Educational Technology Systems at ISB
At the International School of Beijing, we use a variety of educational technology systems for teaching and learning. This is a list of the major systems that we use as well as a graphic showing how they are related. There is also a section of questions/scenarios to help understand how these systems integrate and a list of other subscriptions/sites that are used in classrooms across the campus.
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Dragons’ Exchange
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Dragons’ Exchange is our Learning Management System in the middle and high school. It is used in all classes per the Common Practices. It may also be used to deliver online/blended professional development for teachers. |
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Seesaw
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Seesaw is used in the Elementary School as a digital portfolio. This is a multiyear portfolio and allows students, teachers and parents to view growth over time. Essential Agreements have been determined to help all students and teachers. |
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PowerSchool
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Our student information system (SIS). In general, this is where all information regarding students (parent contact info, health alerts, learning support plans, etc) is housed. PowerSchool also supports a gradebook feature that is currently used in the middle and high school and is how we currently create our school reports. |
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Clever
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Clever is a single sign-on (SSO) system that gives users access to various subscriptions based on PowerSchool rosters. Younger students can log in with a QR code and older students can log in with their school email address and password. |
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Atlas
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The unit planner is where we document our curriculum. Our current content standards and other goals are loaded here. Links to documents in Office 365 Groups (rather uploads/attachments) can be added for reference/support and can be easily edited without needing to change the link. |
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ManageBac
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ManageBac is used in the IBDP to document and track Extended Essays and CAS. It is also used to upload Internal Assessment documents for external moderation. |
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Outlook
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Our email and calendar system. This can be accessed through the desktop app, through the online version and through the mobile app. https://portal.office.com |
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Office Online
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The classic Microsoft productivity suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) but linked to Office 365! This means more features (OneNote, Forms), you can store documents in the cloud, share them easily, and edit them collaboratively. You also have access to the full desktop versions of these apps for more advanced editing features. |
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ES/MS/HS 365 Groups
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ES/MS/HS 365 groups are our default collaboration spaces for teams of teachers. Each team or department has a folder inside of the larger divisional group to store all essential collaborative teaching and learning documents and materials (except media) such as task sheets, rubrics, tests and other assessments. Students should never be allowed to join these group for any reason. Invidividual folders or files can be shared with students (view only) as needed. https://portal.office.com |
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OneDrive (Personal)
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OneDrive is the “personal” cloud storage space for teachers and students. With 5TB (5000 GB!) of space for each user, there is plenty of room for almost everything! Once files are stored in OneDrive, the permissions can be set to allow for easy sharing and collaboration. All Office files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) that are stored in OneDrive can be accessed and edited via Office Online on any computer, or through the Office Apps on your computer.
Students should be encouraged to keep their school work here, organized in folders, rather than on their desktop for easy access and backup. https://portal.office.com |
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OneNote Class Notebook
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Class Notebook is a tool within the Office 365 suite that allows teachers an easy way to access digital student notebooks and to provide feedback on formative assessment tasks. Classes in Teamie will be able to easily setup class notebooks and rosters will be automatically managed. |
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Turnitin
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Turnitin is used to help students and teachers detect plagiarism and other referencing/citation issues. It is provided to all high school students. When assignments are created in Teamie or ManageBac, teachers have the option to enable Turnitin integration. This will automatically check these submissions against an internal database of papers and online sources for plagiarism. Depending on settings used, students can view their ‘originality score’ and make any necessary changes prior to the submission deadline. http://www.turnitin.com |
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Dragons’ Tube
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Our internal media server. Teachers and students can upload videos (and images though it is a bit clunky) and then share/embed those in other platforms. Videos can be listed as public (searchable, viewable by all), hidden (unlisted, viewable only by link) or private. |
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ISB Blogs
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Every student and every teacher at ISB has access to their own blog. WordPress is an easy self-publishing platform for teachers to communicate with parents (ES expectation) and for students to share their thoughts, process and finished products where appropriate. http://blogs.isb.cn |
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Apple Classroom
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Classroom is a classroom- and device-management tool that can be used by teachers to help students make good decisions with technology. It provides rich data to teachers on how students have used technology in their class and allows teacher to manage devices remotely during their lesson. |
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Focus
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Focus is a distraction-management app that allows users to self-block websites and apps for a set period of time. Users can use the pre-defined list or can personalize the list of block sites to suit their needs. Focus can be set so that it cannot be turned off once activated. This is available for all students and staff with a school laptop. |
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Library Resources/
Databases Contact: |
The ISB Library Media Center (LMC) has a wide variety of age-appropriate databases available for student and teacher use. These are great for in-depth academic knowledge in high school as well as age-appropriate search engines in elementary school. |
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Dragons’ Gate
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Dragons’ Gate is our community information portal. Daily school announcements, links to forms, school calendars, etc. all can be found on Dragons’ Gate. Teachers have access to HR and Business Office information here as well. Links to most other sites can usually be found on Dragons’ Gate |
Frequently Asked Questions
Communication Tools
What is the best way to communicate with my entire MS or HS class?
Use the “Thought”, “Question” or “Task” feature within Dragons’ Exchange. This will ensure that every student gets the same message and that all communication is accessible within the course.
