English Raven

Rising above the bar of mediocrity with competency-based assessment

 

 

 

Evaluating students' work or activities can be a challenge, especially when--like me--you've never really liked summative assessment scales like A-F or 0-100%.

 

Last year, for the first time, I experienced an evaluation system that was remarkably simple compared to anything I had come across or used before. Student performance was either S (Satisfactory), NS (Non-Satisfactory) or NYS (Not Yet Satisfactory).

 

This scale, based around the central idea of whether elements or performance indicators had been met or not as part of general competence, was really quick and easy to apply.

 

Too easy.

Black and white, with no other colours whatsoever when it came to illuminating student performance.

 

Of course, formative assessment can help to add a lot more colour to the evaluation experience, but it tends to become rather like a weak watermark when the overall summative assessment process is simply heaven or hell.

 

Here is a typical exchange from my teaching experiences last year:

 

S: "So, get my final draft for that essay? Did I pass?"

T: "Yes, I've got it. It's not too bad, actually, but I think you could have supported your arguments with some more convincing real-world examples."

S: "Right... But does it pass?"

T: "Well, yes, technically--but I know you could probably improve it a lot by--"

S: "But it's a pass, right?"

T: "Erm... yeeeeees, but--"

S: "Great! Too easy."

 

 

Too easy indeed.

 

This is the real risk with simple black-and-white competency-based assessment. It creates a highly visible bar set perilously close to mediocre and erodes what I think is fundamental to any educational and evaluative process: creating incentives and illustrating clear pathways for improvement in one's performance.

 

As my boss recently quoted some famous educator as saying: "Education is 90% encouragement." When your assessment system only encourages a pass, 90% of the time that is the goal you're likely to foster in your students.

 

If I had to evaluate this sort of system using its own grading criteria, I would have to award it an NYS. Not yet satisfactory.

 

So I started a bit of an experiment this year by basically expanding on the S/Satisfactory element in the equation. Instead of S/N, this year I am using:

 

S1 = Satisfactory/Excellent (80-100%)

S2 = Satisfactory/Good (65-79%)

S3 = Satisfactory/Pass (50-64%)

N = Not (yet) Satisfactory (< 50%)

 

 

The Excellent/Good/Pass and 1/2/3 terms are important for adding some texture to the overall 'satisfactory' grade. You can pass something, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was "good", and two students can get a satisfactory result but at different levels or layers. The percentages included in the mix are there to create an alternative frame of reference which can also translate numerical results (from things like online reading activities or quizzes) into the simple S1-3/N scale.

 

Having applied and explained the scale to students, after three weeks' study I'm now in a position to sit back and reflect on what impact (if any) the different evaluation process has had.

 

In short, it's worked miracles.

 

The majority of students are now specifically aiming for an S1, not an "S". They are asking questions, when awarded an S2, about what they need to do to raise their work to an S1. Some students are still satisified/relieved with an S3, but they are also asking questions. Across outcome categories (which generate an average based on a group of related activities) in their gradebooks, students are noticing an average of S2 or S3 and seeing that it was on account of one or two poor performances across the category alongside some S1 assessments. This creates a basis for clear comparison between two similar tasks with different evaluations. Again, some students are asking if they can re-do the poorer work to help kick the overall category outcome up to an S1. 

 

Once I have students coming up with questions, I have the positive rhythm I need with learners to create forward movement. Even aspiration.

 

And I'll be prefectly honest, there are some students who are still content with S3 and may even be limiting their efforts to get to that bare/mediocre pass level. But I somehow feel more comfortable knowing that the grading system is rewarding those who try to do better and doesn't just lump them in a colourless 'heaven'/satisfactory category with anyone perfectly happy with a mediocre performance.

 

For those still happy with or specifically aiming at the bare pass end of the scale, I think special factors are at play. At least now I can see those performances and students more consistently and really think about what we need to try in order to transform the way they see their education.

 

'We' is an important word in that equation. I have to be very careful about identifying when satisfaction with mediocrity isn't facilitated by my instructional design, classroom interactions or one-on-one relationships with particular students.

 

In other words: If my teaching and teaching material is only realistically geared towards an S3 result (using my own assessment scale), then I deserve what I get from the students and they don't get what they deserve from me.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Finding, grading and responding to uploaded assignments

 

You've set your assignment on the course page as an upload option (for tips and demonstrations on how to do this, click here), students have completed and uploaded them... so what do you do now?

 

This tutorial shows two different ways to get to the submitted assignments and a couple of options for grading and responding to them.

