How can students use the Focus Area Tour?

When students click into their focus areas for the first time, they'll see a Focus Area Tour on a blue banner on the bottom of the screen.The Focus Area Tour is an explanation of the self-directed learning cycle to help students learn about the Focus Area Page.

Teachers and parents also have access to the Focus Area Tour, and it can be a useful way to orient to the different parts of the Focus Area experience, including goal-setting, assessments, objectives and resources.

The Focus Area Tour can be used in several ways to help students:

  1. The Focus Area Tour can be used as a teaching tool in the beginning of the year to help students meaningfully explore the page. Teachers may encourage students to explore on their own, or walk their class through the tour together.
  2. Teachers may choose to use the Focus Area Tour as remediation for struggling students who need more support in understanding Focus Areas. If a student is struggling to complete their content assessments, teachers may want to encourage students to visit (or revisit) the tour, which provides helpful strategies around goal-setting and using assessment results.

If students want to postpone the Focus Area Tour:

  1. Some students will see a button on the top right of the tour labeled "Finish the tour later." Clicking this will allow students to dismiss the tour temporarily and  continue at a later time if they choose. To continue the tour, they must click the blue “Focus Area Tour” badge which will appear at the top right corner of the page when the tour is dismissed.
  2. If a student does not see the “Finish the tour later” button, they will have to complete the tour before it will be dismissed. If a student is having trouble finishing the tour, it usually means that they cannot locate one of the blue buttons; to help them, try minimizing the blue banner by clicking the triangle button on the top right of the banner.

How can students use the Focus Area Tour?

  1. Students will see the Focus Area Tour when they click into their Focus Area for the first time. A blue banner will appear at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Students should read the directions and click the "Next" button to view each next step.
  3. Most steps will require students to click all the blue circles that appear on the page. To complete a circle, students simply need to read the direction from each circle and click "Done". Once they click done, the blue circles will become green circles with a check mark. Please note: it is required to complete each circle in every step in order to fully complete the tour. Students will see that the rectangular badge on top of each step does not fill in until all circles are completed. If a student has not completed a step, they may click the rectangle to navigate to the incomplete step.
  4. At each step, students can choose to minimize the tour banner by clicking on the triangle button on the upper right of the banner- this allows students to see more of the screen and find the blue circles more easily.
  5. After all steps have been completed, the banner will turn green to indicate that students have finished the tour. At Step 5, they will have the option to click "Finish the tour" to dismiss the banner.
  6. Students who finish the tour can also choose to “restart” it by clicking on the words “Restart the tour” on the final step of the tour.
  7. After a student has fully completed the tour, they may still find or revisit it at any time by clicking "Focus Area Tour" on the top right corner. Even a student has completed the tour, a teacher or parent can still access and restart the tour later in the year; the Focus Area Tour is a great way to show parents how students learn during Focus Areas.
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