Science Portal FAQ

Assigning Content to Students Video URL: https://vimeo.com/539803581

Note: If a new student joins your class after you assigned content to the class, you'll need to assign content to the class again. New students that get added to your existing classes won't automatically be assigned content. 

1. After logging into your teacher account, select Student Content >> Assign Content from the left-hand side menu.

2. Next, you will see the available content that you can assign to your students, Classes, or Groups. Select the titles of the Student Books, Simulations, and other content you wish to assign by clicking on the these products. You can also type the name of the book or simulation.

If your school has been set up via Google Classroom integration, you'll also want to click the "Assign to Google Classroom" checkbox. This will automatically post a link to your Google Classroom stream/classwork. Alternatively, Google Classroom teachers can also manually post their own links in GC to a specific page of a specific book (Portal 1.0/ePub instructions here, Portal 2.0/HTML information here). 

3. You can assign the content you selected to entire Classes, Groups, or your individual students. Once you have selected the appropriate students, click the Assign button and your students will then have access to these products.

*Note: You'll need to assign content to any new students that join the class after content has already been assigned. New students that get added to your existing classes won't automatically be assigned content.

4. Please refer to this document for instructions on unassigning content from students.

1. Teacher Unassign Content

2. Admin Unassign Content

Notes:

• Both teachers and admins can unassign content from students. 
• Teachers can only unassign content that was assigned from their own teacher account. Teachers cannot unassign content that was previously assigned by another teacher. 
• Teachers can choose specific content to unassign.
• Admins cannot choose specific content to unassign; admins can only unassign all content from all students (see below). 

1. Two ways teachers can unassign content: 

A. Bulk Unassign from "Assign History": 

• Click on Student Content > Assign History on the left menu, and then click the yellow "Bulk Unassign" button.

• Select which content to unassign. Select "all" or specific content by clicking or typing in the box. Multiple results are allowed. 
• Select students/groups/classes from whom to unassign the content. Select "all" or select specific students/groups/classes by clicking or typing in the box. Multiple results are allowed.  
• Click "Unassign." A green popup will appear at the top of the page to confirm the content has been removed. 

B. Unassign one product at a time from "Assign History":

• Click on Learning Content > Assign History on the left menu.
• This screen will display the individual books/simulations the teacher previously assigned to classes/groups/students.

• Click the "Edit" button next to each item and select the classes/groups/students from whom to unassign this content. 
• Click "Unassign." A green popup will appear at the top of the page to confirm the content has been removed. 

2. How admins can unassign all content from all students: 

There may be some cases in which all licenses/content needs to be unassigned from all students. This action can only be done by the admin. 

Important: This action cannot be undone. This action will remove content and unassign licenses from all students at the school. It will not remove content from teachers. If you are set up as a district account or with OneRoster/Classlink, this will need to be done for each school. 

• Log in as admin. Go to Roster > Class.
• Click "End School Session" in the top right corner. 
• A popup will appear with options:
  • If you only want to unassign content/licenses from students (perhaps in the middle of the school year), uncheck all options except for "Content" so that only "Content" is selected. Click "Yes" to save and remove all content/licenses from all students.  
  • If this is the start of a new school year, keep all options selected so that old homework/assessments/notifications are removed in addition to content/licenses. Click "Yes" to save.
• This action will remove all content from all students.

Note: Before attempting to direct students to a specific page, please be sure your students can already log in and access content successfully. This means students must have already a) clicked on the Lab-Aids tool and b) added the student access code to their account. It will help to be in one-page view when following the below instructions.  

If your school/district is already set up with a LTI integration, teachers have the ability to direct students to a specific page in a specific book by copying an LTI link. This feature is optional. Typically with a LTI integration, students and teachers access the same url (via the LTI external tool setup in their LMS). This brings users to their account dashboard, where they can access all of the books they have access to. In some cases, teachers may wish to direct students to a particular page for a reading, analysis questions, etc. This page explains how this is done.  

Please follow these steps to add a new LTI external tool and direct students to a specific page in a specific book. It will help to be in one-page view when following the below instructions.  

1. Navigate to the page in the Student Book that you want to direct students to. 

• Do not follow this process for any Teacher Editions or Teacher Resource books, since sharing the link to a page in a teacher book would give students access to teacher materials!

2. In the top-right corner, click the icon that will generate a URL for LTI connections.

3. Copy the URL generated from the pop-up window shown to you.

4. Create a new, separate LTI external tool that students can access. Use the URL (copied from the previous step) when creating the new LTI external tool.

5. Label the new LTI external tool appropriately and share it with students.

Note: Due to the variety of LMS's on the market and the variety of ways that admins and teachers can create LTI external tools, we recommend that you follow the same process used previously to create each new LTI external tool. The common advice for users is to create a new LTI external tool, but instead of the URL first given to users (https://portals.lab-aids.com/ltigateway.htm), use the new URL generated from step 3 above.

This page explains how teachers can direct students to a specific page in a Portal 1.0/epub book by sharing the page's specific link in a platform such as Google Classroom. With this process, students can click on a link and be brought to the page in question without needing to navigate to the page/activity on their own. 

• Students must already have access to the book being shared.
• This link can be shared in Google Classroom, even if your school/district has not integrated the Lab-Aids Portal with Google Classroom (i.e. customers who log in through Clever, Classlink, etc.).
• If you'd instead like to share a link to a Portal simulation with your students, please click here.
• If you're instead looking to share links to Portal 2.0 activities, please click here.
• If you instead access the portal through your LMS (Canvas, Schoology, etc.), click here for LTI-specific instructions.

How to share a link to a specific page in a book:

1. Ensure that your students already have access to the book being linked. If students don't have access to the book you're sharing, they won't be able to open the shared link. The process for getting students access to books depends on your school's rostering method:

• Most accounts: School accounts/district accounts/Clever/Classlink/Google Classroom/OneRoster API: Teachers need to assign books to students.
• Access Codes: Students need to create their accounts with their respective student access code. Please ask your admin for these instructions and the student access code(s).
• LTI Integration with LMS: If you access the portal through your LMS, click here for LTI-specific instructions.

2. Open the student book to the page you want to share with students. For best results, ensure you are in the one-page view. (Student books are located in the Student Content > Content menu). 

3. Click on the blue "Share link" icon on the top bar (see screenshot). Then, click the paper/copy icon in the popup to copy the link. 

4. Share the link with students in Google Classroom or by method of your choice and have students click on the link. 

• You can share this link in Google Classroom, even if your school has not integrated with Google Classroom. In this scenario, students may be prompted to log in, so please ensure students know how to log in. For example, remind them to click on the "Log in with Clever" button, "Log in with Classlink" button, manually enter their username and password, etc.
• If students are already logged into the portal, they will be brought to the page in the book you linked.
• If students are not already logged into the portal, they may be brought to the portal login screen. Have them log into the portal (students may need to be reminded how to log in). After a few seconds, they will be brought to the linked page.
• If students do not yet have access to the book you linked, they will see a message, "You are not currently assigned this book."

In order for teachers to share middle school SEPUP simulations with students: 

• Your school must have purchased student licenses. Teachers cannot share simulations if your school has not purchased student licenses.
• Student portal accounts must already be created. The process of creating student accounts varies with each rostering method. Just make sure students can already access their books on the Lab-Aids portal. 
• LTI Users (Canvas/Schoology): In addition to the above bullets, in order for students to successfully open simulation links, they must already have a Lab-Aids portal window open. If they do not already have a portal window open, they will be prompted to log into the portal manually, which they cannot do.  

How teachers share simulations with students using a direct link: 

1. Teacher assigns the simulation(s) to students the same way they assign books to students. (Student Content > Assign Content)

• If students register with an access code or access their account through Canvas/Schoology, this step does not need to be completed, since simulations will automatically be in students' libraries.

2. Teacher clicks on the simulation to be shared (Simulations are located in Student Content > Content)

3. Teacher copies the link to the simulation from the URL bar:

4. Teacher pastes the link in the desired location (Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology, etc.)

5. Students click on the link to access the simulation.  

• Important: Some students may be prompted to log in first. If so, they will be brought to the simulation after logging in. 
  • Ensure students know how to log in. 
• If students receive an error message "You are not currently assigned this book.", then teacher needs to assign the simulation to their students. 
• LTI customers (Canvas/Schoology, etc.) must already have a Lab-Aids Portal window open before clicking on this link; if they don't, they will see a login screen, which they cannot use to log in. 

A few notes on simulations: 

• Portal Simulation Overview
• In the portal, teachers access simulations from the Student Content > Content menu. Simulations are in yellow. 

• In the portal, students will see simulations in their library along with their student books

This page reviews how teachers can direct students to a specific activity in a Portal 2.0 book. Teachers can copy a link for a specific activity in a specific Portal 2.0 student book and paste it into their LMS to share with students. Students will click on the links to be brought to the specific activity. This process works for Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom, etc. 

Any interested districts/teachers will need to reach out to portals@lab-aids.com.

Portal 1.0 / ePub instructions: https://www.lab-aids.com/sharing-links-specific-page

Important notes about linking to Portal 2.0 activities:

1. Students need to be logged in first. If students are not logged in first, they will be brought to the Lab-Aids login page. Once logged in, students will need to click on the link again to be brought to the activity successfully. 
2. Teachers must have already assigned books to students. https://www.lab-aids.com/how-do-i-assign-books-students
   1. If teachers have not assigned books to students, students will receive the message "You are not currently assigned this book."

Instructions:

1. District requests Portal 2.0 links from Lab-Aids. portals@lab-aids.com

2. Lab-Aids will provide the district with a URL containing links and instructions. 

3. Teachers ensure they have assigned books to students.

4. In the spreadsheet provided by Lab-Aids, teachers find the desired unit/activity and copy the cell in the column "Share this in LMS".

5. Teachers paste this into Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom, etc. 

6. Students are instructed to click on the first link to log themselves into the Lab-Aids Portal, then they click on the second link to access the activity. You may need to remind students how to log in ("Log in with Clever", "Log in with Google Classroom", etc.).

Please note that students need to be logged into the Lab-Aids Portal first before clicking on the second link. If students are already logged in, then they can click on the second link.

7.Once students successfully open the second link, they are brought to the activity. The left-hand navigation menu will be collapsed. Students can expand the left-hand navigation menu by clicking on the yellow icon in the top-left corner.

Any interested districts/teachers will need to reach out to portals@lab-aids.com.

Questions? Contact portals@lab-aids.com.

The "My Uploads" / "Shared Files" feature allows teachers to share their own resources with students. Examples include: website links, powerpoints, PDFs, Word documents, links to student books, images, etc. 

How to share your own files with students: 

1. Click on "My Uploads" on the left menu. Click "New".

2. Select whether you want to upload a file, folder or link.  

File: Upload a new file (doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, pdf)

• Select the file you want to share. Max 1 GB. 
• Once upload completes, you'll want to modify the name of the file. You also have the option to customize the thumbnail of the file by choosing an image from your computer. 

Folder: Creates a folder in your "My Uploads" page. This folder is just for the organization of your files; this folder does not appear in students' accounts. 

Link: Upload an external link or a link to a page in a student book. Click here for more instructions on obtaining the link to a specific page in a student book. 

• Enter the link title and URL. Click "Add Link".

3. Once the document is uploaded, click the three dots to the right of the document and click "Share".

4. Select the class(es), student(s), or individual user(s) with whom you'd like to share the file. 

Once the document is shared, students can log into their accounts and click on "Shared Content" to be able to view files shared with them. Students will also receive a notification in their notification tab that a new file has been shared with them. 

This page describes how teachers can use Lab-Aids resources with Google Classroom for districts who have not chosen the Google Classroom integration rostering method; specifically, customers accessing the Portal through Clever/Classlink integrations or customers who were rostered by an admin.

We recommend teachers become familiar with navigating their portal account and accessing resources (Portal 1.0 and Portal 2.0) before referencing the below options. 

