Week 2

ICT - Blog 2

Week 2 – MSPublisher & ePortfolios

MSPublisher

Setting up ePortfolio

Holiday Destination Brochure

(Online learning: Ethical Issues & Copyright; ePortfolios)

· Summary of Class Activity

This weeks workshop focused on MSPublisher. We went through a quick tutorial and then we experimented with the programme by designing a holiday brochure for a country of our choice. I decided upon 'Contented Heart Travels' (they can do you a great deal if you're inclined to travel the Steppes of Central Asia!) Following this, we got down to the more sobering task of setting up our ePortfolios using MSPublisher. We saw some examples of past students’ folios, and set up the skeleton for our own to add to later. The portfolios are used as an assessment tool, and I quite like the idea of setting assessment that is also practically useful for life outside university. I have decided to add photos, some example lessons, and perhaps a link to my WebQuest as part of my folio. We also had a (rather scary) discussion about the interview process for teaching positions – (I’m now rather glad I’m going into CRT work!). The advice was practical and easy to apply: don’t smoke before the interview, have a question prepared, re-ask the question if you’re running into a train-wreck situation or you can't think of anything to say etc. Something that I think would be quite useful, however, would be to have “mock” interviews during the workshop, using questions and processes that are typical of those types of interviews. I have heard that some universities actually do this, and I think it would be of much to students here.

· Readings/Major Issues/Key Concepts

Does technology compromise on quality?

This question was raised in the reading ‘Digital Portfolios: Fact or fashion?’, by Helen Woodward and Phil Nanlohy (posted on LSM, Workshops, Wk 2) . The reading looked at a case-study of university students’ experience in moving from paper-based folios to digital folios. It found that there were many positives in the learning experience through the digital folios, both in learning to use the technology and in the personal learning that took place. Interestingly, the study found that while there was positive feedback from the students, the quality of student reflections within the portfolio was lacking. Again, we are brought back to the concern that the aesthetics of technology may draw attention away from deep critical thought, promoting thought on a superficial level only.

One possible explanation for this is simply that more time and energy must go into learning how to use the new software which detracts from the content of the work. If this is the case, it is of little concern and should be viewed as a long-term pay-off which will yield good results once the technology is mastered and attention can once again be directed to the content rather than the process. However, it may have more serious implications than this. Discussed in the first lecture was the idea that the nature of knowledge itself is changing:

“One of the most persuasive factors is the shrinking half-life of knowledge. The “half-life of knowledge” is the time span from when knowledge is gained to when it becomes obsolete. Half of what is known today was not known 10 years ago. The amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 years and is doubling every 18 months according to the American Society of Training and Documentation (ASTD). To combat the shrinking half-life of knowledge, organizations have been forced to develop new methods of deploying instruction.” (Gonzalez, quoted in George Siemens' 'Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age', 2005)

It is optimistic to think that this exponential increase in the amount of “knowledge” we take on – (or perhaps the more appropriate word is information) will not mean compromising the quality of knowledge we have. Much has been said in retaliation to this constant stream of information, and, in my mind, the discussion is endless. The question for us as teachers is how much we choose to teach to this increase, and how much we try to teach against it. This dilemma has arisen in various ways throughout my time as a pre-service teacher. One obvious example for me is in the children's handwriting, which seems consistently poor across the whole class. My mentor has discussed with me that handwriting is becoming poorer with each new class she teaches. Do we try to counter this by dedicating more time to it at school, or is it an unnecessary, time-wasting battle to save an antiquated skill that is on the way out?

· Application in classroom (past & future)

I have seen MSPublisher used at the school I visited for fieldwork. The classroom teacher was told by a parent that one of aspects of the school they particularly valued was the way they would celebrate their students’ learning by recording the classes through photographs. The teacher would regularly take photos of the children as they worked (or played). The teacher would then copy the photos into Publisher, and she would spend a few minutes with each child throughout the day talking about the photo and writing a caption with them to finish it off. This is a great learning activity in itself – and would be something that older students could be encouraged to run themselves. It is also valuable as a record for the teacher and parents.