 

 

 

 

(To get a larger and higher resolution version of this screencast, click on the YouTube link at the bottom of the video and select one of the larger viewing modes).

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Exploring VCAL Writing for Self Expression

 

 

 

Of all the great things we experience as teachers, I think trying out new things and stumbling upon new revelations about what works and what doesn't would have to be right up there. In my field (literacy) with my learners ('disengaged' students aged 16-18 preparing for work in the 'hard trades' area), the challenges can be steep and the rewards quite remarkable.

 

Three weeks into a new term in a new year, I've really been enjoying VCAL Senior Literacy. The curriculum I inherited part way through the second term last year (when I commenced) ticked all of the boxes when it comes to overall VCAL cross-curricular integration, but it had been built from a teaching and teaching team perspective with very little input from (or scope for negotiation with) the actual students. The result was a constant struggle for traction on a track the learners found themselves slipping and sliding all over (if not off completely, with the muffled sound of crashing amongst trees in the wilderness), in the end made to happen/work through the painstaking building of rapport and trust with the teacher.

 

Let me just point out that these sorts of programs are not inherently poor. A lot of painstaking work and sincere effort goes into them. They occasionally feature real gems and meet audit requirements admirably. They just don't always work all that well, and sometimes--based on over reliance on and misplaced faith in design and documentation features--it is the learners who get the automatic blame if they don't perform all that well within certain parameters.

 

This year has been very different.

 

The first formal outcome listed for Senior VCAL Literacy is Writing for Self Expression. This can be a hard one to pitch to lads who are disengaged from the broader high school landscape and want to qualify themselves to become tradesmen. Builders don't generally want to 'write about me' and young plumbers and mechanics generally don't want to engage in any sort of storytelling that isn't strictly audio-visual and available on YouTube.

 

Despite those challenges, writing for self expression is actually working this year, and here's how it has gone so far...

 

 

 

1. Starting with and focussing on the outcome

 

In a move that some teachers might find themselves instinctively disagreeing with, this year I have avoided an attempt at subtle 'embedding' or 'naturalisation' of the outcome. I've approached the learners from the same perspective I find myself approaching courses I've recently done or am currently doing -- qualification stuff that doesn't always passionately interest me but has to be done if I am going to get through and advance my prospects.

 

Basically, that means explaining the outcome in formal and logical terms somewhat similar to the way it is presented and documented in the official VCAL curriculum guide. To successfully pass this outcome, you need to do a, b and c (etc.).

 

So we start with a short screencast explaining the outcome...

 

 

 

 

... which is followed up by an interactive quiz in their Moodle coursework page to check what they've understood and how they think the outcome might be applied.

 

So far so good. My learners always respond well to screencast tutorials, and they seem to appreciate having the learning requirements spelled out for them. I'm not hearing (as many) complaints about having to do tasks as part of this outcome, and this is very different from the cacophony of objections I heard last year about having to write a work journal entry or respond to an 'expressive' newspaper article nailed down and pre-embedded in the curriculum.

 

Which brings me to the next consideration...

 

 

 

2. Learner-selected topics for self expression

 

As nice as it can be to have a limited number of ready-to-use writing topics and tasks that address the outcome and help to tick off outcomes in other parts of the overall VCAL curriculum (and as convenient as it can be to look at and grade learners according to consistent topics across the whole cohort), I've done away with this completely and let the learners choose and negotiate their own topics.

 

Of course, this can result in the blank stare and despair of not having a clue what to write about, so what I have done is create an extensive list of thematically grouped writing topics which they can pick and choose from and adapt and negotiate with me. 

 

 

 

As you can see, this goes beyond a simple list of writing topic suggestions. It includes a range of suggestions covering things like titles, audience(s), purpose(s) and text types.

 

It also includes links to my own writing in response to some of these topics. Learners who really need samples to work through and emulate in terms of style and topical focus appreciate this, and I think most all of the learners appreciate the fact that the teacher is willing to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

 

So far, no complaints about not having a topic to write about (or not knowing what to write about in response to a topic), and that's a welcome change.

 

 

 

3. An emphasis on literary devices

 

Before the learners choose and write in response to topics, their Moodle course page includes an interactive tutorial about a small range of literary devices that can help make creative/expressive writing more interesting and effective. These cover, as a base, things like point of view, similes, effective use of adjectives and what I like to call 'expressive action words' (for example, saying a nailgun spat a nail into some wood, or a song roared out of the living room).

 

Extensive examples are given for each literary device, including ones from my own writing attempts (mentioned above) to help showcase them in the context of full length texts. The learners then need to create their own sentences applying each literary device via controlled practice and then an overall review incorporating them all.