How to use Lab-Aids Resources with Google Classroom without Google Classroom Integration:

1. Direct students to a specific activity in a Portal 2.0 student book
2. Direct students to a specific page of a Portal 1.0/epub student book
3. Download and share ancillary resources
4. Copy and share web links, extension activity URLs, or Google Docs/Slides URLs
5. Assessments

1. Direct students to a specific activity in a Portal 2.0/HTML student book: https://www.lab-aids.com/linking-activities-portal-20-books

• Students must already be logged for these links to work. Our instructions include this step.
• Teachers must first assign content to students.
• Districts interested in this option for Portal 2.0 books must first reach out to Lab-Aids. Click here for more detail on linking to specific Portal 2.0 activities. 

2. Direct students to a specific page/activity in a Portal 1.0/epub student book: https://www.lab-aids.com/sharing-links-specific-page

Teachers can copy links to specific pages in student books and paste them into Google Classroom. Students click on the links and are brought to the specific page in the link.  

• Teachers must first assign content to students.
• This option works best if teachers are copying the link while in the one-page view.
• If students are prompted to log in, it's important they know how to log in (i.e. "Log in with Clever" button, log in manually with a username and password, etc.).

Examples of how Options 1 and 2 may be used:

• Issues and Science: If tonight's homework is Biomedical Engineering Activity 2, teacher can go to the Biomedical Engineering student book Activity 2, copy the link via the above instructions, and then paste the link into Google Classroom. Students click on the link to be brought to the linked page in the student book. 

• NAC Chemistry: If tonight's homework is NAC Chemistry Podcast 3.1, copy the link to the page in the NAC Chemistry student book containing the specific podcast. Paste that link into Google Classroom and instruct students to click on the blue hotspot for the podcast.

• EDC Revised: To direct students to a specific LABsent video, copy page 2 of each student book and instruct them which LABsent link to click on. 

3. Download and share ancillary resources:

Teachers can download ancillary resources from the Teacher Edition (student sheets, Powerpoints, student book PDF, etc.) and upload into Google Classroom for students to access. https://www.lab-aids.com/portal-navigation-basic-overview-teachers#viewresources.

Examples of how Option 3 may be used: 

• Download the student book PDF and share in Google Classroom.
• Download the Powerpoint and share in Google Classroom
• Schools that have an option for editing PDFs can download a student sheet PDF and share in Google Classroom for students to complete.
• Download Spanish PDFs and share in Google Classroom for Spanish-speaking students.

4. Copy and share web links, extension activity URLs, or Google Docs/Slides URLs into Classroom for students to access.

Examples of how Option 4 may be used: 

• Post Google Doc links for Remote Learning Packets or Powerpoints into Google Classroom (Google Docs/Slides currently available for Issues and Science, 3rd Edition)
• Post a link to a Portal Simulation into Google Classroom
  • Must have already assigned simulations to students
  • Portal Simulations currently available for SGI Biology 2nd edition and Issues and Science 2nd/3rd editions
• Copy and paste web links into Classroom, such as:
  • EDC Hydrosphere Chapter 2: How Much Water Do You Use? Personal indoor water use calculator: https://water.usgs.gov/edu/activity-percapita.html
  • Issues and Science - Earth's Resources Activity 1 extension activity: The Smithsonian GeoGallery WebPage https://geogallery.si.edu/gems-minerals-meteorites-rocks
• Post a link to a LABsent video into Google Classroom along with the LABsent document.
  • Note: EDC Revised does not offer direct links to LABsent videos. Instead, EDC Revised teachers can use option 1 above to link students to page 2 of the student book, which contains the LABsent video hotspots.

5. Assessments:

Google Classroom does not offer any standard assessment format, so GC teachers cannot easily export assessment files from Lab-Aids and import into Google Classroom/Forms. But, teachers can still export our assessments to use to create their Google Forms assessments (can copy and paste assessment text from PDFs).

• Assessments: How to print, export, and access in PDF format

What is a "Group" and why would you want to create one? A Group could be a subset of a Class, a combination of Classes, or include select students from various Classes. It's up to each school and teacher if they wish to include students in Groups, and if so, how. For example, if students are completing the program at different paces, students can be included in Groups based on their pacing to make communicating and assigning homework easier. Here is how to create a Group: 

1. After logging into your teacher account, select Group from the left-hand side menu. On the subsequent window, select Add Group to create a new Group.

2. Define a name for this new Group. Select the Class that you wish to select students from. This will populate a list of students in this Class where you can select which students should be added to this new Group.

3. Once all students have been added to the new Group, select Save.

Once groups are created, teachers can assign books/homework/assessments to these groups. 

If you already have Classes established that link you to your students within the Lab-Aids Portal, you do have the ability to change the Class associations of your students. *You cannot change the Class association of students that are currently not in one of your Classes. To do this, please speak with your account admin who can assist you with this.

To change the Class association of one of your students, log into your Lab-Aids Portal teacher account. From the left-hand side menu, select Roster >> Student. Navigate to the student in question and select the Edit icon next to that student.

From this menu, you can see which Classes the student is associated with under the section Assign Classes. To change their Class associations, click on the new Class the student should be in. To select multiple Classes, you can press CTRL and click (in Windows) or command and click (in macOS).

When finished, click the Save icon.

*Note: If your school/district is performing an integration with Google Classroom, neither you nor your admin have any manual control of student and teacher Class associations. The Google Classroom integration attempts to mimic the accounts and Class associations as they appear in Google Classroom, and to avoid conflicting account data, users have no manual control over this data. If you suspect that either a teacher or student is not being associated with the correct Classes within the Lab-Aids Portal, please contact us so that we can resolve this issue.

In some cases, teachers have the ability to change a student's password. Below is a guide that will assist you to determine whether you can change your student's password:

• If your school or district has an integration with Google Classroom, you cannot change your student's password within the Lab-Aids Portal. Students use their Google account to login to their Lab-Aids Portal account.
• If your students access their account from Schoology, Canvas, or some other LMS (learning management system), it's likely that you cannot change your student's password. In this case, no passwords are stored on our platform, and students can only access their Lab-Aids Portal account from your school/district's learning management system.
• If you and your students redeemed an access code to gain access to content and create an account, you cannot reset your student's password. In this case, contact us if a student is having trouble logging in.
• If your school or district has someone that serves as an admin on your account, either the admin or you can change the student's password. From your Lab-Aids Portal account, select Roster >> Student.

Locate the student that needs his/her password changed, and click the pencil icon to edit that student's account.

Type in a new password for this student and click Save when done. You can also select the Generate button to generate a random password for this student. If you do this, you will have to copy the password before you click Save since the password will not be available for you to share with the student.

Once you have clicked Save and changed the student's password, you will need to share the new password with the student yourself. The Lab-Aids Portal does not automatically email students their new password.

Teachers are able to unassign tests/assessments that were assigned in error. Once the assessment has been unassigned, students will no longer see the assessment in their portal account. Teachers will still see the assessment under "Assessments > Standard Tests", but that specific assessment will not appear under the "Evaluation" menu or the "Performance Report" menu unless assigned again. 

Note: Unassigning an assessment will cause any student responses to be lost. If you would like to keep any responses that have already been submitted, you will instead need to clone the assessment and assign to a new group of students. 

How to unassign assessments/tests:

1. From the teacher portal account, click on "Assessments > Standard Tests" from the left hand menu. 

2. Search for the assessment you wish to unassign and click on it. 

3. Click on the "Assign" icon (checkbox icon) from the assessment icons on the top of the screen. 

4. Unassign the assessment from a class/group by clicking the X next to the class or group you wish to unassign. Click through the confirmation message. 

5. Click "Save".

The assessment will be removed from students' accounts. Teachers will still see the assessment under "Assessments > Standard Tests", but that specific assessment will not appear under the "Evaluation" menu or the "Performance Report" menu unless assigned again. 

Teachers can reassign assessments that have already been submitted by students. For Portal 2.0 in-book assessments (build understanding questions, analysis questions, student sheets), reassigning will "reopen" these questions in the book so they are available for students to view and resubmit.  

Please note that when reassigning an assessment, any previous student responses and teacher feedback will be lost.

How teachers reassign assessments: 

• Navigate to the Assessment >> Evaluation menu. Click the arrow under "Pending Evaluation" for the assessment in question. 
• Click the "Pending Evaluation" or "Completed Evaluation" submenu. 
• Click "Reassign". Checkboxes next to students' names will appear under each submenu.
• Select the students to reassign. 
• Click "Reassign", select a due date, and click "OK".
  • Student will only be able to view/resubmit the assessment until EOD on the selected due date.
• Teachers can reassign a test if evaluation has already been completed, but keep in mind that all evaluation and teacher feedback will be lost for that student. 

How students can view their submitted assessment responses:

• Students who have already submitted their analysis questions, build understanding questions, or student sheets will not be able to view the questions or their responses within the book. Once student submit their responses, the questions are greyed out and a message will display: "You have successfully submitted your responses" (Screenshot 1 below).
• However, students are able to view their submitted responses under the Assessments >> Submitted menu in their account (Screenshots 2 and 3 below).

Students can view their submitted responses under their Assessment >> Submitted menu:

If students do not submit a test by the original due date, the teacher can reassign the test with a new due date for those specific students. 

1. Navigate to the Assessment > Evaluation menu and click the arrow under "Pending Evaluation". 

2. Scroll down and click on the "Not Responded" heading. 

3. Select/deselect students and click "Reassign". Select due date and click "OK".

4. Student logs in, clicks the "assessment" menu, clicks on the reassigned assessment, and completes/submits the assessment. If student attempted and saved any questions prior to the test expiring, those responses will not be preserved when student attempts to continue the reassigned test.

5. Teacher can now see additional students' submissions by navigating back to the "Evaluation" menu, clicking on the arrow next to pending evaluation, and clicking the "Pending Evaluation" section. 

6. From here, teacher can now evaluate students' assessments. 

Notes/FAQs:

1. Will reassigning a test delete any prior submissions/evaluations from other students? No. When reassigning a test, existing submissions by other students are saved and are not affected. Reassigning a test only reassigns the test for students who did not complete the test by the original due date. 
2. Can teachers view a student's in-progress responses? No. 
3. When student is reassigned an assessment that was already in progress, will their previous responses be saved? No -- when an assessment is reassigned and a student who previously answered some questions resumes the assessment, the previous responses are not saved. The student will start the test from the beginning.  
4. If the same test is assigned to multiple classes/groups with different due dates, only the due date most recently assigned will be preserved. Meaning, if Mrs. Smith assigns Test XYZ to Class 1 with a due date of today at 4pm and later assigns the same Test XYZ to Group 1 with a due date of December 31, the due date of the test will be December 31 for both Class 1 and Group 1.
5. If some students need a different due date than other students, there are two ways to proceed:
   1. Option 1: Assign the same test to all students, and when the due date passes, reassign the test to the individual students who didn't complete it by the original due date. Choose the new due date. 
   2. Option 2: Create a group for each subset of students, then create a separate test for those students (clone the test and choose a different name). Assign one test to the group needing the standard due date, and assign the second test to the group needing a different due date. 
6. When assigning, checking the "Available after due date" allows students to submit the rest after the due date. Any test assigned with the "Available after due date" checkbox selected will display a red "late" tag if student has not submitted the test by the due date, but student can still submit the assessment after the due date. 

How to Evaluate Tests:

Once students have completed and submitted a test, you can begin to evaluate and score questions. True/false and multiple choice questions will be scored automatically, while short-answer questions must be scored manually.

1. From your teacher account, select Assessment >> Evaluation. Find the test and either click on the title or click the arrow under "Pending Evaluation". 

2. From the next screen, click on the Pending Evaluation section, which will list all of the students (from all Classes and Groups) that have completed and submitted the test. Click the Evaluate button on the right-hand side to score that student’s responses.

3. Evaluate / score free response questions and any other questions that have not been automatically scored.

• True/False and multiple choice questions will be automatically scored for you, but you can provide additional feedback in the Enter Feedback text box if desired. 
• More information on entering feedback here.
• Scroll down to find the free response questions and score them. 

