INFOhio ICoach

What is INFOhio?

INFOhio is a division of the Management Council of the Ohio Education Computer Network (MCOECN). The MCOECN is governed by a Board of Trustees representing all 18 Information Technology Centers (ITCs). 

INFOhio provides 4 major services to Ohio schools:   

Library Automation: Using the Ohio Education Computer Network (OECN) with the support of its Information Technology Centers (ITCs), we deliver library automation to 80 percent of the schools in Ohio. The ITCs contract with their member schools individually to provide automation licenses and Level 1 technical support, while at the same time working through the OECN as a whole to license the software, which saves school districts money over what they would pay individually for the same service. The INFOhio Technical Support Team provides Level 2 statewide support for library automation.

Digital Resources: The INFOhio Central, Instructional, and Technical Teams support the evaluation, curation, and licensing of digital resources that all Ohio PreK-12 students, their parents, and educators can freely use for teaching and learning. The selection of resources is guided by the Collection Development Guidelines, which are reviewed by the INFOhio Advisory Board every three years. The INFOhio Instructional and Technical Teams provide Level 1 statewide support for the digital resources.

Web Tools: The INFOhio Instructional and Technical Teams are instrumental in the design, development, and maintenance of INFOhio websites and web tools for teaching and learning. INFOhio Instructional and Technical Teams provide Level 1 statewide support for those tools.

Professional Development & Training: In addition to our staff, INFOhio ICoaches and IPartners provide hundreds of hours of training each year to Ohio educators using training resources developed by INFOhio and shared in the INFOhio Learning Pathways.

What does INFOhio do?

INFOhio transforms student learning by providing equitable access to quality resources and cost-effective instructional and technical support for a successful education and future.  

Who can use INFOhio?

INFOhio is designed for PreK-12 students, their parents and educators throughout Ohio.

I can't use INFOhio because I don't know the login information.

INFOhio uses layers of authentication to allow for Ohio users to login automatically.  From the INFOhio homepage if you have a green icon that says INFOhio Statewide User, you are logged in.  You may switch your log-in by hovering over the red icon and searching for your school district or watch this short YouTube video for help logging in.

I work with (elementary/middle grade/secondary) students. What does INFOhio have for them?

INFOhio has digital resources, web tools, as well as, library automation that can be accessed by all PreK-12 students by going to the INFOhio Homepage Menu and clicking on Resources by grade level.  Refer to the Teach & Learn Flyer for each grade level.

Early Learning Portal Choice Board

K-5 Teach & Learn Flyer

6-8 Teach & Learn Flyer

9-12 Teach & Learn Flyer

Isn't INFOhio just for libraries or research papers?

INFOhio does offer support for Library Automation but that is just one of the 4 major services INFOhio provides.  INFOhio also provides equitable access to quality resources and cost-effective instructional and technical support for PreK-12 students, parents and educators through Digital Resources, Web Tools and Professional Development.

This is very comprehensive! I have enjoyed your responses to the community. Looking forward to working with you as an ICoach, Jennifer! 

• INFOhio is a free online digital platform that provides high-quality resources and tools that support educators and families in Ohio
• INFOhio provides quality resources and instructional support 
• Students, educators and parents in Ohio
• In my school district, they can access INFOhio through our library/media page- there is an INFOhio icon to click on that takes one to the k-5 teach and learn flyer
  • Pk-k students can access bookflix, early learning portal, and highlights and instructional supports for lessons and strategies through educator tools and isearch
  • k-3 can use resources on the k-5 teach and learn flyer (this is also the page you are taken to once you access INFOhio through our school's media page)and instructional supports for lessons and strategies through educator tools and isearch
• INFOhio provides great resources for research papers as well as many other web tools/resrouces to enhance student learning. Teachers also have access to high-quality lessons to support their teaching. 

This is solid, Tara!

INFOhio is quite possibly the resource you have been looking for, yet didn't know it. INFOhio provides FREE access to parents, educators, and students to a variety of tools for teaching and learning to those living in Ohio.

