How to…

Are you using the Cloud Service? Are you backing up your data?  What about using passcode access? or do you need to import all your learners at once? Learn more about using Evidence for Learning below…

What are Credits? … Do I need a Subscription?

You will need either a Subscription or Credits in order to create documents (learner profiles, learner journeys or progress grids) using your learners’ evidence. Once you download the app and register, we give you 25 credits to help you get started and explore the app for FREE. Here’s a quick overview to help you figure out which model might work best for you: Subscription: With a Subscription there is no limit to the number of documents (learner profiles, learner journeys or progress grids) you can create. You don’t need Credits. We also provide you with personalised learning journeys and grids.

Credits/PAYG (Pay As You Go): Each time you want to create a document (learner profile, learner journey or progress grid) you’ll need 1 Credit. You can  pay-as-you-go approach which uses credits. This is usually suited to individual users or smaller settings that want to start using the app with very little commitment and initial licence fees. This is the default ‘mode’ the app starts in when you download it from the App Store. As mentioned above, once you register the app for the first time, we give you 25 credits initially to play around and explore whether it’s suitable for your needs and then credits can be bought (bundles of 50 Credits or 100 Credits) through InAppPurchases within the app:

Settings (Device Admin)>Credits

Follow the link to the Pricing page to see a comprehensive comparison:

Backup & Device Management

Please remember to regularly backup your devices.

For PAYG (Pay As You Go) and “Stand-alone” Subscription users: If the app is accidently deleted or the device is lost, damaged or stolen the only way to recover your evidence data and PDF reports (documents and grids) is to restore from the most recent backup.

If you are sending your PDFs to a cloud storage service or your local network then you will need to consider a separate backup policy accordingly.

For Cloud Subscription users: If the app is accidently deleted or the device is lost, damaged or stolen the only way to recover your evidence data and PDF reports (documents and grids) that have not been saved to the (Evidence for Learning) Cloud is to restore from the most recent backup.

If you are sending your PDFs to a cloud storage service or your local network then you will need to consider a separate backup policy accordingly.

If you have many devices to manage it might be worth looking at a Mobile Device Management suite (MDM).

There are many solutions for various scenarios. Usually iTunes/iCloud backup is adequate BUT it really varies according to your circumstances, configuration and resources, for this reason and given the importance we are unable to recommend any particular solutions. If you are not sure where to start try a google search for iPad backup and MDM (Mobile Device Management) for schools.

Passcode Access

We recommend using the Passcode Access to help prevent unauthorised access to the app. You can set, change and cancel Passcode Access in the Device Admin menu. We usually suggest using a passcode lock on the device itself too for added protection.

Frameworks and Assessment Criteria

One of our favourite features is just how versatile you can be with frameworks. As well as choosing to use a range of built in curriculum and assessment frameworks you can also add your own frameworks. These can be any frameworks at all, everything from national strategies to a handfull of bespoke indicators tailored to meet the needs of a specific student.

You can use multiple frameworks concurrently, some schools add early years frameworks, SEN frameworks/indicators as well as ‘i can’ statements for each subject for older students and combine frameworks when recording observations and setting personal targets/goals using the Grids.

Delete any frameworks that you wont be using. It’s important to note that you can only delete frameworks that have no current links to them in any recorded evidence. If you need to delete a framework that has been used in some evidence then either delete that evidence record or remove the specific framework links. This is to prevent users from accidentally deleting a framework. We recommend that you experiment before you start to use the app for real and feel free to ask for help if you need it.

There is more information available on the following links:

And take a look at the video tutorials:

Importing your Learners and Classes

There are no limits to the numbers of learners and classes you can add to each device. Although it’s labelled classes you could add project groups, intervention classes and other cohorts.

You can import individual learners or a whole school/class in a single action.

Follow the link below for instructions:

Your logo

With an Early Years or School Subscription your logos are embedded in the PDFs. You can send us updates of your logo at any time for us to process and include in your PDFs. We can accept most formats, JPG, PNG, TIFF, EPS, GIF, PDF files etc If you are unsure just send what you have and we’ll let you know.

Using Date Ranges

Date ranges are used for filtering the evidence selected for PDF documents. We’ve added some sample term dates but you can add dates corresponding to your weeks or assessment points and apply the date ranges when you choose make a document. That way you’ll only be working with the relevant evidence.

