Netsafe's LGP initiative

NetSafe has been a favourite primary school safety guide and programme of mine since I began teaching. I have used Hector the Dolphin every year to teach internet safety to my students. 


NetSafe has just launched their new Learn: Guide: Protect collaborative website. I found it quick and easy to sign up and within minutes started creating new Bits and Remix other Bits to put together a Collection of Bits that I would use to teach Cyberbullying next term.

A Bit is any website link, video or other media related to internet safety. It is like a post on a blog. This is an example of a Bit I made about a website I wanted to add. You can see how many Views and Recommendations a Bit has had, plus you can Recommend and Comment on any Bit yourself.

A Collection is a grouping of Bit's that may be ordered for teaching purposes like my Cyberbullying Unit here. Or just as a bookmark type collection, either way useful for other teachers looking for similar things. 

NetSafe have built a fantastic framework to support internet safety through the feedback and collaboration with the education community. The site design is clean and refreshing and surprisingly simple to use. I did find the Classifications slightly daunting and may have categorized a bit incorrectly ('bit' humour always seems to come up when discussing this site.)



Their Twitter and Facebook widgets were not working for me but you can follow them on 
Twitter @netsafenz

5 Smart Ways To Get #Comments4Kids On Your Blog

#Comments4Kids is a Twitter hashtag started by @wmchamberlain aimed at promoting more comments for class and student blogs. It mostly relies on teachers to provide these comments. Comments4Kids Blog is the new home of #comments4kids, where you can add your class blog to the database. It also has some suggested rules for commenting and a cool badge for your blog.

1. Get comments on your blogs by using #comments4kids hashtag in your tweet.

- classblogs: a summary of what they are learning then the url for the blog post e.g: Student writes about Flax Weaving, please comments4kids http://goo.gl/muIh (Tweetdeck shortens my urls automatically but you could use goo.gl)

- if your blog contains multiple student blogs like our student blogs then expect you may only get comments on a few of the lastest blog posts. I usually choose students who have not had any comments yet. Commenting on 25 students is a big job for a single teacher, but a small one for another class of 25 students!

2. Follow #comments4kids in a column in your TweetDeck or equivalent tweet software. 

3. The Rule of Return

For every comment you get on your class or student blog's, give one back to someone in the #comments4kids community. It doesn't have to be the same class/teacher who commented on yours. This is the least we all need to do for #comments4kids to flourish, and for all our students to get that buzz of excitement when they get a comment on their blog, you know the one, I do! 

4. Get your students engaged in #comments4kids, let each of them make a comment or two as a computer time starter. This is how I do it http://brs-team17.wikispaces.com/ICT+Skills. Look down the page for Comment4Kids Thursday subheadings. It is a great chance to teach; model; review; or assess commenting skills, language skills, basic computer skills, etc. Sometimes I have the whole class read and comment on one class blog, or to a class with individual student blogs. Other times I send my reading groups to different blogs aimed at their level. 

5. Leave your class blog link when commenting, e.g: http://baileyrdteam17.blogspot.com

If like KidBlog.org the comment field does not offer this option then just paste it into the comment field. We love to know where our comments come from so we can also reciprocate the comments. If you use KidBlog.org or similar get all students to leave your class page url. Have the url in you blog or for students to copy and paste.

We use Blogger for our class blog which is easy to manage a range of comment functions. However here are some things that I have found to be barriers when leaving comments :

 When I am choosing who to comment as (see first image) I do not want to have to log in with Google, LiveJournal, etc, etc. This usually brings our commenting to a stop as 25 students try log in. I try avoid class blogs with this problem.

 Below left, is the best situation where my students are able to put in their own first name and our class blog url. Below right, is a Word Verification window which I personally hate. I know many of you disagree because of security, but if you are moderating all your comments why is this extra barrier in place?

