Learning Management System

ella

Quick facts

Training

Help Documents

ella

ella is short for electronic learning arena.  It is our collaborative online environment based on a customized deployment of the Sakai Learning Management System. ella provides the Mount Holyoke community with a powerful set of web-based tools for teaching, learning, and sharing all sorts of information.

• Anyone in the Mount Holyoke community - faculty, staff or students – automatically has access to ella and a subset of its tools.  Log in at https://ella.mtholyoke.edu/ and check out the section called “My Workspace” to see the tools available to you. 
• Campus groups including staff committees, official student organizations, and academic departments may request an ella project site to foster collaboration in the community.
• For more quick tips on using ella, see the ella FAQ (pdf)

Quick facts for students

• Many faculty use ella for announcements, syllabi, readings, discussions, and other activities. Your instructor will tell you if s/he will be using this tool.  If your faculty member is using ella, e.g. if you need to get to any E-Reserves, point your web browser to https://ella.mtholyoke.edu/.  Log in with your MHC username and password. PLEASE NOTE: not all courses will have an ella course site activated.  If you are registered for a course in ISIS and you do not see an ella course site after logging in, you may want to ask your professor whether he or she is planning to use ella. 
• IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR FIVE COLLEGE STUDENTS:  you will need to obtain an MHC guest account in order to access ella.  After receiving your MHC account information, give your new MHC username to the faculty member. S/he will then need to add this username to the ella course site so that you have immediate access to course materials.   The five-college registration process is quite slow and may otherwise delay your course access for weeks.  

Quick facts for faculty

• Each semester, an ella course site will be automatically generated for most courses in the current ISIS system.  (Exceptions are cross-listed course titles and independent studies, lab sections or tutorials.)  These sites can be used for holding course materials, if the faculty member desires, or simply as the access point for the E-Reserves.  Students registered for your course will not see your ella course site until you "Publish" it.
• Mount Holyoke students who have registered for your class via ISIS will automatically be added to your ella course site’s roster and automatic roster updates will continue during Add/Drop period.  However, there may be situations where you need to add a participant to your class manually, particularly five-college students and auditors.  See the ella Access for Fall 2008 page for further details.

Training opportunities for faculty

• Preparing your courses for this fall?  First time using ella?  LITS Liaisons encourage faculty and staff to schedule one-on-one consultations; we'll gear our session to meet your learning goals. Please contact your liaison or RIS to get started.
• The Faculty Development Area in the MEWS is located on the first floor of Dwight.  LITS Liaisons are also available weekdays Monday-Friday, 2-4pm to help you with ella and other technology needs.
• E-reserves? If your course has e-reserves, they will be made available to you and your students through ella.  If you have not used ella before and would like a quick tour to make sure you feel comfortable, please contact your LITS Liaison. If you have not used e-reserves for a particular course before, the Digitization Center will work with you to prepare materials and load them in your course site.
• Prefer to explore on your own? Read on for a variety of do-it-yourself guides to ella.

Help documents for self-guided training