We now offer an automated integration link, that allows you to populate realsmart with your member data as often as you want from two of the most popular MIS systems, Serco Facility and Capita SIMS. This means that any changes to classes will automatically be picked up. You can set the data transfer for once a day, once a week, once a term…. you get the idea.

From our experience, the fun of exporting your member data and sending it through to us for upload can be somewhat of a chore to say the least. This service will automate the collection of users and groups to administrate your realsmart account. You won’t have to bother your network manager or administrator again once this is done…

Please contact us for availability and set up of these services.

You can link anything you’ve created in realsmart to other realsmart items you are creating. You can do this by either adding it as a link, or by embedding it using iframe.

For this example we want to insert an rmap into an rweb. Just follow the simple steps listed below:

Option one – insert the item as a link.

• Firstly you will need to have shared both the items with your intended audience – if not, the rmap you are trying to include in the rweb will not be viewable by them.

• Open both items so that you are viewing them in two separate windows (the rmap & the rweb).

• Select the ‘edit‘ option for your rweb and select the destination (pen and paper icon) where you want to insert your rmap (click the little book next to the page title).

• In the web cell editor, type what you want the link to be called and highlight it:

• Click the link icon ( )

• Switch windows and copy the URL of the rmap you want to insert.
• Switch windows back again and paste what you have copied into the ‘Link URL‘ box.
• Select ‘Insert‘ and the click ‘Save my content‘.

You have now inserted your rmap into your rweb as a link.

Option two – embed the item.

• Firstly you will need to have shared both the items with your intended audience – if not, the rmap you are trying to include in the rweb will not be viewable by them.

• Open both items so that you are viewing them in two separate windows (the rmap & the rweb).

• Select the ‘edit‘ option for your rweb and select the destination (pen & paper icon) where you want to insert your rmap.

• In the web cell editor select the HTML icon ( )

• Switch windows and copy the URL of the rmap you are wanting to insert. Switch windows back again and paste what you have copied into the ‘HTML source editor‘ box. See below:

• Double click at the start of the URL you have just inserted and type the following:

<iframe src=

• Double click at the end of the URL you have just inserted and type the following:

width=”100%” height=”600″></iframe>

It should look something like this;

• Click ‘update’ at the bottom of the ‘HTML Source Editor’ box, and click ‘Save my content’.

• Select ‘Save’ and then you can view your website with your rmap embedded.

You have now embedded your rmap into your rweb.

This process works the same with with all the rtools. You may want to attach an rcast to an rmap, or a website to an rafl unit; the process is exactly the same – all you need to decide is whether you embed the item, or attach it as a link.

Easy, eh?!

We were delighted to hear that Manchester Communications Academy had facilitated their Parent’s Evening using realsmart to review students’ work.

“At a recent Progress Evening, students were invited to log on to realsmart with their parents.   Students explained what they had been learning and what they had achieved.  Parents could clearly see feedback from teachers, including the next steps in learning.  20% of our parents now know how to use realsmart with their children to support discussions around schoolwork and homework.  Our aim is to get 50% of parents using realsmart in this way by the end of the year.” John Sibbald, Specialism and Post-16, Manchester Communication Academy

This has been followed up with letters sent home to parents, further explaining how and why they are using realsmart, and how they can review their child’s work at home. The following steps are taken from one of the letters:

• We are using a website called realsmart to monitor student progress and show the next steps in learning. We recommend you spend a few minute each week talking to your child about the work they have been completing in lessons.
• To log in to realsmart you should visit the Academy website:
• Click on ‘My Learning’ and ask your child to log in to the Academy portal
• Click on the realsmart option and the following screen will appear

• Ask your child to log in to realsmart and the following screen will appear where you can see each subject area.

• Now click on the subject to see the current assessment criteria.
• Your child can then explain what they have been doing in school, where they are up to and what work they have handed in. In many cases you will see feedback from teachers where work has been marked and next steps identified.
• In some cases homework is set through realsmart.

• We hope you find the information informative – please contact your child’s Progress Tutor if you have any concerns.
• If you do not have access to the internet at home please let us know and we’ll arrange access for you.

We’ve lost count of how many schools have asked about parental log ins, and the answer we give is always the same – we don’t provide parents with separate log ins.

Why?

Because we believe in parental engagement, not parental voyeurism. It’s not good enough for parents to look at portfolios without the wider context; even less so with grades and percentages.

That’s why Manchester Communications Academy provides a fantastic example. It’s the discussion around the portfolio that is important, with the students knowing that they will be showing their parents, and the school knowing they are facilitating these discussions, empowering parents to get involved.

Fantastic!

Engage your parents by creating opportunities for talking with their children about their learning experiences the easy way: with realsmart.

Students at Stretford High School in Manchester have made the first steps in becoming the world’s first realsmart student digital leaders, or “smarties”.

During a staff training day, our realsmart trainer worked with realsmart champions (staff) and the student leaders.  The smarties were present all day with a rotating group of staff and are now the resident experts on realsmart.  The Stretford smarties have gathered enough evidence of realsmart ability to earn their red smartie badge.

Here at smartassess HQ we have found that our most successful schools are the ones that involve students in the implementation of realsmart; at Homewood School in Kent their “smarties” have even trained staff across the Local Authority. After all, who better to train your staff than your very own digital natives.