 

Some of them have grumbled a bit about this, but most have had fun with it. The building and construction student who turned 'the hammer is old' into the hammer is as old as my grandpa's balls showed how creativity and vivid imagery aren't lost in/on trade students, but also sparked a useful conversation about the notions of audience, purpose and appropriacy...

 

Following first drafts I now ask students to point out the literary devices they've used. Some have had go back to the tutorial again to re-examine the devices and then make them the focus of an improved second draft. Most, however, are already using them quite readily in the first draft and can point them out to me on the page without hesitation.

 

Generally speaking, this emphasis on literary devices has resulted in far more creative and expressive writing right from the start (compared to what I saw last year).

 

 

 

4. Multiple text types and points of view

 

Given the outcome requires two or more complete writing pieces, I've asked the learners to ensure that each one applies a different text type and point of view (as in, writing 'voice' from the first, second or third person).

 

In essence, what the learners see and are expected to choose and plan their different pieces according to is:

 

 

So to meet the outcome, we need at least one of each text type, and one of each point of view.

 

To some degree the identification of text types in topic suggestions (see point 2 above) has helped the learners here, as has the emphasis and controlled practice with points of view (see point 3 above), but this has been a real revelation in terms of getting the learners to widen their writing experience and express themselves in different ways from different angles.

 

As an example, the plumbing student I have who always claims to 'HATE writing stories' found it was a bit of a different prospect to write one from the second person point of view. The challenge of writing the story 'to' a reader ended up capturing his interest and moving him away from his automatic dislike for story writing. 

 

Another student discovered how much more freedom there was in writing an 'expressive' piece from a third person point of view (rather than the first), as well as protection (he could make it not look or feel like a 'this is me' piece). A couple of other students have written some quite fascinating stories based on (or 'inside') songs and video clips, with different points of view resulting in very different effects. 

 

Some are struggling slightly with the two angles to consider, but the result has been a lot of questions and requests for confirmation in response to attempts to angle a piece of writing this way or that way -- not automatic or outright negativity.

 

I see more width and depth developing in these kids' writing (as well as overall critical thinking and empathy) based on different text types and points of view, and it makes my spirit soar. 

 

 

 

5. Published pieces of writing in an e-Portfolio

 

Last year completed writing work was printed and stuffed away into a folder. This year it gets published on the Internet in an e-Portfolio platform provided by Mahara, which allows them to integrate their writing with images and video clips.

 

First person narrative fiction...

 

 

Third person expressive/narrative based on music clip (featured alongside) 

 

 

I've written about these e-Portfolio developments elsewhere and it's a bit of an ongoing project I have going this year. Let's just say these notions of using technology and the cloud, applying multiple forms of media and actually 'publishing' finished writing are having a majorly positive impact on most of my students. 

 

 

 

So all up, VCAL Senior Literacy and Writing for Self Expression have progressed wonderfully for us so far this year.

 

More to live and learn in this process, of course, but I suspect a lot more to enjoy as well.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Using image icons to 'dress up' unit/topic block presentation

 

 

Another quick tutorial here for relative newcomers to Moodle design: this one demonstrates how to use a nice image icon and introductory spiel for your unit/topic blocks.

 

 

 

 

More for the appearance and aesthetics side of things, but generally speaking I think attractive presentation should always be a priority in online course work.

 

For more Moodle tutorials, check out the Moodle category on this blog...

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Oberon High 'Porn Teacher' to star in another Geelong classroom...

 

 

... only he won't be there in the (a-hem) flesh and the discussion will be about his actions, subsequent resignation and the rather startling relevation that the teacher who was exposed as a porn star was also a VCE Media Studies teacher.

 

You may not have heard about this (given the very wide world from which visitors pop in to visit this blog), and the snapshot is basically this: A teacher from Oberon High School in Geelong made a porn video with his girlfriend and sold it to a porn site for something like $1,500. It was discovered (presumably by one or more Oberon students) and distributed around Facebook, and in the process it was also revealed his girlfriend and co-star in the video was also his ex-student.

 

In the bonfire and subsequent investigation, the teacher resigned.

 

But this goes beyond just local news for us here at GTEC in Geelong. Oberon High School is one of our 'feeder' schools; many students move over to us to complete Year 11 and/or 12 VCAL.

 

Hence a lot of students had already seen the video on Facebook, and many of them knew the teacher personally. He was described, without exception, as a great teacher and many went so far as to say he was the best teacher at the school.