 

Now it is your turn! Promote your class and student blog's with #comment4kids. Have fun getting comments but please make comments too. Blogging and commenting are both great literacy activities that offer many teaching moments based on real communication. I enjoy reading about what all those creative classes are doing. I get inspired to teach new ways, try new web 2.0 tools, and build wonderful learning relationships; all thanks to #comment4kids.

Have you tried #comments4kids? Do you have any other ideas to add?

A Journey with Inanimate Alice

I can say with pride that

inanimatealice tells a digital story of Alice, a young girl growing up in the first half of the 21st century, and her imaginary digital friend, Brad.

This is our journey . . . 

this is what we discovered and created.

What is 21st Century Learning

There have been many great videos that attempt to explain what 21st Century learning is. It reminds me why we as educators and learners ourselves need to review what teaching and learning should look like in the classroom. However without education and school management support and understanding of these concepts we will not be able to take these steps as a community. Here is another video to inspire.

ePortfolios

Eportfolio, e-portfolio, or ePortfolio? I have used all and seen all versions used. I have started using ePortfolio after seeing it spelt that way on Mr Lietze blog. Perhaps it is a new form of contraction/capitalisation or just iPhone mania.

I started this ePortfolio process for the first time this year with my Year 6 class. My belief was that it provided an engaging 21st century alternative to the old plastic folder. As the only teacher who did digital work I turned to my online PLN for some guidance. I began by researching many blogs, case studies and engaging in discussions with other educators on this journey. I discovered that their are many different opinions and ultimately like all teaching, it needs a purpose.

My purpose for developing ePortfolios in the classroom is to allow my students to engage and reflect on their own learning. The process of creating their ePortfolio's, talking about it, and visualising their learning achievements and progressions, makes them more aware of themselves as lifelong learners.

This blog post by Nick Rate has two graphs that really show what ePortfolio purpose and ownership in our primary school may look like. I think it shows nicely how ePortfolios should/do start as a showcase for student work in the lower years. As they progress through school it becomes a process to show learning, with goal setting, reflections and feedback. Accountability becomes increasingly important as they reach secondary school and onwards. To me this means that we as adults and professionals should be accountable for our own ePortfolios, are you?

I started out using a portion of our computer suite time, as everyone was on a computer. I created an example ePortfolio and taught / modelled the steps that took us to where we are now. I have used the old paper portfolios and my own judgement on the contents. Through my sharing and learning about ePortfolios from other educators and especially seeing their work, I realised there is a next step for me.

Our ePortfolios use a range of web 2.0 tools to add interest and engage in multiple modes of literacy. I am a visual person and so to are most of my students. They often find it easier to visualise their progress when they can see it on a chart. Students track their Literacy and Numeracy assessment scores as well as adding samples of their work. They add their goals and are beginning to add Key Competencies. They have scanned handwriting samples, a Maori, ICT skills, Topic and Sports, ICT pages.

We reflect on our learning in our blogs and have created a link to these on our home pages. I believe that ePortfolios in our digital world does not mean everything must be contained in one 'folder' or ePortfolio site. ePortfolios are the source but also a gateway to our works and reflections online.

What platform to use for your ePortfolios is a difficult choice. Their are many types such as http://myportfolio.ac.nz advocated by Nick Rate. It has a free trail period then you pay monthly. It seems to have many advantages, except for the paying bit. When so much is free it can be hard to get a school principal to part with money from a tight budget. Wiki's are a good option which I have been using for my personal Teaching and Learning ePortfolio and I have heard of Ultranet and KnowledgeNet used by other New Zealand schools. I still need to learn much more about the platforms available however it is no reason not to start the journey using free options like Sites and Wikis. A big issue for me with managed learning environments (MLE) like Ultranet and KnowledgeNet is that their environment is closed. See Ewan MacIntosh's blog: ePortfolios & Learning Management Systems: Setting our default to social, for more on this.