As an educator have you wished there was a safer way to research? INFOhio can help with this! Check out the appropriate flyer for the age group you work with to discover the variety of tools and resources most appropriate for your students. (I also encourage you to look at the other flyers for students who may need additional support or extensions.) These tools and resources are ALREADY available to you with the click of a button - either by the link on our media center page or the link in TLH for you and your students. You will be taken to the grade appropriate group of tools from each of these links. Students can access INFOhio through these same links at school and at home. 

K-5 Teach & Learn Flyer

6-8 Teach & Learn Flyer

9-12 Teach & Learn Flyer

If you work with our youngest learners, I encourage you to check out (and share!) the Early Learning Portal. These are perfect activities and resources to build a solid foundation with our learners and at the same time, sharing it with parents, you can support your students even when they aren't in front of you. 

INFOhio also provides professional learning for you, an educator. Check out the INFOhio Campus for "Flexible, personalized training and development to support the use and integration of INFOhio's digital content and web tools." I have thoroughly enjoyed my learning through this campus - at no cost to me! - about the INFOhio tools and resources that I know I can use with students. Check with me if you want to know how to redeem this learning for credit.

Great message, Sarah!

What is INFOhio?
INFOhio is an online platform that provides, at no cost, access to quality resources for teaching and learning to Ohio’s students, educators and families.

What does INFOhio do?
INFOhio transforms student learning by providing equitable access to quality resources. 

Who can use INFOhio?
INFOhio is available to all Ohioans.

I can't use INFOhio because I don't know the log in information.
Every time you log into your BBHCSD account you are already authenticated. Head to the Portal Page, select INFOhio, and you are in! If you are a parent or do not have a BBHCSD account, please contact your student’s school librarian who will provide you with INFOhio login information.

I work with elementary students. What does INFOhio have for them?
Use the K-5 Teach & Learn Flyer for an overview of all of the tools and resources available.
To access the tools: From the Portal Page select INFOhio, then select Grades K-5. Click on the “i” in each of the tools to learn more about them, then click “open” to check them out. 

Isn't INFOhio just for libraries or research papers?
INFOhio also provides learning and professional development opportunities for teachers.
Click on the hamburger (in the top right corner) and select Educators to see what else INFOhio has to offer. I recommend checking out The Document Library, Educator Tools, INFOhio Campus and Open Space first.

If you have any questions, just ask!!!

Keep in mind that most schools in Ohio are automatically logged in due to INFOhio's IP authentication. You might go to the INFOhio site to be sure that the login appears as Brecksville Broadview Heights in the upper left corner.

• INFOhio is Ohio's virtual library for PreK-12 and it is offered free of cost to all schools in the state of Ohio.
• This virtual library is filled with reliable content and allows students, educators, and parents to research, read books, and learn in a safe online environment.
• Our students can access the INFOhio site directly from our school's Media Center page.  Student, teachers, and/or parents can then choose which resource they would like to visit.
• --PreK and Kindergarten can access the Early Learning Portal.  These resources focus on emergent readers and reinforce early childhood learning through activities, games, and age appropriate texts.
• --1st-3rd grade can access over 20 different resources including World Book Early Learning, World Book Kids, Highlights Library, and so much more.   
• INFOhio is a one stop shopping resource for research, information, pictures, articles, maps, video clips, books, lesson plans, WebQuests, and so much more!  All subject areas can find something to enrich their lessons from Science and Language Arts  to art, music, and P.E.
• INFOhio also offers professional develpment opportunities at not cost to you!  

Looking to transform your teaching in order to create a more equitable and safe learning environment for your students? Hoping to develop more inquiry processes into your lessons? Are you often frustrated with how much time it takes to find support professionally for your own development as well as standards-aligned best practices? Look no further - INFOhio is for you! Here's the thing, INFOhio staff and partners have done the work for you! They have compiled and curated sound resources with built-in supports, learning guides, supplemental materials, and so much more. And get this- it is FREE! Yes, FREE to ALL Ohio residents! Are you an early elementary educator who has been wanting to use Highlights Library but needed a subscription? Take advantage of becoming a part of the INFOhio community and this will no longer be an issue! Are you an upper elementary educator needing students to conduct research and develop best practices for safe online learning rather than simply doing searches via a browser? Take advantage of INFOhio and rest easy knowing they will not be led astray. Have you been meaning to seek out a PLC for a particular domain or mindset? USe INFOhio and Open Space and find that PLC or even launch your own! INFOhio is for EVERY learner. And the best part? You, your students, and their families will receive high-quality educational resources, tools, and support for free, from the early preschool years through to adulthood. Visit INFOhio.org. Trust me.

