District’s Cyber Program - Pocono Mountain School District Cy… · District’s Cyber Program Technology Information This document covers: 1. ... allows for audio and video to

PMSD Cyber Learning Program Technology Information - Page 1

Pocono Mountain School

District’s Cyber Program

Technology Information

This document covers:

1. Equipment/Materials

2. Logging in

3. Viewing the lessons, assignments, and quizzes

4. Daily attendance check-in (Blackboard Collaborate)

5. Assignment submission and returned assignments

6. Student email

7. Student online grade access (Home Access Center)

TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Contact technical support immediately upon experiencing any technical

issue. We provide 3 methods:

1. Online: Support icon on your laptop

2. Phone: 1-877-856-3311 (Toll Free)

3. Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Equipment/Materials:

Computer equipment is provided by and is the property of VLN Partners. Internet connection,

routers, and service will be the responsibility of the parent/guardian. Computers will be used

to support education and academic research throughout the school year. The use of the

computer for illegal, inappropriate, or unethical use by students or parents/guardians is

strictly prohibited. Each family/student signs an Equipment Agreement.

The district provides, through our cyber partner, VLN the following equipment:

Wireless capable laptop computer

Printer/scanner/copier combination device

Headphones/ear-buds

All the cables necessary to connect to the devices

****KEEP THE BOXES THAT THE COMPUTER EQUIPMENT CAME IN*** Computers are

collected by the school district at the end of the school year. Specific “turn in” dates are

communicated by the school as the end of the school year approaches. All cables, devices,

and peripherals must be turned into the school district in the same condition that it was

received. During the summer months, the computers are reset and cleaned up for the

upcoming year; all data should be stored or backed up, as needed.

Textbooks, workbooks, and other materials are distributed by the school district to all students

in the cyber program. The student will be liable for any damage or loss occurring to the

materials during the period of use. In the beginning of the school year, students will be

provided with the course textbooks. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the

materials are returned to the school properly at the end of the year. Due dates for books,

materials, and equipment will be announced by the school as the end of the school year draws

near.


VLN Online Platform (where you access the courses):

It is recommended that you establish a learning pattern when attending an online school.

Setting up common learning times is the first step in setting yourself up for success. Irregular

learning times makes it difficult on the body and mind to maintain a successful learning

pattern. Things you will need prior to beginning your lessons:

Student ID and Password (provided by district)

Your course list

Textbook and other required resources for all courses

Notepad and writing utensils

Laptop computer with high speed Internet connection

Headphones/ear buds

All-in-one printer/scanner/copier

Accessing the PMSD Cyber Learning Portal:

There is generally a shortcut on the computer’s desktop that points directly to the district’s

portal, but the manual directions are:

Open the Web browser and type in the web address:

http://vlnpartners.com/login/index.cfm

Enter your username and password in the box.

Click LOGIN.


Once your username and password is accepted by the system, you will be taken to the

district’s PMSD Cyber Learning Portal.

The portal has a noticeable PMSD look and feel to it. It has the district logo at the top of the

page, a list of important links/resources on the left, and a PMSD Cyber Learning Google

Calendar in the middle of the page.

Calendar & Announcements:

This calendar is provided by the PMSD Cyber Learning program to the cyber learning student

as a means of sharing important dates and information. Please check this calendar from time

to time to keep apprised of school related information. Not all of the specific district building

information may be provided on this calendar. Please check with your son or daughter’s

home building for anything specific to activities related to that building.

View Lessons:

This is where students will go to access their daily lessons. It takes the student directly to the

list of his or her courses. The district is an ongoing curriculum integration cycle and we make


every effort to match the lessons in the traditional bricks and mortar school to online learning

activities and place them into weekly “Modules” in Extralearning.

Each student will see the courses that he or she is registered for on his or her schedule. IF

there are discrepancies here, please contact the PMSD Cyber Learning offices. The list of

courses appears in the middle of the screen with a Student Orientation to Cyber School course

at the top of the list. This course is a generic course and does cover many of the topics that we

go over in this document.

1. Click on a course. This will take you to the listing of modules for that particular course.

2. The Course Welcome and Course Introduction provide valuable information related to

the layout of the course and the course materials (textbooks) for the course. In some

cases, such as math courses (E-Resources: Calculator), there may be additional

resources listed.


Clicking on a Module (MOD #03 for example), will take you to a listing of lessons, assignments,

readings, resources, tasks, and quizzes for the module.