• Answers to all questions can be found in the Teacher Edition, or by clicking Show Teacher Hint at the bottom of each short-answer question. These responses are considered to be “level-4 exemplars” using the SEPUP Scoring Guides. Using the appropriate Scoring Guide, you can score student responses accordingly. Since each question on the assessment is worth a total of 1 point, we suggest that you award the following points:

• For more information on scoring items and assessment moderation, please see Section III: Assessment in the Teacher Resources.

4. Once all necessary questions have been scored and feedback has been provided (if necessary), select Submit to save this student’s score.

• This notifies the student of his/her score and feedback.
• Repeat for each student's responses until all students have been completed.

Resources: 

• Click here for instructions on how to view assessment data reports

Where teachers enter assessment feedback:

When evaluating assessments, teachers have two options for entering feedback:

• Enter feedback for each specific question in the "Enter Feedback" field under each question. This will appear as "Teacher's Feedback" on the student screen.
• Enter feedback for the overall test by scrolling to the bottom "Write assessment feedback" field. This will appear as "Overall Feedback" on the student screen. 
• Please note that if teacher reassigns an assessment containing teacher feedback, all assessment feedback will be lost.

Where students view assessment feedback:

• Students log in and click on the “Assessments” icon in the top menu. Then click “Graded” submenu. 
• Click on the assessment in question. Students can hover over the assessment to view full name if needed. 
• Feedback for the entire assessment is located at the top (“Overall Feedback” field).
• Feedback for each question is located underneath each question ("Teacher’s Feedback” field).

1. Cumulative Report - for a specific test

2. Performance Report - for all tests assigned to a class or group

1. How to view the Cumulative Report for a specific test: 

1. Once all students have been evaluated, select Assessment >> Evaluation and click on the test of your choice. From this summary menu, select Cumulative Report.

• This will provide an overview of how:
  1. each student performed on each question
  2. each student performed on the assessment
  3. all students (cumulatively) performed on each question
  4. average score on the assessment

• If you assigned the test to multiple Classes or Groups, you can view that subset of students by selecting the Class/Group from the drop down menu in the top-right corner, then selecting View Report.

2. Click the Export to Excel button to export this data. 

3. Export the file for each Class/Group that you assigned the test to by selecting each Class/Group from the drop down menu, click View Report, and then click Export to Excel.

2. How to view the Performance Report for all tests: 

Note: The Performance Report will display data for Standard Tests that have been assigned via Standard Tests >> Assign Test. The Performance Report will not display data for Portal 2.0 in-book assessments (analysis questions, build understanding questions, student sheets). Use option 1 above to view assessment reports for these in-book assessments. 

1. Select Assessment >> Performance Report

2. Select the appropriate options:

A) Select the date range

B) Select the class or group

C) Sort by assessment name or assigned date

D) Export to Excel if necessary

This report shows how each student performed on all assessments assigned to them during the chosen date range.

Teachers can administer a pre and post assessment of student performance using the provided item bank for any SEPUP unit as a way to measure students’ growth. Each unit of SEPUP’s Issues and Science, 3rd Edition program comes with an item bank composed of a mixture of approximately 30 true/false, multiple choice, and short-answer questions. These item banks for each unit contain questions in a format similar to the state or district tests that many students take. The questions focus on key content and process skills in the unit, and questions requiring an extended response can be scored using SEPUP’s Scoring Guides where appropriate.

Below are the detailed steps to carry out this task.

Steps:

1. Locate and assign pre test before implementing curriculum
2. Score and evaluate pre test
3. Assign post test after implementing curriculum
4. Score and evaluate post test
5. Compare pre and post tests

1. Locate and assign pre test before implementing curriculum

After logging into your teacher account, select Assessment >> Standard Tests from the left-hand side menu. Navigate or search to find the item bank for your particular unit.

After locating the test, click on the three-line icon in the bottom-right corner of the test. Select the Clone icon, as seen in the image below.

Enter a new title and description of this new test. Be sure to indicate in the title that this is a “Pre Test.” The original test will be preserved and remain unmodified; however, you can remove questions at your discretion from the new pre test at this point. To do so, click the pencil icon on the right-hand side of any question, then click Remove.

When done, click the Publish icon in the bottom-right corner.

When ready to assign the pre test to your students, select Assessment >> Standard Tests from the left-hand side menu. Search or navigate to the pre test you previously created, then select the test. To assign the test to students, click on the checkmark icon from the array of icons on the top right.

Next, you will be presented with a menu to choose which Class(es) or Group(s) should be assigned this assessment. Select the appropriate Class(es) or Group(s), then enter a due date and select Save when done.

Students will be notified that they have been assigned a test from within their Lab-Aids Portal account. Instruct students to complete and submit the pre test.

2. Score and evaluate pre test

Once students have completed and submitted the pre test, you can begin to evaluate and score questions. True/false and multiple choice questions will be scored automatically, while short-answer questions must be scored manually.

From your teacher account, select Assessment >> Evaluation. Find the pre test and click on the title.

Click on Pending Evaluation, which will list all of the students (from all Classes and Groups) that have completed and submitted the pre test. Click the Evaluate button on the right-hand side to score that student’s responses.

You will be shown that student’s responses to all questions. True/False and multiple choice questions will be automatically scored for you, but you can provide additional feedback in the Enter Feedback text box if desired. Scroll down to find the free response questions that need to be scored.

Answers to all questions can be found in the Teacher Edition, or by clicking Show Teacher Hint at the bottom of each short-answer question. These responses are considered to be “level-4 exemplars” using the SEPUP Scoring Guides. Using the appropriate Scoring Guide, you can score student responses accordingly. Since each question on the assessment is worth a total of 1 point, we suggest that you award the following points:

For more information on scoring items and assessment moderation, please see Section III: Assessment in the Teacher Resources.

Once all necessary questions have been scored and feedback has been provided (if necessary), select Submit to save this student’s score. This also notifies the student of his/her score and feedback.

Continue to evaluate each students’ responses until completed. Once all students have been evaluated, select Assessment >> Evaluation and click on the pre test. From this summary menu, select Cumulative Report.

This will provide an overview of how students performed individually and collectively on the pretest. If you assigned the pre test to multiple Classes or Groups, you can view that subset of students by selecting the Class/Group from the drop down menu in the top-right corner, then selecting View Report.

Click the Export to Excel button to export this data. Save this file, as you will need it at the completion of the unit to compare it to the post test. 

Export the file for each Class/Group that you assigned the pre test to by selecting each Class/Group from the drop down menu, click View Report, and then click Export to Excel.

3. Assign post test after implementing curriculum

Once the curriculum unit has been completed, you can assign an identical post test to your students. To do so, log into your teacher account and select Assessment >> Standard Tests from the left-hand side menu. Navigate or search to find the pre test that you assigned earlier.

After locating the test, click on the three-line icon in the bottom-right corner of the test. Select the Clone icon, as seen in the image below.

Enter a new title and description of this new test. Be sure to indicate in the title that this is a “Post Test.” The original pre test will be preserved and remain unmodified. Do not remove or add any questions, since we want the two tests to be identical to each other. When done, click the Publish icon in the bottom-right corner.

When ready to assign the test to your students, select Assessment >> Standard Tests from the left-hand side menu. Search or navigate to the post test you previously created. To assign the post test to students, click on the checkmark icon from the array of icons on the top right.

Next, you will be presented with a menu to choose which Class(es) or Group(s) you wish to assign this assessment. Select the same Class(es) or Group(s) to which you previously assigned the pre test. Enter a due date and select Save when done.

Students will be notified that they have been assigned a test from within their Lab-Aids Portal account. Instruct students to complete and submit the post test.

4. Score and evaluate post test

Once students have completed and submitted the post test, you can begin to evaluate and score items. True/false and multiple choice questions will be scored automatically, while short-answer questions must be scored manually. Refer to Step #2 above on how to evaluate and score the post test. Be sure to export the Cumulative Report for the post test, as you have done with the pre test.

5. Compare pre and post tests

To summarize, you have given the same test to students both before and after implementing this particular curriculum unit with your students. You can compare the pre and post test results to see the growth on each question and cumulatively on the entire test. Below is the pre/post test analysis spreadsheet that you can use to easily calculate and present growth on each question and a Class/Group average.

Click on the link below to access the Google Spreadsheet (you will need access to a Google Account):

Google Spreadsheet

Once you access the Google Spreadsheet, select File >> Make a copy...  This will make a copy available to you for editing within your Google account.

Open up the pre test report (.xlsx file) that you previously downloaded. This file contains the scores of each student on each question. Copy the entire sheet of data, and paste it in the "pre test" tab in the Pre Post Test Analysis spreadsheet.

Open up the post test report (.xlsx file) that you previously downloaded. Again, copy the entire sheet of data, and paste it in the "post test" tab in the Pre Post test Analysis spreadsheet.

The third tab in the Pre Post Test Analysis spreadsheet ("analysis") will summarize the results of both the pre test and post test, calculate the change in average class score, and create a chart that visually shows your Class/Group's results. You will need to perform these steps for each Class/Group to which you assigned the pre/post test. Download or access a new copy of the spreadsheet and perform these steps for each Class/Group.

This page explains how to export assessments, print assessments, and access assessments in PDF format.

First, to access assessments, select Assessment > Standard Tests from the left-hand side menu. You will then be presented with a list of all the assessments you have access to, both pre-made tests and ones that you have created yourself. Select the test you wish to export/print.

1. To export the assessment:

Click the downward facing arrow icon on the top right. You can then choose from whether you want to export in RTF or QTI format. See section 3 for accessing assessments in PDF format.

• RTF will export to a Word Document. You can select the file to be exported with or without answers. 
  • Note: Exporting in RTF format "with answers" includes the correct answers for multiple choice questions but does not include the suggested responses for open-ended questions.
• QTI will export to a zip file that can be imported into LMSs like Schoology or Canvas. QTI format does include the suggested open-ended responses. For more detail, please refer to our FAQ page: How to export/import QTI files into Schoology/Canvas. Lab-Aids exports in QTI 2.1 format. 

2. To print the assessment, you have three options:

A) Print from assessment screen: From this same page as above, click the print icon in the top right. You can choose whether you want to print with or without the answers. Printing "With Answer" will include the suggested responses to open-ended questions.

B) Print assessment in Word format: From the same screen as above, you can export the assessment in RTF format and then print the exported Word Document. Exporting or printing in RTF format does not include the suggested open ended responses. 

C) Print from PDF format (see below). 

3. How to access assessments in PDF format (then download or print): 

• Most content: From page 1 of each Teacher Edition, download the PDF of the Teacher Edition or Teacher Resource and print just the assessment pages.
• 2nd Edition Issues and Science: From page 1 of the Teacher Edition, download the PDF of the Teacher Resource book and print just the assessment pages.
• 3rd Edition Issues and Science: From page 1 of the Teacher Edition, download the "unit specific pages" PDF and print just the assessment pages at the bottom.
• 3rd Edition Revised Issues and Science: From page 1 of the Teacher Edition, download the hotspot for "Assessment Blueprint, Scoring Guides, and Item Bank" and print just the assessment pages at the bottom.
• 3rd Edition Revised Issues and Science (Portal 2.0): From the left-hand table of contents, click on Quick Start, then click on the Quick References header, and then scroll down to Teaching the XXX Unit subheader. Click the "English PDF" or "Spanish PDF" next to Unit Assessment Item Bank and Answer Key.
• California Issues and Science: From page 1 of each Teacher Edition, click the orange hotspot next to the unit title in question (hover over to see the hotspot title "UNIT - Download for ALL TR unit specific pages") and print just the assessment pages at the bottom.
• EDC Revised: From page 1 of each Teacher Edition, download the Teacher Edition PDF and print just the assessment pages at the end of each activity.
• NAC Chemistry: Two places: 1) From Assessments > Standard Tests > click on the assessment for the desired NAC chapter, click on the "Print" icon and choose "with answers" (can print to printer or "print to PDF). 2) Download the Teacher Edition PDF. Vocabulary/Conceptual/Quantitative questions are located at the end of each chapter.
• SGI Biology, 2nd edition: From Assessments > Standard Tests > click on the assessment for the desired SGI unit, click on the "Print" icon and choose "with answers" (can print to printer or "print to PDF).
• SGI Biology, 3rd edition (Portal 2.0): From the left-hand table of contents, click on Quick Start, then click on the XXX Unit Quick References header, and then scroll down to Teaching the XXX Unit subheader. Click the "English PDF" or "Spanish PDF" next to Assessment Item Bank and Answer Key.
• Science & Sustainability: From page 1 of the Teacher Edition, on the right half of the page under each section for "Part X PPTs, SSs, VAs, Item Bank", click on the orange hotspot on the very right to download the item bank for each part. Hover over the hotspot to see the hotspot title of "Part X: Item Bank".

