BELOW IS MY FIRST EMBEDDED POWERPOINT VIDEO THAT I DID ALL BY MYSELF! :)

For my Wicked Problem Project I chose to focus on our school problem of paper portfolios. I see this as a need and an opportunity for our school to move ahead.

The following is a list of several problems with our paper portfolios.

• First each child in each class has two portfolios.
• There is a lot of work involved in keeping these up-to-date.
  
• There are also a lot of papers for them to get hole-punched, organized, and put into their binder.
• One of the portfolios goes with the children from JK through 5^th grade. We are finding that they are too small, even though we have specific agreements on how many pieces of work can go into each grade’s section. We are looking at buying bigger binders to house these. This will result in more bookcase space required in each classroom.
• Another problem with them being so full is that many times the papers fall out because a child drops it or doesn’t close it properly. It takes awhile to put back work from a number of school years
• Some of the children have a hard time opening and closing the binders…especially when they start to get full.
• Another problem with these static portfolios involves the work the children are doing with technology. Right now I am making sure each of the projects the children have completed throughout the year in their computer file are printed and placed into their paper portfolios. This is not easy and is a lot of work! The more I think about it, the more I wonder why we are doing this.
  
• Paper portfolios are also limited…they only give one copy of the student’s work.
  
• As we think about the environment and excessive use of paper and ink. We are an Emerald Green School, so we are very concerned about the environment and our carbon footprints. Our school works hard to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Along with this we really try to use the least amount of paper possible. Printing each child’s computer work for their portfolios does not go along with our green efforts. Also, using all that ink is expensive.

My school had discussed using ePortfolios a few years ago, but it never got off the ground due to lack of teacher support. I think now is the time for us to check these out further!

My solution to the problem is ePortfolios!

The technology I've chosen is to incorporate e-Portfolios into my class and eventually the entire school. The technology will ease the content problem, making it more accessible for the students by teaching them to organize their work on the computer and to use blogging for reflections. My technology coordinator and I will model using ePortfolios and then we will be guides on the side.

Helen Barrett is an assistant professor and educational technology coordinator for the School of Education at the University of Alaska and is very knowledgeable about ePortfolios. She said, "The power of a digital portfolio is that it allows different access to different artifacts. The user can modify the contents of the digital portfolio to meet specific goals. For example, a student can link a piece of work to a statement describing a particular curriculum standard and to an explanation of why the piece of work meets that standard. That reflection on the work turns the item into evidence that the standard has been met.

“Barrett also points out that a paper portfolio is static and goes further by saying " a paper portfolio usually represents the only copy of portfolio content. When the portfolio is in digital format, students can easily duplicate and transport it." I would like to say Good-bye to the cost of printing so many papers and using paper portfolios.

I found a great video on You Tube that shows an elementary school using ePortfolios. Most of the ePortfolios are being used in High School and College, so when I discovered this, I thought it was perfect. It’s a short video, but very good. They even had the students and parents talking about ePortfolios. The link to this video is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOW0AbDcLWc&feature=youtu.be
My colleagues really enjoyed watching it!

During my presentation we discussed how there are 3 types of portfolios, the working portfolio which we already have on our computers, and the display and assessment portfolios. We would integrate these two portfolios onto their ePortfolio.

My tech coordinator and I came up with the idea to have a portfolio site with each class having their own page. Through the class page, each child would have their own sub-page. Then they will be able to keep their documents and reflections on their own page. We may still do it this way for the younger children. For my class we decided to try each child having their own site with different pages for them to put their work, blogs, photos, etc. We set this up through Google Sites, so each child needed to have their own email through school. I was a little worried about this with 3^rd graders, but I have been proven wrong! We did sit down with them and explain how to use it and be responsible with it. It also is secured. The 3^rd graders absolutely love having a school e-mail. They have even gotten into the routine over the past few weeks of e-mailing their spelling homework to me! I’m enjoying it and so are they!

As Helen Barrett says, an ePortfolio allows access to different artifacts. They will be able to put all their work into their portfolio. They will not only be using computers to research and create using all kinds of different tools, but also to organize and reflect. The children will be learning how to save, capture, and eventually scan work from across all content areas into their e-Portfolios. This will be an authentic way for them to use computers. It will be an area of organizational growth from where they are now.