Here you will find numerous activities and assignments all related to the topic of the

specific module. Generally, you will find:

a. Module # Overview - This section is the Overview section. It typically includes an

assignment called the E-Read. This is what you are supposed to read and study in

order to gain knowledge on a particular topic. These are mandatory in order to

understand the topic of the module.

b. Instructional Materials - These include links, videos, interactive animations, etc.

that enhance your understanding of the module’s topic. Generally, these don’t all

have to be completed. Students tend to flock to the format they enjoy. The

importance here is that they use the instructional materials to assist them in

acquiring the knowledge and experience related to the module’s topic.

c. Portfolio and Assessment – This section includes assignments and online quizzes

that must be completed. They make up the students’ grades. Generally, the

assignments are emailed, scanned, typed up and electronically dropped in a

virtual dropbox or physically turned in for grading.

i. Read and complete ALL of the directions. For most subjects, the E-

Assignments and E-Vocabs should be completed in Microsoft Word. For

math and some science assignments, complete the task on a separate sheet

of notebook paper and scan in the documents.



****E-Essays, E-Tests, E-Quizzes, and/or E-Projects follow the

portfolio assignments and are considered a part of assessment to

evaluate student comprehension. ****

Answers should be typed in complete sentence and paragraph form. In addition,

students must answer the entire question(s), and use proper grammar, spelling,

and punctuation. Texting lingo will not be accepted. Essays are required to have a

title as well as your name, module number, date submitted. At a minimum, essays

should be at least a 5-7 sentence paragraph and should include examples

supporting the answer.

3. Make special note of navigation in the upper left-hand part of the screen:

Do not use your browser’s Back and Forward buttons.

If you need to go back to the course list, click COURSE LIST to go back to the

list of courses.

Click the COURSE NAME – MODULE LIST to go back to the list of modules.

If you fail to use this navigation, you could potentially make extra work for yourself as it

may continuously put you back to the login screen.

4. There are additional resources available to your student and they can be found by

clicking on RESOURCES IN THE UPPER RIGHT-HAND CORNER:


5. When finished working for the day, students MUST click the EXIT LINK AT THE BOTTOM

OF THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF THE SCREEN. Clicking the “X” button in the browser will

not properly record completed items. Clicking the EXIT link will take you back to the

PMSD Cyber Learning Portal.

Classrooms:

The system also has links to online classrooms. The online classroom, Blackboard Collaborate,

is utilized by the PMSD Cyber Learning program for 2 purposes:

1. HOMEROOM CHECK-IN

2. An option to discuss classroom/instructional topics with the teacher (you may or may

not see links to teachers’ online classrooms)

ALL STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO CHECK-IN TO HOMEROOM BY 10AM EVERYDAY IN ORDER

TO BE CHECKED-IN FOR ATTENDANCE. Attendance is mandatory for students in Pennsylvania

and, other than doing work, checking in via the online classroom is the program’s way of

verifying student attendance/accountability.

To check-in for attendance purposes:

1. Please check-in by or before 10AM each day.

2. From the PMSD Cyber Learning Portal, click Classroom on the left-hand

side of the screen.

3. Click on the link for ATTENDANCE CHECK-IN.

4. If you are visiting the ATTENDANCE CHECK-IN for the first time, Blackboard Collaborate

will give you a message stating that JAVA NEEDS TO BE SETUP OR GIVEN PERMISSION TO

RUN.


You must give JAVA permission to run, because Blackboard Collaborate is a system that

allows for audio and video to be displayed and it uses JAVA to do so.

5. You may also be asked to run the Blackboard

Collaborate file/application. Click Run.

It will ask you for your name. ENTER YOUR COMPLETE NAME. If you enter strange,

undeterminable names, you will NOT receive attendance for that day and will be

subject to the district/state laws regarding attendance. PLEASE ENTER YOUR

COMPELTE NAME.

6. You will have to ACCEPT the Blackboard Collaborate tool.

7. You will have to select your Internet Speed by clicking OK.

Once these steps have been completed the first time, you will not have to do them

again as Blackboard Collaborate records the information on the computer. You may

have to RUN the application, but you’ll never have to re-configure Blackboard

Collaborate again.


8. Once in the system, you will see the Blackboard Collaborate screen.

9. Press the button found under the

PARTICIPANTS SECTION and select YES.

It is MANDATORY that you follow these

instructions as it directly relates to your

attendance.

