header to open the description field. Why not use a forum where students can ask questions about the assignments? Be aware of the file limit (128kb) and also the format, some students maybe using a tablet with no office tools available. 

The parameter options are there to allow full functionality when creating assignments in the VLE module. Students can upload finished work either from the text panel or by uploading a file.

Scale  - Apply different scales from the subject settings.

Maximum grade/weight - Set a maximum out of for numerical scales. Apply a weight in accordance with your continuous assessment criteria.

Publish - Determine what the students will see when posting the assignment. These follow the default set up in assignment configuration.

Unpublished until - Determine when the assignment will become active and students will see the content. 

Submission - Students can upload and return work. Teachers will see the submissions with the normal assignment view.

Assignments can be graded directly in the VLE course resource page, and this will be replicated on the assignment grade grid. The statuses are controlled within the assignment configuration page. Choose to unsubscribe students from an assignment by using the red cross.

If you need to distinguish between assignment types, then create a type 'online assignment' or create a submission status that will not be included into the averages collected during normal school sessions.

LTI compliance

We are able to link in with many other software providers to facilitate online learning. Please contact our support team to discuss integration with software. Once we confirm the account and complete the integration, we will add an appropriate icon to the user panel.

Please note that third party software will require payable or Pro accounts in most cases. These costs are not covered by MySchool. Check out this article for more information.

FAQ

Can we change the above functionalities for our school?

We always try to provide the best solution for all our users. We would be more than happy to collect your feedback for future versions, but would be unable to customise the VLE resources further. Ask our support team to sign up to the MySchool ideas portal.

Can we have a voice link?

You will be able to speak via the online video conferencing.

How do we know that students are completing the lessons and tasks?

When student open the content using view, they can also acknowledge that they have read the content.

On assignments they can Submit if you have allowed a submission on the assignment . If the student acknowledges and marks as read. The Teacher can check this on the Student tab with the Course resource module, and it will show a percentage of completion from the assigned content.

Can Guardians have access to course resources?

Guardians will have a read only access via the guardian dashlet. allowing them to view each of their dependants separately using the tabs.