Site Tour - A Teacher's View

As programmers and designers with teaching backgrounds, we know how difficult it can be to introduce a new technology into the classroom, so from day one we've repeated the mantra "make it easy for the teachers." We want teachers to be able to spend their valuable time on teaching the core subject, not the technology.

To that end, then, we've tried to make every aspect of the ExploreLearning site as simple and straightforward as possible.

The simplicity begins with "My Homepage," the center of your ExploreLearning experience.

My Homepage

When you login to the ExploreLearning site, you are taken to "My Homepage", which is your personal "command central". From there you select Gizmos for your students to see and use as well as manage your class or classes depending on your subscription level.

[Image above: Thumbnail of My Homepage. View larger image and more info in new window.]

Classes/Tabs

Across the top of "My Homepage" you will see a number of tabs representing the number of classes for which you subscriped. The homepage can hold up to 6 classes of up to 35 students each.

The class/tab names initially are ordered alphanumerically from left to right. The class/tab names can be changed to suit your own needs.

[Image above: Thumbnail of Class Tabs.
View larger image and more info in new window.]

Class Code

Each class has a unique class code that can be distributed to up to 35 students.

Student Enrollment

Students enroll by entering the class code into the system the very first time they login to ExploreLearning.

[Image above: Thumbnail of Student Registration screen. View larger image and more info in new window.]

Upon enrolling, students will select their own unique usernames and passwords to be used for future logins.

Thereafter, when your students login to ExploreLearning, they will automatically be taken to the student version of your homepage for the class in which they are enrolled.

[Image above: Thumbnail of My Homepage, student view. View larger image and more info in new window.]

Gizmo Lists

The major focus of your homepage is the Gizmo List that you create by selecting Gizmos from our large and ever growing collection. To add Gizmos to a class, you select the "Get Gizmos" link on "My Homepage."

Your Gizmo lists can be grouped and separated by a header, and Gizmo lists can be reordered.

Also, to save you time, you can import a Gizmo list from one class into another class or classes.

[Image above: Thumbnail of the manage Gizmo lists pane. View larger image and more info in new window.]

Gizmo Record

Each Gizmo in your list is represented by the Gizmo Record (refer to image below).

[Image Above: Thumbnail of a Gizmo Record. View larger image and more info in new window.]

From the Gizmo List you can launch the Gizmo, get a quick sense of the curricular materials associated with the Gizmo, or go to a more complete Gizmo Details page.

Most importantly, from the Gizmo List a teacher can access the Student Assessment Results for the Gizmo.

Student Assessment and Real Time Reporting

By answering the Progress Check Questions underneath each Gizmo, students are given opportunities to assess their understanding of key concepts.

Once students have submitted their answers, the teacher can see the results for the entire class.

The results are compiled into color-coded data tables to help the instructor quickly assess the class's performance.

[Image above: Thumbnail of Assessment Results. View larger image and more info in new window.]

Class Management

From My Homepage, a teacher can also access the Manage Class Roster page to reveal student usernames and passwords, drop students from the class, or import students from another class.