Academic Workspace
Academic Workspace is where you child accesses programs to create school assignments, accesses reference material and stores some of their assignments.
Logging in to Academic Workspace (AW)
There are only two things that you need to get started:
So if your child's Student Number was 1234567, and they were born on December 31, their initial password would be:
45673112@Tdsb
Once you have their student number and password, you can visit aw.tdsb.on.ca and login.
If you need to have your child's password reset because it has been forgotten, please drop by the library.
If after you login you find yourself on a page that says "AW Support Site", go to the "Home" menu and select... I'm going to have to say "something else." (The options that appear in this menu seem to change from time to time and the names of the options aren't always useful, but try picking something and you'll probably eventually wind up on your child's home page instead of the support site.)
- Your child’s Student/"Trillium" Number (not their OEN, which appears on their report card). If you don't have their Trillium number, please check with your child's teacher.
- Their password. If they have already logged in, they will have reset their password to something they know. If they haven't yet reset it, the password will be a combination of the following items:
• the last four digits of their student number,
• the day they were born,
• the month they were born
• and finally "@Tdsb" (only the T is capitalized).
So if your child's Student Number was 1234567, and they were born on December 31, their initial password would be:
45673112@Tdsb
Once you have their student number and password, you can visit aw.tdsb.on.ca and login.
If you need to have your child's password reset because it has been forgotten, please drop by the library.
If after you login you find yourself on a page that says "AW Support Site", go to the "Home" menu and select... I'm going to have to say "something else." (The options that appear in this menu seem to change from time to time and the names of the options aren't always useful, but try picking something and you'll probably eventually wind up on your child's home page instead of the support site.)
How to use Google Drive
Now that you have logged in, you are on the AW homepage. The black toolbar at the top will help you navigate AW’s various features:
It is the Google Apps drop down menu that will allow you to access your child’s Google drive. It is here that they can use Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides. One of my favourite tools is the voice to text feature in Google Docs.
Be sure that you are using Google Chrome as your browser. Once you are already in your child’s Google Drive (by clicking that option in the drop down menu), please click on the blue NEW button on the left hand side. From the drop down menu, select Doc. You will notice a tool bar very similar to other word processing software. However, under the Tools drop down menu there is an option entitled “voice typing.” When this is selected, a grey microphone in a rectangle pops up to the left of your document sheet. You may select from dozens of languages from the drop down menu at the top of the rectangle. Once you have your language selected (the default is English) click on the microphone - it will turn red and you may begin speaking. Your child can click on the microphone again to turn it off.
- Home will always take you back to the AW homepage.
- Mail will take you to your child’s email.
- Google Apps will provide a drop down menu of all the google software applications.
- Resources will allow you to access the TDSB web as well as D2L blended learning platform.
It is the Google Apps drop down menu that will allow you to access your child’s Google drive. It is here that they can use Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides. One of my favourite tools is the voice to text feature in Google Docs.
Be sure that you are using Google Chrome as your browser. Once you are already in your child’s Google Drive (by clicking that option in the drop down menu), please click on the blue NEW button on the left hand side. From the drop down menu, select Doc. You will notice a tool bar very similar to other word processing software. However, under the Tools drop down menu there is an option entitled “voice typing.” When this is selected, a grey microphone in a rectangle pops up to the left of your document sheet. You may select from dozens of languages from the drop down menu at the top of the rectangle. Once you have your language selected (the default is English) click on the microphone - it will turn red and you may begin speaking. Your child can click on the microphone again to turn it off.
Google Classroom
Google Classroom is a great tool that teachers can may use to post assignments, learning resources or communicate with your child. To access your child’s Google Classroom please log on to AW and, on the black toolbar, select Google Apps and choose the third selection: Google Classroom. All the Google Classrooms they have access to will be displayed. Select the one that they would like to enter. They will automatically land on the Stream page. The About page, which can be navigated to by using the tool bar at the top.
Virtual Library
The Virtual Library has many, many wonderful resources, including ebooks! Once you log on to AW, you can navigate to the Virtual Library by using the menu to the left, the Virtual library is about two thirds the way down. Here's a video to help introduce all the amazing resources [youtube] on the Virtual Library.
E-Books from the Virtual Library
BookFlix - for students from JK to Grade 3
Once you enter BookFlix, instructions of what to do is read out loud and as you scroll over items they are read to the user. They have paired a fiction book with a non-fiction book and have some wonderful titles such as Good Night Gorilla, Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People’s Ears and Rosie’s Walk. You can either watch the story or read the book. The fiction books is read to the student with some animation of the illustrations. The Non-Fiction books can either be read to the user and highlights words or the student can read it to themselves. The password to access this at home is on the Learn Mark. Please let me know if you would like a class set.
TabVue - for students from grade 4 to 10, books are in French and English.
TabVue has a good selection of Non-Fiction books that support the Social Studies curriculum, particularly about Canada in both French and English. You can look at books according to reading grade level. Again, the password to access this at home is on the Learn Mark.
If you need a Learn Mark please send an email to Mrs Zwolinski and she will make sure your child brings one home.
Once you enter BookFlix, instructions of what to do is read out loud and as you scroll over items they are read to the user. They have paired a fiction book with a non-fiction book and have some wonderful titles such as Good Night Gorilla, Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People’s Ears and Rosie’s Walk. You can either watch the story or read the book. The fiction books is read to the student with some animation of the illustrations. The Non-Fiction books can either be read to the user and highlights words or the student can read it to themselves. The password to access this at home is on the Learn Mark. Please let me know if you would like a class set.
TabVue - for students from grade 4 to 10, books are in French and English.
TabVue has a good selection of Non-Fiction books that support the Social Studies curriculum, particularly about Canada in both French and English. You can look at books according to reading grade level. Again, the password to access this at home is on the Learn Mark.
If you need a Learn Mark please send an email to Mrs Zwolinski and she will make sure your child brings one home.