1. After logging into your teacher account, select Assessment > Standard Tests from the left-hand side menu. You will then be presented with a list of all the assessments you have access to, both pre-made tests and ones that you have created yourself. Select the test you wish to export.

2. To export the assessment, click the downward facing arrow icon on the top right and select "QTI" format. QTI is the standard format for importing/exporting assessments between publishers and LMSs like Schoology and Canvas. Lab-Aids exports in QTI 2.1 format. 

.

• The file will download as a .zip file. The title will be a set of numbers and will end in .zip (For example, 12345.zip).
• Do not open this file after it downloads.
• You will need to know the location of the file so that you can locate it and import it into Schoology/Canvas. Often, files like this will automatically download into the "downloads" folder. 

3. To import the assessment into Schoology/Canvas, please refer to your LMS's documentation. We have provided basic instructional videos and basic LMS documentation below, but understand that we are not responsible for Canvas/Schoology instructional information. 

• Canvas: 
  • Canvas documentation: How to import quizzes from QTI packages: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-import-quizzes-from-QTI-packages/ta-p/1046
  • Canvas documentation: How to import questions from a QTI package into an item bank: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-import-questions-from-a-QTI-package-into-an-item-bank/ta-p/966
  • Lab-Aids Video: How to export/import QTI files to Canvas: https://labaids.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/exporting-importing-QTI-canvas.mp4

• Schoology: 
  • Schoology documentation: How do I import QTI content into Schoology?: https://help.powerschool.com/t5/Schoology-Learning-Teachers-FAQs/Q-amp-A-Import-QTI-Content-into-Schoology/ta-p/325338
  • Lab-Aids Video: How to export/import QTI files to Schoology: https://labaids.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/exporting-importing-QTI-schoology.mp4

The Lab-Aids Portal allows teachers (who have Classes established that link you and your students) to utilize two separate features within their account: assigning homework and assigning tests/assessments. Both can be used in different situations, and this should help you determine when it might be appropriate to use one over the other.

Assigning Homework

Creating and assigning a homework assignment to your students is rather simple. Each assignment is composed of essentially one question to which you are asking students to respond. You can create your own homework assignments or reference a task, question, or assessment from the Student Book, such as the Analysis questions in SEPUP's curricula.

You can assign multiple questions/tasks within one homework assignment if you wish (such as "complete Analysis questions 1-3 in Activity 12"). Students will have to respond to the assignment by including all of their responses to all questions within the same text field. Students can also upload a file of their responses if they wish.

Each assignment is scored out of 10 points possible. Student and Class results can be exported so the homework scores can be imported into a separate online service (such as a gradebook or student information system).

Assigning Tests

Creating tests is more involved, since each question needs to be defined (and in cases of multiple-choice questions, each answer needs to be defined too). Most Lab-Aids curricula include a pre-defined item banks that teachers can use to create their own tests. Teachers can create their own questions if they wish.

You can include as many (or as few) questions as you wish for any one test. By default, each question is worth 1 point, but partial credit for any question can be awarded. A number of question formats exist, such as true/false, matching, multiple choice, fill in the blank, and free response.

Student and Class results can be exported for each assigned test as a .xlsx file so that these data can be imported somewhere else.

If you assign homework to your students through the Lab-Aids Portal, you can export homework scores for each homework assignment.

Log into your Lab-Aids Portal teacher account. You are first presented with your Dashboard, which offers a number of different metrics and insights. Click on Homework Progress.

Click on the date range to select the appropriate date range. You may want to only look at homework within the past semester or year.

This will display a chart of the progress on each homework assignment. Click on the title of the homework assignment title (or the progress bar next to the title) to view a summary of how students performed on that assignment.

Click on the PDF, Excel, or CSV icon to download a report of the individual student scores for that particular assignment.

The Lab-Aids Portal allows teachers (who have Classes established that link you and your students) to utilize two separate features within their account: assigning homework and assigning tests/assessments. Both can be used in different situations, and this should help you determine when it might be appropriate to use one over the other.

Assigning Homework

Creating and assigning a homework assignment to your students is rather simple. Each assignment is composed of essentially one question to which you are asking students to respond. You can create your own homework assignments or reference a task, question, or assessment from the Student Book, such as the Analysis questions in SEPUP's curricula.

You can assign multiple questions/tasks within one homework assignment if you wish (such as "complete Analysis questions 1-3 in Activity 12"). Students will have to respond to the assignment by including all of their responses to all questions within the same text field. Students can also upload a file of their responses if they wish.

Each assignment is scored out of 10 points possible. Student and Class results can be exported so the homework scores can be imported into a separate online service (such as a gradebook or student information system).

Assigning Tests

Creating tests is more involved, since each question needs to be defined (and in cases of multiple-choice questions, each answer needs to be defined too). Most Lab-Aids curricula include a pre-defined item banks that teachers can use to create their own tests. Teachers can create their own questions if they wish.

You can include as many (or as few) questions as you wish for any one test. By default, each question is worth 1 point, but partial credit for any question can be awarded. A number of question formats exist, such as true/false, matching, multiple choice, fill in the blank, and free response.

Student and Class results can be exported for each assigned test as a .xlsx file so that these data can be imported somewhere else.

Occasionally customers encounter a "frozen" screen after clicking on a book in Google Chrome. Customers can navigate through the portal successfully, but after clicking on a book, the page is "frozen" and they cannot click on anything to navigate to a different page. Here are our recommended troubleshooting steps for resolving this "frozen" screen:

Immediate Solution:

An immediate solution is to instead use either A) a different browser or B) an incognito window in Chrome. You should be able to access your books successfully immediately with either of these options. 

Long-term solution:

This issue is caused by certain Chrome extensions. Therefore, we recommend disabling all Chrome extensions and accessing your book again. If disabling all extensions resolves the problem and allows you to access books successfully, then we recommend re-enabling the extensions one by one and accessing your books after enabling each one to determine which extension is causing the problem. 

1. Navigate out of the book and back to your portal library.
2. Disable Chrome extensions: Paste this link into your browser: chrome://extensions/ and deactivate all extensions manually by sliding the bottom right toggle off/left for each extension.
3. 
4. Then, click on a book again in the portal. 
5. If the frozen screen no longer happens after disabling extensions, the next step is to determine which extension is causing the issue by re-enabling extensions one at a time and testing accessing books after enabling each extension. 
6. Either deactivate or delete the extension that is causing the issue. 
7. Please let us know if you determine which extension is causing the problem. 

Known extensions that may cause issues:

• Ginger - Grammar and Spelling Checker 
• Honorlock 
• Sphere Lite

Occasionally, users may encounter a red spinning wheel when trying to access books. These are the troubleshooting steps we recommend you take when you see a red spinning wheel. 

1) Check whether this is happening on a specific page of a specific book, or whether it's happening for all books/pages.  

• If you suspect this is happening for just a specific page, please email portals@lab-aids.com with the specific book name and the page number(s). This means a page is corrupted. We can work to resolve that.
• If it's happening for all books/pages, please proceed to the next steps. 

2) If the issue is happening regardless of book/page, then we recommend you clear your cache and perform a hard reload:

• In Google Chrome (Windows):
  • Press F12 so the Developer Tools window pops up on the right side of the screen. Do not do anything with the Developer Tools. 
  • After pressing F12, right click on the "refresh" circular arrow wheel next to the URL bar and click "Empty Cache and Hard Reload". . 

• In Google Chrome (MAC):
  • Hold down the Shift button and click the Reload button, or hold down Cmd and Shift, and then press R. 
• Firefox (Windows)
  • Hold the Ctrl key and press F5, or hold down Ctrl and Shift and then press R. 
• Firefox (MAC)
  • Hold down the Shift button and click the Reload button, or hold down Cmd and Shift, and then press R.   
• Internet Explorer (Windows)
  • Hold down the Ctrl key and press the F5 key, or hold the Ctrl key and click the Refresh button.

3) If clearing your cache / hard reload doesn't work, try logging in with a different browser or an incognito window. 

• For example, if you're seeing the red spinning wheel in Chrome, try logging in using an incognito window or Firefox, Edge, Explorer, Safari, etc. to see if you can access content successfully.
• We can still troubleshoot the browser experiencing the red spinning wheel, but knowing whether you're able to access content in a different browser or incognito window will help us narrow down the problem. Whether you can access content in a different browser is important information to include when contacting us. 

4) Disable Chrome Extensions Temporarily: If you can access content successfully from an incognito window or Firefox, Edge, Explorer, Safari, etc. but you are still seeing the red spinning wheel in Chrome, we suspect it could be a Chrome extension causing the problem. We don't know which extensions are troublesome, so we recommend you disable your extensions to see if that resolves the problem. If it does, then enable your extensions again one at a time to test which extension is problematic.

• Disabling your extensions: Paste this into your URL bar: chrome://extensions/ (Or, click on the three dots on the top right >> Extensions >> Manage Extensions).

• Now disable all extensions via the toggle in the lower right corner of each extension. 

• Log into your account again and try to access content.
  • If you can access content successfully without seeing the red spinning wheel, that's great! You'll now want to find the troublesome extension. Toggle the first extension back on and try to access content again. Repeat for each extension. If you are able to find the specific extension causing the problem, please let us know the troublesome extension by emailing us at portals@lab-aids.com. 
  • If you are still seeing the red spinning wheel even after toggling your extensions off, proceed to step five below.

5) If you're still having trouble, please email portals@lab-aids.com with the following information to help us troubleshoot: 

• Does this issue occur in the app or in a browser?
  • If browser, which browser is showing the red spinning wheel?
  • Can you log in with a different browser and access content successfully? If so, which browser is successful? 
• What device is being used (PC, iPad, tablet, Chromebook, Mac, etc.)?
• Does this happen with specific devices, or does it happen with all devices?  (i.e. does it happen with only three Chromebooks issued to three specific students, or does it happen with all devices?

Basically, tell us as much a you can about how you're accessing the book, what you've tried so far, and what triggers / doesn't trigger the problem. The more information you can send, the more helpful it will be for troubleshooting.

Occasionally, we may recommend that you clear your cache and perform a hard reload of your browser to fix a problem. Below are instructions for popular browsers:

• In Google Chrome (Chromebook):
  • On your computer, open Chrome.
  • At the top right, click More (three dots icon) > Clear browsing data.
  • Select a time range, like Last hour or All time.
  • Select the types of information you want to remove.
  • Click Clear data.
• In Google Chrome (Windows):
  • Press F12 so the Developer Tools window pops up on the right side of the screen. Do not do anything with the Developer Tools. 
  • After pressing F12, right click on the "refresh" circular arrow wheel next to the URL bar and click "Empty Cache and Hard Reload". 

• In Google Chrome (MAC):
  • Press/hold Cmd + Shift + Delete to pull up the window to clear your cache.
  • Then press and hold shift and click the "reload" icon next to the URL bar.
• Firefox (Windows)
  • Hold the Ctrl key and press F5, or hold down Ctrl and Shift and then press R. 
• Firefox (MAC)
  • Hold down the Shift button and click the Reload button, or hold down Cmd and Shift, and then press R.   
• Internet Explorer (Windows)
  • Hold down the Ctrl key and press the F5 key, or hold the Ctrl key and click the Refresh button.

