Home Base

Canvas

Canvas is a learning management system that provides a platform to connect different digital tools in one location. This platform has been integrated within the NCEdCloud Identity and Access Management (IAM) Service. It will also integrate with Google Apps for Education and Microsoft Office 365. 

In DPI Canvas, PSU users can:   

• Access state created professional learning
• Have collegial discussions with NC educators
• Search for materials shared by other NC Canvas users

What sets Canvas apart?

• A clean, user-friendly interface
• A dashboard page that quickly summarizes assignments, announcements, and other relevant information across course sites
• Customizable notifications
• A working calendar that can be added to Google Calendar, iCal, or other popular calendar tools
• Support for media content
• The power of the cloud – it just works.

Canvas YouTube Playlist

Canvas includes several primary LMS tools, a user-friendly online environment, and the ability to connect educators across North Carolina easily. Districts can acquire Canvas through a state-negotiated convenience contract. To obtain Canvas, please contact Jenna Lagerman. 

Browse our recorded webinars and training videos on our YouTube Playlist.

For both educators and students seeking comprehensive and credible learning materials, EBSCO and Britannica stand as indispensable educational resources. EBSCO's robust collection of research databases, peer-reviewed journals, and extensive eBook libraries allows for in-depth exploration across a multitude of academic disciplines, from the sciences and humanities to business and technology. Educators can utilize these resources to support rigorous research projects, provide students with access to cutting-edge scholarship, and build comprehensive bibliographies. Simultaneously, Britannica offers accessible, in-depth knowledge through its meticulously curated encyclopedias, enriched with engaging multimedia elements like videos, interactive maps, and primary source documents. This allows students to grasp complex concepts through diverse learning modalities. By strategically integrating these platforms, educators can design enriched, multi-faceted curricula that cater to varying learning styles, while students gain access to meticulously vetted information, fostering critical thinking skills and a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the world around them. Furthermore, the ability to access these resources remotely ensures that learning can take place anytime, anywhere, enhancing the flexibility and accessibility of educational content for both instructors and learners.

GoOpenNC is North Carolina's Open Education Resources Platform

Explore standards aligned supplemental instructional resources in collections, hubs, and your own custom folders of saved resources.

Create your own openly licensed instructional materials to share with your school, district, or the entire state.

Collaborate with educators across the state on the standards you teach and network together to improve instruction.

What is GoOpenNC?

• What are the goals of GoOpenNC?

  • To develop an OER community of practice, where NC educators can curate, create, and collaborate on openly-licensed instructional resources that are aligned to NC standards.
  • To grow a repository of high-quality, standards-aligned OER, with a focus on instructional improvement.
  • To help NC educators grow professionally as they learn about intellectual property, copyright, open-licensing, deep knowledge of standards, and indicators of effective instructional materials.
  • To empower collaboration and partnerships among educators, schools, districts, and states.

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• What can I do on the platform?
  • Search for resources by content area, standard, grade level/range, keyword, etc.
  • Curate resources using the functionality of the platform that allows users to save resources to folders and into group shared folders.
  • Create resources using the Open Author tool in the platform. Users can co-author resources with other NC educators.
  • Remix authored OER to enhance and/or improve instructional resources. Remixed resources are connected to the original resource, so users can see all iterations.
  • Collaborate and connect with colleagues through groups, hubs, co-authoring, and more!
  • Learn through professional learning OER available on the platform, as well as through collaborative efforts with colleagues. Explore the OER PD hub for self-directed learning

Learning.com

NC's K-8 Digital Literacy Initiative Solution

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) is pleased to announce that Public School Units (PSUs) in NC Tier 1 and Tier 2 Counties are eligible to receive NCDPI K-8 Digital Literacy Initiative implementation funding for the 2025-2026 school year.  This funding will support the implementation of the Learning.com K-8 Digital Literacy curriculum, which is designed to encourage student growth in computational thinking, digital citizenship, online safety, visual mapping, databases, and computer fundamentals.  

Session Law 2023-134 provides up to $4,000,000 of the Digital Learning Initiative to public school units, PSUs, to support K-8 digital literacy. This opportunity is brought to you through a partnership with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and Learning.com.  If your PSU is located in a county that the North Carolina Department of Commerce has designated as a Tier 1 or Tier 2 County (economically distressed), then your PSU is eligible for this funding opportunity. 

Learning.com is currently working with over 80 of your PSU peers across the state. These PSUs have seen their K-8 students demonstrate knowledge and skill growth across digital literacy and computer science skills, such as online safety and digital citizenship, AI literacy, computer and IT fundamentals, keyboarding, coding, productivity tools, and more.

