A Beginner's Guide to Using Schoology: The Back-to-School

Essentials
It's that time of year againthe time for you to begin getting reacquainted with the
Schoology platform in preparation for the new school year. But don't stress about
that. Even though we've added some new features, getting back into the swing of
things will be just like riding a bike, especially if you followed our End of Year Best
Practices.

For those of you out there who need a little refresher, and for those of you just
starting out (Welcome, by the way), we've put together a quick overview of the
platform that will be available here on the blog and in our Help Center.

Navigate Schoology Like a Pro

If you look up at the top of your screen, you'll see four different "profiles" on the left
Home, Courses, Groups, and Resourcesand some icons and your name on the
right. This top navigation is always available, no matter where you are on the site.
Make sure to familiarize yourself with it, because you'll be using it a ton.

And keep in mind that Schoology streamlines navigation. There are multiple ways to
get basically anywhere you want to go, so don't hesitate to try something new and
see what happens.

Home Page
Your Home Page is where you will start every time you log in to Schoology. Why?
Because it's the best way, as you're having your morning coffee, to catch up on all
the important happenings that relate to you, your courses, and your groups. Your
Home Page is perfect for sending mass messages, posting updates, making
calendar events, and simply preparing yourself for your day.
 There are four main components to your Home Profile:

Nearly everything on this page is clickable for quick and efficient navigation, so click
away.

1. Left Side NavigationAllows you to access your personal calendar,

messages, apps, and the like.

2. Central ColumnThis column shows the page you are viewing based on the
left side navigation. You'll always start on the Recent Activity Feed, a condensed
feed of posts that relate to you, your courses, and your groups. It enables you to
post updates, announcements, and polls with files and links attached.

3. RemindersThis area can help keep you quickly informed of student

homework submissions, ungraded items, etc.

4. Upcoming FeedAll your assignments, due dates, and calendar events are
organized in chronological order.
For more information on your Home Page, see this help guide article.

Course Profiles
Next to the Home button is the Courses dropdown menu. Click it and you'll be able to
create and join courses, navigate to your existing courses, and even see all your
active and archived courses. If you have one made already, it might look something
like this:
Your courses are your virtual classrooms. This is where you will instruct, grade, and
communicate with your students. Your courses contain all your instructional materials
(e.g., files, assignments, and assessments) along with communication and
organizational tools strictly associated with the course.

You can set up and organize your courses in many different ways. You course
materials can be set up by week, section, topic, whatever. You can even set up in
what order your students must complete each item using the Student Completion
feature for a self-paced approach to learning. However you decide to do it, consider
one word of advice: Organize everything with folders. Trust me, you will thank
yourself later.

As shown above, there are three main parts:

1. Left Side NavigationThis contains your Materials page, Updates,

Gradebook, and more.

2. Central ColumnYou can set this column to land on your instructional

materials or course updates, whatever you deem most important to view first,
from you Course Options menu on the left.

3. Reminders and UpcomingSame function as on your Home Page, though

they are more closely related due to the fact they are associated only with one
course.
You can learn more about courses from our Help Guide articles.
The Resource Center
The Resource Center is a centralized place where all of your instructional and
professional development materials are kept. It is closely tied to your courses (the
main reason I'm addressing it before Groups in this blog) and is a place where you
can manage all your files, assignments, assessments, learning outcomes, and
badges.

You can import files, create new resources, and copy or move them into any or all of
or your courses quickly from the Resource Center. You can also share resources with
your groups and download them from our Public Resource Library. Any course
materials, folders, and even entire courses can be copied in your resources for use
on a later date.

If you use folders to organize everything in your courses, they will stay just as
organized when you move them to your resources. If you don't, everything will be
loose and much harder to find and repurpose.

The Resource Center has three main sections:

1. Left Side NavigationThis enables you to switch between your Personal,

Public, and Group Resources

2. CollectionsThese are your personal and shared resource collections (one

step above folders organizationally) and integrated external resources such as
Google Docs and Khan Academy.

3. ResourcesThis is where you can create, view, edit, and manage all your
instructional resources.
You can learn all about your Resource Center in our Help Guide article.
Group Profiles
Your Groups dropdown menu at the top of the screen allows you to navigate to,
create, and join Groups: collaborative spaces to share ideas and resources, organize
events, and connect with others. They are a great way build or expand your personal
learning communities (PLCs) on a global scale.

Groups can be used in many different ways from professional development to book
clubs, so the best way to learn about their potential is simply by joining some opens
ones.

You'll notice that your Groups look very similar to Courses. Groups are more about
communication and resource sharing. They can be set up for students, but they are
most often used for educators to connect with other educators, enabling you and
your peers to work together to improve education on a variety of levels.

You can find out more about Groups from our Help Guide article.

Messages, Requests, and Notifications

Any time someone sends you a message, wants to connect, or does something that
pertains to you or your affiliations, it will be made easily accessible in the top right
corner of your screen. Everything is chronologically ordered and clickable to make
managing them simple.
 Learn more about how to manage Notifications in our Help Guide article.

