EduTech Services

Atomic Learning

Atomic Learning is an online service that provides short video tutorials on dozens of applications used in the K-12 teaching and learning environment such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Blackboard and United Streaming.

Tutorials are also available on products such as whiteboards and graphing calculators. The tutorials focus on answers to common questions students, teachers and others in the school district may have when learning and using software.

Upcoming Atomic Learning Webinars

• Tuesday, September 23, 2008
• Thursday, September 25, 2008
• Tuesday, December 2, 2008
• Thursday, December 4, 2008

Which Districts Have Access to Atomic Learning?

As of August 1, 2006 all public ND districts have access to Atomic Learning at no cost. Non-public schools may purchase a subscription to Atomic Learning at the state price of $1 per student. Interested non-public schools should contact:

Heidi Reller
Senior Customer Experience Representative
Toll-free: (866) 259-6890 ext. 275
hreller@atomiclearning.com

How is Atomic Learning Funded?

Atomic Learning is currently funded by North Dakota Education Technology Council and EduTech.

How Can Educators and Students Access Atomic Learning?

Access Atomic Learning at www.atomiclearning.com. Access at school is an automated authentication process based on your school district's IP range allowing instant access. If you do not have automated access at your school please contact the EduTech Help Desk to request it.

Custom logins and passwords are available to users in the district. For more information on custom logins and passwords, ask your Technology Coordinator to contact the EduTech Help Desk by e-mail at sendit.helpdesk@sendit.nodak.edu or by phone at 800.774.1091.

Is Home/Parent Use of Atomic Learning Available?

Yes. Home access is available for staff, students and parents. Contact your Technology Coordinator for the single login/password available for distribution in your district.

Is Training Available?

EduTech provides training on Atomic Learning. Contact your EduTech Regional Information Technology Specialist for more information or see www.edutech.nodak.edu/training/topics/?cat=1.

How Can I Learn the Latest Atomic Learning Offerings?

Visit the Atomic Learning website each month to learn of new titled tutorials and other new features as well as to subscribe to Atomic Learning's newsletter and weekly tech tips: www.atomiclearning.com/whatsnews

Are Promotional and Support Materials Available for Users?

Promotional posters and post it notes are available for distribution in your buildings. Contact hreller@atomiclearning.com and indicate:

• Your name
• Your school's name
• Shipping address
• Number of posters and/or post it notes needed – Atomic Learning will ship directly to your district

Getting Started guides, letters to parents and other support materials are available at www.atomiclearning.com/support_materials.

How Do I Track Use of Atomic Learning in My School?

1. Log on to www.atomiclearning.com
2. Click on "My Account"
3. Log in with the following information:
   1. For statewide statistics: Username: ndusage, Password: usage
   2. For district statistics (includes ip access, home access and other username access used by schools who previously purchased Atomic Learning): Username: districtusage (e.g., beulahusage), Password: usage
4. Modify the date range if necessary and scroll down for information – date format is 00/00/0000

Things to note:

1. Two tabs on upper right – defaults to summary, other tab is to run customized reports.
2. ND custom tutorials (such as PowerSchool tutorials) are named "None Assigned" and not included in regular statistics.
3. Tutorials by platform indicate the platform of the tutorial viewed, not the platform the user is accessing Atomic Learning from.
4. Stats are available for the current school year only. Previous years will be archived.

What are some best practices for use of Atomic Learning?

1. Offer short after school sessions on the use of Atomic Learning. Find one or two specific tutorials and demonstrate how they can help teachers solve computing problems quickly and easily. Demonstrate the text formatting tutorials in Word to save teachers time and aggravation!
2. Follow the above with sessions that focus on ways students and teachers can use tutorials in their classrooms. Use Excel tutorials to demonstrate how the content can be used to teach students to document data from a science experiment or to track historical events.
3. Use the statistics feature of Atomic Learning to view the use of Atomic Learning in your district. What is used often? What isn't used? How to capitalize on each. If you haven't used Atomic Learning tracking, please find instructions on the Atomic Learning FAQ.
4. Continually publish the Atomic Learning URL and home use username/password in school publications. Post a link to Atomic Learning on your school website.
5. Remember basic software tutorial applications are available as are tutorials for ACTIVboards and TI-84 calculators as well as classroom integration projects and professional development workshops.
6. Atomic Learning posters are available to use as reminders to faculty, staff and students. Atomic Learning post-it notes can be placed on each school computer also as as reminder. If you need additional posters or sticky notes, see the Atomic Learning FAQ for information on receiving them at no cost.
7. Don't forget to train your office staff on the use of Atomic Learning, too! Many schools have reported that Word, Excel and Access tutorials have been valuable for office staff.
8. When staff or students make a help desk request, refer them to Atomic Learning when possible. It will save time for both of you!

Last updated on July 25, 2008