When you first start out at ORCA, you will complete the Family Orientation Course in order to learn how to use the technology you will be working with during the school year! The course is not for credit, but it is required. It will help you get up to speed on the technology side of things, so that when classes start in earnest, you can focus on learning!
Each student will be automatically enrolled in the course at the beginning of the school year, and when you log in to your Chromebook (or a managed Chrome browser) it will come up automatically. When you first open the course, it will look like this. You can scroll down to preview some of the topics we will be covering, click on one of the module titles to jump straight to it, or click Start the course to start from the beginning.
Content on each course page will be separated into three sections: Wading In 
, Taking a Lap 
, and Diving Deeper 
. Wading In contains introductory information, often an overview of whatever topic is on the page. Taking a Lap will be the bulk of the content, with more information and in-depth tutorials. Diving Deeper contains any extra information, and links to other resources.
The course content is separated into Modules, which are one of Canvas's organizational tools and help group related topics together. Each Module has its own topic, and each page within each Module covers a specific section of that topic.
You will navigate through the course by reading the content on each page, then clicking Next when you're ready to move on to the next one. The course should take between 2.5 and 3 hours to complete.
As you progress through the course, you will see Assignments at the end of every Module. Don't worry, these aren't for a grade! They are to get you accustomed to Canvas's assignment formats, and to check your understanding of the material you have just covered. You can try each assignment as many times as you want.
In this course, you will learn about ORCA, your Chromebook, Canvas, Google Apps, Live Class, and some of ORCA's external tools. When you finish, you will be well-prepared to be a successful student at Oregon Charter Academy!