Weebly Analysis from the Students' Point of View.

With all the summaries that I've posted last month in regards to the learning of my colleagues at the school I realized that I have not posted my own summary.  For the past 3 months I've had two groups of students  doing e-portfolios on Weebly.  The program is simple to use, lets you have 40 accounts for free, and for teachers to assess, instead of gathering up the individual web addresses of each student who creates a eportfolio web site, Weebly lets the teacher control the sites, make it private or not, and change the passwords.  See my blog entry on Weebly to understand the Pro's and Con's of the program.

At the end of the school year I asked my Grade 8 students a number of questions in regards to Weebly and doing electronic portfolios for their learning.  The following is the results of the 28 students that answered the survey.  

I was happy that students realized that reflecting on their learning through the eportfolios helped them learn more and helped them realize that they were learning.

The data below did surprise me.  I asked twice for parents to assess their child's learning with the electronic portfolios.  From these results it's clear that I need to do a better explanation to parents of the reason for electronic portfolios and what they can do for both the child and the parent in talking about the learning.

I was happy that students realized they were choosing the activities and what they added to their portfolios, giving them ownership of their learning and help them understanding their learning more.

The data below was no surprise.  I knew that by reflecting on their learning, they would learn more.  What I am hoping for this coming year is more peer assessment, opening up their electronic portfolios to their friends.

 After reading about developing curious and creative minds (John Barell - Developing More Curious Minds)

I can honestly say that I did not use the blogging section of the electronic portfolio to it's full capacity, I should target a day (Friday would be good) with a reflection question every single time, so students can get use to this and be prepared to come up with their own reflections.  Although I am happy with the results of the survey, I could of done more.

Finally, you can see from the data below that the students did not need to spend the entire class to do their portfolios, it ranged from 10 - 30 minutes, depending on what they were working on, and this was not every day, only 1 - 2 days a week.  This is manageable in regards to time for any teacher.

The final question was a question of preference that I had asked my class and it was completely different then the response I got from  my 1st term class.  The 2nd term loved Weebly more then Webnode, whereas the 1st term students like Webnode more then Weebly.  The only difference was which web designing site was introduced first to the students.  Students liked the 1st web site introduced to them best.  In the 2nd term I introduced Weebly to the students first, and here are the results.  Interesting to look into more.

I hoped these results helped you as much as they intriged me.

Blogging in Science

My "Guest Blogger" today is K. Phillips @Phillipskerri, a Phy Ed Teacher and Science teacher who really took an interest in the iPads.  The following is her story:

I think that the biggest challenge was not knowing if my ideas would work on the classroom scale.  I found that I could try something on my iPad or laptop and it would work and then in the bustle of the classroom with 30 kids trying to produce something there were inevitable problems.  Essentially, the iPads are not meant to be a shared device, and we had many problems with students logging onto apps and not being able to log off.  Scary, when they are then shared with another class the next block, and there is someone's blogger or twitter account ready to be posted from.  Yikes.

We also had problems once the work was completed, not being able to access that work from outside the iPad since the students were not able to email or tweet their work to me.  We all started blogs and were able to post work to our blogs from the iPads (thanks to the open wireless at our school) even as drafts that could be published later.  We also had trouble posting video - and thanks to some help from the students, were able to upload video to our own YouTube channel.  Pretty cool.

I think that the biggest learning experience in this process was to trust the students.  They were very patient and helpful in troubleshooting and problem solving.  Even though not all grade 12 students are digital natives, we were given the opportunity and freedom to create solutions together - collaborating with each other, trying things, failing at things until we found ways to make it work.  It is hard as the teacher not being completely "in charge" of what is happening - things not going to plan, changing on the fly.  It makes it very easy to quit a project or assignment that is not turning out the way that you think that it should or taking way longer than you think that it should to complete.  But I don't think the failures should be a reason to quit - if we think like scientists, we learn from all of our experiences, and it brings us closer to finding something that will work.  If I had tried to work all the bugs out before implementing the iPads in the classroom, I would still be waiting.  

Okay - some of the apps that I would recommend:

SHOW ME - it was very cool - I have been using video as assessment, having students explain concepts with manipulatives, white boards etc., and this app takes that to the next level.  You record voice and writing on a white board simultaneously (like that guy with the brown marker).  You need to create an account and these are posted directly online - either public or private with a web address as a link that some students then posted to their blogs.  It was especially good for students who aren't as comfortable in front of the camera - this is just voice and drawing/labelling etc.  Lots of possibilities.

http://johnrondina.files.wordpress.com

SKITCH - basically drawing/typing over a picture (either taken with iPad or downloaded).  Can also draw shapes and labels on white background (we did RNA/DNA with labels).  The jpeg is then saved to the camera roll of the iPad and we posted them to our blogs.

BLOGGER - a good app that allows students to sign in and out (and is free).  Simple to add posts or drafts and easy to post photos from the camera roll - students with iPhones can use the app and post pictures from labs and classroom activities with a short description really easily.  Students couldn't find a similar free app for android/blackberry.

I have lots to say about the use of blogging in Biology as well - just need to think about it a bit more first...

Ms. Phillips was my biggest blogger with students.  In another post we'll put up some of her student examplars.  

Working with Communicating with Students & Parents.

My Guest Blogger this time is S. Brine, a Social Studies Teacher at our school who loves trying anything new that engages the students.  The following is her research and learning today.

My goal: a website

During the Pro-D at the end of summer in 2011, I set my goal: to create a website that would meet the needs of students and parents.  Using Webnode as my template, I put together a site that allowed students and parents to view a weekly run-down of what to expect in Social Studies class, check homework assignments and due dates, view test dates (along with what to expect on the test), and have access to links that connected them to important documents (unit overviews, course outlines, expectations, etc.)  The website also provided numerous ways to contact me and strongly encouraged both students and parents to do so at any time. 

What really happened: a website and Twitter and a document reader

Upon completion of my website, I proudly wrote out the address for the students and asked them to use it often to keep themselves informed throughout the course.  One of my grade 10 students respectfully informed me that they didn’t really ‘use the Internet’ but rather relied on Twitter for information.  This particular class made it clear to me that if I truly wanted to be technologically savvy with my students, I would need to use what they used.  I created an account and tweeted reminders about homework.  More importantly, I sent out tweets that informed students the website was updated.  This helped remind them of my website and they began checking it on a regular basis.  So my goal became larger and I was able to both complete and manage the website this year and become familiar with Twitter and how it can be a wonderful tool to further connect me with students and my larger educational community.  I am now in the process of learning about my new document reader and how it can provide an opportunity to not only aid instruction, but record photos and video that can be uploaded to my website.     

What worked:

What worked for me was having the time to develop the website and the time to learn how to format it so it looked the way I wanted it to.  I enjoyed having my own time during Pro-D to put it all together and ask for help when needed.  The goal was mygoal and it was very satisfying to meet it.  With the updated wireless and the strong support from Nicole in particular, I was excited to experiment with and play with technology.  This school year, I have had more contact with parents than ever before as more are willing to contact me via e-mail and check the website to stay informed as to what their child is doing in my class.  It has made the whole teaching/learning experience much more open and transparent. 

What didn’t work:

I would have found more value in working with a small group of people who had similar goals to mine.  Having the time alone to concentrate on my goals was appreciated, but I would have enjoyed the collaboration with other staff members as well from time to time.  I also would have enjoyed a session where teachers would be able to show what they had accomplished or report out their experience with technology.


I agree, the teachers need to share and show their learning.  Next year, the Pro D days.