The presentation went even better than I had hoped with the teachers. They are excited about using e-Portfolios next year. Many of them had the same feelings I did about too much paper being used, binders getting too full, not being able to share the work the children do on the computer authentically, and only having one copy to share which is always kept at school. Our first grade teacher even got up after my presentation and shared a site she had made for her class that showcased some of the work her class had done. She was very excited about using e-Portfolios. In fact I didn't get any negative comments at all!

My one bump in the road was the survey. I made the survey without any problems. I found it extremely easy. However, when I sent it to everyone, it ended up in their SPAM. Dave, our computer technology coordinator, thinks it was because I sent it from my school e-mail through Survey Monkey to other school e-mails. He thinks the SPAM detector thought someone was trying to get through. So, because of that and having Good Friday off, I didn't get as many responses as I would have liked. As you can see, I only got 5. Luckily I got the verbal response from the meeting, and I was very excited to see NO one marked Not Yet! The survey showed they were also open-minded enough to try putting a variety of student's work into the ePortfolios.

The more children use computers in an authentic way to get something done, the more they will learn, and the more knowledge and skills will remain with them. Showing growth during the year and over the years is a state and national standard. The students and parents will be able to view this growth on a regular basis by visiting the school site or by having their child copy their e-Portfolio onto a zip drive and bring it home. I believe parents don't get the full impact of what we are doing at school until they actually see it...especially with computers. This will give them a wealth of information. I am very excited for this new opportunity of change at our school!

• Formative: Did the project get implemented as planned? Yes! Actually, I got farther than I thought I would. We actually got my class started on creating their ePortfolio and I didn't think this would be ready until next year.
  
• Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice Yes! The teachers are excited, my tech. coordinator, Dave, is excited, the children are excited...and we think we've figured out a way for it to work, and we've gotten it started!
  
• How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here? This worked so well, I would do it this way again!
  
• What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about? I think one lesson is to take the time to do the research and know what you're talking about, and then make a presentation, hopefully with some proof or ideas that what you're proposing will actually work and the benefits of it. Also, it helps if they can see the problem and agree with you that it is a problem...much easier to want to fix it.
  
• In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do If there is a need, I would do it again! I would probably try the presentation in Prezi.
  

Group Leadership Project

Group 1 Movie - click here


What tool did your group use to deliver the PD tutorial? Why?
What did you learn during the development process of the final product?
What would you do differently if you had to develop a similar product again?

Our group used Google Presentation for our slides and comments. One group member even did his in Power Point and downloaded it into Google Presentation. He said this was very easy. We picked Google Presentation because it was very simple to use and it worked well for us to use as a group and edit, both individually and in real time. We used Audacity to record our parts of the video. I think Audacity is also very easy and straightforward to use. We used iMovie to put it all together which worked very well, but only one of us had a Mac to do this. Getting the voice recordings timed just right was a little bit of work, but not too bad. The timing was really good actually, until I loaded it into my blog. When I went to look at it, the timing is all messed up. :( I think it is fixed now. :)
I learned a number of things through this process. One was that it was extremely difficult for us to get together and discuss things. We had some technical difficulties, all had very busy schedules, and on top of that we had a huge time difference to work with. I did use Doodle a couple of times for us to set up a time to meet, and this tool proved to be VERY HELPFUL! I will definitely use this again! We did have some difficulties having two group members using Windows and one using a Mac. When we met in real time, the Mac user could not always do things we could, for example share his screen. Next time I would like to try something other than Google Presentation. I would use something that allowed us to put action in our slides. I searched all through Google Presentation, but I could not find a way to transition between slides or have movement on a slide. This was very disappointing to me. I'd like to try using Power Point and then downloading it into Google Presentation to see how this works. I am wondering if the transitions and movement would come with it. The one thing I learned during this project, was about all the Apps Google has. I think it is an important thing to keep updated on because Google keeps adding to them! :)

Personal Learning Plan

Professional Learning Plan on Prezi

Here is my Professional Learning Plan. I had a lot of fun making it on Prezi and learned much more about using it. Just click the arrow through the presentation. :) Enjoy!

I do want to add here that I had such a great experience at school with Prezi. After we had done the lab where I played around with it and made a simple presentation for my class, I was meeting with a group of children I am mentoring. They are working on an exhibition project that they will present to the entire school community. They are 5th and 6th graders. We were discussing ways they could present information, and I showed one of the 6th graders my Prezi presentation. She loved it! She went home and used it that very night to make a presentation she was working on for her social studies class. To me that shows authentic learning and EXCITEMENT! She also made a very nice Prezi for our group's table at our Open House today. Students just take off with technology! :)

As I said in my Prezi above, when I keep learning about different tools to use, and different things that can be done with technology, the children will have more authentic learning and I will continue to be an effective teacher!












"Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com"

Mobile Learning

• What tools did you try?

I used Poll Everywhere which I really liked. Although it was a little difficult to have the kids use it at school because they all, as 3rd graders, have the same sign in. So they each had to be on a different computer to use it. It worked, its just that we had to go to the lab rather than use the computers in our room. My Poll Everywhere is here on my blog page.

I joined Classroom 2.0 and asked a question.
I think there are many good discussions on Classroom 2.0. However, I just have a difficult time with the concept of younger kids, like my 3rd graders using cell phones in the classroom. First of all, most of them don't have one. I read someone's message where their school was buying them for classes. I sure don't see that happening at my school.

Then I checked out podcasts. I really want to check these out more. Most of the podcasts I listened too were way too advanced for 3rd graders unless you paid for them. I will have to check around some more and see if I can find some appropriate ones for younger children.

Then I went and looked at flip cameras. I have a flip camera, which I use to record different things in the classroom. I never thought about having the kids use them! We do interviews of different people throughout the year and they could certainly video them with the flip camera. I will definitely be doing this in the future.

Flash drives are something I could definitely use. I think this is a great way to show parents what we are doing at school, plus the children could work on things they didn't finish at school. They can also be used to showcase 3-Portfolios. I wish I would have thought of using these sooner!

• What ways are you thinking about integrating mobile technology into YOUR classroom? As I said above, I think I will try using flash drives and my flip camera for sure. I will check out more podcasts to see what I can find in this area. I will also continue to look at Classroom 2.0.
  
• What challenges (or inspirations) do you foresee? I worry that the kids may lose the flash drives! Any suggestions for ways to keep them safe?
  I think it will be a challenge to find appropriate free podcasts, but I'm sure they are out there!
  

PART B - Storyboard and Script

Our group has gotten together a few times. Most recent was this morning and we used Adobe Connect. It worked really well! Since our last recording session didn't work, here is the link to our recording session this morning.
http://remc.adobeconnect.com/p37126398/

It just truly amazes me how I could be sharing my screen and making changes to the storyboard as we talked. When I take the time to stop and think about how Reaz is in Bangladesh and we are collaborating together on a project, it shows me how global our world is becoming and how different our world will be for the children we are teaching.

That being said, we have had our difficulties, but we are overcoming them! :)
One tool that has really helped us is using Doodle to find times when we can meet. It is a great concept and I find it very easy to use. I also like how you get an e-mail message each time someone has replied on it. There is also a place at the bottom where you can make comments. I know I will use this again in the future for school as well as for personal use.

We actually started out thinking we would be doing this Group Leadership Project on Google Apps. We soon discovered how big Google Apps was, and there was no way to share this with you in any depth. Google Apps is very big, and if you haven't explored all of the tools it has lately, please take the time and go do that. There is a place just for educators! Anyway, we had to pick on part of Google Apps so we chose Google Docs.

We broke it up between us. Tom looked into Google Forms, Reaz did Google Presentation, and I did Google Drawing. We used Google Presentation to make our storyboard and script. It was very easy to use. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles that Power Point has, but it has just enough. Reaz actually did his on Power Point and then merged it into Google Presentation. Tom and I used Google Presentation the way it was.
Here is the link to our storyboard.

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AUDTy9j6FhYdZGR6cjlnZ2ZfMWZ3eDR2ZmNo&hl=en&authkey=COSg2-gD


Now the plan is that Tom and I are going to record our notes using Audacity and send it to Reaz. Reaz is going to use our storyboard and recordings and make an iMovie. Reaz will be updating us with links as he is putting it together. We are also meeting again on Wednesday evening using Adobe Connect again to make sure everything is set.

PART D - Findings and Implications

I am very excited with the results of my WPP from this past week.

First of all, the 3rd graders each got their own school e-mail address. I wasn't sure how this would work, but it is actually working very well! They are absolutely loving it! We went all through it with them and had them practice with it. That night I got a question from one student e-mailed to me, spelling words from another student, and the next day a student e-mailed me that they were sick. Talk about authentic learning - wow!