 

Of course, being 16-18 year-old boys, very soon talk about the issue descended into (a-hem) innuendo and humorous rebuke. But the issue seemed to strike a chord somewhere in many of them. This wasn't just any teacher up to no good on the Internet. This was a teacher many of them knew and respected. The general talk was that there was no way he should be forced to resign.

 

Following the interview John Walsh and his girlfriend Sarah Bradford did (see above) on Friday night, I see this as an excellent opportunity to really try to explore the issue in a mature way and knock over some of our Senior VCAL Oral Communication outcomes (especially Oracy for Self Expression and Oracy for Exploring Issues and Problem Solving).

 

Given that most of our students are preparing to become tradesmen, I was VERY intrigued by John's comment that, had he been a plumber, there wouldn't have been any issue. The message there is almost one of: unless you belong to a white collar profession, acting however you like on the Internet isn't going to affect you or your business. Let's see what they make of that...

 

Below you can see the scaffolding worksheet I have put together to help my Year 12 students prepare for the discussion:

 

 

 

Download GTEC VCAL Senior Oral Communication - Oracy for Self Expression and EIPS

 

We'll (a-hem) video record the classroom discussion, so that I can go back through it later and apply the outcome assessment elements, as per the form here:

 

 

 

Download GTEC VCAL Oral Communication Assessment Form 1-4

 

From there, we might see how the whole topic could be extended into reading and writing outcomes as well.

 

I'm looking forward to this, because it's not often you get a truly local issue as big as this... one that is guaranteed to get your students interested and talking. Given we are also embarking on Mahara e-Portfolios with their embedded social media elements, I think the whole privacy and the Internet issue, digital footprints, etc. will be really engaging to explore.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Using the book module

 

If you're building course work through the Moodle LMS, one method of gathering content you might like to explore is the book module.

 

I've found this a very useful way of presenting a sequence of content in Moodle, with easy navigation via a sidebar menu (removing a lot of the potential clutter that can appear in regular course pages) and the possibility of linking to specific pages in the book from various quizzes or assignments.

 

The book module is not a place for interactive elements (like quizzes or essay submissions, for example), but is a great way to gather together the content-rich elements of your course unit or units and keep it from cluttering up your topic blocks or becoming scattered via various individual files or pages.

 

Having built book modules into a couple of my courses, I created a series of three screencasts for a colleague looking to find a better way to gather together the video tutorial content he has been making for his own course.

 

 

1. How (and why) to set up the 'book module' in Moodle

 

 

 

2. Adding content/chapters to a book module

 

 

 

3. Linking to specific parts of the book module from other areas/resources

 

 

 

 

Hope those put the book module into some sort of perspective and provide some solid tips on how to implement it.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorials: Creating downloadable work files and basic assignment upload tasks

 

I'm helping the team of teachers I work with to build their own courses in Moodle and gathering screencast tutorials as I go...

 

Here are some tutorials for teachers at the 'starter' end of things, covering some basics concerning the building of downloadable work files (in a variety of different formats) and creating an assignment upload option.

 

In essence, this allows you to feature content or work files (for reading, viewing or writing) which the learners download and complete. They can then upload it for the teacher to view and grade via the upload option.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've generally found that this is a good starting layer for teachers who want to allocate and collect task work on Moodle. There are other (more advanced) options, of course, but these skills are pretty easy to master and facilitate teachers getting a course happening without too much of a steep learning curve or big investment of their time (and hair pulling).

 

Another (major) advantage with the file download/assignment upload approach is that learners can save work files to their computer and not necessarily need an Internet connection or continuous access to Moodle in order to do their work.

 

Trust me... after a week that included major Internet access and operating system problems, I can assure you that this can be REALLY handy!

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GTEC Mahara e-Portfolio Showcase 1

 

 

 

In a recent post (E-Portfolios Away!) I demonstrated the initial building process for our VCAL Literacy e-Portfolios using Mahara.

 

I was very excited today to see several students go beyond those templates to start submitting full writing pieces, complete with images, using the writing work file in the margin to document their draft work. It was also a joy to see them start personalising their general interface, including favourite YouTube music tracks and images that have particular meaning or appeal to them as individuals.

 

Here's a small showcase...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, the best thing in all of this was the buzz... the lads were seriously into it. Students still engaged in their draft work were glancing over at the Mahara portfolio pages appearing and getting into their work with renewed vigour in order to get them up to this 'publishing' stage.

 

This is SOOOO different from literacy work that appears as printed out pages of text to be filed away in plastic folders...

 

Disengaged students?

 

No such thing down around GTEC way.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Moodle Tutorial: Page design to avoid the 'scroll of death'...