What a great message. I really like the opening line!

*Disclaimer: This is my struggle.  I am not good with keeping it short and sweet.

INFOhio is Ohio's digital library.  Every school employee, preK-12 student, and parent in our district has access to high-quality materials at no cost to us.  That includes ebooks, magazines, encyclopedias, learning and studying platforms, and so much more.  There is also PD, web tools, and teacher support communities.  INFOhio also keeps our library catalog so it can be accessed from any web-connected device.  As long as you navigate to INFOhio through our library link or the button on any of our district library webpages, you will be logged in to all INFOhio resources automatically.

Trina, 

I think you captured it! Nicely done!

Have you heard of  INFOhio!  No? Well, let me introduce you to your new favorite website!

This is an amazing site that will provide you with access to all types of digital content, web tools, PD support and library software. INFOhio is a vetted collection of the best high quality instructional materials and resources at no cost for users in Ohio.  Anyone within a school or public library can access INFOhio simply  by opening the link on the institution's website. If you are at home, you will need a username and password the first time you login, which you can get from your librarian.

INFOhio has resources for everyone from pre-K to adults and loads of professional development, lessons and educator tools.

Please explore this amazing website and let me know which of the available tools I can help you with. I would love the opportunity to collaborate with you and present any of these tools to your class this year!

Hi Diana,

Great speech. For a little more info on how INFOhio provides seamless access for Ohio users, check out this lesson https://infohio.org/campus/learning-pathways/course/introduction-to-infohio/how-to-access-the-infohio-digital-content

Most users at home will not need to manually add a un/pw! If they do the video in the lesson is a great tutorial for how they can find their school/district info right away!

Have you heard of INFOhio? This amazing, online digital platform provides four major services to all Ohioans at NO COST! INFOhio has libarary automation for about 80% of the state, professional development opportunities for all educators and a plethora of digital resources and web tools to incorporate in class. You may think that INFOhio is just for libraries and research papers, but you're wrong! Any educator of any content of any grade can find something to incorporate in their classroom. I, myself, work with all grades 7-12 and found methods of incorporation for the Educator Tools, Science Online, and World Book Student resources. Anyone willing and wanting to learn has something to gain from INFOhio. 

I like how you use your own teaching situation as an example of what INFOhio has to offer!

Can you believe this elevator is stuck again!?!  While we are here, have you heard of INFOhio?  Some people think it is just an online tool for research, but that's not really the case.  While it does serve a large percentage of libraries in Ohio, INFOhio is a large collection of resources that are avaiable to educators, students, and families at NO COST.  The great thing is, INFOhio will automatically log you into the system in most cases, based on your location or even your IP address.  INFOhio has tons of great high quality resources broken up by grade bands.  And they have more than just resources, they also have web tools, and other professional development materials.  Oh, what do you know, the elevator seems to be working again, I've got to run to my next class.  Have a great afternoon, and check out INFOhio, you won't be sorry!

LOL! I hope you don't have to trap someone in the elevator to help them start using INFOhio! Nice work, Chad.

INFOhio is an online portal providing no-cost access to high quality instructional material.  INFOhio transforms student learning br providing high quality resorces and instructional support for each student, educator, and parent in Ohio.  Although password protected, access is automatic when you are logged in using your school account. INFOhio is much more than researching for papers or only used in libraries.  INFOhio provides a wealth of instructional resources for use in grades PreK-12 including ebooks, encyclopedias, search tools, teacher professional development, help guides to name a few.  Depending on your grade band, take a look at resources available by clicking on one of the links below:

K-5 Teach & Learn Flyer

6-8 Teach & Learn Flyer

9-12 Teach & Learn Flyer

Great message, Paul! 