What is the best way to communicate with small groups of MS or HS students?
You can use Outlook to send email, or you could use the messaging system (located in the left sidebar) within Dragons’ Exchange.
How should ES teachers communicate with parents?
ES teachers should use Seesaw Family announcements to send regular updates of learning home. If you need to contact a parent individually, then email is the best option.
What purpose do the ISB Blogs serve?
MS and HS teachers can take advantage of the fact that all students at MS and HS students have their own blogs for publishing. These publicly accessible platforms allow students to publish their work to the world and can be used to receive feedback from other students. Used in conjunction with other tools/platforms, the ISB Blogs can also be a very robust portfolio of student learning.
Organization
When should I use ES/MS/HS 365 and when should I use OneDrive?
ES/MS/HS 365 are for teaching and learning materials for your team (teachers) to access. OneDrive is for your individual personal documents and files.
I have a document that needs to be in two or more groups simultaneously. What should I do?
It is best to only have a single version of the document, rather than make multiple copies that would require multiple updates. You can create a “view only “link from your single version, and then add that URL in the Files section of the other groups.
I’ve accidentally saved a file in the wrong place online. What can I do?
Unfortunately, you can only ‘move’ a file within a Group (i.e. from one folder in ES 365 to another folder in ES 365) without changing the URL (and keeping all the existing links intact). If you have saved the file in the incorrect location, you will need to “copy” the file to the correct group and then recreate any links necessary.
Collaboration
I want to share rubrics or assessment tasks with colleagues in my department. What is the best way to do this?
Store those documents in your departmental folder in ES/MS/HS 365 so that you can all simultaneously access and edit these documents at any time.
I want to share rubrics or assessment tasks with colleagues who are at ISB but are NOT in my department. What is the best way to do this?
All documents in ES/MS/HS 365 are visible to all members of that division. If you wish for another teacher to have edit rights, you can add them as a collaborator to that document.
I want to share a document with non-ISB staff or students. What is the best way to do this?
In order to share outside of our organization, the document must be stored in your OneDrive folder. You then have the option of creating an “edit link” or a “view link” that does not require sign-in. This will allow those without an ISB account to view or edit the document. Please be aware that these links can be forwarded to others who you may not have wanted to view or edit.
Why should I link to documents (in the Unit Planner, in Dragons’ Exchange, or in emails, for example) instead of upload attachments?
By linking to documents with the correct share settings, you are encouraging the use of ‘living’ documents. If you need to edit a rubric in Atlas, for example, you can simply open the document (either in your Group or by clicking the link in Atlas) and make the changes/updates. If you have uploaded an attachment, you will need to find and access the original, make the changes, replace the original in Groups, delete the attachment and upload the new attachment. In emails, it means you can make edits or corrections to any documents that are sent out without having to resend the updated document to everybody again.
I want to share a document with others, but don’t want them to edit it. What should I do?
In the share settings of your document, create a “view only” link and include this in your email message inviting them to view.
Classroom Tools
Where can I find a list of classroom tools and subscriptions?
There are lots of division-supported tools and subscriptions that are being used by smaller groups of teachers. If you are interested in learning more, contact the department or person listed. If you know of a tool or subscription that is being used in your team or department, please contact the Ed Tech Coordinator so it can be added! Here are some of the most popular tools used at ISB and how to access them:
| Tool | Grade Level / Dept | Login with… | Contact |
| IXL Math | ES | Clever | Ed Tech Coordinator |
| Desmos Classroom | MS | Clever | MS Math CAL |
| Khan Academy | MS Math | Clever | Individual Teachers |
| Quizlet | ES, MS, HS | School email | Individual Teachers |
| Newsela | ES, MS, HS | Clever | Ed Tech Coordinator |
| Grammarly | HS | Microsoft 365 | Ed Tech Coordinator |
| Razkids | ES | Username/password | Ed Tech Coordinator |
| Canva | ES/MS/HS | Microsoft 365 | Ed Tech Coordinator |
| Book Creator | ES/MS/HS | Clever | Ed Tech Coordinator |
| EdPuzzle | ES/MS/HS | Clever | Ed Tech Coordinator |
| Padlet | ES/MS/HS | Microsoft 365 | Ed Tech Coordinator |
How can I take advantage of the tools and subscriptions that we already have?
Most of the subscriptions that are centrally managed are available via Clever. If not, contact the teacher or team/department listed to find out the terms of the license and to see how they like using that tool/subscription. If it is something you think you want to use, see the process for requesting a new tool.
How do I request a new tool or subscription?
Talk to your principal to start the process off, as this will usually come from each division’s budget. It will usually include a discussion with your Ed Tech Facilitator/Cybrarian as well to see if there is a comparable/similar tool already in use at the school and to have discussions about how it can be used to impact student learning.
What tools and spaces are available for checkout?
The Ed Tech TA in the MSHS Design Center has class sets of iPads that can be checked out as needed. Be sure to give plenty of warning so that we can ensure that the necessary apps are available. They have a wide range of equipment (cameras, tripods, green screens, microphones, etc.) that can be checked out as well.
If you wish to book time in either the ES Design Lab or the MSHS Design Center, be sure to contact them ahead of time.