 

Just made these screencast tutorials for the team I'm working with as eLearning coordinator and thought I would pass them along here on the blog for those in my PLN who are starting out with Moodle and want some tips and tricks...

 

The idea here is to create a simple menu at the top of your Moodle course page that allows your learners to click and have only the relevant unit or cluster appear on the page. Essentially, this removes the 'scroll of death' issue if you find your learners are having to wade down through dozens of units to find something.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you've found a better way to do/present this, please, by all means let me know (and even better: screencast how/why to do it!).

 

;-)

 

 

 

e-Portfolios away!

 

Having fun doing the same VCAL portfolio work I'm asking students to do...

 

 

One week into the new term at GTEC at The Gordon and I must admit that I am delighted at how well the e-Portfolio project I've initiated with our Year 12 cohort is turning out.

 

We're using Mahara e-Portfolios, attached to our Moodle coursework pages. I've written previously about the blogging with students initiative as part of VCAL Senior Literacy (part 1 and part 2), as well as the decision to broaden out the whole blogging idea into an e-Portfolio with Mahara.

 

It's been interesting to experiment and see what might best facilitate quick uptake of the e-Portfolios in terms of interest level, independent set up and then actual use. So far, the strategy of building a portfolio myself (applying the same literacy outcomes I am asking students to tackle--as demonstrated in the picture above) and screencasting each stage as a demonstrative tutorial seems to have paid off quite nicely.

 

 

Mahara set up and application screencast tutorials featured on students' Moodle course page...

 

 

In what I consider to be a masterstroke of practical forward-thinking, the education development team at The Gordon has created a seamless link between Moodle and Mahara applications. What that means is that students who have already been registered in Moodle as course participants get their Mahara account activated using the same user IDs and passwords. So essentially, we can link straight out of the Moodle coursework to their e-Portfolio accounts and they're instantly accessible at the click of a link.

 

Using the screencast tutorials for students to set up and format their e-Portfolios has also worked out well. Out of about 50 students, approximately half or so have managed to get the whole set up organised fully independently (including many who did so over at The Gordon library or at home). Of the remainder, about half managed to get most of it right but needed some assistance to tweak certain things into shape. The rest needed some active guidance from (either from teacher or fellow student), but even then the screencasts formed a background awareness that allowed the helper to just give oral instructions or gesture to parts of the screen; students were still building the e-Portfolio with their own fingers at the keyboard.

 

It's so important that, with about a dozen students needing active assistance, it was possible to have the remainder of the students going ahead and doing things independently while the students who needed the help got it, and promptly. Nobody has been left behind in the overall process.

 

Based on my sample e-Portfolio and the screencasts showing how I built it, all the students quickly developed their Mahara 'Views' into a basic template that looks like this:

 

 

Our basic layout template, with scope for individual 'decoration' in the left hand column...

 

 

The basic idea is to have profile and personal features (like pics and videos) in the left hand column, a 'blog' occupying the broader central column where literacy task final drafts are uploaded (with planning and drafts attached), and a list of blog posts and writing/reading work folders in the right hand column. The work folders have been set up in a way that means the attached planning and drafting files appear here in list format automatically, with coded abbreviations referencing specific VCAL Literacy outcomes.

 

 

 

An uploaded student blog post, with planning and drafting files attached and listed

 

 

I'm also very happy with the individualisation going on with the writing. Some pretty exhaustive preparation of potential writing topics has been done, with grouped themes and information about potential audience and purpose as well as writing prompts organised by text types. There has been no room whatsoever for the oh so common 'but I have no idea what to write about' complaint, and students are still free to adapt or work completely outside the suggestions given.

 

 

One of several thematic groupings of writing topics for 'Writing for Self Expression' provided to students

 

 

What we have going here now is a very effective tool for gathering and presenting literacy work, with lots of scope for individualisation and personal preferences via multimedia applications. In many ways it brings teenage literacy more into the real (contemporary) world.

 

It is also set up in a way that admirably covers our auditing and QA needs. Grades and feedback are delivered privately in Moodle, with direct URL links to both finished products and the files showing the process that built them on Mahara.

 

And 'literacy' is just the start... Once they've learned how to build all this for one subject, the other teachers will be encouraging and facilitating them to build additional 'views' (or other folios all linked together within the one overall e-Portfolio) showcasing things like manufacturing technology skills (CAD), tool skills, work experience, community projects, fit for work development, etc.

 

However, and this is where it gets intriguing, we are also now in a zone where intellectual property (one quick example is the covering of creative commons options for images and appropriate methods of attribution or ownership) and responsible use of social media can be tackled. 