In the end I choose Google Apps Sites for my class as our school like many others had adopted Google Apps. Our school account of Google Apps provided a platform that allowed secure sites for our ePortfolios as well as transferability as the student moved through the school, or even if they left. In it's present form it is a bit limited and restrictive in allowing the user to change page layouts and add widgets.

My Next Steps in the classroom ePortfolio journey are to develop next step learning, providing evidence of goals achieved, Student/Teacher/Parent Comments, Achievements, Awards, more own of their own choice?

Should teachers also be required to have ePortfolios too?
I followed discussions like these on Twitter and various blogs and they led me to ask that same question of myself. My answer is, yes! We are learners too and as part of our reflective thinking we should be using as a showcase of good work, a sharing resource for other teachers and place to grow as a professional. This is mine.

Done school wide it offers more possibilities for peer mentoring, moderation and stronger professional community conversations. Done country wide, who knows? Of course to compensate, we do need to let go many of the paperwork shackles that we seem attached to.

Some worthwhile reading on ePortfolios:

1. Dr Helen Barret: researcher and blogger on ePortfolios.


2. VoiceThread as a Digital Portfolio


3. A number of ePortfolio curriculum stories on TKI
   
   
4. Jamin has done some good research on ePortfolios recorded on his blog.


5. Nick Rate's blog in filled wit ePortfolio advice.


6. http://eportfoliosnz.wikispaces.com

Reflecting on an eTAP's eRegister Trial

eTAP's eRegister and I have had an up / down relationship for almost a year now, which has been complicated by pRegister [p=paper] who just wouldn't let go.

I have been trialing the eRegister for my principal while still keeping the pRegister that is the school system. However as the pRegister was the official one it always got filled in before teaching took over the day. The eRegiter however often got put on the To Do list. I was lucky to get some initial training from my PLN, many thanks Allanahk.

I am please that soon our whole school will be using the eRegister, despite my manyFrustrations there are many Positives. I am sure using only one system, along with good PD and support system for the staff, the eRegister will be a great success and another step into the 21st century for us all.

Have you got any eTAP stories or advice to share?

Thanks to my Twitter PLN for sharing some of their experiences.

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Frustrations I had with the eRegister: *The Key Codes not always suited and/or too many choices. Need a shared understanding. *Cannot enter bulk students present then make adjustments. *Wireless issues or relieving teacher, need backup systems. *Hard to undo Code error, must go ? (unknown) then reload. *No training, online video / screencasts. *What useful info can a classroom teacher get from the reports?


Positives with the eRegister. *Easy to use, everyone has instant access to info. *Big range of reports. *No counting crosses and adding totals. *Reminds you if are not on today but easy to move to other days. *Reminds to to fix ?. *? allows you to wait for correct information.

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Below are some screenshots of the screens you will encounter.

Response to comments below: Thank you I have figured out how bulk marking works. You need to start by only marking all entries EXCEPT those present, then Save Changes. The next screen shown below allows you to bulk mark all other pupils as present.

Students Podcast on Own Initiative!

On the weekend I was going through my camera looking for my 365 photos when I discovered some student video on it. This was no surprise as I give my students fairly free access to my camera. After a long week I initially felt annoyed, 'kids playing with my camera during lunch, grump, grump' then I watched their video. And my frown turned upside down!


My students had created their first podcast news and it was about our learning. As I watched with a smile on my face I realised my student were displaying 21st century skills. They had created (on their own initiative) a podcast that required a range of skills, including ICT and collaboration. I love hearing our learning shining through and their pride in both their culture and learning.


My own iMovie editing skills are still basic, so the video is a bit rough around the edges. However I have an expert student from another class who will teach me some iMovie tricks, the students teach the teacher!


I am hoping they will make this a weekly journey of their own where I can be the quiet guide on the side and see them taking their own learning to a next level. Your encouraging comments will make the difference as they need an audience, so please leave a comment on our class blog here. They and I both need advice and assurances.


Should we be broadcasting our podcast elsewhere?