• What is INFOhio? INFOhio is an online library of resources and tools for Ohio preK-12 education.
• What does INFOhio do? INFOhio provides access to high quality materials, tools, texts, and databases for students, teachers, and families. 
• Who can use INFOhio? Anyone in the state of Ohio! This is site offers a wide variety of resources for students as every level plus resources specifically designed for teachers and professional development. My favorite aspect of INFOhio is that families can use it to! There is access to amazing resources for young children such as BookFlix and Highlights. 
• I can't use INFOhio because I don't know the log in information.When you go to infohio.org, you should automatically be logged in as Statewide User (Green Icon in upper left). You can changed to a school or district login by clicking on the icon. 
• I work with (elementary/middle grade/secondary) students. What does INFOhio have for them? So much! Elementary teachers will love BookFlix, MyCapstoneLibrary, and Highlights. I really suggest 3-5 look at MyCapstoneLibrary for non-fiction books and as a way to engage struggling readers in age appropriate and high interest texts. Middle school teachers also have a wide variety of resources avalible. I would specifically suggest Explora 6-8 for access to a wide variety of texts with Lexile levels. And secondary teachers have great research opportunities! I personally love EBSCO to introduce the use of databases and Points of View Refence Center. 
• Isn't INFOhio just for libraries or research papers? Of course, INFOhio offers great resources for research such as databases and GO! Ask! Achieve! and R4S, but there is so much more. Infact, INFOhio works well for "in-classroom" and "remote" learning when libraires are not accessible. Libraries aren't just for checking out books- they are places people go to LEARN. INFOhio is definitely that. Check out professional development opportunities and OpenSpaces for learning to impact your own teaching!

Great info, Megan. This lesson is a great reminder about the INFOhio un/pw https://infohio.org/campus/learning-pathways/course/introduction-to-infohio/how-to-access-the-infohio-digital-content

Individuals in schools will more than likely be logged in as their schools due to our IP authentication. Most users in Ohio will be logged in as statewide with geoauthentication.

• What is INFOhio? INFOhio is a K-12 digital library full of high-quality, standard-aligned content free of cost to all Ohio students, educators, and parents. 
• What does INFOhio do? INFOhio offers digital content, web tools, and professional developement and support. The available content is of the highest quality to engage students for maximum learning. 
• Who can use INFOhio? All Ohio students, educators, and parents have access to INFOhio free of cost. 
• I can't use INFOhio because I don't know the log in information. INFOhio uses an authenication process to ensure that Ohio residents have access. In our district, INFOhio is a part of every educator and students' learning portal for seamless access with no login information required. 
• I work with (elementary/middle grade/secondary) students. What does INFOhio have for them? K-5 Resources and Tools
• Isn't INFOhio just for libraries or research papers? It's so much more than that! Students have access to information across multiple content areas, ebooks, interactive games and puzzles, as well as creation tools. INFOhio also offers professional development and support to educators and parents. 

INFOhio is a free digital platform that provides access to high quality resources and as well as instructional and technical support for teachers, students and parents within the state of Ohio. INFOhio uses geolocation to log you in, so that usernames and passwords are easily accessible. These INFOhio Teach and Learn sheets provide an overview of the many resources available for each grade band. Although INFOhio was started by librarians, there are resources for everyday classroom use, as well as information for parents and professional development opportunities for teachers.

This will be a great message to get other staff on board with INFOhio!

