Brittany’s Non-LMS

Tool Kit
Coming into VIU’s OLTD program as a brick and mortar teacher has definitely been an eye-opening
experience for me. The experience has been two-fold. First, taking an online program is a brand-new
experience for me (and how wonderful has it been), and secondly, thinking about teaching online has
given me a new perspective. Successful online learning can look very different depending on teacher,
student, and content. Although it can look very different, there are some common threads that lead to
success.

1) Building Community
2) Content, Organization, and Interactivity
3) Assessment as, for and of Learning

In VIU’s OLTD program I have had the opportunity to explore many online learning resources.
Including learning management systems such as Moodle. However, there are endless resources that are
not considered to be management systems that are endlessly useful. Many of them are Google based, but
there are also ones that are not. Building a toolkit for non-LMS resources will become very useful to me
while transitioning to a more technology forward classroom. While creating this tool kit I wanted to keep
in mind the limitations that my district has put on resources, they will need to meet provincial FIPPA
policies. This concern has led my district away from the use of Google, and towards Office 365. With this
in mind, I want to focus on what Office has to offer, specifically Teams.

Teams: Microsoft Teams is a tool developed for communication and

collaboration, for both the workplace and education. It has many capabilities
and links to some of Microsoft’s more known tools. You can create a “Team”
for each one of the classes that you are teaching. In the Team you can have
multiple “Channels”, that allow you to organize your team as you would like.
Maybe you want to use this to create groups, or maybe you want to organize
the channels into tasks or units.
 Posts
The “Posts” tab in Teams can be used as a spot for conversations and
communications. Teachers can post class updates and resources, along
with new materials being automatically shown on this page. Students
can ask questions and post comments or neat resources that they have
found. Essentially it is a kind of social networking site. A wonderful spot
to build classroom community while keeping communication separate
from students’ and teachers’ personal site such as Facebook or Twitter.

Meetings
In teams there is a calendar, this will help teacher and students organize
important dates. This also has the capabilities of video conferencing,
through “Meetings”. It has many of the same features as Zoom. Anyone
can share their screen, and there is a chat function. You can add files and
documents to your meeting and take collaborative notes as the meeting
progresses. All of this is automatically saved into the meeting. You also
have the option to save parts or the whole video conference.

Calls
Teams has a “Calls” function, both video and audio. You can make either
private calls to any member in your class, or you can create group calls.
Students can also create their own groups for collaboration on projects,
peer tutoring, or informal feedback on assignments.

Chat
The “Chat” function is an instant messaging tool. You can create chats
with individuals, or groups. In chats you can share resources, schedule a
meeting, and add emojis. It is very easy to switch to an audio or video
call from the chat screen.
 Files
Teams has a “Files” tab, and it is just what is sounds like. It is
a place to create, or upload, files with different kinds of
documents in it (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). When you
upload a file, or create a document, it goes under the file tab
of that specified channel to keep organized. Example, you
can keep your biology unit resources separate from your
chemistry unit resources. You can create collaborative
documents and students can have the ability to edit the
document together. Students can view the document in
Teams and have a space to make comments on the
document and discuss ideas. This files tab allows for a place
to organize and deliver content, along with letting students
interact with the resources.

Word: This is a well-known word-processing program.

Word allows you create and edit resources. A newer
function that it has is it also allows you to collaborate and
create group documents.
Excel: Is a spreadsheet program that has many useful
functions. Students can use it to collect and graph data.
You can collaborate and collate lab results with its sharing
functions. Teachers can also use it to organize classes,
assignments, and marks.
PowerPoint: A presentation program. You can create
lessons that have embedded images and videos. You can
also annotate your presentation on your tablet, very
useful in math and science. Just like word and excel, you
can also share your presentation with students.

Planner
You can add a “Planner” to your Team. This allows you to
create and share short- or long-term tasks, build groups, and
assign tasks. This tool is very handy when working
collaboratively. Individuals can mark off their progression
through the tasks in order to keep the rest of the group
updated (not started, in progress, or completed). Students
can also look in advance to see what other projects or tasks
are coming up in the future.
Class Notebook

There is a “Class Notebook” tab in Teams. This notebook links

to Microsoft OneNote, one of my favorite Microsoft
resources. OneNote can be compared to a filing cabinet, in
fact that is how they designed it. It is an excellent place to
organize and deliver content, along with letting students
interact with the resources. I prefer to use OneNote on the
desktop app, this works as it will sync to the Teams pages
when you are connected to the internet. Within your class,
you have sections, and within these sections you can add
endless pages. The first section is a Collaboration Space. This
is open to everyone that you have enrolled in your course.
Both teachers and students can create pages. You can create
smaller groups and private sections for students to share
work. The next section is the Content Library, this is a section
where only the teacher can add and edit documents, but
everybody can view this content and copy it into their own
notebooks. In general, this is the place where most teacher
will place their course notes or readings. You can write on
the page like paper (if you have a tablet), you can upload pdf
documents and write on them, you can even insert tables,
pictures, and math equations. The third section is a Teacher
Only section, this can be used for curriculum planning and
sharing information with TTOC’s and educational assistances,
students will not see this section. Lastly, each student will
have a section. The student section is a place for students to
create their own class notes or a place to complete
worksheet digitally. Teachers can give individual feedback in
these sections as well. The downside to this is that you relay
on students have access to technology in the classroom.
Assignments The “Assignments” tab in Teams is for creating assignments and quizzes used for
assessing as, for and of learning. You can create or upload drafts of your
assignments or quizzes before you assign them to your students. You can assign
assignments to some or all your students. Students can view the assignment and
assessment of the assignment. Once they have completed the assignment, they
can submit it right into the teams app. Students will be notified that there is a
new assignment in the posts tab and teachers will be notified if there are any
submitted assignment that need to be graded.