Personal Profile and Account Menu

In the top right corner, you'll see your name and the Account menuthe downward
facing arrow. Using these, you can modify your personal and account settings such
as profile picture, privacy, notification settings (email, text, and push notifications),
and more.
 Quick Start Guide
If youre familiar with adding External Tool Providers in Schoology then all the important stuff is
listed below:
Tool NameRevision Assistant
Consumer Key to be shared by your institution
Shared Secret to be shared by your institution
Privacy Send Name and Email / Username of user who launches the tool.
Configuration TypeManual
Match ByURL
Domain/URLhttps://api.tiiscoringengine.com/lti/1p0/launch
Custom Parametersleave blank

Setting Up LTI External Tool Providers in Schoology

To set up External Tools in Schoology, first add the tool provider. The Schoology System Admin
can install the tool provider at the course or the district level. However, if you have a free account
or if your system admin does not plan to configure the External Tool at the system level, the
Course Admin will need to install the LTI Integration at the course level.

If your System Admin has not configured the External Tool at the System Level, follow these steps
first.

1. Select your Course from the Courses dropdown

2. Click Course Options below the course profile photo
3. Select External Tool Providers
4. Click Add External Tool Provider

5. Fill out the necessary information in the pop-up window:

 Tool Provider: Revision Assistant
Consumer Key: to be shared by your institution
Shared Secret: to be shared by your institution
Privacy: Send Name and Email/Username
Configuration Type: Manual
Match By: URL
Domain URL: https://api.tiiscoringengine.com/lti/1p0/launch
Custom Parametersleave blank

6. Click Submit.

You are finished adding the tool provider. To add Revision Assistant prompts to your course,
please see [Assigning a Revision Assistant Prompt in Schoology].

Assigning a Revision Assistant Prompt in Schoology

Once you have Revision Assistant set up as an External Tool Provider, you can add Revision
Assistant as a Tool and assign a Revision Assistant prompt.
To access the Revision Assistant from your Schoology course, add Revision Assistant as an
External Tool to your course by following the Schoology directions below:

From the courses page

1. Click Add Materials

2. Select Add File/Link/External Tool

3. Select External Tool

4. Enter the required information in the External Tool popout window.

Tool Provider: using the dropdown menu, select what you named the Revision
Assistant External Tool Provider
URL: If RA was added correctly as a Tool Provider, this section will auto-complete
Title: name of your assignment
Consumer Key & Shared Secret: schoology - both of these fields should be
prepopulated from setting up Revision Assistant as an External Tool Provider
Custom Parameters: leave blank
Enable Grading: leave unchecked

5. Click Submit
 Your newly created tool will now be located on your course page.

6. From your courses page, click your newly created tool. This will launch Revision
Assistant in your Schoology screen. Now you can explore the library and assign a prompt.

7. After creating and assigning a prompt, Revision Assistant and Schoology will
automatically let your students know and populate their account.

For more information on how to create and assign prompts in Revision Assistant, visit the Create
an Assignment page in the Revision Assistant LMS Help Center.
 Setting Up LTI External Tool Providers in Schoology

To set up External Tools in Schoology, first add the tool provider. The Schoology System Admin
can install the tool provider at the course or the district level. However, if you have a free account
or if your system admin does not plan to configure the External Tool at the system level, the
Course Admin will need to install the LTI Integration at the course level.

If your System Admin has not configured the External Tool at the System Level, follow these steps
first.

1. Select your Course from the Courses dropdown

2. Click Course Options below the course profile photo

3. Select External Tool Providers

4. Click Add External Tool Provider

5. Fill out the necessary information in the pop-up window:

Tool Provider: leave at default option

Title: Revision Assistant

Domain/URL: https://api.tiiscoringengine.com/lti/1p0/launch

Consumer Key: this information will be provided by your institution

Shared Secret: this information will be provided by your institution

Privacy: from the dropdown menu, choose Send Name and Email /
Username of user who launches the tool.

Configuration Type: Manual

Match By: Domain. This should automatically populate

Custom Parameters: leave blank

 Enable Grading: leave blank

6. Click Submit.

You are finished adding the tool provider. To add Revision Assistant prompts to your course,
please see Assigning a Revision Assistant Prompt in Schoology.

ssigning a Revision Assistant

Prompt in Schoology
Once you have Revision Assistant set up as an External Tool Provider, you can peruse and
assign a Revision Assistant prompt.

To access the Revision Assistant from your Schoology course, add Revision Assistant as an
External Tool to your course by following the Schoology directions below:

From the courses page

1. Click Add Materials

2. Select Add File/Link/External Tool

3. Select External Tool

4. Enter the required information in the pop-out window.

 Tool Provider using the dropdown menu, select what you named the
Revision Assistant External Tool Provider

Title name of your assignment

URL https://launch.revisionassistant.com/lti/1p0/launch

Consumer Key & Shared Secret schoology - both of these fields

should be prepopulated from setting up Revision Assistant as an
External Tool Provider

Custom Parameters leave blank

Enable Grading leave unchecked

5. Click Submit. Your newly created tool will now be located on your course page.
6. From your courses page, click your newly created tool. This will launch the Revision
Assistant in either your Schoology screen or a new window depending on your settings.

7. On the very first use of Revision Assistant, you will need to enter your first and last name,
what your students call you, and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
8. After filling out the user information, you will be directed to the "Create an Assignment"
page. From the Assignment Creation Page, you can browse the essay prompts and filter the
library of assignments by grade. You can also view the full library assignments here at the Prompt
Library.

9. Visit Create Assignments for detailed information on how to create and assign a prompt in
Revision Assistant.