Mark (Digital Leader), said “I really enjoy teaching teachers; it’s nice to turn the tables on them sometimes! We really like realsmart so far and we’re looking forward to seeing how the teachers use it.”

Using rpassport, smarties are collecting evidence against the Red, Amber and Green competencies to show what they have achieved at each level. We have created some button badges and certificates that can be awarded to digital leaders when staff are satisfied that all criteria have been accomplished

For more info about digital leader resources, or to book your training day, contact support@smartassess.com or call 0114 224 2334.

Dan Stucke (Assistant Headteacher) said, “I’m a busy man, and even though realsmart is easy to use, having the Digital Leaders to help me train the staff and students is going to make the launch much more successful.  We’re already seeing pockets of innovation from keen teachers, but the Digital Leaders will help us spread the use of realsmart to the less confident staff”.

Whatever you want to call it- ‘training’, ‘CPD’, ‘support’, ‘help’, whatever – we do it, and we do it very well.

Our team have immense experience of getting technology working successfully within schools.

We have years of first hand experience at the chalk face of the hurdles, pressures and solutions of how to make great things happen, and we’ve done this within hundreds of different schools.

We know that realsmart delivers amazing learning opportunities, and we know realsmart can do this for you.

More details….

Whatever your particular circumstances, we can create a bespoke package for you. A twilight departmental session? A multiple day whole school roll out? Remote access consultancy? No problem.

And it’s not just, “this is how to use our software”; our software actually enhances the process of learning. We know you cannot separate ICT from CPD, from school policy, from Teaching and Learning practice. We have a deep understanding of the pedagogical applications and implications of using collaborative technologies within schools, and are more than willing to share this knowledge with you.

But don’t just take our word for it, watch and listen to real teachers in real schools talking about how we have made a real difference.

Click here to email our team now! or call us on 0114 224 2334

Paul Hanson from Homewood School & Sixth Form took time out to tell us some of the great things that they’ve been doing with realsmart over the last year.

Homewood have been using realsmart for everything – be it showing more transparency between planning and assessment, or simply helping them achieve over 30% A* in GCSE Media.  From centralising their History homework, to replacing their outdated VLE realsmart has become an integral part of daily life at Homewood.

“To get a whole school approach takes a lot of effort…but the rewards that you’ll reap after a year or so are enourmous – they’re fantastic!“.

Paul Hanson, Homewood School & Sixth Form Center.

Click on the videos below to see how all this happened (and more)……

Skip Your VLE!!!

OFSTED

GCSE Media

History Homework

CPD

Homewood Success

AS10

What do you get if your learners collaborate across key stages, communicate with, and feed back to other learners they have never even met?

Well, apart from seriously engaged pupils, at Homewood School in Kent they also won the BIMA Award for the Inspiring Future Talent, Digital Schools Challenge 2010.

Along with this, Homewood are using realsmart across the whole school to deliver individual subjects. Pupils have even been training their teachers to use realsmart.

This is a tool to really get the pupils excited about learning!

“What realsmart allowed them (the students) to do was communicate with other students who had particular skills across the school – that they did not know … to this day they’ve never met each other.” Paul Hanson (Homewood School & Sixth Form)

“The communication between myself and the students has vastly improved….” Pete Sparks (Homewwod School & Sixth Form)

“It’s easy because I actually do my homework now, so I don’t loose it anymore.” Homewood Student

“We made the jing videos because it would be much easier for other students to hear how to do things from students about the same age…. Students don’t need to listen to another teacher droning on, they can hear people their own age, and I think that’s really helped.” Homewood Student

So you’ve bought realsmart, but don’t know what to do with it. Where do you start? Recently we helped Hastingsbury Business & Enterprise College realise the full potential of realsmart.

When John Kane took over the realsmart reins  at Hastingsbury, he was keen to get it up and running, and embed its use across the whole school. Following  some consultation and training, John began to pilot realsmart with his 6th Form Drama group and found the results were extremely positive. So much so that this year they are adopting it across the whole school!

“…it’s interactive, it’s immediate….I can track the work, I can assess the work and I can feedback – within a matter of minutes! …because realsmart also allows the students to have clear guidance, there’s so much more clarity in terms of what it is they need to achieve… and the students have loved it.” John Kane (Hastingsbury Business & Enterprise College)

School closed?

Too cold for learning? Need to send some work home to students quickly so you can go and play in the snow?

We wanted to remind you how easily realsmart allows you to share high quality learning opportunities with your students to complete at home.

James Gough of Aston Manor schools talks to us about how they use realsmart to ensure high quality teaching and learning materials are ready for teacher absences. We are sure that students at Aston will be continuing to get realsmart during the snow!

When we asked James how realsmart was helping them get through the snow closures this week he said “We’re walking in the air”.

Nice one James!

Don’t forget to look at the “Community items” for some great resources created by realsmart users that you can share with your students in seconds.

We unfortunately cannot give passwords out over the phone, as we have no way of verifying that the account in question belongs to you.

If you lose your login details, then you need to contact your realsmart administrator, who will be able to give you this information.

We can tell you who your administrator is if you do not know; All schools will have at least one administrator.