Pencil’s Learning Management System allows you to digitalize your textbooks to create interactive virtual content for your students. To amplify their learning, you can even add PDFs to your Files, Notes, Questions, and Sets which can be brought into your Spaces. Welcome to the future of education!
Adding PDFs to your Files
You can upload PDFs directly to your Pencil Files. This allows you to directly pull any uploaded PDFs from your Pencil Files and add them to a Note or Question. To upload a PDF to your Pencil Files, open Pencil’s Learning Management System, select the course you wish to upload a File to and open your Pencil Files.
You will be displayed all the Files that have been previously uploaded to this course. From there, you are going to click the blue “Upload” button found on the top right-hand side of your screen.
You can then browse your desktop files for the PDF you wish to upload. Once you have located it, open the PDF and click the blue “Next” button.
Your PDF will then automatically be uploaded and you will be able to see it among the list of other documents in your Pencil Files. You can also search for your document by name using the search bar.
To learn more about how to upload files to Pencil, please read the following article: How to Upload Files to Pencil.
PDFs can also be directly opened in your Space once they have been uploaded to your Pencil Files. To learn more about how to upload PDFs to your Space, please read the following article: How to upload PDF files to the whiteboard.
Adding PDFs to your Notes
PDFs can be added to your Notes when creating a Note for a Lesson, or by creating a Note separately. To learn more about how to create Notes, please read the following article: How to Create Notes for Presentations.
To add a PDF to a Note, first, go to Pencil’s Learning Management System, select the course you wish to add content to and open the Notes section.
You will be displayed all the Notes that have been previously created for this course. From there, you are going to click the blue “+ Create” button found on the top right-hand side of your screen.
You will then be displayed three textboxes. The first textbox is the Screenshot Textbox. Anything that is added here will only be visible when you are editing the Note.
The second textbox is the Title Textbox. This textbox supports any text or equations you input.
The third textbox is the Body Textbox. This supports all text, equations, and anything found in the Pencil toolbar, including PDFs.
To insert a PDF, click the Body textbox (the third textbox) and click on the “Add PDF” button.
From there you can search through your computer files or your Pencil Files to find the PDF you want to insert. Once you have located your PDF, click the blue “Insert” button.
Your PDF will then be uploaded to your Note! If you would like to keep your Notes better organized, you can even add your Note to a specific Topic from your Syllabus. Once you're satisfied with all the content within your Note, you can Publish it in Pencil.
You will now be able to see your Note among the list of Notes that have been uploaded to this course. You can also search for your Note by name using the search bar.
Adding PDFs to your Questions
PDFs can be added to Questions giving you more opportunity to be creative in the types of Questions you prepare for your students. To learn more about how to create Questions in Pencil, please read the following article: How to Create Questions in Pencil.
To add a PDF to a Question, first, go to Pencil’s Learning Management System, select the course you wish to add content to and open the Questions section.
You will be displayed a list of all the Questions that have been put together for this course. To create a new Question, click the blue “+ Create” button found on the top right-hand side of your screen.
You will then be asked to create either a multiple-choice Question or an open-ended Question. Once you have chosen the type of Question you would like to make, you will then be displayed 2 textboxes. The first textbox is the Screenshot Textbox. Anything that is added here will only be visible when you are editing the Note.
The second textbox is the Title Textbox. This textbox supports any text or equations you input.
You have the option to add more textboxes, including a third. The third textbox would be the Body Textbox. This supports all text, equations, and anything found in the Pencil toolbar, including PDFs.
To insert a PDF, click the Body textbox (the third textbox) and click on the “Add PDF” button.
From there you can search through your computer files or your Pencil Files to find the PDF you want to insert. Once you have located your PDF, click the blue “Insert” button.
Your PDF will automatically be added to your Question. Once you're satisfied with all the content you have added to your Question, you have the option to keep your Question better organized by adding it to a specific Topic from your Syllabus. You can even add properties to your Question which allow you to add a grade range, level of difficulty, question quality, and the duration of time it should take a student to complete your Question. Once you are satisfied with the details, you can select the green “Publish” button found on the bottom right corner of your page.
You will now be able to see your Question among the list of Questions that have been uploaded to this course. You can also search for your Question by name using the search bar.
Adding PDFs to Sets
You can add PDFs to your Sets by adding your PDFs to your Notes and Questions, then adding those Notes and Questions to your Sets. To learn more about how to add content to your Sets, please read the following article: How to use Sets in Pencil Spaces.
Importing the PDF content into your Space
Once you have created Notes, Questions, or Sets with PDFs embedded in them, they are uploaded to your own digital question library which can be accessed in Pencil Spaces. To access your question library in Spaces, you first need to create a new Space or enter an old one. You can add content from your digital library before or after you start a call.
Once you're in your Space, open your apps found on the left side of your Space.
From there, you can scroll through your apps to find your question library, or you can search for it using the search bar.
Once you have opened your library, select the course you would like to pull content from. Your question library is directly linked to your Learning Management System, so you can find Questions, Notes, or Sets the way you would in your Learning Management System. Once you've found the item you would like to open in your Space, select the blue checkbox beside it. You can select multiple items at once if you would like to open various items in your Space
Once you have checked off your content, click the “Open” button to have all Questions and Notes brought to your Space, each added to their own individual board.
From there your students will be able to directly interact with your content for a more well-rounded learning experience!
If you have any further questions, our support team is always happy to help!