 

At the moment, all of the e-Portfolios are in private mode linked only via the 'friends' option. Part of this course will be about how to analyse and differentiate between something like Facebook and a school/professional platform, and what is involved when it comes to certain (what I call) 'social media graces.'

 

Already we have a couple of Mahara pages that sort of resemble the grunt and grime of your average teenage boy's Facebook page. But it's there for us to see (within our private school circle), address, discuss and tackle from a social education perspective. And these are very much a tiny minority; already the vast majority of students (despite their so-called disengaged 'youth gone wild' reputations) are using these pages seriously and responsibly.

 

Eventually, when I and the school are satisfied an e-Portfolio is being used and presented appropriately, there will be the option to switch it over to public viewing and (we hope) as an online extension of the resume sent out to potential employers. Hopefully, we can lead the students towards these realisations and expectations through a process that involves individual development and judgment. 

 

The most encouraging sign in all of this has been the students' reactions. Not a single complaint or whine about 'having' to build an e-Portfolio. For most, they've taken it so naturally in their stride that it's been rather like handing an apple seed to an orchard owner.

 

One learner even suggested, enthusiastically and somewhat more than half-seriously, that it was about time we renamed this course subject 'Literacy ICT.' It got me thinking, because I honestly see them as (increasingly) seamlessly merged anyway...

 

 

Anyway, initial successes with the VCAL Literacy e-Portfolios at GTEC. Let's see where it heads from here.

 

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

All planned and ready (to fly by the seat of my pants)

 

 

 

After one of the most pleasant breaks I can recall, and then a deliciously frantic couple of weeks mastering a new online delivery system alongside all the content I needed to gather together, tomorrow morning I finally get to meet a new cohort of 60-70 applied learning Year 11 students... and welcome back a similar number of Year 12 students from last year.

 

The eve of a new school term always intrigues me. Non-instuction periods can often feel great in terms of having the time to really think your way through and around your course offerings, but it never really feels quite right. Over the years I've come to realise that, without the learners in the building and in contact with you from day to day, it's never quite possible to capture the pulse of what is likely to work well and why.

 

I mean, we can do our very best to be professional and prepared. Like this (the introduction to one of my courses, followed up with a quiz to see how much of it has been absorbed and then a needs analysis activity):

 

 

 

 

However, in my final checklist of what I needed to have ready and waiting for the first day back at school tomorrow (today, actually, as I write this post), I ended up visualising the seat of a pair of pants.

 

"Those'll need some wings," I thought to myself.

 

Then, finally, I felt prepared.

Ready.

Excited about all the things I don't know about the term ahead... Yet.

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

Blogging with students (3): Going the full Mahara...

 

 

 

In a couple of previous posts (Part 1 here and Part 2 here) I looked at the rationales for blogging with students and what sorts of platforms I was considering.

 

In the end what I've decided to go with is Mahara, which includes a basic blogging platform but incorporates it into a range of features to build a full, highly logical and engaging e-Portfolio tool.

 

I think Mahara has enormous potential and given we have automatic access to it at our institute via our Moodle set up, I'm ready to give it a red hot go with our Year 12 cohort. As part of my preparations for the new school year I've gone into Mahara and made my own portfolio to really test it out, see what's possible and what could be potentially complicated or easy for my students.

 

The following screencasts have been put together to help get my students started with this e-Portfolio tool. Although they are obviously course and context-specific, if you're wondering what Mahara is and how it can be set up then these peeks might help to give you a better idea...

 

 

 

GTEC Mahara Set Up Tutorial 1

How to access the tool, set up a basic profile and get some file folders in order...

 

 

 

 

GTEC Mahara Set Up Tutorial 2

How to get a specific portfolio (or 'View' using the Mahara vernacular) set up...

 

 

 

 

GTEC Mahara Set Up Tutorial 3

How to select, store and apply images for some basic decoration...

 

 

 

 

GTEC Mahara Set Up Tutorial 4

How to 'show' the e-Portfolio by connecting with other users (teachers and classmates, etc.)...

 

 

 

 

GTEC Mahara Application 1

How to upload written work into a Mahara e-Portfolio in a way that captures final drafts as blog posts but also attaches a full file of all drafting work...

 

 

 

 

This is all for one subject (VCAL Senior Literacy) and Mahara allows for different Views/Portfolios for things like multiple subjects. It will be intriguing to see whether students and teachers go for it and add other portfolios for other subjects, and from there I will be interested to see how an e-Portfolio of this nature could be useful for things like job applications.