You can add, delete and change Date Ranges via the Settings (Device Admin)>Setup Date Ranges

Using Tags

You can use multiple tags to filter and group your evidence. You can create your own custom tags (why not try WOW moment, Exemplary, Pre-Assessment, Visitor, Child-initiated, Adult-led, Submitted by Parent and/or Learning Walk, you could also specify some subjects.

If you select Tags when capturing evidence you’ll later be able to filter using the Tags (as criteria) when viewing or making a document.

Experiment with how it works and decide for yourself the best way to use it in your setting.

You can add, delete and change Tags via Settings (Device Admin)>Setup Tags

Setup your Comment Templates

When adding comments to evidence/observations you can choose to free type or add from a predefined list. These can be structures to prompt all teachers to add the same types of info across the department/school eg next steps, observed by, … etc but can also be sentences that you would use/reuse frequently. You should delete any you don’t need and add your own to suit your needs.

You can add, delete and change Comment Templates via Settings (Device Admin)>Setup Comment Templates

Draft and Published Evidence

When you record evidence, by default the evidence is set to draft until you set it to published. Only published evidence is included in documents and grids. This is really useful in busy classrooms and is to help ensure only completed observations are included in your documents.

Toggle between draft and published in the top right of the capture screen:

Orange rounded square =draft
Green rounded square = published.

When evidence is set to published it also becomes read-only (but you can toggle it back for further editing).

For Cloud Subscription users: When you create a new piece of evidence, it will only be saved to the learner’s profile in Cloud (Cloud Profile) if you have set it to published (and provided the device is connected to the Internet) – otherwise (if saved as draft), the evidence will remain in the learner’s profile on the device only.

Once a piece of evidence has been saved to the cloud,it can subsequently be toggled between draft and published at will, by any users with access to your Cloud.

Photo is optional

When recording observations only selecting a learner is mandatory. All the other information is optional. If you just want to record a quick note and tag a statement from a framework you can do.

Store up to 3 photos per evidence

Sometimes when recording evidence you might like to show a group of photos or maybe a before/during/after or beginning/middle/end sequence of photos. All evidence records have 3 containers to add photos to and you can change the order in which they will be displayed with a swipe-left and swipe-right gesture applied to the relevant photo when in the Capture Evidence or Edit Evidence screen.

You can have 0, 1, 2 or 3 photos per evidence.

You can only add multiple photos per evidence if you have a Subscription.

Making observations of groups of learners

When recording observations you can select multiple learners if evidencing a group activity. This will automatically create a separate duplicate piece of evidence for each learner (selected) with the information you captured in the single observation (photos, framework statements ticked or checked, tags and comments).

Personalising your Documents Learning Journeys, Journals, Profiles etc

Use PDF Reports>Document Settings to personalise the document eg. document title, a layout template, font face and size, paper size, footer, whether to add a title page or produce separate PDFs per student and so on…

We recommend you experiment with the different combinations.

Working with Grids

Grids are a summary view of the evidence in the app. They allow you to review coverage of targets and progress made by either individual learners or groups and cohorts.

You don’t fill them in, you simply build a template and they fill themselves in, according to the evidence you’ve captured.

As with documents, Grids allow you to configure layout settings, page size, orientation, font size as well as which students and which framework items to display. You can also choose a scheme which determines how the grid is filled in – whether 1 evidence, 2 or 3 or more is required in order to colour a grid cell accordingly.  There are a number of grid schemes to choose from including traffic light systems (RAG 1 and RAG 2) and “not met/met/exceeding”.

Have a play and explore using Grids for individual goals/targets as well as for tracking progress for cohorts.

Try adding statements from multiple frameworks.

Delete unwanted Evidence from your device

You can delete evidence from your device one-by-one, as you open it to edit you can tap the trash can. – This is great for odd observations here and there but if you need to bulk delete we’ve got a tool for that too.

Go to Settings (Device Admin)>Delete Evidence (at the bottom of the menu).

You can choose to delete evidence belonging to a particular learner and/or between date ranges (these are the date ranges you can setup and you’ll see the same list elsewhere in the app).

If you use Passcode protection you’ll be prompted to enter your passcode (another great reason to use a Passcode – prevent unauthorised users from deleting evidence).

Then type ‘DeLeTe’ when prompted matching the upper and lower case, this final check may seem a little awkward but it’s to ensure you delete on purpose! Finally tap the Delete button – Done!

BEWARE: Once evidence has been deleted from your device it’s gone for good.