The Lab-Aids Science Portal is device agnostic. Students and teachers can access their Lab-Aids Science Portal account via a modern internet browser running Windows, macOS, Chrome, iOS, or Android. An iOS app is available to access the online curriculum, but it is not required. Below are the two ways that students and teachers can access their online curriculum, along with the minimum and recommended hardware and software requirements.

1. Web Browser

You can access the Lab-Aids Science Portal using the latest versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. At the moment, we do not fully support the users accessing the Lab-Aids Science Portal from a browser on a smartphone due to the limited screen size/resolution. For smartphone users, we recommend utilizing a dedicated Lab-Aids Science Portal app if available. We no longer support Internet Explorer as of November 2022.

Login at portals.lab-aids.com

*It is strongly recommended that the latest (most up to date) browser version be used due to compatibility and security concerns.
 

2. iOS App

If you already have access to your Lab-Aids Science Portal account, you can download the Lab-Aids Science Portal app for free from the App Store. The iOS app has the advantage of providing offline access to the curricular products. This app is completely optional.

The Lab-Aids Science Portal is device agnostic. Students and teachers can access their Lab-Aids Science Portal account via a modern internet browser running Windows, macOS, Chrome, iOS, or Android. An iOS app is available to access the online curriculum, but it is not required. Below are the two ways that students and teachers can access their online curriculum, along with the minimum and recommended hardware and software requirements.

1. Web Browser

You can access the Lab-Aids Science Portal using the latest versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. At the moment, we do not fully support the users accessing the Lab-Aids Science Portal from a browser on a smartphone due to the limited screen size/resolution. For smartphone users, we recommend utilizing a dedicated Lab-Aids Science Portal app if available. We no longer support Internet Explorer as of November 2022.

Login at portals.lab-aids.com

*It is strongly recommended that the latest (most up to date) browser version be used due to compatibility and security concerns.
 

2. iOS App

If you already have access to your Lab-Aids Science Portal account, you can download the Lab-Aids Science Portal app for free from the App Store. The iOS app has the advantage of providing offline access to the curricular products. This app is completely optional.

Do you already have a Lab-Aids Portal account? Select an option below:

No

Yes

If you're a student and don't know how to log in yet, please contact your teacher for instructions.

1. Logging in to the portal

• Your teacher should have sent you either your new username and password or instructions already. Please contact your teacher for login instructions.
• In many cases, you should be able to log in by going to https://portals.lab-aids.com
• If you use a website like Schoology, Canvas, or Google Classroom, you might need to login to there first and to access the Lab-Aids Portal.

2. Reading books and navigating throughout the portal

• How do I read books and navigate throughout the portal?
• How do I make notes within my book?
• How do I add highlights to a book?
• How do I add bookmarks within my book?

3. Viewing and completing homework: 

In some cases, your teacher may assign homework to you through your Lab-Aids Portal. Please see the resource: How to view and complete homework assigned to you 

Still have questions? Please contact your teacher or refer to the Student FAQ page for additional help.

Lab-Aids is proud to offer ReadSpeaker text-to-speech and translation for all Lab-Aids online books. With ReadSpeaker, users can listen to an audio version of Lab-Aids online content, translate text and audio into 29 different languages, translate text into 44 different languages, and utilize additional features to aid students in reading online.

ReadSpeaker is available for all Lab-Aids online books. No downloads or plugins required. ReadSpeaker is not currently offered in the Windows or iOS apps; it is only available when accessing the portal from a browser.  

Contents:

• A) Languages Currently Offered

• B) How to Listen

• C) How to Translate

• D) Settings and Features

• E) Keyboard Shortcuts

• F) Additional Help/Notes

A) Languages Currently Offered:

B) How to Listen: 

Users can choose to listen to an entire page, just a selection of text, or a paragraph at a time. Words will be highlighted as they are read (unless disabled in settings). 

1) Listen to the entire page: Click the "play" button at the top of each page to have ReadSpeaker read the entire page.

2) Listen to only a selection of text: Highlight specific text and click the "Listen" option on the popup menu that appears.  

3) Use the "Click and Listen" option (Portal 2.0 Only): This option allows user to listen to a paragraph without needing to select it first and then click the "Listen" button. See the Click and Listen section below for more information.

C) How to translate:

• Highlight a selection of text.
• Click the "Translate" option that appears. Select language.  
• Languages with both text and audio translation will display a speaker icon. Text-only languages will display a speaker with a slash to indicate audio is not available. 

• A popup will appear with the translated text. Click through the disclaimer screen. Read the translated text on the screen and click the "play" icon to have the text read aloud to you in the selected language.

• Customize audio and text settings by clicking the menu icons at the top of the "translate" popup:
  • Play/Pause, Stop
  • Volume, Reading Speed
  • Decrease font size, Increase font size, Text settings (customize font size, font, text colors, and text spacing)
  • Maximize screen, Close out

D) Settings and features from the ReadSpeaker menu:

Settings and additional features can be accessed by clicking on the ReadSpeaker menu icon (the icon with three lines next to the "Listen" button at the top of the page). Each feature is explained below. Portal 2.0 contains a 6th option for "Click and Listen". 

1. ReadSpeaker Menu >> Settings: Personalize ReadSpeaker settings:

• Text highlighting on/off
• What to highlight (Word and Sentence, Sentence only, Word only, no highlighting)
• Word color, sentence color, text color
• Automatic scrolling on/off
• Popup Menu settings
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Text settings icons at the top of the page: Reading speed, increase/decrease font size, text mode settings (font, text colors, text spacing)

There are now also Page Mask Settings available from the Settings menu, allowing user to change the color for focus area, color for the mask, and transparency for both:

2. ReadSpeaker menu >> Enlarge Text: Text currently being read will be displayed at the bottom of the screen in large font size with each word highlighted as it is read. 

3. ReadSpeaker Menu >> Text Mode: View a clutter-free version of the web page with text in your preferred font, size, and colors.

• Click the icons at the top of the "Text Mode" popup to personalize your text settings.
• Click and drag the arrow in the bottom-right corner to enlarge the Text Mode screen.
• While in Text Mode, user can highlight specific sections of text to have them read aloud.

4. ReadSpeaker Menu >> Page Mask: Dims most of the screen except for a horizontal spotlight bar the user can move up and down to help focus on specific text. 

There are now also Page Mask Settings available from the Settings menu, allowing user to change the color for focus area, color for the mask, and transparency for both:

5. ReadSpeaker Menu >> Help: Contains additional information for ReadSpeaker features. Open/close the Table of Contents in the top right of the "Help" screen.

6. ReadSpeaker Menu >> Click and Listen (Portal 2.0 Only): This option allows user to listen to a paragraph with one click, instead of needing to first highlight the text and then click the "Listen" button. 

First, activate "Click and Listen" from the ReadSpeaker menu by clicking the toggle so it turns green. Then, click on a section of text, and the paragraph will automatically be read aloud.  

E) ReadSpeaker Keyboard Shortcuts

You can use keyboard combinations (keyboard shortcuts) to activate most features. See the Keyboard Shortcuts section of our accessibility page for information on keyboard shortcuts. 

F) Additional Help / Notes

1. Additional help and information for ReadSpeaker features can be found by clicking on the "Help" menu under the ReadSpeaker menu icon (icon with three lines at the top of the page). Then, click on the Table of Contents. There are various topics found within this Table of Contents. 

2. When using ReadSpeaker in Portal 1.0, user can zoom in to make the ReadSpeaker icons appear larger.

• Zoom in using the "Zoom" icon on the right side of the page.
• Then, to click on the ReadSpeaker icons while zoomed, click the "Select" arrow on the bottom right of the page to switch to "Select" mode. 

Questions? portals@lab-aids.com

Student Portal Navigation: https://labaids.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/student-portal-navigation.mp4

• Accessing resources
• Page/activity navigation
• 3:10 Bookmarks/notes/highlights
• 4:25 Accessing links shared by teachers (if applicable)

Student Portal Navigation: Homework/Assessments: https://labaids.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/student-portal-homework-assessments.mp4

• Completing homework assignments
• 1:25 Completing assessments

The Lab-Aids Science Portal is device agnostic. Students and teachers can access their Lab-Aids Science Portal account via a modern internet browser running Windows, macOS, Chrome, iOS, or Android. An iOS app is available to access the online curriculum, but it is not required. Below are the two ways that students and teachers can access their online curriculum, along with the minimum and recommended hardware and software requirements.

1. Web Browser

You can access the Lab-Aids Science Portal using the latest versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. At the moment, we do not fully support the users accessing the Lab-Aids Science Portal from a browser on a smartphone due to the limited screen size/resolution. For smartphone users, we recommend utilizing a dedicated Lab-Aids Science Portal app if available. We no longer support Internet Explorer as of November 2022.

Login at portals.lab-aids.com

*It is strongly recommended that the latest (most up to date) browser version be used due to compatibility and security concerns.
 

2. iOS App

If you already have access to your Lab-Aids Science Portal account, you can download the Lab-Aids Science Portal app for free from the App Store. The iOS app has the advantage of providing offline access to the curricular products. This app is completely optional.

1. Log into your account using the instructions provided by your teacher. 

• If you don't know your username, password, or login method, please contact your teacher. 
• Many students can log in using https://portals.lab-aids.com or lab-aids.com > Book Login.
• If your school has decided to integrate with Google Classroom, Clever, Classlink, or with your LMS (Schoology, Canvas, etc.), you will log in to your Lab-Aids portal via Google Classroom, Clever, Classlink, or your LMS. If you are unsure of where to log in, please see your teacher.

2. Click on the "Homework" menu on the top. This menu contains three submenus: due assignments (assigned but not completed), submitted assignments (completed but not graded), and graded assignments (submitted and graded). 

3. "Due Homework" will display any due assignments. Click on the assignment. Complete and submit the homework assignment. 

• To complete homework, you have a few options: 
  • 1) Type your answers in the text box. 
  • 2) Attach an image of the completed assignment
  • 3) Attach an audio recording of the completed assignment
  • 4) Attach a video of the completed assignment
  • 5) Attach a PDF / Word Doc / Excel Doc of the completed assignment
  • 6) Drag and pull to lengthen the typing area
• Click "save draft" to save your work but not submit.  
• Click "submit" to turn in the assignment to your teacher. 

How to view submitted and evaluated homework: 

• Submitted Homework: Click on the "Homework" icon on the top menu, if you haven't already. Then, click the "Submitted" menu to view homework that has been submitted but not yet evaluated. Submitted assignments cannot be modified. 

• Graded homework: Click on the "Homework" icon on the top menu, if you haven't already. Then, click on the "Graded" submenu to view homework that has been graded by your teacher. Click on the assignment to view additional detail such as score, feedback, and your response. 

Where teachers enter assessment feedback:

When evaluating assessments, teachers have two options for entering feedback:

• Enter feedback for each specific question in the "Enter Feedback" field under each question. This will appear as "Teacher's Feedback" on the student screen.
• Enter feedback for the overall test by scrolling to the bottom "Write assessment feedback" field. This will appear as "Overall Feedback" on the student screen. 
• Please note that if teacher reassigns an assessment containing teacher feedback, all assessment feedback will be lost.

Where students view assessment feedback:

• Students log in and click on the “Assessments” icon in the top menu. Then click “Graded” submenu. 
• Click on the assessment in question. Students can hover over the assessment to view full name if needed. 
• Feedback for the entire assessment is located at the top (“Overall Feedback” field).
• Feedback for each question is located underneath each question ("Teacher’s Feedback” field).

1. From any page in your book, click the "notes" icon on the top right of the page. 

2. Click anywhere on the page to add a note. Enter the text of your note. Click "save". 

3. View all notes by clicking on the "Notes" icon on the left menu bar. You can sort notes by date entered or by page number. 