 

 

To be continued...

 

 

;-D

 

 

 

Moodling along quite nicely... But why?

 

Entry/menu page for VCAL Foundation Literacy Course ready to go...

 

 

A little over a week from now, I'll be back in the classroom and doing my best to keep on my feet on a pitching deck full of new Year 11 VCAL students.

 

In addition to my Literacy teaching role, in 2012 I've taken on our Skills Centre eLearning Coordinator role at about the same time the organisation I work for (The Gordon Institute of TAFE) begins a pretty massive transition from Blackboard to Moodle for its LMS.

 

Hence from mid-December last year, on top of preparing for my own courses, I've needed to come to grips with this Moodle thing in a pretty big way, and fast, so that I can help facilitate eLearning for approximately 10 other teachers as well.

 

It's certainly been a rapid and steep learning curve, but a very satisfying one as well. What I thought might take myself and the teaching team anywhere from 6-12 months to come to grips with has actually become something we're well on top of before the first term even begins.

 

And that led me to thinking a little more... about what facilitates effective adoption of learning technologies. Here are some reflections at this point in time.

 

 

1. 'Faffing about' with edtech is SO important

 

Moodle, like a lot of other platforms and tools out there, doesn't exactly come easily -- particularly when you are looking to put together something that works well administratively from the 'back/teacher end' but is also practical and attractive from the 'front/student end.' It takes a lot of time to figure things out.

 

At a rough estimate I would say since the start of December last year I've put in about 100-200 hours of solid, occasionally hair-pulling work wrestling the Moodle Beast to the ground and subduing it to the point that it does what I want it to do. Getting the gradebook to work with our particular outcomes, using a specialised scale I built and embedded, took up an entire weekend alone. I'm also big on professional design and layout at the other end of the beast, so the hours have certainly slipped away on that front as well as I try and re-try all sorts of different applications and combinations.

 

This is the all-important 'faffing about' that you just can't avoid if you really want to understand a tech system and what it can do (and how it may misbehave). There's no gratuitous flick of a switch, nothing served up on a platter. You've got to be willing to put in the hard yards at the beginning, do a lot of playing about and experimenting, and even deliberately see how much you can 'break' stuff.

 

But to effectively faff about with edtech, you need a couple of other facilitative factors as well, and the most obvious of those is time.

 

 

2. Edtech development requires sufficient time

 

Prior to this position with this organisation, all of the other edtech tools and courses I've developed happened in contexts where time was either (1) just not available (think 50 week work years in places like North East Asia), and/or (2) not paid for (the organisation I worked for prior to this one in Australia wanted to pay me $21 per teaching hour, with a couple of hours for prep each week thrown in and no paid annual leave). Basically, I developed online courses and tools for institutes in my own time and out of my own pocket.

 

Here (at GTEC at The Gordon) things are very different. I've had close to 6 weeks of paid non-instruction time to get my head around and grapple with learning materials and Moodle. Splitting that period in half was close to three weeks of paid annual leave where I actually did go on holidays and not think about work. My colleagues are on the same basic wicket.

 

Time to recharge the batteries and time to really faff about with the edtech, without having to forfeit regular income. What a peculiar notion that feels like, after what I've experienced in the 10-12 years prior to that (but hey: I'm certainly not complaining!). 

 

But consider also the results. In less than two months we have full courses ready to go on Moodle. Everyone on the teaching team has learned how to create screencasts, and a couple are now already starting to take ownership of the Moodle pages I set up for them.

 

 

GTEC's Manufacturing Technology course homepage on Moodle, already handed over to teacher Frank Priveti, who has commenced an absolutely brilliant series of screencasts on how to access and use the Autodesk Inventor (CAD) tool...

 

Our eLearning output and capacity has increased exponentially from one year to the next.

 

Why? Because the organisation and Skills Centre concerned were willing to invest one of the most absolutely crucial ingredients. Time. And time at the right time (if you get my drift).

 

But that idea of one person building and teaching and handing over to other teachers reminds me of the third essential thing that has struck me on this front...

 

 

3. Edtech development requires a person on the scene as part of the team

 

In a team of 10 teachers, we now have one teacher who is also the eLearning Coordinator, with one full day per week to develop and build up our edtech (a bit of a combination of building stuff for teachers and helping them to then go ahead and build it on their own). That person is also a member of the teaching team, doing  for four days a week what everyone else has to regularly do: cope with the pressures and demands of a challenging teaching role.