If you accept this funding, your educators will gain access to Learning.com's comprehensive K-8 digital literacy curriculum and receive free professional development and implementation support from the NC State Program Manager, Tiffany Kinney, tkinney@learning.com. This comprehensive support is designed to empower your educators and ensure successful implementation of the curriculum.

Please complete the K-8 Digital Literacy Intent Survey by April 30, 2025. For additional information and to learn what your peers say about Learning.com’s curriculum, check out Learning.com's North Carolina webpage and check out one of these webinars:

• Thursday, March 13, 2025 | 2:00 - 2:30 pm EST - Click HERE to register
• Wednesday, March 26, 2025 | 10:00 - 10:30 am EST - Click HERE to register

For North Carolina Tier 1 & Tier 2 PSUs that are NEW to Learning.com for the 25-26 school year, Learning.com is offering early access to their curriculum and onboarding. Shortly after the survey closes, you will receive a communication about the next steps.

We're here to support you every step of the way. If you have any questions or need more information, please don't hesitate to contact Learning.com's NC State Program Manager, Tiffany Kinney (tkinney@learning.com). You can also schedule a demo to see Learning.com's curriculum in action. We look forward to your participation in the K-8 Digital Literacy Initiative. 

NC Educator Effectiveness System (NCEES)

NCEES is the official Home Base application used by public and charter schools of North Carolina for storing and managing educator effectiveness. NCEES offers components designed to support the ongoing professional growth of K-12 educational leaders and teachers. This tool includes and educator evaluation component and a professional development component.   

• NCEES PowerSchool's Perform Enterprise and Professional Learning (part of Unified Talent) 
  • Effective educator evaluation instruments and professional development plans in the Perform Enterprise component of NCEES available to PSUs include:
  • Rubrics based on NC teacher and administrator standards;
  • Observations that inform teacher/staff growth;
  • End of year evaluation ratings;
  • Free access to NCDPI self-paced Canvas and Moodle modules aligned to staff standards & elements, and focus areas;
  • Staff dashboards to track CEUs earned through DPI and local PD course modules, and varied PD learning opportunities; .
  • The PD office provides the ability to:
    • Create and manage local professional learning opportunities and track CEUs;
    • Share local PD/CEU opportunities with other PSUs for regional or shared events.
    • Transfer Credit Manager – manages approvals for CEUs earned outside of the district to show on staff transcripts
    • PSUs are given access to NCEES Professional Learning PD office component for $1/ADM (this fee also includes access to Schoolnet)

This associated site encompasses training resources, system updates, and events for the user-base audience. To learn more about this application, visit to the NCEES Information and Resources below.  

LEAs and charter schools are given access to the local control of professional development components by opting into Home Base for the low price of $1.25/ADM (this fee also includes access to Schoolnet). For more information on how to opt into Home Base, visit the Opt-in to Home Base page.

NCEES Information and Resources

• Public School Unit Contacts for NCEES
• NCEES Information and Resource
• NCDPI PD Self Paced Courses in NCEES
• NCVirtual Professional Learning for Educators
• NCEES Training YouTube Playlist

NCEES Help Guides

Administrator

• The documents below were created by NCDPI for NCEES system users. All of these documents are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, so Public School Units are free to adapt and re-use these documents at their discretion.
• View the list of NCEES Administrator Help Guides full screen.

Evaluator/Observer Guides

• The documents below were created by NCDPI for NCEES system users. All of these documents are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, so Public School Units are free to adapt and re-use these documents at their discretion.
• View the list of NCEES Evaluator/Observer Help Guides full screen.

Reporting

• The documents below were created by NCDPI for NCEES system users. All of these documents are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, so Public School Units are free to adapt and re-use these documents at their discretion.
• View the list of NCEES Administrator Reporting Help Guides full screen.

Professional Learning

• The documents below were created by NCDPI for NCEES system users. All of these documents are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, so Public School Units are free to adapt and re-use these documents at their discretion.
• View the list of NCEES Professional Learning Help Guides full screen.

Schoolnet is the Instructional Improvement System for the public schools of North Carolina. It is an all-in-one assessment, reporting, and instructional management tool built to support educators and promote personalized student learning.

Schoolnet enhances the pedagogy experience with tools such as lesson planner, student workspaces, demographic and academic data comparisons, assessment creation and customization, and analytic data reporting. It also supports personalized learning by utilizing its fully integrated resource bank to house materials that are appropriately aligned with individualized student learning and career paths.

Public school units (PSUs) are given access to Schoolnet by opting into Home Base for the low price of $1.25/ADM (this fee also includes access to NCEES local PD creation).  For more information on how to opt into Schoolnet, visit our Home Base Opt-in page.