Forms: If you chose to create a quiz, Teams will re-direct you to “Microsoft
forms”. Forms can be used for all kinds of assessments. You can create
more traditional quizzes, you can use it to survey the class on a topic, you
can even use to for students to provide you feedback on the class.

Grades
The last tab is “Grades”. This is a place where teachers can track student
progression through assignments and assessments, and the students can also
track their own progression. It will tell you if a student has viewed, turned in, or
received a grade on an assignment. It will also tell you if the student has taken no
action at this point in time. Students grades can be exported to excel for
processing and weighting for assessment of learning.

Excel: Can be used as a grade book and an assignment tracking system.

You can create categories and weight different columns. You can create
and share tabs for each student, allowing them to self-reflect on pieces of
assessment. One of my favourite things to do is to create a mail-merge to
format reports that can be sent out to parents.
Non-Office Non-LMS
Tool Kit

Zoom
Zoom is a video conferencing app that provides great opportunity for
synchronous learning. You can meet with your whole class, just a group,
or students can meet with each other. This app can connect individuals
from all over the world. Zoom allows you to record the meeting, share
screens, and create breakout groups. It also has a chat function.

G+
G+ is a community building site that is similar to social networking sites
such as Twitter. Students and teachers can post resource’s, or
assignments. They can comment on each other’s posts while teachers
monitor the activity. Teachers can pin certain post to the top and
organize contributions into different pages.

Facebook
Facebook is a social networking site that allows for communication and
collaboration. Teacher can create a page where resources can be
shared, and discussions can be started. You can also use Facebook
Messenger to communicate with either an individual, a group, or the
whole class.
Weebly, Google Sites
A website, such as Weebly or Google Sites, is a
great first stop for students. It can hold an array
of information. Using Weebly you can organize
units and post resource’s (readings, notes). You
can also insert a calendar to keep students
organized. Blog can be used for students to
interact with different materials, and you can
even insert an assignments page for students to
hand in completed work.

Remind Remind is a communication app that helps to

keep students organized. You can send
messages right to students and parents cell
phones. You can set up reminders in advance or
create the messages as you need them. You can
even share files. Remind keeps your cell phone
number anonymous and allows you to message
using a computer.

Screencast-o-matic
This screen casting tool allows you to create
video lessons while sharing your computer
screen. I have found this tool very useful for
providing direct instruction to my students.
Sometimes it is extremely difficult to find the
video that is just right, so why not make it
yourself?
 Kahoot
Kahoot is a fun an interactive way to get an idea of students
understanding. You can group students together to complete the
quiz or have them complete it individually. As the teacher you can
track which students are getting which questions correct or
incorrect. In my experience students have a lot of fun with this
resource and it is a great way to make formative assessment.

Weebly, Google Sites

Student created websites are great ways for students to

demonstrate their understanding and growth in a subject.
ePortfolio’s allow students to showcase their best work and
reflect on how their selected pieces of work reflect their
understanding of the course content or competencies.

Screencast-o-matic
This tool can also be useful to students. Students can create
videos of their own learning to put in an eportfolio or to show
their teacher. This app is free with paid upgrades.

G+ and Google sheets

Although G+ naturally fits into community building, it also

provides a space for reflection. Students can provide comments
on others work and extend the topic to add their own opinions.
Teachers can monitor comments and make some assessments of
their own.
Google sheet can be used like excel. It can act as a place for self-
assessment and reflection along with providing a place for
teachers to provide their feedback in a private manner.
 In conclusion, Office 365 does provide enough resources to develop a fully DL or partially DL
course. Microsoft has built Teams to focus on communication and collaboration. They have provided
many ways that you can build community. Office 365 has robust platforms for delivering and organizing
interactive content. All its content delivery methods provide further opportunity to collaborate as all
documents can be shared for comments, and for groupwork. One thing that has been lacking in
Microsoft’s apps is assessment tools. However, with Microsoft Forms and Excel along with Teams
assignments and grades, they are making good steps towards being able to assess all kinds of learning.
Office 365, and Teams, is a great starting point to begin to digitize and blend my classes as I don’t have to
worry about permissions.

I have also provided some non-Microsoft tools for my toolkit. These are some of my favorite apps,
and many of them can be used by teachers without concerns of FIPPA. Others, like Kahoot, can be used
anonymously by students as well. I find Zoom more user friendly, and as it becomes more popular, they
are re-visiting their privacy policies. I don’t know if I could go back to a world where I don’t screencast.
What a wonderful way to blend / flip a classroom. It does take time to create the videos but overtime you
will start to develop quite the library. It is also nice for your students to see you, the teacher, delivering
content and giving instructions.

Overall, I have provided an array of resources that will support my journey into the world of on-
line education. I look forward to incorporating more of these into my everyday teaching and I open my
brick and mortar classroom up to the ideas of blended learning.

- Brittany Renooy