10. Once you have selected YES from the choice,

you may close Blackboard Collaborate by

selecting FILE and EXIT from the main menu.

**** PMSD Cyber Learning offers many additional methods/opportunities for student

interaction with the teachers and administrators. As a result, PMSD Cyber Learning doesn’t

utilize the Blackboard Collaborate tool for online meetings on a regular basis. ****


Submit Work - Turning in Assignments

The PMSD Cyber Learning program utilizes an online document

submission tool for assignments that are typed or scanned. Documents

are routed to teacher inboxes, so it extremely important to select the

correct class, module number, and assignment type when turning in

work.

1. Select SUBMIT WORK from the menu on the left-hand side of the

screen on the PMSD Cyber Learning portal.

2. From the pull-down menus, select:

a. The correct Class.

b. The correct Module.

c. The Assignment Type (E-Vocab, E-Short Answer, E-Essay, etc.)

3. Click the button to navigate out to where you saved the

assignment file.

4. Once the file is attached, click the UPLOAD FILE button to submit the

assignment to the teacher’s inbox. You will receive an on-screen upload confirmation

when the file has been uploaded. When you scan documents, please save them as PDFs.

Image files will not upload to the system.


**** VERY IMPORANT ****

It is extremely important that you save your assignments properly by

naming them correctly. Though the upload of files are uploaded and

categorized by assignment/module/class, is a good idea to name them

according to your assignment on your computer. Many students save

them as generic names (Document1, Document2, Scan0001, Scan 0002,

etc.) and then have no idea what the file name is when they go to

upload the assignment. This normally wastes a ton of time and students

end up having to redo many of the assignments. PLEASE BE AWARE OF

WHAT YOU NAME YOUR ASSIGNMENTS AND WHERE YOU SAVE THEM.

Example:

If you’re completing Social Studies, Module 27’s Vocabulary assignment, you

probably want to name it something like:

Social Studies – Vocabulary & Assignment – Mod 27

In fact, many students even put their name in the file name for further

clarification. It is also a good idea to type your name at the top of each file.

View Submitted Work

There are generally two ways that teachers return work to students:

The VIEW SUBMITTED WORK link from the PMSD Cyber Learning portal

Email

Clicking the VIEW SUBMITTED WORK link from the PMSD Cyber Learning portal it will

take you to a listing of folders that contain any returned/graded work. Navigate to the

folders that represent your class/module/assignment and open the returned document.

Many teachers use EMAIL to return work. These returned assignments will appear as

attachments in your PMSD Cyber Learning provided email.

**** Many assignment grades will appear in the gradebook before being returned.

Please follow a regular schedule of checking your grades ****


Email

Each PMSD Cyber Learning student is provided with an email address. The email is provided

through the Gaggle Email system. The PMSD Cyber Learning student emails are closed system

emails. These emails can only send/receive emails to/from @pmsd.org emails and other PMSD

Cyber Learning students. Emailing outside email addresses will result in the emails not being

sent and, in some instances, return email failure reports. THIS IS THE EMAIL ADDRESS THAT

WE REQUIRE STUDENTS TO USE FOR COMMUNICATION WITH ANYONE

FROM THE PMSD CYBER LEARNING PROGRAM.

1. Click EMAIL from the menu on the left on the PMSD Cyber Learning

portal.

2. You will be taken to the Gaggle Email program. You may have to

click an agreement of service button.

3. Click on EMAIL at the top of the screen and you will be taken to your email inbox.

The email works much like every other Web-based email system.

1. You compose/create emails using the COMPOSE button.

2. You enter the email address you want to send to (you will be provided with teacher

emails once the year starts)

3. Enter a subject (that makes sense). PLEASE ENTER SUBJECTS.


4. Type the body of the email and PLEASE WRITE IN COMPLETE SENTENCES. Using

broken words and text-speech is not acceptable.

5. If you need to attach something, hit the paper-click button, find the attachment, and

then hit send.

6. Otherwise, hit send (paperplane) button.


Student Grades (Home Access Center)

All students in the Pocono Mountain School have access to their grades online via the Home

Access Center. This is no different for PMSD Cyber Learning students. This is where any

student or parent/guardian will go to look up grades.

1. From the PMSD Cyber Learning portal, click on GRADEBOOK.

2. The Home Access Center Login screen will display. Enter your User

Name and Password. If you forgot your User Name and Password, click the “Forgot My

Username or Password” link. If you’ve never used the system before, please contact the

PMSD Cyber Learning Offices to get setup for use.