ANOTHER Assessment Idea - Orbit

I had a week in Hampshire last week finishing off the first Leading Foundation Stage Practitioner project with Jodie, Tim, Helen and Amey. They are all doing some really brilliant stuff. I will post some of what they are doing soon, but before I do, I thought you might be interested in this.

It is a FREE assessment app by Orbit. Not only can you record live events and link them to assessment you can also share your ongoing assessments with parents and carers using a link.

I have not used it or seen it used, but have been sent the link by several people since my last post, all of whom recommend it - so thought it would be worth a look.

How does Orbit work?

Orbit is a secure website, which can also be accessed through Orbit iPhone and iPad apps. All data is held securely in our Cloud and can only be accessed through the website and apps by registered and authorized users.

What equipment do I need to use Orbit?

You can access the Orbit website from any internet-enabled computer, laptop or mobile device. Orbit also has apps for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, which can be downloaded free of charge from Apple's App Store.

Why have you made Orbit available free of charge?

We want Orbit to be an inclusive website available to everyone who has an interest in sharing information for the benefit of children. By charging users to access our website and apps, we'd immediately create a barrier preventing some people from being able to benefit from Orbit—so we decided not to do that.

How are you able to provide Orbit free of charge?

We decided that the best way of covering our costs whilst keeping Orbit free of charge for everyone, is to use paid advertising within the Orbit Family website and app. There will never be any advertising within the Orbit Early Years software, but Orbit Family contains some discrete and useful advertising—and this allows us to make Orbit available to both providers and parents free of charge.

Early Years

What do I need to do to start using Orbit Early Years?

Just register yourself and your early years provider with Orbit then you can begin to use it. It's that simple.

Are there any setup costs?

None whatsoever—it's really easy for you to register your provider. Equally, there's no support or other ongoing charges and we don't plan to introduce any. Orbit is entirely free of charge.

Are there any training costs?

Not a penny—we provide you with access to our Awareness and Training pack when you register your provider with Orbit. The website and apps are simple to use, so there's no need for extensive training.

When is information shared with parents?

As you collect observations and link them to children, they are saved in Orbit. You can then undertake an Assessment against each observation, or choose to save it to the child's Album. Information is only shared with parents when the assessment has been completed, or the observation has been saved to a child's Album.

Do we have to invite parents to link to their children in Orbit?

Although one of the key benefits of Orbit is its ability to connect providers and parents more effectively, providers can use it without inviting parents to link to their children's records.

Can we print a child's summary from Orbit?

One of the benefits of Orbit is that it helps to reduce the amount of paper that early years providers need to use—reducing both the costs and carbon footprint of education. However, we appreciate that some providers and parents might wish to have a paper record of their children's achievements. Each child's record can be output as a PDF document.

Family

How do I link with my child's early years record?

If your child's provider is using Orbit Early Years, then they can send you an invitation to link to them in Orbit. When you receive the invitation, just follow the instructions and you'll be able to link to your child and contribute to their education through Orbit Family.

As always, let me know what you think and if you have any other bright ideas, send them over!

Have a great week.

Alistair

 

Comments

[MB]

Thank you - you seem to be going on this journey in parallel to me. Two simple initially seemed to fulfill my needs, but is expensive (5 staff) and does not allow video to be used, or any link with parents. I am exploring the blog option and will comment as I find out more re safeguarding particularly - Leamore Primary are a great example. This app looks fab, just registered and am hopeful....

[MB]

Update - if you are struggling to find the app....from Orbit...

Thanks for registering - we're currently making some last minute enhancements to the App and the Website.

We'll have the website fully operational later this week so that you can begin to use it.

We will also start the process of putting the App into Apple's AppStore at that time too (the process for getting the App into the Appstore usually takes a couple of days but it is entirely at Apple's discretion how long they take). We'll let you know as soon as it's ready to download from the AppStore.

[abc does]

Really appreciate your feedback re the apps MB, also the update from Orbit. That is just a bit of bad timing! Fingers crossed for later in the week.

Alistair

[MB]

Just an update, the orbit app is now available, and is great. The developers have been hugely responsive and helpful to all my comments and feedback. MB

[Hannah Johnson]

I've had a look at Orbit, but there doesn't seem to be any way to download/print data. Therefore can't print a 'learning journey' type thing at the end of the year. Can anybody tell me different?

[Kim]

Still can't find the orbit app? Anymore updates please I would like my nursery and reception children up and running by weekend!! x

[Orbit Team]

Hi.

We'd just like to let you know that the Orbit Early App can be downloaded and used for free from the App Store from the following link:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/early-years/id549088987?ls=1&mt=8

The link to the App Store is also available on the Orbit website (https://orbit.so), where you can find much more information about the Early Years website and app

We hope this helps!

Orbit Team

[abc does]

Thanks to the Orbit team for their speedy response.

Alistair

[Orbit Team]

Hi Hannah,
You can download a PDF of a child's Learning Journey from the Orbit.so website - the function is not yet available in the app.
To download the Learning Journey, select a Child from the Child List and you'll then see the Child Menu appear. The top option is the Child's Profile. Select the Child Profile and there's a button to Download Learning Journey in this screen.
You'll need to have completed EYFS Assessments for the child and/or have sent observations to the child's Album in order to download the PDF.
We hope that this helps!

[Laura]

Hi! We have orbit up and running in our foundation unit and it is amazing! It is saving us so much time and parents/careers are keen to get logged in. It definitely works for us. Ps-the blog is great,fab ideas!

[Melina]

Hi It would be great and beneficial if you could add more than one photo of a child in the observation.
Can this be done already? If so can you let me know how.

This would be a great thing to add.

[Arran]

HI

I have just installed the orbit app on an Ipad, but it seems to have trouble connecting through a proxy server. I can use the browser section of the Ipad and log in through the web page itself, but the downloaded app has issues!

Any thoughts out there that might help!

[ann-marie hines]

Hello I am very new to this process, i have a Samsung Galaxy tablet can Orbit app be used on this device? If so what do I need to do?
Thanks A.M

[gillian]

hello
am having problems getting onto orbits web can anyone tell me if name has changed? or site being updated?
Gillian

[norah]

Yes me too been trying to get on site But not allowing me. Please can someone let us know if there's
a problem. Thanks.
norah