From Paper to ePortfolios

Guidelines explained to the children

 EPORTFOLIOS @ NORMANDALE 

 Purpose:

• to create an accessible online space for children to capture, display and reflect upon authentic learning. Guidelines

• This is an educational space designed to showcase and record specific learning.
• You and your parents have signed the ‘Normandale School Internet Users Agreement’ to ensure that you are aware of the implications of this.
• Permission must be gained from your class teacher before any new posts are created or artefacts added to the eportfolio.
• All contributions to the eportfolio must match the purpose of the eportfolio. See above.
• You must be respectful in your use of images and comments e.g. If someone in an image or images that you upload gain verbal agreement. Comments need to be positive and appropriate and considerate of others feelings.
• Reasonable care is given to recording accurately using correct spelling and punctuation.
• Proof read before publishing and go back and edit if you identify further errors.
• You will be given time at school to develop your ePortfolio. You also have access to this at home.

We love to hear our voices when explaining something that we are learning

Some examples of what the learning may look like using a digital platform

Taking interesting words and phrasing them in a sentence to really make us focus on making every sentence a great one.  Verbalising what we are going to write before we write is like rehearsing.  It helps get it right.

Explaining a strategy really helps make it stick.  It is great to hear the confidence in the learners voices when they explain what they have done.

How the learning gets to the audience

Learners are very keen to share what they have achieved. Sharing and celebrating are two of the key purposes of an ePortfolio.

Technology now allows the learner to do this without a lot of technical knowledge and time spent doing it.

The learners can be using a device, doing a practice task and reach a higher level of achievement. It is simple to take a photo of what they have achieved and post it on the iPad or iPod touch to their ePortfolio and make a comment about what they have done.



A learner can be recording their reading and explaining what they are doing as a reader. They can copy the embedded code, log into their ePortfolio and paste in the code. The movie, which contains their voice and their physical recording on the screen with their finger or a stylus, is posted.

Identifying letters that are not formed correctly can be easier to do when you are watching yourself create them.  It is great to watch ourselves write and reflect on what the next steps are.

A learner can be working on a laptop and creating, revealing how they are using their knowledge to solve a problem. They can take a screenshot, insert this into their ePortfolio and it is there to celebrate and share instantly.

The above opportunities allow children to manage their learning, independently building a collection of achievements on their ePortfolios to share with their parents. It allows teachers to direct the learners, and then the learners to manage the task independently.

The technology isn't difficult, it doesn't distract from the learning, it makes it accessible to others and able to be collected and reflected on then or at a later date.

Digital Citizenship

What is Digital Citizenship ?
Digital citizenship is being a good citizen in a digital world.

How we build digital citizenship in our students

We model and explain digital citizenship all of the time from when they first enter school! It is threaded throughout the school at an appropriate level.   Our class blogs are a great way to model what you do and don't write for an open audience.  The children are aware of not combining a name and a photo, they know that putting a photo on to a digital space of someone else requires their permission.  We model and discuss what a good comment looks like.  Also we encourage children to help children.  They are very good at guiding their peers in what the proper digital etiquette is.

In senior syndicate throughout the year at different times we visit the sites below.

Use use Skoovile from years 3 up to give children a safe on line space which is purpose built to teach them how to be safe and smart .

We use a site called Cyber Smart

It is our job to be de"tech"tives, so that we can understand how we are connected and disconnected by technology, so that we might only let this happen in ways we think are smart and healthy.

Skills to help you share in the learning with your child via their ePortfolio

FAQs

How will I know there is something new to see on my child's class blog?
You can add your email address to the 'follow by email' option on the side bar.
You can become a follower and look at the blogs that you follower through your blogger account

Can I see my child's ePortfolio?
At the moment you can see your child's ePortfolio when they log in to their blogger account with their password.  This is because  the ePortfolio is locked down to ensure the general public cannot see your child's ePortfolio.

How do I comment on my child's ePortfolio?
You can comment on your child's ePortfolio by clicking on the 'no comment' or 1 comment etc. below the post.  We encourage parents to be positive in their comments.  Please sign your comment with your name to ensure it is obvious who has made the comment.

How to keep up to date with what's on your child's class blog

You can receive an email that lets you know that a new post has been added and also it will link you to that post.  This is a great way to initiate discussions with your child about some of the things that are happening in their day.

Find the
Follow by email button on the side bar and have information come to you.

You can also become a follower of the blog- find the 'folllow this blog' and log in.


Due to the security measures on our ePortfolios, this option isn't available at the moment.

Finding things on an ePortfolio or class blog

An ePortfolio that uses Blogger as it's platform is a bit like a long scroll.  However it is possible to label posts so you can search the blog and find all posts that have that label.  The learners are encouraged to label all posts to help this.

You will see at the bottom of the posts that the labels are listed.  

Use 'search this blog' to locate what you are looking for.

Leaving a Comment

Leaving a comment on a blog or ePortfolio is really giving back to the creator and readers of the blog.     Comments can continue to flow,  creating a conversation about a particular topic.  It is a great opportunity for children to write for a purpose.  They are working on many skills to create a good positive and informative comment.

On a class blog.
Class blogs are open for all to see and invite a wide audience.  One way to keep some control over what is posted for our learners to read is to moderate the comments.  Teachers get comments sent to their email and can send them to publish when they are checked.  If you post on a class blog you may not see if appear straight away as it is going through the moderation process.

On an ePortfolio.
ePortfolios are slightly different.  Our school ePortfolios are set to allow comments from blog authors or readers only.  This keeps the ePortfolio ring fences from the public and safe from any spam or unwanted comments.  For parents to comment on their child's ePortfolio they need to be with them and logged in as the child.  This encourages a conversation at home about the learners and a shared understanding of the comment.

If you have a blogger account and are logged in, your comment will be posted from you, showing your logged in name and possibly your image if you have loaded one to your profile.  When people are commenting on our class blogs they are often just viewing area not logged in. In this situation we encourage comments to be posted as 'anonymous' and have the name written within the body of the comment.

Positive comments encourage and guide.  Children love an authentic audience and really enjoy reading the feedback that they get.  Teachers comment on children's work to encourage them and to give them their next steps to focus on.