Before I applied to be an ICoach, I explored the INFOhio site because I was looking for lesson plans as a new school librarian. However, most of the lesson plans were geared to educators. My first exploration was with Bookflix. As I navigated the site, I found lesson plans that went with the books. I made sure that I looked at lesson plans that our school had the physical copy of the book in the library so if I showed Bookflix to students or teachers I would also have a physical copy just in case someone would like to check out the book. I started slow and mentioned it to a third grade teacher. She was excited to know what Bookflix was and after I spent time with her, she tried it on her own but didn't go through INFOhio and said she had trouble accessing the site. I told her that to be an autheticated user she had to go through INFOhio. Basically, through some trials and errors and attending Library Liason meetings through Connect I realized that there was a lot to know about the INFOhio digital resources. I feel more confident and now and am looking forward to sharing INFOhio with the staff at a faculty meeting this year. I would definitely review the Do's page as I pronounce INFOhio as in|fo|hio so I am saying it correctly, instead of free say "available at no cost", remember phrases such as "equitable access, quality resources etc. and explain that INFOhio focusses on digital content, web tools, professional development and support and library software.  I would download the logos and graphics and use links for "seamless access". I think keeping it simple and not overwhelming staff and sharing and demonstrating some of the features that staff would use will help encourage them to try it out on their own. I hope to present the material without overwhelming them and to be approachable if they need help with navigating the INFOhio resources. I have already presented to students in grades K-8 Bookflix, Highlights for Kids, Pebble Go Next, World Book and I did that before receiving this ICoach training. 

Sounds like you have the key messaging down, Kim. Excited for you to start a new school year with new skills and information to share with staff!

Have you ever used, or even explored, INFOhio? You and your students can find it through Classlink, or you can just go to www.infohio.org. INFOhio has many resources that can support your lessons in all subject areas, provide high quality digital reading experiences for your students, and promote inquiry and research in all of of students. There are digital books, encyclopedias, almanacs, maps, videos and images, and databases of 100s of magazines that can be searched for any topic. Best of all, these resources are available at no cost, and students and families can access them from home for free at any time of the day! There are also lessons and activities already created for you to use with your stduents. I have been teaching the students about how to use these resources when they have class with me, so you would just need to support them while they use it, or even have them use it independently. I would love to meet with you and your team while you plan a lesson or unit that you think can be enhanced with digital research and reading.

Great! I love your offer to collaborate!

Here is my elevator speech:

Hmmmmm...Sounds like you are looking for high-quality digital resources to enrich and enliven your lessons.  I know you have been an INFOhio user in the past, but have you seen what all is currently available for you and your students.  If any other entity were bringing us this collection--I would say "Too good to be true" OR "We cannot possibly afford that, so don't even think about it."  But, as you know, INFOhio is free to educators, students, and families.  Can we meet up for 15-20 minutes in the near future so that I can show you some specific resources, meant to enhance your grade and subject?  And--did I hear you say you have begun grad school? That's great! Did you know INFOhio has materials chosen expressly for educators' scholarly needs, too. You might want to access this treasure trove before me can meet.  That's easy enough! You can find lots just exploring their user friendly site:  www.infohio.org.  Then let me know what you think or what has emerged as a concern.  

This is great, Melanie! Thanks for your partnership. :)

INFOhio, a platform for high-quality digital content, web tools, professional development and library software are available at no cost to Ohio schools, parents, teachers and students. Part of Ohio's robust library system, INFOhio provides librarian and teacher vetted resources to Ohio citizens. These include e-books, literacy games, and access to full academic research as well as career-based exploration among others. Many of these programs are premium sources that have been purchased through grants or funded through legislation to improve equitable access to Ohio's youth. 

For the high school where I teach: 9-12 Teach & Learn Flyer

The Financial Literacy Gale E-books is a wonderful resource for our teachers who are meeting the needs of the new state requirements in this area.

Many teachers spend time trying to connect their content to real-world aspects or encourage students to focus their research on areas connected to our Portrait of a Graduate for employment, enlistment, entrepenuership, or further education. This can be enhanced by accessing these INFOhio resources:

Learn 360 Career Videos
Gale STEM & Career e-books

Transparent Language Online is approved through our privacy policy because students do not have to offer any identifiable information, an especially important component for our EL population. The individualized pace and specificity of lessons is so powerful and is my favorite resource to connect parents, teachers and students to through INFOhio.

Core courses require students to research using valid and reliable journals and the databases provided are exemplary through the 9-12 resource buttons. Students are astonished at how easy it is to accesss quality materials through Points of View, Literary Reference Center or Explora.

Today's Science and Science Online are both excellent resources for our many science courses for quality supplemental materials.