Workshops and training resources will be available in March 2020. IFTs at each school will host workshops and be available to support teachers with this transition. There will also be self-paced courses available to teachers.

Schoology will be a replacement for Google Classroom, but teachers and students will still have access to all of their favorite G Suite tools.  Schoology integrates with Google Drive very nicely. All of the assignments and resources that teachers have developed in Google Drive (Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc.) can be used inside of Schoology in much the same way that they used them in Classroom. Teachers will be able to pick a template from their Google Drive from which to create an assignment, and then Schoology will create a copy of that doc for each student. When students have completed their work they can turn it back in to the teacher, who will then be able to review the work, provide feedback, and score the assignment. So, in essence, the workflow that teachers know from Google Classroom will be replicated inside of this new environment, and teachers will also be able to take advantage of the other benefits and enhanced features that Schoology provides.

Yes, Schoology will be used in place of VISION. Teachers who have content in VISION will be able to export an entire course and import it into Schoology. They’ll be up and running with their content very quickly after they import their courses. Once teachers have imported their content into Schoology, they will no longer have a need to access VISION.

No, Phoenix Grade Book will still be used as a teacher’s grade book of record. Schoology and Phoenix SIS/GB will work together. Phoenix will send roster information to Schoology to create classes for teachers and enroll the correct students (no more enrollment codes, invite links, etc). After an assignment is completed, teachers can choose to have the grade for that assignment sent back to the Phoenix Grade Book.

Yes, teachers and students will still have access to the productivity tools they love in G Suite for Education and Office 365. Both tools integrate seamlessly with Schoology to make it easy to find resources to share with students or create assignments

One of the strengths of the Schoology platform is it’s flexibility. Teachers of younger students might use Schoology as a way to share pictures and updates about what is happening in class with parents. Teachers of older students might incorporate more of the features like advanced assessment items, personalization tools, class communication tools, etc.

Adopting a single digital learnig platform will allow us to address a number of challenges that have been impacting teachers, students, and parents for some time. For teachers, using the same system across the division will make it easier to find and share resources with colleagues. For students, a single system will make it easier to keep up with assignments and find resources they need for class. For parents, a single system will help them provide better support to their students, no matter what school they attend or what classes they are in.

Before searching for a new system, LCPS completed a review of the systems that we currently have to see if any of those systems would meet the needs that we identified. While we currently use a number of different systems that each could help to address pieces of the challenges facing teachers, students, and parents, no system that we have was going to be able to address them all. After a thorough review of options available in the marketplace, Schoology was selected as the best tool to help create the digital learning environment that our teachers and students deserve.

Whether you were using Google Classroom, or VISION, the skills that you learned and the ways in which you integrated those platforms into your classroom will translate to this new environment. It may look slightly different, but the same basic features are there. For VISION users, it will be like remodeling your house. The same basic features you love will still be there, they are just updated with a more modern look and improved usability. For Google Classroom users, switching to Schoology will be like building an addition on your house. The basic features that you love will still be there, but there will be so many more features to explore to make digital learning even better than it was before.

The LCPS Schoology environment is still being set up and configured. There are a number of steps that need to be completed before teachers will be able to login, including configuring system settings and options, integrating with Phoenix SIS and other 3rd party applications, and loading curriculum content and instructional resources. While it’s possible teachers may be able to login to explore before training is available, the goal is to have teachers access the system for training in March 2020.

LCPS has a long-term contract in place with Schoology. We intend to use the system as our digital learning platform for the foreseeable future. For comparison’s sake, our previous learning management system (VISION) has been in use in LCPS for about a decade.