New to ALCA ? ALCA provides several free learning tools for teachers. Many of its members provide resources free for others to copy and take for their own.  As you explore you will discover that in many ways this site is a learning community WIKI.  

• At no time will a user's registration information be shared with other organizations outside of the ALCA community.

• Due to acceptable use policies, Arch automatically flags potentially inappropriate material.

• Inappropriate use of this community may cause a user's account to be disabled without notice.

School District already using Arch or Comprehend?  You may already have an account setup.  If not sure, click the Arch Login link and select the "Forgot Username" option.  Given we have your correct email address, it will notify you in your email of your current Arch username and password.

One may also use archsupport@alcaweb.org and we would be happy to help you.  Please provide information that appears in the email message.

So now that I have registered, WHY?

Possible answers could be:

• My district already has a website I can use, but I need to be able to create and link tests aligned with standards.
• I need a place where my students may upload and present their files to the class.
• I am new to teaching biology and need to collaborate with other teachers to develop units with quality tasks.
• I need to create forms specific to some of my classroom activities where I need students to enter their lab results to archive data for analysis over consecutive years.
• I need to use unwrapped standards to document the common classroom activities used across my district.
• Students need to create products with reflection (i.e. Works Sample resource) and place them in a Portfolio to document progress over weeks, months, years.
• As a geography teacher, I need my students to use the Location resource (embedded Google Map) to document using other resources (e.g., Bookmarks, uploaded files such as videos, audio, photographs, drawings).
• I need to create and deliver Spanish courses to students in two or more school districts.
• I really only can look for free resources. However, I see a rubric resource I can use but it requires modifications for my particular learning task. You can just make a copy and edit. This is a great deal easier than retyping in Word.
• I need to document my students are reading their textbook and reflecting on its content.  I use the pdf version of the text and create an eBook where they can respond to comments and embedded resources I provided.  In turn I can see their comments/reflections about targeted text.  Note: Always be attentive to copyright.
• Where do you see yourself ..... ?

So where do I start?  What might it look like?  With 20 different kinds of resources one can use, how do I wrap my head around where to answer these two questions?  Depending on your situation, here are some suggested scenarios to consider.

Scenario 1 - Graphics for Online Benchmark Testing

A department head is responsible for developing a district's benchmark tests.  These need to be aligned to the new Core standards adopted by many states.  He/She takes several pictures that will be utilized with prompts in the test items.  They are uploaded into an archive of graphics for future reference.  Even though one may create their ALCA tests online, it is a little faster to use ExamView from eInstruct.  So the department head takes the online graphics and copies and pastes directly into items being made using ExamView.  The test is then exported from ExamView as a Blackboard 6 zipped file which is then imported into ALCA to create an online test for students to take.  

Scenario 2 - Teacher Vacation Project for Class

A teacher wants to document their vacation to Yellowstone National Park so that the GPS readings, pictures, videos, and maybe some short descriptive essays could be utilized in their environmental science class the following year.  By using the Location resource and GPS readings from the trip, he/she can in turn upload and attach text or multimedia products to that specific geographic location. These in turn could be attached to the presentation resource for a slide show effect or a teacher might want to make an archive of these location resources for future use for benchmark tests, webpages, or whatever creativity leads one to do.

Scenario 3 - A Teacher Managing Content:

Take your syllabus and make a series of resource nested folders to mirror your file cabinet. Make sure to have folders down to specific activities.  After the folders are made, upload Word documents, Power Points, Smart board notes, WeatherScope data, or file of any type.

Scenario 4 - Professional Collaboration:

A small group of 8th grade math teachers want to collaborate to develop content that pulls in real world connects to make their instruction more applicable to their students.  For one teacher alone, this is an overwhelming task.  But for four to six teachers across a state that are focusing on National CORE standards, this could be a reality.  One teacher creates a single web page resource with the discussion feature enabled and gives share rights to the remaining participates.  Another teacher creates a folder called Real Connects for 8th Math and searches for the other teachers to give them access to manipulate (e.g., edit, add, duplicate) content.  

Scenario 5 - Blending ALCA Resources into District Website

A district has a web presence but is lacking in content or a method to share class resources.  So a teacher uploads files, creates online tests, rubrics, classroom instructional videos, Smartboard files exported to Power Point for sick students, and so much more.  The use of the web address at the bottom of all ALCA resources expands outreach by other web-based products to facilitate outreach to students.

What is a content or learning management system (CMS)?

• CMS: A CMS allows non-technical users to edit, update, maintain, and create a website using built-in templates. In the case of Arch, it focuses specifically on learning, but because of its ease of use, it has been used by some strictly to construct their organization's website. The Arch templates are either form-based in most of the 20 learning tools or in the case of the web page resources it using WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) features.
• L/CMS: Arch is also a learning/course management system. A teacher or group of collaborative teachers may construct a course using shared folders developing units of study. The course can be duplicated or students in different classes can be placed in room "sections" to partition them into different grade books by class period. This is a great feature for a district's benchmark testing.
• PDC: Another component of Arch is the Professional Development Center or PDC that supports mentoring of learners (teacher or student) through targeted goals based on the learners comfort levels.