1. Highlight text you wish to highlight. Then, the highlighter icon will appear in the top right of the page. If you are zoomed in on the page, click here*.

2. Click the highlight icon to choose a highlight color and save. 

3. View all highlights by clicking on the "Highlights" option on the left menu bar. You can sort highlights by date entered or by page number.

*If you are zoomed in on the page, an option will appear on the bottom-right corner that allows you to select between panning (default) and text-selection. Click the arrow icon, which will allow you to then select text instead of pan. Return to the instructions above to highlight text.

1. From the page you wish to bookmark, click the "bookmark" icon in the top right of the page. 

2. To view all bookmarks, click the "bookmarks" icon on the left side menu. You can sort bookmarks by date entered or by page number. 

How to log in and read books: 

1. Logging in: Your teacher should have given you login instructions. Please contact your teacher if you don't know how to log in.

• Many students should be able to log into their account using https://portals.lab-aids.com or lab-aids.com > Book Login.
• Again, if you don't know your username or password, please contact your teacher.

2. You are brought to your library. Click on the cover of the book you wish to read. 

• If you use Google Classroom to log in, your teacher may instruct you to click on a link in Google Classroom to access your books.  

5 Ways to navigate throughout the book:

1. Next/Previous Buttons on the left and right side of the page

2. Blue "thumbnail" icon on the bottom center of the page. This icon shows thumbnails of the previous and next pages to help with navigation.

3. "Page" option up top: Click on the existing page number and enter in the page number you'd like to navigate to directly

4. Left Menu: Contents: Click Contents to browse to a specific page or activity

5. Search feature: Search for a specific word or phrase to find in the book

6. Switch to two-page view or one-page view (settings option on the left)

These instructions are for students, teachers, and admins.

1. When viewing a student book, teacher edition, or teacher resources, click on the magnifying glass icon to zoom in. The more you click, the more you will zoom in.

2. Once you zoom in, your mouse changes from being able to select text and click hotspots to "panning mode," which lets you click and drag the cursor to change what portion of the page you're viewing. To switch back to text selection, click the pointing cursor icon in the new toggle menu that appears in the bottom-right corner. This menu allows you to toggle back and forth between panning and text selection (which also allows you to click and access the colored hotspots you may see on a page).

Our platform currently does not provide a way for students to print the Student Book from the Portal (within an internet browser or using one of the apps). You may attempt to print via your internet browser, but since we do not support this feature, each browser will yield different results.

However, you can print a page by downloading the PDF of the Student Book, then printing from the PDF. The PDF file is located on the first page under "Resources." Click the file icon next to "Complete Student Book," then click the icon of the PDF, and save the document to your computer.

How to determine your portal expiration date(s) based on setup method:

1. School/District/Google Classroom Integration Setups

2. Access Code / LMS Users

1. School/District Setup & Google Classroom Integration Setup:

Teachers/Students:

• View your library as you normally do. If books will be expiring in 90 days or less, there will be red text underneath those books stating the number of days left before expiration (see screenshot below).
• Teachers will receive an automated expiration reminder email 30, 15, and 7 days prior to expiration.
• Teachers: You aren't able to view student expiration dates from your portal account. You will need to reach out to your admin to find all other portal expiration dates, including student expiration dates.

Admin:

• If you are the school/district portal admin: Click on "License" to view the expiration date of each PO/transaction number. Click the "Content" icon to view content in each PO/transaction number (see screenshot below).
• You will receive an automated expiration reminder email 30, 15, and 7 days prior to license expiration. This may be for students, teachers, or both. See below for more detail on determining teacher vs. student licenses.

• To determine which licenses are meant for students and which are meant for teachers, look at the a) PO/transaction number, b) the number of licenses, and c) the expiration date:
  • Teacher POs usually end in -01 or T. They will contain less licenses than student POs. They also expire later than student POs.
  • Student POs usually end in -02 or S. They will contain more licenses than teacher POs. They also expire sooner than teacher POs. 
  • You may only have one PO that is meant for both students and teachers. That is okay. This means that both your student and teacher access expires at the same time.
  • If you need clarification on license expirations, please reach out to us at portals@lab-aids.com and we can certainly help.

2. Access Code & LMS Users: 

If you redeemed an access code to create your account, this is how you will determine your expiration dates:

1. Access your Account in the upper right corner of the Portal. 

2. The Account page displays, showing you the license start/expiration dates and the contents (when clicking the book icon). 

3. If your students also have accounts created with access codes, you will not be able to view your students' expirations from your portal account. You will need to reach out to your admin to find student portal expiration dates. 

Your portal will default to a two-page view of your books each time you log in. To change this to a one-page view, click "Settings" and select "1-page". Click anywhere to hide the "Settings" view. 

Occasionally, we may recommend that you clear your cache and perform a hard reload of your browser to fix a problem. Below are instructions for popular browsers:

• In Google Chrome (Chromebook):
  • On your computer, open Chrome.
  • At the top right, click More (three dots icon) > Clear browsing data.
  • Select a time range, like Last hour or All time.
  • Select the types of information you want to remove.
  • Click Clear data.
• In Google Chrome (Windows):
  • Press F12 so the Developer Tools window pops up on the right side of the screen. Do not do anything with the Developer Tools. 
  • After pressing F12, right click on the "refresh" circular arrow wheel next to the URL bar and click "Empty Cache and Hard Reload". 

• In Google Chrome (MAC):
  • Press/hold Cmd + Shift + Delete to pull up the window to clear your cache.
  • Then press and hold shift and click the "reload" icon next to the URL bar.
• Firefox (Windows)
  • Hold the Ctrl key and press F5, or hold down Ctrl and Shift and then press R. 
• Firefox (MAC)
  • Hold down the Shift button and click the Reload button, or hold down Cmd and Shift, and then press R.   
• Internet Explorer (Windows)
  • Hold down the Ctrl key and press the F5 key, or hold the Ctrl key and click the Refresh button.

If users do not see content in their libraries and are instead seeing the "no matching records found" message, this means the user has selected filters that are hiding specific products from view. To resolve, users need to clear/reset their filters. 

How to clear/reset filters:

1. Click the icon with three lines in the top right corner of the library and click "Select all Content Type".
2. Then, click "Deselect all Content Type". 
3. Once this is done, all products will display in the library. If you still do not see any content in your library after clearing your filters, please contact your admin. 

If you are a teacher and need help accessing books/resources in the portal, please refer to our Basic Portal Navigation page. 

The new Portal 2.0 version of Lab-Aids' online programs provides the same content as the print and prior online version, but includes many enhancements that make the online experience more seamless and richer. We’ve been listening to customers and hard at work making a better digital product, including:

• A digital experience built from the ground up and easier to navigate
• Online submission of Student Sheets and Analysis/Build Understanding responses
• Reflowable text to accommodate various screen sizes
• Designed with accessibility guidelines in mind
• Hyperlinks embedded within all core program resources that link to a host of ancillaries

Table of Contents:

• Viewing Portal 2.0 Student Books
• Navigating Portal 2.0 Student Books
  • Navigating Within an Activity
  • Student Sheets - Online Submission
  • Analysis / Build Understanding Questions - Online Submission
  • Appendices

Viewing Portal 2.0 Student Books:

Upon login, students are brought to their student library, which displays all content available to the student. Portal 2.0 books will have "Portal 2.0" listed on the thumbnail. Click on a book to open. 

Navigating Portal 2.0 Student Books:

• Use the Table of Contents on the left side to navigate through the activities and sections within a unit. 
  • Show/hide the Table of Contents by clicking on the yellow circle at the top of the Table of Contents.

Navigating Within an Activity:

• The format of each activity follows the format of the printed Student Book, such as Introduction, Guiding Question, Materials, and Procedure. Each of these sections are headers at the top of each activity. 
• Click the headers at the top of each activity to navigate between sections. Or, scroll through the activity to view each section. The headers at the top will automatically highlight the section being viewed. 
• Ancillary Resources:
  • Student sheets are available under the Materials header.
  • Any other resources or links will be hyperlinked throughout the activity as needed.

Student Sheets - Online Submission:

If your teacher would like for you to submit student sheets online, he/she will provide instructions. If your teacher does not instruct you to submit the student sheet online, ignore the below instructions. 

Please note this feature is currently unavailable for LTI integrations, including Canvas and Schoology.

• Under the Materials header, click Online next to each student sheet to open the student sheet in a new side-by-side window. Expand the screen by clicking the box in the top right corner. 
• Enter responses in each available field of the student sheet. Make sure you have expanded the screen to see the whole student sheet.
• Click Save to save your responses without submitting.
• Click Submit to submit your responses to your teacher. You cannot view, modify, or undo your responses after clicking Submit.
• 
•  

Analysis / Build Understanding Questions - Online Submission:

If your teacher would like for you to submit the Analysis / Build Understanding questions online, he/she will provide instructions. If your teacher does not instruct you to submit the Analysis / Build Understanding questions online, ignore the below instructions. 

Please note this feature is currently unavailable for LTI integrations, including Canvas and Schoology.

• Navigate to either the Analysis or Build Understanding header in the activity. 
• Enter your responses for each question. 
• Click Save all to save your responses without submitting.
• Click Submit to submit your responses to your teacher. You cannot view, modify, or undo your responses after clicking Submit.

Appendices 

Scroll to the bottom of the Table of Contents to access the unit summary, student book appendices, glossary, publication information, and credits.

Do you already have a Lab-Aids Portal account? Select an option below:

No

Yes

What to do if you've agreed to be an Admin and you don't have an account yet:

1. If you are aware that your school / district has purchased portal access from Lab-Aids, please contact your Curriculum Coordinator (or the person who makes science curriculum decisions) to determine whether your school has appointed you as the Portal Admin to Lab-Aids. It can take a few days for Lab-Aids to process the purchase and portal setup internally, so that could be the cause of any delay.
2. If you are still concerned about Portal access and it has been a week or more since your purchase, you can contact us at portals@lab-aids.com to find out where your school / district is in the portal setup process.

You are the Admin and you have received your login credentials from Lab-Aids. Now what? 

As the Admin, you are responsible for rostering teachers and students and assigning licenses to teachers. Your teachers and students will not have access to the Portal until you do this.*

1. Log in: https://portals.lab-aids.com

2. Change your password 

3. Roster your teachers and students

*Most of our Admins are "School Admins" and will follow the above instructions. If you have been told you are a "District Admin," here are instructions on how to setup your schools and School Admins. If you have been set up with another method (Google Classroom Integration, LTI integration, etc.), Lab-Aids will email you with specific instructions on how to proceed.

If you have further questions, please feel free to check out the Admin FAQs or reach out to us at portals@lab-aids.com. 

Basic Navigation for School/District Teachers

This one-hour webinar provides teachers an overview of navigating around their Lab-Aids Portal account. This webinar is intended for teachers that are part of a larger school account. Topics:

• Finding ancillary resources
• Utilizing Portal features
• Assigning books to students

Basic Navigation for Access Code Account Teachers

This one-hour webinar provides teachers an overview of navigating around their Lab-Aids Portal account. This webinar is intended for teachers that have either self-registered with an access code or are signing into the Lab-Aids Portal via Schoology or Canvas. Topics:

• Finding ancillary resources
• Utilizing Portal features
• Exporting assessments

Back to School Rostering

This one-hour webinar covers how to roster teacher and student accounts, assign licenses, and perform other back-to-school tasks for your Lab-Aids Portal account. This webinar is intended for school and district admins who need to perform manual rostering of accounts. Topics:

• Removing old student and teacher accounts & classes
• Adding new accounts & classes
• Assigning licenses
• Communicating instructions with teachers and students

This page describes the end of year processes to be completed by admins to remove existing student accounts and roster new student accounts. This process varies based on setup method. 