I have been very keen to develop an integrated learning activity where students are responsible for writing, editing and printing up their own newspaper or magazine. Publisher would be an indispensable tool for this kind of activity. It means that students will be able to produce work that – as far as the formatting and printing side of things goes – will look up to a high, if not professional, standard. When students have the technology to produce such work, it only adds to their commitment to the project. I have seen the wonderful quality of work that students have produced when making brochures using Publisher, and I can’t wait to use it in my own class for a newspaper/magazine project. See http://www.microsoft.com/education/class_newspaper.aspx for an easy step-by-step guide to creating a class newspaper using MSPublisher.

Digital Portfolios in Classroom.

Judging by the various readings for this week, digital portfolios are becoming popular in primary school classrooms. While I haven’t seen them used in either of my practicum schools, I can’t help but feel that they are not far of, and will only be only one of the many transitions that will come as schools move from paper-based to on-line learning. It makes sense for students to use ePortfolios if they are spending more time in class working on computers, and by linking to these projects they become easy for parents, other students, and teachers to access.

· Other Websites

For extra information on EPortfolios:

http://www.pebblelearning.co.uk/definitions.asp

http://mahara.org/about/eportfolios

http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=369

http://www.aare.edu.au/02pap/woo02363.htm

For extra information on MSPublisher:

MS Publisher ideas:

(kit) http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher-help/create-a-simple-media-kit-with-publisher-HA001056317.aspx

MS Publisher Tutorials

http://desktoppub.about.com/od/publisher/Microsoft_Publisher_Tutorials.htm

How to Create a Brochure in Microsoft Publisher

http://www.ehow.com/how_4524438_make-custom-brochure-microsoft-publisher.html

Create a Class Newspaper with MS Publisher

http://www.microsoft.com/education/class_newspaper.aspx

Readings

Digital Portfolios: Fact or Fiction, by Helen Woodward and Phil Nanlohy (on LMS, Workshop, Wk 2) http://www.aare.edu.au/02pap/woo02363.htm

Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, George Siemens, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2005: http://itdl.org/journal/jan_05/article01.htm

Journal Articles (developing a class newspaper)

Link to journal article ‘Read All about It! A Classroom Newspaper Integrates the Curriculum’ by L. Sahn and A. Reichel, published in Young Children http://www.naeyc.org/yc/pastissues

(YC Young Children [1538-6619] Sahn yr:2008 vol:63 iss:2 pg:12 -18)

Link to journal article ‘How Can I as a Teacher Encourage My Students to Become a Community of Writers?’ by Maureen McCarty Murray, published in The Ontario Action Researcher http://www.nipissingu.ca/oar/index.htm

(Ontario Action Researcher; v9 n1 article 3 2006)

And EPortfolio reference list taken from Latrobe lecture series for Technology Across the Curriculum – by Greg Powell, 2/8/10.

References

Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) http://ali.apple.com/acot2/ Accessed 19th July

2010

Barrett, H.C. (2000). Creating Your Own Electronic Portfolio: using off-the-shelf

software to showcase your own or student work: Learning and Leading with Technology.

27, 14:21

eLearning Planning Guide (2009). DE&T Victoria

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/management/elearningsupport.htm Accessed 10th July

2010

Garrison, D.R., & Anderson, T. (2003). E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Framework

for Research and Practice. RoutledgeFalmer

Lane, C. (2007). The Power of E: Using e-Portfolios to Build Online Presentation Skills.

Innovate: Journal of Online Education. 3 (3). Online at:

http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=369 Accessed 10th March

2009

Roblyer, M.D. (2002). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. Merrill

Prentice-Hall

Burke, K., Fogarty, R. and Belgrad, S. (2002). The Portfolio Connection. Allyn & Bacon

· Hints

Creating an EPortfolio (In publisher) - layout ideas

Resume

Philo of education
Awards & achievements
Reflections & discussion Entries
Applications of Theories to Classroom Experiences
Prac example lessons
Referees
Teaching References
------------------- OR

About me

Philosophy
Professional Development
Achievements
Resources
Reflections

Classroom set-up

Referees
Teaching References