Saturday, September 25, 2010

Aspen Quick Reference and Training Notes

The following is a reposting of information about our Aspen system. Please use the included training guides and tips for help while you use Aspen:

Burlington Public Schools has begun to use a new student information system from X2 Development called Aspen. Aspen is currently used in many districts throughout Massachusetts and is highly regarded as one of the premier data management systems available to public schools.

Aspen will help update all information services for BPS. All student and staff data will be held within the system. Over time, Aspen will significantly streamline data entry, help improve communication, reduce paper usage in every building, and allow better parent access to student progress.

Thanks to the efforts of Josh Murphy, Burlington High School teacher and BPS Aspen Conversion Coordinator, the X2 Aspen Student Information System training began at BHS this week. Josh's extensive planning and coordination enabled an Aspen trainer, Josh, and myself to train BPS administrative, guidance, and secretarial staff throughout the week on the new system. BHS teachers were also prepared for the February transition to attendance recording through Aspen.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the training sessions. It was clear that BPS staff members are excited to learn about the new system. Josh and I hope that the participants in the training found the sessions to be productive.

Please contact us with any questions and we will try to provide a quick response. We look forward to working with MSMS and elementary staff in the coming months on training for Aspen. It is very important to us that the transition to Aspen will be as positive as possible for everyone in Burlington.

Josh Murphy: jpmurphy@burlington.mec.edu
Dennis Villano: villano@burlington.mec.edu


Below is a collection of notes and important reminders for staff. I created a short list of training tips and shortcuts for Aspen. Also included are documents provided by X2 on how best to use the system with your computer.

Part of the information describes how to disable pop-up blockers in your web browser when using Aspen. Aspen uses pop-ups for many important menus and lists.

Click on Fullscreen to expand and zoom in or out with the buttons at the bottom. You can also print:



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