BLEND for Parents

WHAT IS BLEND?

Welcome to BLEND, Austin ISD's new digital learning space! This course was created to provide parents and guardians with the information necessary to support their child's use of BLEND. It will remain in the BLEND help menu, as a separate tile in the Parent Cloud. and can be accessed as needed. For future reference, the direct link for this course is http://bit.ly/BLENDparentTOUR.

The materials in this course will show you how to get BLEND, how to use BLEND as a parent/guardian, and why AISD has made BLEND available for every student, teacher, and parent in the district.

If you have questions about how your child is using BLEND in a blended learning environment, reach out to your child's teacher. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about how and what your child is learning and build a relationship with their teacher

**Important Note: As you navigate the course, you will see references to Canvas. Canvas is a Learning Management System used by school districts and universities around the world. Austin ISD's version of Canvas is called BLEND. So remember:

Here are some key things to know:

BLEND is our district's version of Canvas LMS (Learning Management System), a technology based learning, teaching and communication tool used by University of Texas and other K-12 districts, colleges, and universities around the country. This is why BLEND email/text notifications say "Canvas."
ALL Parents/Guardians who have students registered with AISD have an "Observer" role in their access to BLEND. This means that when they click on BLEND through the Parent Cloud, or download and set up the Canvas mobile app, they will automatically be able to view any published content for their child's enrolled courses.

The app can be downloaded here:

See below for more instructions and details on how to access BLEND.

WHY BLEND?

Why are teachers using BLEND?
Teachers can use BLEND to:

Personalize learning for students.
Receive and grade student assignments, discussions, and quizzes.
Easily align assignments and rubrics to standards and/or learning objectives.
Provide students with written, audio, or video feedback and multiple revision/submission opportunities.
Organize all work and course-related events into one calendar.
Push course notifications to students via email and text.

Why might a student benefit from working in BLEND?
Students can use BLEND to:

Access class materials (calendar, assignments, quizzes, etc.) online using any device.
Track their progress through ongoing teacher feedback tools.
Receive course announcements, grade notifications, etc. instantaneously on their preferred device(s).
Easily collaborate with peers and teachers.

Before you can access BLEND, you will need to set up a Parent Cloud Account. If you need support with your account setup, check out our sub page, "AISD Parent Cloud," or call the Parent Help Desk at 512-414-9187. Once you are in the Parent Cloud, click the Blend tile to see your student's teacher's homepage, our Hart Rocket Community Course and others.

See the video below for some step by step instruction.