Please click on your existing setup method to view end of year instructions:

1. School/District Workflow Setup

2. Google Classroom Setup 

3. LTI Integration Setup / Access Code Setup 

4. Clever/Classlink Setup

1. School/District Workflow Setup

• **If teachers want to retain student assessment data, please have teachers export that assessment data prior to you removing student accounts. Once a student is deleted, the homework and assessment data will also be deleted. How to view/export assessment data reports, How to export homework scores
• **If you have been set up as a district in our portal (these district setups are rare), you'll need to complete these steps for each school in your account. Please reach out to us if you have any questions about this.
• Admins: Please refer to our School Admin Setup FAQ if you need more information on general account setup instructions. 

1. Admin clicks "End School Session".

• Go to Roster > Class > End School Session
• This option removes licenses from student accounts so they can be reassigned to other students. It can also remove other data, depending on which options are selected.
• This does not remove student accounts.
• After clicking "End School Session", a popup will appear with options to select: 
  • At minimum, ensure "Content" is selected, since that option will remove licenses from students. 
  • "Assessment" will delete old student assessment scores/data.
  • "Blog" will not do anything since that feature has been removed. 
  • "Notifications" will remove any existing notifications in user accounts. 
  • "Group" will delete any existing Groups created by teachers.

Clever/Classlink/Google Classroom districts: The below instructions do not apply to you. Please skip to the correct section for instructions specific to your rostering method.  

2. Admin deletes existing student accounts

• Select Roster > Class. Click on a Class name from the list shown. Select “Display 100 Records”, click checkbox to the left of “Name” column to select students 100 at a time, then select Delete.
• Repeat for each Class until all students are deleted. 

If you have a large quantity of students/classes and it is not realistic to delete students using this method, please contact us at portals@lab-aids.com. 

3. Admin verifies class/teacher rostering information

A. Admin verifies class names are updated and accurate for next school year

• Roster > Class
• Click "Add Class" to add class titles manually
• Click "Bulk Upload" to add class titles in bulk
• Make sure all necessary class titles are added / old classes are removed 

B. Admin verifies that all teachers are entered correctly into the system and associated to correct classes

• Roster > Teachers
• Verify new teachers are added ("Add Teacher" button)
• Verify old teachers are removed ("Delete" icon next to teacher's name)
• Verify teachers are assigned to the correct classes ("Edit" button next to teacher's name)
  • To update teachers' classes via bulk update, click here. 
  • To update teachers' classes manually, click the "Edit" button next to the teacher's name, and then click in the "Assign Classes" box. The class list will appear, and you can select/deselect classes to be assigned to the teacher. Use the CTRL button to select/deselect multiple classes.
  • 

4. Admin confirms that POs have accurately been assigned to teachers

• How to assign POs to teachers
• Unassign teachers from POs if they no longer need access. 
• Assign teachers to POs as necessary for new teachers or new POs
• If you have both a student PO and a teacher PO for the same set of content, you need to assign both POs to teachers teaching that content to their students.

5. Admin rosters student accounts (this should be similar to last year)

• Please see this document for more detailed steps on Rostering Students.
• Admin creates and uploads “bulk upload” student document: Roster > Student > Bulk Upload

6. Admin communicates to teachers how to assign books to their students

• How teachers assign books to students
• Students will not see content unless teachers do this.

2. Google Classroom Setup

Once district class rosters have been updated in Google Classroom for the new school year:

1) Admins: Select End School Session to gain back licenses from students. This important step will prevent last year's students from taking up licenses that are meant for this year's students.

• From Roster > Class, select End School Session from the top-right corner.
• This will unassign all licenses that were assigned to student accounts last school year. 
• This will allow your account to gain those licenses back so that teachers can then assign them to new classes/students.

2) Teachers: Update class sync selections: 

• Teachers log into their Lab-Aids portal account. Wait for the automatic sync to finish, then click on Settings > Google Classroom v2, and click "Start Sync" or "Edit". Select/deselect classes to sync and proceed through each page. 
• The newly selected classes will now sync each time upon login. 

Removing old data: Old class/teacher/student data is not automatically deleted from the account. While old data may "clutter" the account, old data does not cause any functional issues. Lab-Aids is able to delete some data upon request from the district. Deleting old data is optional.  This page explains the optional processes for removing old class/teacher/student data from previous years.

3) [Optional] New Teachers: If any new teachers need access, here are the instructions for setting up new teachers in the portal with a GC integration.

4) Admins: Confirm teachers have been assigned the correct POs/transactions (sets of licenses): How to assign POs to teachers

• Unassign teachers from POs/transactions if they no longer need access.
• Assign teachers to all necessary POs/transactions -- for new teachers or new POs. If you district has a separate PO/transaction for student licenses, ensure teachers have been assigned to the student PO/transaction. 

5) Teachers need to assign books to students for the new school year.

• Students will not see content unless teachers do this.

Removing old data: Old class/teacher/student data cannot be deleted manually. While old data may "clutter" the account, old data does not cause any functional issues. Deleting old data is optional.  This page explains the optional processes for removing old class/teacher/student data from previous years.

For general Google Classroom Integration Setup instructions, you can refer to the Google Classroom Integration Setup Guide. 

3. LTI Integration Setup / Access Code Setup

1) Teacher Access Codes:

• Please let Lab-Aids know if any of your teachers no longer need access and need their accounts removed from the teacher access code.
• Communicate the existing access code and redemption instructions to teachers if necessary.
  • Teachers only need to redeem this code one time, not once each year.
  • However, if any teachers did not redeem this access code last year, you'll need to communicate redemption instructions again. 

2) Student Access Codes:

• Please ask Lab-Aids for a new access code for your students for next year. When doing so, please include the following information:
  • Would you like all student books on the same student access code, or would you like to split up books by grade and have each grade redeem a different code? If you would like them split up by grade, please list the books (purchased) desired for each grade.
  • Would you like Spanish titles included in the access code? 

4. Clever/Classlink Setup

1) District Admin clicks End School Session for each school to gain back licenses from students.

• From Roster > Class, choose a school from the dropdown and then select End School Session from the top-right corner. 
• This will unassign all licenses that were assigned to student accounts last school year. This does not remove licenses from anyone except students.
• This will allow your account to gain those licenses back so that teachers can then assign them to new classes/students.
• Repeat for each school. 

2) Ensure accurate/updated data is being shared with us in Clever/Classlink. Some districts may need to perform a sync reset: 

• When rosters are ready, Classlink/Clever admin needs to update data sharing rules in Clever/Classlink so the accurate classes and users are being shared with us.
• New data should sync overnight. If new data does not sync after a few days, there are two options:
  • Option 1: Contact portals@lab-aids.com to have Lab-Aids force a manual sync reset.
  • Option 2: District admin can force a manual sync reset.
    • Clever sync "Reset" 
    • Classlink "Reset" is similar to Clever "Reset", except go to Settings > OneRoster V2 > Click "Reset".

3) Ensure school admins are added for all schools needing access to content. (School > School Admin > Add School Admin). 

• The system requires a "school admin" when assigning licenses to each school. School admins usually do not sync from Classlink or Clever, and therefore school admins usually need to be added manually.
• When possible, Lab-Aids adds school admins on behalf of customers. If Lab-Aids is not able to do this, districts can either reach out to Lab-Aids to have school admins added, or district admins can add school admins themselves.
• District admins can add school admins by going to School > School Admin > Add School admin. 
  • If you do not have a real person to add as a school admin, you may create a fake username using an @lab-aids.com email address. For example, districtnameschoolname@lab-aids.com, thompsonadmin4@lab-aids.com, etc.

4) Ensure the correct schools and teachers have been assigned licenses. 

• From the License menu on the left, confirm that licenses are assigned to schools and teachers needing access. Assign licenses to any new teachers and unassign from any teachers no longer needing access. Confirm that the number of licenses assigned to the school is still accurate for the new school year. More instructions:
• Assigning licenses with Clever integration
• Assigning licenses with Classlink integration

5) Remind teachers how to assign books to students

• You can also share the Lab-Aids Portal FAQ page with teachers

Helpful Information for all setup methods:

• When students are deleted, their assessment and homework data is also deleted.
• If you are considering changing setup/rostering methods for next school year, please see our "What rostering methods do you offer?" FAQ for an explanation of each method.

Please contact portals@lab-aids.com with additional questions.

Instead of Lab-Aids assigning licenses to individual teachers, students, and other staff, this process relies on a School and/or District Admin that can roster students and teachers and distribute licenses to teachers. In addition, the Admin can create “Classes” within your online portal that associate teachers and students accordingly.

Most schools should already have a designated person to handle such demands as rostering and distributing online licenses. Often, this is a curriculum specialist or IT person in a school/district. If this role does not already exist, a person needs to be selected who will handle these responsibilities. The Admin should have access to your school's (or district's) class rosters via your Student Information System (SIS). They should know which teachers and students need access to which content and how many licenses will need to be distributed to each school and/or class.

District Admins: 

If a school district is purchasing curriculum for more than one school, a District Admin will need to be assigned. The main duties of a District Admin are:

1. Define each School and assign a School Admin to each School
2. Assign the appropriate number of licenses to each School

However, District Admins can go above and beyond and create teacher and student accounts and define Classes (which is something the School Admins can do too).

School Admins: 

If a single school is purchasing curriculum for themselves, the District Admin role is not needed. A School Admin will need to be assigned, and their main duties are:

1. Define the Classes that associate students and teachers
2. Create accounts for each student and teacher (and assign them to a Class)
3. Assign licenses to teachers

Resources:

• District Admins: How to set up schools and assign licenses
• District Admins: This video walks you through the process of how District Admins assign the licenses to schools.
• School Admins: How to set up teachers/students
• School Admins: This video walks you through the last steps of assigning the licenses to teachers. Teachers then assign the content to their students.

Please refer to this School Setup Details document for more detail on the following steps. Or, click the title of each step for more detail. 

• If you have been set up as a "District Admin" instead of a "School Admin", you will need to complete the steps below for each school. If you need the previous instructions on how to add schools and assign licenses to schools, please click here for District Admin instructions. (These District Admin setups are rare.)

1. Log in as admin

• Where to log in: https://portals.lab-aids.com or lab-aids.com > Book Login
• Username: Your email address
• Password: You should have received an email with your password when you were initially set up.
  • If you don't know your username or password, please let us know ASAP by emailing portals@lab-aids.com.
  • We recommend changing your password upon login by clicking on your account in the upper right corner.

2. Add classes

• Add class titles that associate students and teachers (i.e. Mrs. Smith 6th Period)

3. Roster teachers

• If you're also rostering yourself as a teacher, you'll need to use a separate email address.
• If you only have a few teachers, it's probably easier to add them manually.
• You can bulk upload -- be sure to follow the guidelines on the Bulk Teacher Upload page.

4. Roster students

• You can bulk upload -- be sure to follow the guidelines on the Bulk Student Upload page
• After uploading, please check your email for a status email. This will include a description of any errors. 

5. Assign licenses to teachers

• This is an important step. Teachers will not see any content until this step is completed.
• License >> Assign
• If you have been given two POs/transactions (sets of licenses) for the same set of content, you'll need to assign both of those licenses to your teachers.
• How to assign licenses to teachers FAQ
• This video will help:  https://vimeo.com/319575835/c114d97a7a
• Note: If you are a District Admin and you are managing the schools under your account, you will need to go back and complete step number 3 on the district admin setup page so that you are assigning licenses to the specific teachers from each school.

Then, once you have completed the above steps:

6. FOR TEACHERS: Your teachers will then need to assign books to their students

• Overview of portal: https://lab-aids.com/portal-navigation-basic-overview
• Teachers can also refer to the FAQ document for questions

Resources:

• Please take a look, as these can be very helpful:
• Portal FAQ document: includes help for teachers, admins, and students
• Login: All users will log in using https://portals.lab-aids.com , or lab-aids.com > Book Login
• Basic Portal Navigation for teachers (Portal 1.0): https://lab-aids.com/portal-navigation-basic-overview
• Basic Portal Navigation for teachers (Portal 2.0): https://www.lab-aids.com/portal-20-basic-navigation-teachers

1. Create the schools within your district

2. Create the school admins

3. Assign the appropriate number of licenses to each school 

4. Complete School Admin Setup Duties

1. Create the schools within your district

• After logging in as district admin, click the "School" link on the left menu, then click "School List." 
• Click "Add School." Enter in all details and click "Save." 

