tip tuesdays 4 popular teaching tips for learnON

 

In May 2019, we launched the new Jacaranda Teachers’ Community, a free community where educators can network, share ideas and resources and enjoy exclusive rewards and perks. We have a popular Tuesday Tips series, where teachers come to get a weekly practical teaching tips and ideas. We wanted everyone to get a chance to preview these handy tips, so here are some of the most popular Tip Tuesday tips for learnON. Check them out below!

learnON is Jacaranda’s immersive digital learning platform for Years 7-10 titles and new VCE titles from 2020. It supports teachers to make learning more visible and personalised for their students. The learnON platform is used in thousands of classrooms across Australia every day. If yours is one of them, we hope you are enjoying the benefits it brings to your students.

Click the learnON tip you want to read below: 

Tip #1: Set up your classes to unlock powerful functionalities

One of the most powerful functionalities in learnON is its ability to connect teachers with their students; creating an online virtual classroom. When you connect to students and create a class you unlock the ability to:

  1. Track student and cohort progress
  2. Create custom tests using any question in the resource
  3. Assign assessments and practice tests to your class or students

Take advantage of these powerful features by setting up your classes today. It is a really simple process, watch the video or read the instructions below to find out how.

How to set up a class in learnON

Watch our short video to guide you through the process of setting up your class:

How to create a class in 3 easy steps

Step 1: Open the title and manage class tool

First you will need to open your learnON title from your jacPLUS bookshelf, then click the class drop-down menu from the top navigation and click the MANAGE MY CLASSES button.

4 steps to connect with your students in learnON step 1

Step 2: Choose the academic year and class name

Then you will need to select the academic year and class name. Click the create button.

4 steps to connect with your students in learnON step 2

Step 3: Invite your students to join the class

Finally, invite your students to join your class using either of the two methods listed below:

Method A: Display the unique code during class
A unique 6-character code is shown at the top-right of this screen. Display the code on the board in your classroom. Students can join your class by logging into their JacPLUS bookshelf, selecting Join learnON Class and entering this unique class code.

Method B: Send students an invitation link via email 
Click Copy Link at the top-right to generate a hyper link that you can share with your students via email. Your students can join your class by clicking on the hyper link in your email, and logging into JacPLUS.

4 steps to connect with your students in learnON step 3

Bonus Tips!

  • The six character join code is unique to each class you set up and does not change (unless you specifically do so). If new students join your class, simply give them the same code.
  • Other teachers, HODS, e-learning coordinators, CRTs, can also join your class. Making it easy for them to track progress and create assignments as needed. Simply give them the same unique code or link and they will join your class as a teacher! While students can only be linked to one teacher, there is no limit to how many teachers can join your class.

Tip #2: Keep your students engaged with interactivities

Teachers tell us all the time one of their biggest classroom challenges is keeping students engaged. We understand, and that’s why we have included a diverse range of additional resources enhance learning. These include eLessons (videos), interactivities, audio (interviews, podcasts), weblinks, customisable worksheets and more!

What are interactivities?

Interactivities are short online activities that are designed to help students learn through hands-on experience. These can be a great exercise to get your students to complete individually in class after you have explained a concept, or perhaps you project them to work through the activity together as a class.

Here are some examples of interactivities available in our titles:

1. Using the word of
(found in Jacaranda Maths Quest 7 VC (learnON) – Chapter 4.6.2)

interactivities example 1

2. Australia’s average annual rainfall
(found in Jacaranda Geography Alive 7 VC – Chapter 3.4.1)

interactivities screenshot 2

Where can you find interactivities?

You will find interactivities embedded directly into the course content for a seamless learning experience. You can also find all interactives available in the resource panel to the right of the screen.

interactivities 4 screenshot

Handy tips!

If you have found a particular interactivity that would be perfect for your next class, click the DIRECT LINK button on the top right. Selecting this will give you a bookmark link straight to that interactivity allowing you to quickly access it during class.

Tip #3: Access hundreds of ready-made planning resources

In learnON, you will find an overview of the resources to help plan your new topics in Term 3 and beyond. These include curriculum grids, work programs and a list of all the resources for each chapter in your Jacaranda title.

There are over 150 additional resources (videos, interactivities, worksheets, discussions, tests and more) in a title. These planning documents will assist you to uncover what is available in your title and where to find them!

How to find your resources in a Maths or Science title

How to find your resources in a Humanities title

Tip #4: Quick and easy ways to differentiate learning

Differentiated teaching and learning requires an investment in getting to know your students strengths and weaknesses, setting up individual assignments and then careful monitoring of their progress and results to see growth.

With Jacaranda’s learnON platform, it has never been easier to quickly setup personalised tests and assign them to individual or groups of students in your class.

Watch the video below or keep reading to learn how to create a custom test in our learnON test-maker: 

How to create custom tests with the learnON testmaker

1. Once inside learnON for your title, proceed to ASSIGNMENTS in the main menu and then click CREATE ASSIGNMENT.

2. Select which topics and/or sub topics you would like the questions to come from.

differentiated learning screenshot 1

3. Then press SHOW QUESTIONS and a list of questions from those topics and/or subtopics will appear. Select which questions you wish to be part of the test.

To help you differentiate, you can filter questions by proficiency strand (e.g. Practice, Consolidate or Master – in Maths) or difficulty level (Easy, Medium or Hard). Once you have selected your filter, press APPLY FILTER and the questions will appear.

differentiated learning 2 screenshot

4. Click  2 REVIEW and review your questions and change the order if necessary.

5. Click 3 ASSIGN and name your test. Choose between PRACTICE (best for class or homework) or ASSESSMENT (best for assessment tasks).

interactivities 5 screenshot

6. Finally, select which students you want to assign the test to by pressing the blue down arrow to show all students. Set the start and due date and click ASSIGN.

interactivities 6 screenshot

We hope this post helps you unlock the full potential of learnON. If you’re not yet a learnON customer, reach out to your local Jacaranda Education Consultant to set up a trial.