After the conference with my District Site Mentor, I had to sit back and reflect on his comments and suggestions. There were three items that seemed to be the main points: appropriate use of resources, wording and focus of the inquiry, and the celebration at the end of the research.
The first dilemma regards the use of appropriate online resources. We need to find a balance between the giving the students real world experience using the Web 2.0 tools available on the Internet and following the guidelines of the district by using the in-house resources that "simulate" the experience.
On one hand, working with the tools on the Internet, the students would be able to work in the networking environment that they will probably be expected to use when they move on to college. It also allows them to continue to create and maintain their ePortfolios once they leave the district. The drawback of using the Internet based tools is there is no guarantee the student data and information is protected. Many of the sites do allow you to mark your "site" or collection of information as private. This permits the students to control who can see and access their information; however, though the data may be protected from the front end, the students have no control on how the host site uses their information.
On the other hand, the district is concerned about the safety and privacy of the students data. By using the in-house resources, the district has control over who can see and access the data. The students can access their data and that of their peers from both school and home. Using the district resources, students will not be able to maintain their ePortfolios once they graduate. They will be able to burn the data onto a CD/DVD; however, it then becomes a stagnant portfolio with little chance of maintenance. The main tool, Moodle environment, is based on the entire class contributing to forums, blogs and activities. These would have to be separated out from the "class" and saved independently. After a conversation today, with the network systems manager, we will work together to see if there is an option for students to save their work in a portfolio like environment on the Moodle.
In my head there is a fight going on, do we disregard the District's guidelines and go on-line with publicly available Web 2.0 tools for this research or play it very safe and stay in-house with limited access to Web 2.0 tools, mainly to create products to be posted in-house (Wordle, Animoto, etc.). How do we find a balance between the two? Any thoughts or suggestions?
The first dilemma regards the use of appropriate online resources. We need to find a balance between the giving the students real world experience using the Web 2.0 tools available on the Internet and following the guidelines of the district by using the in-house resources that "simulate" the experience.
On one hand, working with the tools on the Internet, the students would be able to work in the networking environment that they will probably be expected to use when they move on to college. It also allows them to continue to create and maintain their ePortfolios once they leave the district. The drawback of using the Internet based tools is there is no guarantee the student data and information is protected. Many of the sites do allow you to mark your "site" or collection of information as private. This permits the students to control who can see and access their information; however, though the data may be protected from the front end, the students have no control on how the host site uses their information.
On the other hand, the district is concerned about the safety and privacy of the students data. By using the in-house resources, the district has control over who can see and access the data. The students can access their data and that of their peers from both school and home. Using the district resources, students will not be able to maintain their ePortfolios once they graduate. They will be able to burn the data onto a CD/DVD; however, it then becomes a stagnant portfolio with little chance of maintenance. The main tool, Moodle environment, is based on the entire class contributing to forums, blogs and activities. These would have to be separated out from the "class" and saved independently. After a conversation today, with the network systems manager, we will work together to see if there is an option for students to save their work in a portfolio like environment on the Moodle.
In my head there is a fight going on, do we disregard the District's guidelines and go on-line with publicly available Web 2.0 tools for this research or play it very safe and stay in-house with limited access to Web 2.0 tools, mainly to create products to be posted in-house (Wordle, Animoto, etc.). How do we find a balance between the two? Any thoughts or suggestions?
The next dilemma has to do with the wording of my inquiry. Currently, How can the inclusion of ePortfolios in advanced English IV classes improve the students’ achievement on the AP and Dual Credit Exams? My mentor believed that the stated focus is more of a statement of measurement rather than outcome. He felt that students understanding about how they learned should be the main focus of the inquiry. After working on several different wordings, I came up with the follow options:
- In what way can including ePortfolios, within the AP English IV classes, build (help develop?) students’ life long learning skills resulting in improved student success?
- How can ePortfolios help develop students’ life long learning skills and improve student success?
The process of developing ePortfolios, according to Helen Barrett (2000), has many stages: defining the portfolio context and goals, working portfolio, reflective portfolio, collection, selection, reflection, connected portfolio and presentation My mentor’s final suggestion was to have a gathering at the end of the project with administrators, parents, and students to share the work they had done. It also should be a celebration of the students’ learning and contribution to the research. As we go through the research project we will need to make a decision on when to hold this celebration as the month of May for Seniors is filled with AP testing and many celebrations of their accomplishments. Would this be just one more celebration to attend or a meaningful gathering? How would this celebration look like to make an impression on the students of what an accomplishment they have completed.
Decisions, decisions, decisions. It's time to make them and get to go to work. :-)
Barrett, H. C. (2000). Create your own electronic portfolio: using off-the-shelf software to showcase your own or student work. Learning & Leading with Technology. Retrieved on 11/30/2010. Retrieved from http://electronicportfolios.com/portfolios/iste2k.html.
Decisions, decisions, decisions. It's time to make them and get to go to work. :-)
Barrett, H. C. (2000). Create your own electronic portfolio: using off-the-shelf software to showcase your own or student work. Learning & Leading with Technology. Retrieved on 11/30/2010. Retrieved from http://electronicportfolios.com/portfolios/iste2k.html.
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