Digital Resources for the Rainbow Board Teacher

Did You Know...

As a teacher, it is often difficult to find resources. Not to fear! In Ontario, the following three resources can quickly become your best friend in the classroom.

OERB

Are you tired of being an endless Googler, but never coming up with the resources that you’re trying to find for your class? Are you frustrated of clicking your way through Youtube to find a video or video clip that matches your curriculum expectations? Would you be happy if I told you that I have the answer to your problems, and it can all be found at one site? Well, then do I have great news for you!

The OERB (Ontario Educational Resource Bank) is a collection of over 31000 resources, including interactive learning objects, flash movie files, computer activities, games, and lesson plans, all created by Ontario teachers for Ontario teachers and students. 

The OERB can be searched by keyword, through expectations, or by specific course. As well, you can find whole eLO units using the eLO Course Units search. 

Logging in: When you access the OERB (https://resources.elearningontario.ca/) , you will see the following screen:

To log in, Rainbow Board Employees would use the following login:  (please contact a school representative for access)

User id: 
password: 
Rainbow Students would use
User id:
password: 

To search, click on the search button:

From the search menu, we can use the Simple Search, Browse by Curriculum, or eLO Course Units.

The OERB can help you if you know what you’re looking for – and can help teachers, parents, and students access information in the classroom and at home for supporting the learning experience.

OSAPAC

Often, we find ourselves trying to find software that can be useful to supplement learning, and sometimes we end up having to spend our own money to do so. Thankfully, there are often alternatives that are ministry licensed, free to teachers (and sometimes students) and available through your schoolboard.
OSAPAC (Ontario Software Acquisition Program Advisory Committee) is a website that offers access to quality digital resources that can be used to support learning in the classroom. To use OSAPAC, each board/district/school has a contact for these licensed digital resources. This person has access to a community from which they can download the software and license keys that you need. In the Rainbow Board, our contact is Karen Burgess.

As well, OSAPAC has been busy putting together the SAMR model (Substitute, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition), which provides a useful framework for teachers to help determine how digital resources can be implemented in the classroom. They are writing a resource to provide teachers with support around the various ministry licensed software.

A list of software is available at http://www.osapac.org/db/software_search.php?lang=en%20

EDUGAINS

Edugains is a website that is focused on learning – both teacher learning and student learning. There are many different materials and resources available on the website, including coaching videos, planning and implementation guides, curriculum documents, lesson plans, and digital resources.

Edugains can be accessed for free, by anyone, at anytime, by going to the Edugains website. From the website, you will notice Ministry Developed, and Ministry Licensed Resources. The Ministry Developed Resources are plentiful, and include information about 21^st Century Learning – specifically about what it is, and how to implement it as a classroom education, school leader, or board leader, as well as recourses dedicated to Differentiated Instructions and Math & Literacy. 

The math & literacy activities can be used as a supplement to the classroom, as a blended learning activity, as part of a flipped classroom, or as a support that students can complete at home with aid from parents.