Then we shared with them the first page of their e-Portfolio. Here is a screen shot from one of my students.

This week they will be doing more with the site. I am planning to have them do the Learner Profile and Attitude pages next.

I showed the Power Point I made to our faculty this past Wednesday. It went even better than I had hoped. Teachers are excited about using e-Portfolios next year. Many of them had the same feelings I did about too much paper being used, binders getting too full, not being able to share the work the children do on the computer authentically, and only having one copy to share which is always kept at school. Our first grade teacher even got up after my presentation and shared a site she had made for her class that showcased some of the work her class had done. She was very excited about using e-Portfolios. In fact I didn't get any negative comments at all!
My one bump in the road was the survey. I made the survey without any problems. I found it extremely easy. However, when I sent it to everyone, it ended up in their SPAM. Dave, our computer technology coordinator, thinks it was because I sent it from my school e-mail through Survey Monkey to other school e-mails. He thinks the SPAM detector thought someone was trying to get through. So, because of that and having Good Friday off, I didn't get as many responses as I would have liked. I will probably get more next week, I hope. :) Below is the link to my survey.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_Responses.aspx?sm=B64pb3%2fNAyjQfK94ao3JRA0PmjQy4XkfCDj%2f0mGtguQ%3d

So far,

• 80% gained more knowledge about e-Portfolios from my presentation
• 100% said they are currently doing things that can be transferred over to an e-Portfolio
• 60% said they would absolutely want to use e-Portfolios next year, 20% a definite possibility, and 20% maybe
• They are willing to put a variety of work into the e-Portfolios, i.e. photos, links, computer work, scanned work, reflections, and videos
• Answering the questions "Have you done anything with Google Sites before?" 40% said yes, 40% no, and 20% a little
• 20% would feel comfortable using the e-Portfolios, 60% would like to play around with it, and 20% would like a lesson in using it

I think the thing that surprised me the most was the percentage that hadn't used Google Sites before. I am also happy that such a high percentage gained more knowledge from my presentation. Having e-Portfolios at our school next year is going to be very do-able. We've already gotten the main template set-up to start working from. Now it will be a matter of having my kids use it, getting all the "bugs" out, and teaching the rest of the teachers how to use it.

Now to the official questions for WPP Part D.
Formative: Did the project get implemented as planned?
Yes. There were two "bumps in the road" as I've explained in my blogs. One being that the children needed to have e-mail addresses. This took us a bit longer to do and teach, but ultimately it was a great success. The other being the problems I had with Survey Monkey getting e-mailed to my faculty. Next time I do a faculty survey, which I know I will, I will e-mail it from my other e-mail address so that doesn't happen again.
Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice
Again, yes! My problem was using the static paper portfolio binders. I felt like they were too much work, took a lot of effort for the children to organize them and punch holes in their papers, and the binders weren't big enough. Plus we were also running out of space as each class has two different portfolios in them. The faculty loves this idea, and I am very excited and happy about it! We still need to figure out final details and agreements for using them next year, but the biggest hurdle has been overcome.
How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?
I think the only thing I would do differently would be to play around with new tools that I will be using and try them out in exactly the way I want to use it. I had used Survey Monkey when we were exploring surveys with this class, but I wish I would have actually created a simple survey ahead of time and e-mailed it to my tech coordinator to make sure it worked. As I said above, I'm sure I will get more responses, but something that was supposed to be very simple turned into a little bit of a pain.
What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?
I think I have a few lessons.
1. As I said above, make sure and use any new tool in the exact way before the presentation.
2. e-Portfolios are the wave of the future. They are already being used in higher education and high schools. I believe the trend is going down the education ladder to elementary schools. There are some elementary schools using them now, not many, but some. I do believe we will be using these as documentation to see a child's growth from elementary on up.
3. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE CHILDREN! Here we thought third graders might have problems with school e-mail and using e-Portfolios. I know it has only been a week, but I do not see that at all. They are such quick learners with technology and they absolutely love it!
In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?
I think the next time I get an idea about a change for the school regarding technology, I need to go for it! It shouldn't take me taking a graduate class for me to do something like this. I think I would do it the same way with maybe a change in presentation. I think, now that I have used Prezi, I would use that, or even make a video. Power Point worked very well for my presentation, but next time I can "change it up" and use something different. I also think next time I will use Google for my survey. I really think it is just as easy to use as Survey Monkey.