Digital Portfolio

Can of worms, anyone??

My Portfolio

I wish I could say my final project is complete, but have realized that for the first time in my life, the final project will NEVER END! Yes, it will always be a work in progress. In this case, however, it is a good thing. My digital portfolio will be updated with each new project I want to showcase, each new technical skill I am able to figure out and each noteworthy event.

In retrospect, putting the information together in GoogleSites was fairly easy (especially with a template) but the difficulty was in deciding what to include, how to organize vast amounts of information and how to link and insert information and projects. Although I could link web-based projects such as Glogster posters, I was not sure how to show my digital stories, Google Earth field trip or accounts that need my password. I'm not sure the "contact Me" page works..seemed to at first but isn't now. I want widgets too! I'm glad right now that I am keeping our "tester" Ning social network site open, but fairly soon I will need to limit access for the safety of our students.

I am thrilled to have an updated and continuously fresh "resume" of sorts with the ability to showcase a digital portfolio, but it needs lots of work to be complete. I'll never be able to stop thinking of ways to improve this webpage, but it is off to a great start.
All in all, a splendid way to end this course!

Self-Evaluation

Let's take time to ponder........

Oh, the joys of evaluating yourself! I decided to use a rubric found on Educational Origami's "Bloom's Digital Taxonomy" website and tweak it to match my situation. The original was an evaluation of the use of Skype, a video conferencing tool.

I needed a slight change as my Livestream live broadcast was slightly different. The viewers could send me a text message, but mostly to ask questions or clarify. There was not a lot of two-way communication. I wanted to also be able to use this rubric for my Jr. High students as they give a live video "how-To" demonstration over our school channel.

I felt that although the original rubric had 3 essential parts: Preparation and Planning, Communication and Reflection, I wanted to also be able to evaluate content: the "actual" of what was presented, so I added a column for that. Within Content I noted whether their assignment was original or copied/quoted and accurate, among other things. I deleted some (unnecessary in my situation) pieces such as "There is some interruption and speaking over people." I also added a few pieces from Educational Origami's Podcasting rubric, such as the quality of production (background noise, etc.)


In the rubric I made for my Livestream broadcast, I scored 14 points out of 16 possible. I gave myself a 3 out of 4 in the Preparation and Planning due to the fact that I did not prepare any questions in advance for the audience and should have thought about having a moderator sitting next to me to read the text box in case a viewer had a question. It was challenging to present and have to keep checking the side for messages.

I gave myself a solid 4 in Content as I met the goals intended. I was original and added new information to the topic. The content was accurate and on topic.

I gave myself a 3 out of 4 in Communication. Although I made sure the sound, background noise and etiquette rules were adhered to, I was nervous and it showed. I also did not look directly into the camera. I tried to speak slowly and clearly, however.

I gave myself a 4 for Reflection. I appreciated the feedback from our instructor and the viewers. I have noted the improvements that need to be made and will make sure I take action on improving next time. I made it a point to review my preparation, goals, questions, process, communication and rules. Oh, and I completed* the rubric!
*Unfortunately, the rubric with my comments would not translate into my GoogleDocs page, so it appears to be more of a generic one, without my lovely decoration and added hilighting.

Becoming a Teacher

I wasn't always an invisible person.







The Longer Story:

In fact, as a child, I was a delight to my first teachers, my parents. Whether we like it or not, parents are our first teachers, after all, for better or worse. Mine were wonderful. My father was an artist, author and Professor of Art and Art Therapy at California State University, Sacramento and a excellent model. I wanted to be a teacher just like him.



I realized an important thing on one particular day when I was eight years old and in third grade. I was sitting in my chair, quiet as always, studiously working, it dawned on me that I was invisible. I needed no help, I demanded no attention. Did the teacher even know my name? Out of the blue, the young teacher burst into tears and said she could not "take it" anymore from Johnny Y. Yes, he'd pushed her over the edge. At that moment, I began to write my list of things she could do to better manage the class, help those who were struggling and inspire us all.





I carried that list and as the years ticked by added more and more to it. I was determined to make a difference and do it right. I graduated from college with a K-8 Multiple Subject teaching credential. I kept finding the hidden students and wanted to help. The "invisible" migrant student lacking English? Sure, I'd learn Spanish and get a credential to teach second language learners and teach English as a Second Language. A bright but "invisible" child who just can't seem to sit still or read, spell or write? Sure, I'll learn about ADD and Dyslexia. I'll become a diagnostician and certified tutor! And the many, many "invisible" students falling through the cracks with no labels? The disenfranchised? The 30% in my town that never even graduate from high school? Well, why not learn about Instructional Media and use what they all know and love (technology) to reach, teach and motivate? Working on that!

Why? So no child will ever be invisible again!


Note:
I had wrongly assumed that since I have an iPhone and MacBook it would make this assignment too easy. As I result, I ignored the cool "apps" and tried to utilize the programs that most kids have already on their basic cell phones. It began well. I took numerous pictures, signed up for Evoca (to record a message then get it placed directly in my blog) and began researching other options. It all quickly went south. The evoca account would not recognize my password. I ended up recording my narrative on my "voice memo" app. That worked well. I sent it to my email. Bubbleshare and Gabcast are both no longer offering services, so those were out for podcasting and slideshows.

