Foundry: Key Terms

Overview

This article defines terms commonly used across the Foundry platform and Knowledge Base.

When you first log into Foundry, you’ll probably see some familiar terms – like "learning experience" or "warehouse." Understanding how we use these terms will help you better use our software (which helps us support you and your students better). 

Below, you’ll find terms listed in a similar way as they appear on our site (i.e., all of the terms that appear in the Quick Actions section also appear in the Quick Actions menu). The most important terms to know are listed at the top with additional terms listed below.

General Terms

Learning Experience

An action or activity designed to engage a user in the learning of a target, standard, or topic. In Foundry, a learning experience can range from a single lesson or assignment to a unit or project to a year-long course depending on the goals of the teacher/advisor and curriculum team.

Learn how to create and assign learning experiences here.

Learning Targets / Learning Target Set

A comprehensive collection of learning standards chosen or created by the school for evaluating students’ learning. A learning target might be a state standard, a competency or proficiency, or a custom goal created by a teacher/advisor or school. A learning target set is the complete list from which learning plans and individual learning experiences can be designed.

Learn how to create your learning target set here.

Learning Plan

A time-based subset of the full learning target set specifically chosen to demonstrate progress toward a goal, such as grade level matriculation, certification, or graduation. Essentially, a filter.

Learn more about how learning plans work here.

Quick Actions

Warehouse

A searchable set of published learning experiences with student data removed. Experiences published to the warehouse can be duplicated for future use.

Learn how to publish to and search in the Warehouse here.

Task

An action a student must take to complete a learning experience. Tasks must be linked to an existing learning experience. There is no limit to the number of tasks a learning experience can have.

Learn more about how tasks work here.

Log

A form used to track the time spent on a task, activity, learning experience, or other action. Foundry offers a standard set of logs, including a mentoring log, project log, reading log, and research log. 

Learn more about how learning logs work here.

Journal

A form used to capture reflections and/or feedback on a task, activity, learning experience, or other action. Foundry offers several journal templates, including a learning progress journal, a learning reflection journal, a mentor feedback journal, and a topic reflection journal. 

Learn more about how journals work here.

Evidence

An artifact or document of learning created outside of Foundry that a user would like to attach to an experience within Foundry. Evidence might include documents, graphs, videos, reports, worksheets, or any other work a student completes as part of a learning experience.

Learn more about how evidence works here.

Admin and Set-Up

Users

Any person using the Foundry software, including students, teachers, parents, coaches, and administrators.

Learn more about how to set add and manage users here.

Roles

The status and permissions in Foundry that allow the user to do their particular work. Roles include Admin, Advisor, Student, Parent, Coach.  A user may have one or more roles.

Learn more about how roles work here.

Groups

Any set of users that have membership in the group as Students, Guides, and Managers. 

Group Students – Group Students are the students selected as members of the particular group. Selecting them brings them into relationship with the Students, Guides and Managers of the group.

Group Guides – Group Guides are individuals in the roles of Advisor, Parent, and Coach.  Guides act as teachers, facilitators, mentors who support and guide the work of the student.

Group Managers – Advisors who are also in the role of Admin can be configured as Group Managers. This gives them actionable access to all student work in that Group. Manager status is set on a group-by-group basis.

Learn more about how groups work here.

Forms

Templates for designing learning experiences and their component pieces* (journals, learning logs, evidence forms, and tasks). Advisors and students complete and submit forms to state the expected learning outcomes, standards, driving and guiding questions, tasks, evidence of learning, reflections, etc on a given topic.  Users engaged in strategic design of the Foundry platform are able to design and configure their own forms; for all other users the forms are pre-formatted.

Learn more about how forms work here.

Scales

Sets of performance indicators applied to individual learning or skills targets. Scales can be used to assign traditional letter grades (A, B, C, etc) or rubric-style evaluations (“approaching,” “meeting,” “exceeding,” etc). A scale consists of the marks, corresponding descriptions, and whether the given marks indicate a target is complete and whether the target impacts a student’s GPA. 

Learn more about how scales work here.  

Term

A unit of time within which a class or school reports on student progress - school year, semester, quarter, month, etc. that is configured in the platform. Term settings are essential to generating accurate transcripts.

Learn more about managing terms here.

Other

Transformation Science

The practice of working with a school or learning community that has committed to adopted practices intended to empower students to achieve "Deeper Learning."

Deeper Learning

An umbrella term for the skills and knowledge that students must possess to succeed in 21st century jobs and civic life, as articulated in 2013 by the Hewlett Foundation.

If there is a term not listed here that you have questions about, send us an email at [e-mail]

 

 

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