Welcome Back!

A message from the Director of DTL & School Connectivity

Welcome to the 2023-24 school year!  I have always said that there is no other profession that gives people fresh starts like education does. What a feeling! 

Over the past few years, many PSUs have worked towards a blended learning environment.  Personalized learning has become more important as learning shifts from the traditional classroom. Home Base is an excellent hub of resources available to assist you as you educate NC’s students and as we continue to move forward together in 21st Century Learning.

Canvas continues to grow as the LMS in most PSUs!  Having a statewide learning management system benefits students, families,  and teachers to have a familiar system. It also easily allows the sharing of courses for students and professional development.

Schoolnet, the state’s instructional improvement system, supports personalized learning through its resource bank with materials that are appropriately aligned. Monthly webinars are offered for Schoolnet support.  You can preview and register for these webinars at bit.ly/SNWEB2324.

Learning.com provides digital literacy that helps students develop 21st-century skills. It is simple to implement and includes easy-to-follow and engaging lessons.

PowerSchool’s Parent Portal is key to ensuring parents can view their student’s academic progress and attendance. Parents can also download the parent portal app. 

NCEES provides educators across the state a place to find quality professional development that enhances teacher’s skills in the classroom through online modules. The online modules provide teachers flexibility as they continue to grow professionally. The online evaluation and professional development plans are designed to promote effective leadership, quality teaching, and student learning while enhancing professional practice and leading to improved instruction.

As you gear up for the new year, I want you to know that our Home Base team is here for you. We are here to serve you in any capacity we can. Feel free to email the team at home_base@dpi.nc.gov.

Thank you for all your hard work and dedication!  We look forward to another successful year working together to provide a high-quality education for all students, every day!

Sincerely, 

Matthew Mayo

Director of DTL & School Connectivity

Has your PSU Opted into Home Base?

The NC Department of Public Instruction is pleased to announce that the Home Base Opt-in Process is now open.  Finance officers and charter school directors/principals may begin opting into Home Base for their PSU. Click on the following link to see the full announcement and share with the appropriate staff: hb_pricing_memo 2023-24.

Note:  Only finance officers and charter directors/principals should opt-in for their PSU.

This year, PSUs have the option of opting into Navvy, a Pearson computer-adaptive interim assessment add-on for Schoolnet.  Navvy both formatively assesses and tracks standard-by-standard learning to provide immediate, actionable results to correctly inform personalized instruction. Navvy is made available to grades 3 – 8 for Reading and Math at an additional cost of $8 per ADM. If you have any questions about Navvy, please contact Rebecca Stokes.

Please visit the NCDPI Home Base Opt-in Website for detailed information concerning the Home Base Opt-in Process.  Questions may be directed to home_base@dpi.nc.gov or Jennifer Causey

New Self-Paced PD Courses for Canvas

Digital Teaching and Learning is excited to share two new self-paced professional development courses on the LMS, Canvas.

• Growing with Canvas - The Growing with Canvas course is a “Level 1” introduction to all things Canvas.
• Diving Deeper with Canvas - Educators more familiar with the LMS can utilize the Diving Deeper with Canvas course for specific training on personalized learning, feedback, and course design.

If you are interested in these PD opportunities, enrollment information can be found in the NCEES Self-Paced PD Guide.

Home Base Admin Course 

Feedback from PSUs identified a need for resource hubs for the Home Base products. The product managers have created Admin Resource Courses for each area. These resource courses are located in the NCDPI Canvas instance.

Please visit these courses.  Below are the steps to enroll:

How to access these resources:

• Sign in to the Blue Canvas icon within NCEdCloud
• Using the Global Navigation (on the left), click the Home Base Resources button
• On the menu that opens, select the course(s) you would like to enroll into
• After enrolling, the course will appear on your Canvas Dashboard

Access for PSU PowerSchool SIS Admins

Any PSU PowerSchool SIS admin who does not have access to the NCDPI “Blue” Canvas located in the NCEdCloud portal and would like to have access or grant access to data managers within their PSU, please complete the form below.  In this form, you can enter up to 5 accounts manually or upload a CSV/Excel file if you have more than 5 account requests.

 If you have any questions, please get in touch with Corey McNeill.  

Link to Form

Other Information:

• Feel free to provide feedback on these courses. They all contain a feedback button on their homepage.
• We will continue to update these courses as more product information becomes available
• **Click on the new SIS Conference icon on the home page to access the SIS Conference 2022 Presentations.

Follow Us on Social Media!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and begin receiving "Did You Know" tips featuring each Home Base product. 

These messages will include upcoming changes, tips, and even hidden treasures within each product to make your job easier.  If you are not following us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, click on the links below and begin today!  Make sure you share this information with other staff within your school.

Instagram:  @nchomebase         Facebook:  @nchomebase       Twitter:  @nchomebase