• Repeat for all schools that need access to Lab-Aids content. 

2. Create the school admins for each school

Note: You (district admin) can serve as each school's admin, or you can assign each school's admin role to someone at the school level.  One school admin must be added for each school. If you choose to add yourself as the school admin for each school, you may enter a fake email address, since you'll likely be using your district admin account for all admin purposes. If your school admin is someone other than you, the email address must be real.  

• After logging in as the district admin, click the "School" link on the left-hand side menu, then click "School Admin." 
• Click "Add Admin." Enter in all details, then click "Save." 
• Repeat for all schools. 

A) Select the school to which you're adding this school admin

B) [Optional]: Select admin title

C) Enter first name

D) Enter last name

E) Enter telephone

F) Enter email address / username of admin. If you are entering yourself as the school admin for each school, you may enter a fake email address, since you'll likely be using your district admin account for all admin purposes. If your school admin is someone other than you, the email address must be real.  

G) Enter password. Password length must be between 6 and 20 characters. 

H) Leave "Assign Language" blank. 

I) Send email to user: If your school admin is someone other than you, you'll want to check this box to have the system send the admin an email with their username, password, and helpful instructions. We recommend you select this checkbox, as these emails are quite useful. 

3. Assign the appropriate number of POs (sets of licenses) to each school

You'll need to do this for each PO issued to your district. 

**If you are acting as each school's admin, you will need to come back to this screen AFTER rostering teachers in order to assign licenses to your teachers.

• Click on "License" on the left-hand side menu. You'll see a list of all POs (set of licenses) that have been assigned to your district.
• Click the "Assign" icon to the right of the PO.

• Select a school from the dropdown menu and enter the number of licenses you would like to issue to that school. Make sure the school admin is selected.
  • If the PO is for students, make sure number of licenses assigned includes the number of teachers + students + admin(s) + 10% extra.
  • If the PO is just for teachers, make sure the number of licenses assigned includes the number of teachers + admin(s) + 10% extra. 

• Optional: If you are also acting as the school admin, and if you have already rostered teachers, you can select the teachers who should be assigned the PO.
• Click "Assign."

• Repeat for all schools.
• Then, repeat for all POs assigned to your district.

4. Once you have completed the above district admin duties, the school admin setup duties will need to be completed for each school. Please click this link to view school admin setup duties. 

• Either the district admin or the school admin can complete these duties. The above link provides instructions regardless of who is completing these duties.
  • Duties include: rostering classes/teachers/students, assigning licenses to teachers, letting teachers know they need to assign books to students

Helpful Hints: 

• Schools/Teachers need to be assigned both the teacher POs and the student POs. If you only have one PO, that's fine. 
• When assigning the student PO to schools, make sure that you assign enough licenses to cover the admin, teachers, and students. 
• You do not need to assign anything to students. Teachers will need to assign content to students.

When your Admin account is created, a password is usually chosen for your account. It is strongly recommended that you change the password on your Admin account for security reasons. After logging into your Admin account, click the drop-down menu in the top-right corner (next to "Welcome") and click "Profile." From the new menu, you can change the password for your Admin account.

 Note: if you are accessing your Lab-Aids Portal account from Google Classroom or your school's LMS, you cannot change your password.

How to determine your portal expiration date(s) based on setup method:

1. School/District/Google Classroom Integration Setups

2. Access Code / LMS Users

1. School/District Setup & Google Classroom Integration Setup:

Teachers/Students:

• View your library as you normally do. If books will be expiring in 90 days or less, there will be red text underneath those books stating the number of days left before expiration (see screenshot below).
• Teachers will receive an automated expiration reminder email 30, 15, and 7 days prior to expiration.
• Teachers: You aren't able to view student expiration dates from your portal account. You will need to reach out to your admin to find all other portal expiration dates, including student expiration dates.

Admin:

• If you are the school/district portal admin: Click on "License" to view the expiration date of each PO/transaction number. Click the "Content" icon to view content in each PO/transaction number (see screenshot below).
• You will receive an automated expiration reminder email 30, 15, and 7 days prior to license expiration. This may be for students, teachers, or both. See below for more detail on determining teacher vs. student licenses.

• To determine which licenses are meant for students and which are meant for teachers, look at the a) PO/transaction number, b) the number of licenses, and c) the expiration date:
  • Teacher POs usually end in -01 or T. They will contain less licenses than student POs. They also expire later than student POs.
  • Student POs usually end in -02 or S. They will contain more licenses than teacher POs. They also expire sooner than teacher POs. 
  • You may only have one PO that is meant for both students and teachers. That is okay. This means that both your student and teacher access expires at the same time.
  • If you need clarification on license expirations, please reach out to us at portals@lab-aids.com and we can certainly help.

2. Access Code & LMS Users: 

If you redeemed an access code to create your account, this is how you will determine your expiration dates:

1. Access your Account in the upper right corner of the Portal. 

2. The Account page displays, showing you the license start/expiration dates and the contents (when clicking the book icon). 

3. If your students also have accounts created with access codes, you will not be able to view your students' expirations from your portal account. You will need to reach out to your admin to find student portal expiration dates. 

Science Portal Rostering Methods

1. Clever

• Method: We will roster account info via Clever Secure Sync. SSO via Clever is also available.
• Pros: No manual rostering required and easy to deploy. Ability to limit the sharing of roster data. Easy single sign-on as well.
• Cons: Must be a current user of Clever. Some schools/districts may not be eligible due to size. Must have active student licenses. Please contact us to see if your district qualifies.
  • When indicating your interest in Clever, please communicate the number of schools and the number of students at your district that will be using the Lab-Aids Portal.

2. ClassLink

• Method: We will roster account info via ClassLink Roster Server. SSO via LaunchPad from ClassLink is also available.
• Pros: No manual rostering required and easy to deploy. Ability to limit the sharing of roster data. Easy single sign-on as well.
• Cons: Must be a current user of ClassLink. Class titles must be unique and meaningful for teachers.

Please note: districts should ensure that class titles are unique and meaningful in Classlink. More on this issue here.

More info on Roster Server and LaunchPad from ClassLink.

3. LTI 1.3 Integration: Now available for Canvas and Schoology

• Method: Lab-Aids provides instructions and LTI credentials. Canvas/Schoology admins will use these to add a new LMS App/Developer Key. This allows students and teachers to access their account and utilize LTI 1.3 deep linking and grade passback.
• Pros: No manual rostering required. Classes/students will sync, which allows teachers and students to be associated together. Easy to deploy by large districts. SSO via your LMS. Deep Linking and Grade Passback are now available for LTI 1.3 integrations with Canvas and Schoology.
• Cons: The sync ignores course sections, which means any sections within a course will all sync into one large course/class in the Lab-Aids Portal. Setup can be detailed and requires active admin participation. In rare cases, user role/type errors can arise.

4. Google Classroom Integration

• Method: Once we determine that you meet the requirements for Google Classroom integration and set up the integration on our end, teachers or admins will log in and select classes to sync. Admins will then assign licenses to teachers. Then, students and teachers will be able to access the Lab-Aids portal from within Google Classroom. Class rosters are synced automatically upon teacher login.
• Pros: No manual rostering or maintenance of rosters, since we sync directly from Google Classroom. SSO for students and teachers.
• Cons: Errors can occur with data received via the Google Classroom API. 

Google Classroom Integration Guide (we need to set you up before you are able to integrate)

5. Default Rostering via Bulk Upload (School Admin Bulk Rostering)

• Method: School admin rosters everyone via bulk csv/xls file upload (Classes, teachers, and students). School admin also assign licenses to teachers. See this resource for details on template formats.
• Pros: Establishes student-teacher relationship (via Classes), so teachers can assign homework and tests to students. Students can then take tests and complete homework assignments within our platform.
• Cons: There is the opportunity for errors when rostering, but the bulk of the work is maintaining rosters: adding new students, removing dropped students, and moving students between Classes. The admin on the account usually does this work, but there is a process where teachers can add students and change their Classes. This requires some more support from us on how to do this specifically. We do not recommend this method if more than 500 students are being rostered due to the amount of time/effort to maintain rosters.

6. Access Code Method

• Method: We issue teachers and students access codes (simple & universal, not one code per person). Each user self-registers and uses whatever username and password they wish.
• Pros: Very simple for users to do, no rostering is required, and no Classes need to be defined.
• Cons: No student-teacher relationship established (ie, no "Classes"), so certain features are not available, such as: teachers assigning homework & tests within our platform and teachers communicating with students. Item banks (tests) are still available for export, but cannot be assigned to anyone.

We currently offer the following SSO/Authentication options:

• SAML 2.0 or oAuth2.0 based implementations
• SAML / ADFS
• SAML / Google
• LTI 1.0 with oAuth1.0 SHA1
• ClassLink LaunchPad for users that roster via ClassLink's Roster Server
• Google SSO for users that roster via Google Classroom
• Clever for users that qualify for a Clever integration

Is the content on the portal always the most current version?

Yes, the Lab-Aids portal contains the most recent versions of Teacher Editions, Teacher Resources, and Student Books. The online versions of these books are automatically updated as corrections are made or as new content is added. This is also stated on the Tools and Resources page (page 1) of each Teacher's Edition. 

What content has been recently added? 

• Issues and Science, all editions:
  • Portal Simulations were added to teacher portals in Fall 2020 for purchased units. These simulations are available for applicable units under the Student Content > Content menu. The purpose of these simulations is to provide an online option for completing the card sorts and some other activities that are typically done in class.
• Issues and Science, Redesigned for the NGSS:
  • Remote Learning Activity Packets were added Fall 2020. These are located on page 2 of each Teacher's Edition (Page 3 for California). The purpose of Remote Learning Activity Packets is to provide a digital resource for completing an activity that could not otherwise easily be completed remotely. These packets allow the curriculum to be implemented in a virtual setting. Students complete fillable documents, click direct links to videos of hands-on experiences, manipulate interactive graphics, and work through online simulations. 
• Issues and Science, Second Edition:
  • All Student Sheets have been modified to be in a fillable Word format for student use. The purpose of this is to make student sheets easier to use during remote learning.  

Where can I find a list of known corrections for my units? 

The Tools and Resources page (page 1) of each Teacher's Edition contains a hotspot to show known corrections, if any, for that unit. 

Lab-Aids now offers Deep Linking for LTI 1.3 integrations. Deep Links are available at the product-level and the activity-level for English student books, Spanish student books, and yellow portal simulations. Teachers will create a new student-facing LTI tool using the copied Deep Link. Students click on the tool to be brought to the linked product or activity. 

If you're looking for LTI 1.3 Grade Passback instructions, click here. 

Requirements for Deep Linking: Student licenses must be purchased, and teachers must have already assigned books or simulations to students. Canvas/Schoology Admin must already have added the LTI 1.3 external tool to the LMS, and it should already be available for teachers to select when creating their own tools. 

Deep Linking Instructions for Teachers:

1. Teachers must first assign books or simulations to students

If this step is not completed, students will encounter errors when attempting to access Deep Links.

2. Copy the Deep Link: 

A) For a specific book/product, or B) For a specific activity within a student book

Option A) For a specific product in the student library (Student Book or Portal Simulation)

Navigate to the Student Content >> Content library on the left-hand menu. Click the three dots in the top right corner of the desired product and then click the "Copy Deep Link" button that appears. 

Option B) For a specific activity within a student book:

• Portal 2.0:  From the left-hand Table of Contents, click the "copy" icon next to the desired activity ("COPIED").
• Portal 1.0 (epubs): For best results, first switch to "1-page" view from the "Settings" left-hand menu. Then, navigate to the desired page or activity. Click the blue "Share Link" icon on the top right. On the popup, click the "copy" icon next to the URL ("Book link copied successfully!").