It has been a while since we have updated you about Actively Learn, but this comprehensive reading tool allows for such distinctive features that it needs to be revisited. If you have not used Actively Learn recently, I urge you to pop in and check out their recent additions such as an updated Lexile search, the ability to assign by individual, and revisit some of the wonderful accessibility features.
What’s New
The ability to assign to individuals is now easier and can be done in two ways. First, you can choose under the assignment settings to assign to individuals.
You can also access the assign to individuals through the Assignment start & due date. Both places provide the option to assign to the entire class or to specific students.
In addition to assignment options, Grade & Lexile information has been added to all assignment options. This can be accessed in a quick view by hovering over the article, but you can also use the search by Lexile under the search options. Once you launch an assignment, you will notice the intended grade level and lexile information included in the teacher notes.
What we should revisit
As you are finding all this great content, it is a great time to revisit some of the accessibility and differentiation options available in Actively Learn.
First, you can assign students in your course to “extra help,” which will immediately provide them with additional scaffolding embedded into assignments. You can manage who has the extra help under your course roster.
In addition to the extra help, duplicating an assignment and modifying it is pretty easy and will work well with the new “assign to individuals” option. Without sacrificing the content, you can white-out text or modify questions for different versions of the assignment.
Finally, Actively Learn has a lot of options that are at the students discretion to use such as dyslexia settings, translation options, read aloud, and reading preferences (color, line size, paragraph numbering, etc.).
With all of the support options available in Actively Learn, you will want to make it a part of your repotorie. For more help or ideas on using it in your class, please ask your Ed Tech Lead or TOSA for more help.