 

This is far different from having, say, one teacher walk across to the other side of the campus once a week or fortnight for an hour or two to get specialised assistance with edtech development. And it is worlds away from going to the occasional half or full day 'edtech professional development' day, followed up by frustrated messages left on voicemail pleading for help on how to just open a new lesson activity (for those teachers who actually get motivated or brave enough to try on some edtech clothes as a result of the once-off seminar). 

 

Teaching teams braving the complicated waters of edtech uptake need someone in the same office or just down the corridor, someone they know and who knows what they do and how and why. In some ways, I might even go so far as to say that until the edtech initiative gets a regular and accessible (known, trusted, empathetic) human face, it's always going to suffer from a relative tyranny of distance.

 

However, this is not to say that the expert in the distant office doesn't have a crucial role to play...

 

 

4. Edtech requires effective leadership and administration

 

To put it simply, one of the reasons we are forging ahead so quickly and well with our edtech development is that we have good support from 'higher up the food chain' (in a manner of speaking). Even as I work to help the teachers on my team, there are copiously competent people in various layers above me in the organisation that I have ready access to if and when I need it. They get back to me the same morning or the same day. They respond well to problems. They get things fixed or improved. They seem to have the attitude that they have as much to learn from us as we do from them. They remind us that what we are doing is valuable and great.

 

The larger the teaching/learning organisation, the more crucial this sort of support and access becomes (mainly because organisations necessarily apply rules that can sometimes result in boxes it becomes hard to do your particular dance routine inside). Luckily for me and my team, we have that support in spades.

 

 

So yes, I guess thanks to the faffing about factor, sufficient time to faff about, the team-embedded (or team-emergent?) eLearning person and effective assistance and leadership from higher up (or further across?), we are indeed Moodling along quite nicely indeed.

 

And 2012, from an eLearning perspective, is looking like turning out (to use local parlance) to be an absolute crackerjack.

 

 

 

;-)

 

 

 

In 2012, what will your students' coursebook look like? A building plan or a journal of growth?

 

Image: Tony Hammond

 

 

Will you have chosen it for them, before they even sit down for the first time in your classroom?

 

Or will it emerge as the year progresses?

 

Can it be something you create together, with the shared classroom environment a meeting place (among many), only ready for a definitive cover (to be determined by each individual student) on the last day of school in 2012?

 

 

There's nothing wrong at all with doing that start of year planning and preparation at this stage. It's all part of that QA (Quality Assurance) stuff, isn't it?

 

I guess one of the key questions I find myself contemplating at this time of the (new academic) year is whether I plan to build or grow something with my learners this year.

 

 

;-)

 

 

What could hobbits teach us about 'funds of knowledge'?

 

 

 

 

Funds of knowledge refers to those historically developed and accumulated strategies (e.g., skills, abilities, ideas, practices) or bodies of knowledge that are essential to a household's functioning and well-being (for details, see Greenberg, 1989; Veléz-IbáÑez & Greenberg, 1992; Moll, 2000).

 

Contemplating and preparing for 'funds of knowledge' can be an excellent way to start your planning for a new school term. Without knowing what the students already know or can potentially know (and teach us and others) based on their home, family and community contexts, how can we really have an effective plan?

 

Try googling 'Funds of Knowledge.' Everything I found on the front couple of pages there of search was interesting, appealing and helpful.

 

Realistically, not many of us have the time to go out and 'research' our students and their families in their homes and communities. Some might not even find that prospect appealing, for potentially valid reasons. However, it IS possible to draw on funds of knowledge to a greater or lesser extent through the curriculum itself.

 

With my new batch of Year 11 students this year, one of the first things I have to 'knock over' is a set of foundation literacy skills in combination with some basic OH&S priorities. This could, in fact, get done pretty quickly by just throwing the ready to roll OH&S documents, videos and worksheets at the learners.

 

What I have done is expand this considerably by beginning first with a series of FoK activities. Learners will be invited to talk and write about accidents and injuries they've witnessed in their homes and communities. How did these incidents happen and how did people handle them? They will identify and explain a variety of things they know how to do -- especially with tools, basic or complex -- and how they've learned to do them safely.

 

Using that as the nucleus, we'll expand out to look at what they need to know about workshop and tools safety. Hopefully they'll have the beginnings of some awareness, that they already know more than they or our program might haven initially given them initial credit for, but there is also more to learn (and it is important to learn).

 

When I was a language teacher, this sort of thing generally got labelled 'schemata' or 'schema activation.' However, funds of knowledge is a more robust and pragmatic way of looking at it, methinks.

 

 

Does funds of knowledge feature in your initial planning for coursework in 2012?

 

 

;-D