It’s 6:30 a.m., and Mrs. Perkins, a fifth-grade teacher, browses the district’s library of content in Hāpara for a text she can teach in her science class. With just a few clicks, she shares the content with each student to quickly access it when they log in to Hāpara Student Dashboard.
This solution works on any device using a web browser, and each student can log in using their existing Google Workspace for Education account username and password. One of Mrs. Perkins’s learners uses assistive technology, a screen reader, to read and can also access the digital materials.
A learner starts her day with Student Dashboard
By 7:30 a.m., Jasmine, a high school student in the same district where Mrs. Perkins teaches, logs into the Student Dashboard from her phone. She reviews her announcements section to read feedback from her teacher on a previous assignment and looks over her homework. Finally, Jasmine steps off the bus, ready for the day, and is confident that no due assignments will surprise her.
Once at school, she uses her Student Dashboard again to see her to-do list and access the Google Drive files for her geometry class. Using the tool, Jasmine can access her work without the distractions or clutter of a busy Gmail inbox or the need to toggle between folders in Google Drive and Google Classroom. Her Student Dashboard brings together everything she needs for learning, on any device.
Distributing open educational resources
It’s now 10 a.m. at the district office, and the Curriculum Coordinator, Mr. Stone, receives an email from the science department chair at one of the junior high schools. The teacher asks for help finding resources related to metabolic reactions because the information in the textbook is outdated and inaccurate.
Mr. Stone locates openly licensed content found on OER Commons and uploads it into a Hāpara Workspace in their district’s Private Library. Google Drive folders are no longer needed, and the task of making sure none of those resources get accidentally moved or duplicated becomes obsolete.
Accessing digital learning resources
At 11:00 a.m., Jasmine is in her 10th-grade biology class. She is working on a Project-Based Learning assignment called Slow The Spread, where her class is studying how to design healthier learning environments. Jasmine’s teacher asks the students to open their Chromebooks to access Hāpara.
She opens her Chromebook, signs into Student Dashboard and quickly sees two articles her teacher shared. The first is a reading about sustainable building design and another covers recommendations for improving indoor air quality. Jasmine is able to quickly read and add notes to a collaborative Google Doc for her group project.
Meeting a learner’s reading needs
At 11:30 during lunch, Mrs. Perkins, the fifth-grade teacher, checks her email and notices a message from a student’s parent. The parent is worried that his son is falling behind in science, that the textbook provided is difficult to understand and isn’t meeting his needs.
Mrs. Perkins reviews the content that her district has curated in Hāpara Workspace Private Library. She finds a set of readings at the learner’s level that also covers the same material. Locating, reviewing and sharing the resources takes less than five minutes. Mrs. Perkins thanks the parent for bringing this issue to her attention and assures that his son will start using content suited to his needs.
Flexible instruction and learning in real-time
After lunch, at 1:00 p.m., Mrs. Perkins’s class begins to work on a history project. First, they open their Chromebooks and log into Student Dashboard using their school-issued Google Workspace for Education account. Once logged in, the learners select their recent social studies Workspace.
During a class discussion about European explorers, a student asks, “Did these explorers take pictures of what they found?” Mrs. Perkins has the perfect resource to answer this question that she planned to share next week, but pivots to using it now. She quickly locates the document that includes hand-drawn representations and short descriptions of the events, and with a few clicks, shares it with the entire class. Instantly, the resources appear for the students, and their learning begins.
Transparency and access for school leaders
By 2:30 p.m., the principal at Jasmine’s high school receives a worrisome email from a parent who thinks the school is utilizing a book with controversial content. So he logs in, reviews the list of books, and confirms the book in question is not a part of their Workspace Private Library. With easy access to all of the district’s resources, the principal solves the issue quickly and confidently communicates with the parent to resolve the concern.
Staff collaboration with Student Dashboard
After school, at 3:00 p.m., the staff at Mrs. Perkins’s school gathers for their monthly grade-level Professional Learning Community on the topic of student engagement. The principal shares an open educational resource with the teachers in a Workspace for professional development. During this session, the educators review the Simple Critique Protocol to help students provide kind and specific feedback when working in a group setting.
They practice the protocol and make a plan for using it that week with their learners, including a time when they will reflect upon their activity and make improvements in the future. Workspace makes it easy for the principal to quickly share content with all the teachers, without worrying about it being moved out of a folder within Google Drive or having an educator accidentally edit the master document.
Easily keeping parents informed
It’s now 4:00 p.m. after school, and Jasmine’s mom asks to see her Student Dashboard. Her mom can easily see which assignments are coming up, overdue or graded. This insight allows her to see how Jasmine is doing in school and provide support on any upcoming homework or projects.
Streamlining learning
With Hāpara’s Student Dashboard, students have everything they need to learn, in one digital hub. It removes the need to navigate various websites or apps and search their Google Drive for important academic documents while putting everything in a single dashboard. This streamlined location reduces stress for learners, teachers and parents by providing complete insight into each student’s education. Additionally, the Workspace Private Library offers seamless management and distribution of free open educational resources, licensed content and materials created by the school. This capability saves money for districts by implementing regular updates to the curricula with little to no additional costs. Student Dashboard allows every student to engage with personalized resources and reach their full learning potential.
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