I finally broke down and used iMovie (iTunes and eventually tried iDVD). I transferred my voice memo to iMovie, added photos I took with my cell, and made the 1 minute video posted above. But ALAS! It would not play. Not until I finished typing this lengthy explanation did it miraculously work. Blogger would not recognize or download my Mac movies. I could watch my movie on QuickTime, but could not get it translated into that format. I tried everything and spent hours searching "help". I tried sending it to YouTube so I could get a link, but that was a fail. Or maybe it's there and I can't find it?? Why does it work now? I have no idea and probably could never recreate it again. In retrospect I should have completed this project on my daughter's cell using our old HP computer. The good news, however, is that with my students at school we could use our MacBooks in the lab and utilize our cell phones easily. Just no tedious downloading to Blogger!

Interview: Cell Phone Use in Classrooms

"...having great success"
-Colin Schumacher

Isn't that what education is all about?

As I was able to report on Helium, I am in favor of using cellphones in the classroom. I was excited to begin my search for other educators who agree and are having students learn using everyday cellphones. Starting at the beginning, this is how I came to interview two educators.

I began my search in Classroom2.0. There were numerous forums and blog posts about using cell phones in the classroom. I attempted to contact some people through forums both there and at eschoolnews, but received no response. A few days later, while inadvertently reading through Edutopia's Back to School Guide (PDF) I came across the Tappedin.org website. I quickly became a member and was welcomed into the chat room by "DavidW" who seemed to be part hound.

When I mentioned that I was looking for an educator using cellphones in the classroom he directed me to 5 or 6 other sites. Tappedin sent a transcript of our conversation to my email and I was able to follow up on those leads. One was a big hit! Slideshare.net had a presentation by a secondary school math teacher and IT Coach from central Pennsylvania named Jimbo Lamb. He replied instantly to an email I had sent him. He not only uses cell phones in his own math classrooms (plus has a Wikispaces home for his classes) but helps and encourages all teachers to embrace this easily available technology. His slideshow was excellent and helped direct me to his even better blog and eventually his email.

"Misterlamb" had this wonderful story to tell about the challenges he has faced:

"The biggest challenge was getting other teachers on board with the new policy. Particularly, one English teacher didn't think there was any educational benefits of mobile devices in the classroom. She had a great speech to back up her position. While she was giving her speech, I downloaded the entire works of William Shakespeare for free from the iTunes app store and asked her if she would find that helpful. She mentioned they didn't have enough copies of some of the works that are covered, and that would be highly beneficial. She now has her own iPod touch (and almost got an iPhone) and sees the benefits of the devices, even if she doesn't necessarily use them in her classroom."

Mr.Lamb said this about the policy at his school:

"Phones should be silenced and out of sight unless given permission to use them for educational purposes. I am trying to get a policy in that allows for use in the hallways and at lunch, which is essentially the students' time."

He goes on to discuss how the parents have viewed the use of Cell phones in class. I love the last sentence!

"I use them without parental input, but have had positive feedback from parents, noting that they are appreciative that I am helping them get their money's worth out of the devices by helping them be more productive."

The very same day I heard from Mr. Lamb, I received a response from someone I had contacted earlier. A while back I was reading an article from eschoolnews about cell phones in classrooms. Someone who had written a reply to the article was very helpful in this endeavor. Colin Schumacher is a teacher, writer, consultant and doctoral student living in Sydney, Australia.

Here's a description from his website:

Colin is the creator and presenter of Making Meaning OnScreen - professional development workshops in screen production, screen literacy and pedagogy. He has trained over 1,800 K-12 teachers and screen directors in Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, The Maldives, Singapore, Japan and Portugal. Colin is a writer, and director of theatre and screen production.

He has also written a book called "Making Meaning OnScreen" which is a student handbook for making effective videos. He has used cell phones for video production in dance, drama, visual arts, and English at the primary and secondary school level.

He mentioned that in his experience, the principal at the school is the key person for policy decisions. Here's a snippet of what he told me about cell phone policy and use:

"Students can't communicate with SMS or outgoing or incoming phone calls but strictly for video recording, viewing and downloading. It works really well and of course every student has a cellphone video capability and no longer stresses the video equipment needs and availability in schools.

I have to monitor this – but I find the teachers and students are so engaged, it isn't a problem."

He also discussed the challenges he has faced which appear to be of a technical nature.

"There are downloading problems from a cellphone to computer and acceptance by the software again depending on individual schools and their computer capability."

I have to be honest; that last little tidbit did make me nervous! Luckily, our school has a Tech Wizard.

Both educators are interested in keeping up the dialogue and have asked for a response to discuss what we are doing. So far not much, but I am encouraged to take the first step. What great networking! In the end, I was thrilled to have found two successful people, worlds apart, validating the effective use of cell phones in education.