Margaret T. Reilly Elementary School

Parents

Welcome to BLEND, Austin ISD's new digital learning space! This course was created to provide parents and guardians with the information necessary to support their child's use of BLEND. It will remain in the BLEND help menu, as a separate tile in the Parent Cloud and can be accessed as needed. For future reference, the direct link for this course is http://bit.ly/BLENDparentTOUR

The materials in this course will show you how to get BLEND, how to use BLEND as a parent/guardian, and why AISD has made BLEND available for every student, teacher, and parent in the district. 

If you have questions about how your child is using BLEND in a blended learning environment, reach out to your child's teacher. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about how and what your child is learning and build a relationship with their teacher

**Important Note: As you navigate the course, you will see references to Canvas. Canvas is a Learning Management System used by school districts and universities around the world. Austin ISD's version of Canvas is called BLEND. So remember:

BLEND is canvas.png 

What is a Learning Management System? A Learning Management System (LMS) is a way to streamline teaching and learning by connecting all of the digital tools that teachers, students, and parents use in one place. 

Why are teachers using BLEND? 

Teachers can use BLEND to:

    • Personalize learning for students.
    • Receive and grade student assignments, discussions, and quizzes.
    • Easily align assignments and rubrics to standards and/or learning objectives.
    • Provide students with written, audio, or video feedback and multiple revision/submission opportunities.
    • Organize all work and course-related events into one calendar.
    • Push course notifications to students via email and text.

Why might a student benefit from working in BLEND?

Students can use BLEND to:

    • Access class materials (calendar, assignments, quizzes, etc.) online using any device.
    • Track their progress through ongoing teacher feedback tools.
    • Receive course announcements, grade notifications, etc. instantaneously on their preferred device(s).
    • Easily collaborate with peers and teachers.