What are Aspen Widgets?

Definition of widget

1 : gadget

2 : an unnamed article considered for purposes of hypothetical example

3 : a small software application that is designed to provide a specific piece of information (such as news, weather, or traffic updates) or a specific function (such as taking notes or controlling another application) on demand

Aspen's Widgets

Aspen's Pages are made up of widgets.

Not all widgets are available on all Pages. For example, the Announcements and Tasks widgets are only available on the homepage.

When you are adding widgets to a Page, the only widgets that appear are ones that you have permission to add.

Aspen administrators have full permissions to see all widgets. Most widgets can only be used one time on each Page. Exceptions include the Banner, Blog, and Web Sites widgets.

Widget

Description

Address Changes

The Address Changes widget is used on the homepage in the School view for users who need to know of any address changes for students in their school made by another school.

Announcements

The Announcements widget is used on the homepage to communicate information using a rich text editor.

Banner

The Banner widget is used to relay information to groups of people, using a rich text editor. For example, you might use it to post your school's mission statement.

Blog

The Blog widget is used to relay information through dated entries. For example, a school principal can write a weekly blog about news of interest. Users can filter the entries by category and month.

Select the Hide checkbox to display an entry only for administrators of the Page.

Calendar

The Calendar widget displays the current month by default. Click the arrow buttons to move to the next or previous month.

Class Information

The Class Information widget can be used on class pages. For teachers, schedule information for the class appears.

In the Student and Family portals, the Class Information widget can include the latest grade and attendance information for the student.

Follett Destiny Search

The Follett Destiny Search widget lets users search for Destiny resources from any Aspen Page. (Not available in the District or Intermediate Organization views. For districts that use Follett Destiny®.)

Forums

The Forums widget can be added to any Page as a place for Aspen users to discuss particular topics of interest.

Group Resources

The Group Resources widget can be added to any Page as an online repository for documents that need to be accessed by a group of users.

Launch using LTI

The Launch Using LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) widget can be added to the homepage in the District (Root Organization) view. Click the widget's link to launch a third-party vendor's app in a new window, without logging out of Aspen. This widget requires configuration by the third-party vendor.

Launch to Vendor

The Launch To Vendor widget can be added to the homepage in the District (Root Organization) view. Click the widget's link to launch a third-party vendor's app in a new window, without logging out of Aspen. This widget requires configuration by the third-party vendor.

Published Reports

The Published Reports widget can be added to any Page for reports that need to be accessed by a group of users, such as official school transcripts (parents would only see their children's reports).

Quick Charts

The Quick Charts widget lets you run saved Quick Charts on a Page.

Recent Activity

The Recent Activity widget is used on the homepage in the Student and Family portals to display, by date, a student’s recent grade, conduct and attendance activity.

Report Links

The Report Links widget is used so staff and administrators can create links to reports they use regularly in Aspen, such as the Student List and Attendance Bulletin.

School Links

The School Links widget is used on the homepage to let users who have access to more than one view in Aspen switch between them easily.

Single Workflow

Aspen system administrators can add the Single Workflow widget to the homepage for users to access any workflow phases they are responsible for. For example, system administrators might put the Single Workflow widget for Conduct Referrals on the homepage in the District, School and Staff views to give school administrators and teachers quick access to initiating a referral or taking action on it.

Student Changes

The Student Changes widget is used on the homepage in the School view. It shows authorized users any changes to demographic information for students associated with that school. It also displays the name and contact information of the user who changed the student record.

Student Search

The Student Search widget is used to give authorized Aspen users the ability to search for a specific student’s record.

Note: This widget is not available in the Staff view or the Student and Family portals.

Submit Assignments

The Submit Assignments widget is used on class pages in the Student portal . Students can upload assignment files for teachers to receive in their Aspen Gradebooks.

Survey

The Survey widget can be added to any Page. Anyone with access to that Page can take the survey.

Tasks

The Tasks widget can be added to the homepage, where users can manage any tasks they are responsible for. For example, this is where teachers can initiate a referral for a conduct incident, and where school administrators will receive that conduct referral to review.

Teacher Classes

On the homepage in the Staff view, the Teacher Classes widget displays the classes that the teacher is currently teaching, along with links to the class list, class attendance, seating chart, scores page and email.

Today's Appointments

The Today's Appointments widget automatically appears on the homepage in the Health view.

This widget shows the appointments scheduled for today, including each student's current attendance, the time of the appointment, and its status (Past Due or Upcoming). The appointment's status changes based on the status of the health log entry.

To Do

The To Do widget appears automatically on the homepage in the Student and Family portals. Students can use it to see which assignments need immediate attention (overdue, and due today and tomorrow). Parents use the drop-down to select which child's assignments they want to view.

Web Sites

The Web Sites widget is used to post links to outside websites that you visit often, such as your school's homepage, the state Department of Education, Yahoo! and other sites of interest.

How did we do?

How to Create an Aspen Announcment

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