e-Portfolios and PLEs

Very interesting videos and examples for this topic. I think there are two main ways that e-portfolios and PLEs can best be leveraged for learning. One is self reflection by the student and the second is evaluation and reflection with an instructor/coach/parent/guide. The ability to have multiple types of examples of work will be invaluable.
With younger students, at least from my experience, this process will need to be carefully guided. I tried to do regular (paper) portfolios when teaching primary students. I had them select various examples through the school year to keep in their portfolios – art pieces, writing, a favorite math assignment – and then would sit with the student to review them. I discovered it was best to do short term reflections with young students, rather than over time, as their recollections are minimal. But the conversation with the student was always the most important part of the process. Asking a student to talk about the change in their work even over a period of a month or so; comparing two pieces of work; showing those examples at parent conferences; having the students share their own portfolios with their parents – there was value in that process for the students’ learning about themselves. For older students the ability to track their own progress as they work through a set of skills, or create or complete a project would seem to provide important information to them on how they learn and work. The evaluation and reflection with instructor and student when the time is truly invested to improve the student’s learning seems a critical component that should impact student learning in a significant and positive way.

eLearning Module

This project is very exciting. It is the first step for me in providing e-Learning support for our teachers (at least that is my plan!).
Guiding Question:
How can unobtrusive, just-in-time technology support be provided to teachers in the classrooms to support technology integration into instruction and student learning?
Goals:
Short Range: Using new resources make an easily accessible, on-line, interactive HelpDesk for all staff to support classroom integration with ActivInspire
Mid-Range: Evaluate usage and assess value; Expand HelpDesks as appropriate and where resources allow
Long-Range: Add on-line Technology Integration classes, discussions, to HelpDesks

Objective:
To give teachers an easy resource to consult and a place to post new questions to support their efforts to integrate Technology seamlessly into instruction and student learning activities.
I work for a public school district so our teachers serve preK through 12 grade students, including all the core content those classes require, plus all of the electives in the secondary, and support services such as counselors, OT, PT, etc. Our overall target with technology is to move classrooms to the OSPI Tier 3 of Technology Integration in the Classroom so that students are using technology on a daily basis to support and expand their learning. Moving classrooms in that direction requires that teachers move in that direction too.
Technology as an end in itself has some value for teacher productivity but it is especially important in teacher instruction. To facilitate the use of tools now in many of our classrooms – particularly the ACTIVboard - classes are offered centrally and also on-site in the schools. But at this time there is nothing to help the teacher who is stuck during his/her planning time, after school, or any other time the teacher may be working with the software in preparing instruction or student learning activities.
To ‘hook’ teachers on e-Learning my plan is to start with a first module on the ActivInspire software which is the software which runs the ACTIVboard.
Module #1:
This first module will be created on social media software we are calling Connect. The outline pictured at the top of this document shows the site itself with an graphic of the initial videos to be included in the site.
The HelpDesk will include:
Blog: Introduction to purpose of the site, invitation to review the current Help files on the basic ActivInspire tools, updates about Promethean Planet, new drivers, etc.
Forums: Questions from teachers on how-to’s not currently in the Help files, discussions on how to integrate flipcharts into specific curriculum
Media Galleries: Separate galleries of Help files created using Captivate posted so teachers can select the specific area, click on the ‘how-to’ file to help them solve the problem they have run into while working.
Wiki pages: I am not quite sure how these will be utilized yet. I anticipate at this point that they will be instructions on registering ActivVotes or ActivExpressions as those are not suited to a quick video ‘how-to’.
Further Modules
Much will depend on the response to the first module. We have already successful ly run book studies using this system. Interaction from teachers in the book studies was fairly minimal so was not a deterrent to those uncomfortable with the technology.
From the basic HelpDesk e-Learnings my plan would be to expand to truly curriculum based e-Learning classes such as:
Technology Integration into the Classroom – Elementary with Subgroups: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or even subject specific at primary and intermediate
Technology Integration into the Classroom – Middle School with Subgroups: subject specific
Technology Integration into the Classroom – High School with Subgroups: department and subject specific
Until this class we were going to go with Moodle which is Linux based. However after the assignment comparing two CMS systems for this class I referred Sakai to my two web staff. After reviewing Sakai they are seriously considering it instead of Moodle – despite the more complex initial installation and support - as it is Windows based.

Social Media

Loved the Clay Shirky video. His comment about ‘We’re all in this together’ is so accurate. In general terms civilization has moved from insolated individuals and small groups to facilitated access by anyone to anyone else on the globe. It is wonderfully exciting. Any person with access can produce content, interact with another person clear across the world and exchange ideas, share information, collaborate with others. Shirky talkes about the Internet providing native support for groups and individuals at the same time which is world changing. One of the best examples of the ‘revolution’ was the China earthquake.

We as participants in the global community no longer have barriers of time or area or space with which to contend. Facebook and other sites enable us a individuals to connect with others with whom we’ve lost track, ‘meet’ other people, contact groups with shared interests. The same access of course applies to anyone who is a learner, including us as adults. Information shallow and deep, reliable and questionable is availble any time. We can be learners 24/7 and interact with others who are learning when we are.

One interesting side note is the potential issues for entities, public and private of inappropriate content being posted, who is responsible for checking it, and who has access to remove it. Currently our district is constructing social media policy as we have adopted social media type software for classroom websites. Last week I received an e-mail from the district lawyers about not allowing staff to use third party software/sites. My response was that we are WAAAYYY past that time and writing policy forbidding actions that we cannot possibly control or enforce is not good practice. Not being China, we cannot control what staff do on the Internet in their off time, or what they access at school outside the parameters of what we filter. That genie is long out of the bottle.