Educators, students and parents in the Canadian province of Ontario are making wide and growing use of the Edsby learning platform for K-12

Schools in Ontario continue to adopt the Edsby digital learning platform. And where it’s deployed, educators are finding it has become central to their school and/or districts’ digital transformations.

As of December 2018, 326,429 Ontario students are licensed to use Edsby. Many log in daily as their primary way to follow their schedule, access class material, participate in class discussions, submit homework assignments, review assessment results, build their online portfolio, track latest developments with school clubs and teams and more.

Teachers in Ontario have captured 140,962 points of learning evidence using Edsby this academic year to date. Evidence in Edsby can be associated with Ontario curriculum expectations (standards), tagged, shared with parents and students and used to streamline reporting. Teachers and students have created another 134,031 best exemplars of work in students’ online portfolios this academic year so far.

Edsby is specifically designed to meet the unique and challenging needs of K-12, unlike other solutions that also try to address higher education and even corporate markets with the same product. Organizations using Edsby pay to use the service, and made their decision to use Edsby as the official learning platform for their students, teachers and parents after careful consideration of other free, freemium and paid alternatives.

In districts where Edsby is used, it gets used enthusiastically. Many users log into it many times a day.

“I have been obsessively checking Edsby since grade 9—for three years—and have grown to love the breadth of information it makes available to me.”
– Aidan Britnell, Grade 12 student

“Edsby is absolutely fantastic. The calendar system allows me to see everything in my schedule in a simple, easy-to-understand format. The integrated system helps me develop time management skills, which I’ll definitely use in the future!”
– Tailai Wang, Grade 12 student

“I love how convenient and quick it is.”
– Mary Franks, Parent

“The platform is user friendly, allows parents to be kept up to date on grades, comments and events in an expeditious manner.”
– Beckett Sternberg, Parent

Many school boards in Ontario have adopted Edsby. In 2017, York Region District School Board began deploying Edsby to its 123,000 students, their parents and staff. In 2016, Greater Essex District School Board introduced Edsby to its teachers and 35,000 students and their parents. Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board selected Edsby for its 34,000 students and their parents. Edsby was also recently adopted for district-wide use by the Superior-Greenstone District School Board, Nippissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board, Algoma District School Board, St. Clair Catholic District School Board, Durham Catholic District School Board, Rainy River District School Board, Lakehead District School Board and more in the province soon to be announced.

Ontario districts adopting Edsby say there is nothing else like it that does such a good job streamlining communication, collaboration and assessment in a secure environment.

“Edsby offers robust online tools that help educators confidently and securely engage with students and families,” said Amanda Meighan, Superintendent of Support Services at Near North District School Board, which has 10,000 students, their parents and staff on Edsby.

“In the classroom, at home and while on-the-go, Edsby’s intuitive and comprehensive platform helps us modernize the way we communicate everything from special events to student achievement,” she said.