The year that has been

The year that has been… I woke up this morning realising today is December 7th. 2013 is nearly over.
There has been some good, some great and some less good and some messy! 

I have:
 - deepened my understanding of the scope and role of ePortfolios, researched and analysed methods of implementation outside of schools, inquired into their potential for employability, professional certifications and acreditations, as well as personal branding.
- dived in to identify and articulate the attributes of the Life Long Learner
- related the building of an ePortfolio to digital identity, digital footprints and key digital literacies.
- made sense of the inherent links between personal learning and social learning and how to scaffold them
- assessed ways of restructuring the way we work to make best use of both personal and social learning
- evaluated a range of online tools and services to support the ePortfolio approach
- started using design thinking
- worked on OpenBadges, instructional design
- realized I am only a technology consumer ...
- had a first go at synthesing this into a minimum value proposition to get started with ThinkAgency
- contributed by invitation to many projects and conversations but failed (so far) to get all the stakeholders I have engaged with to contract me…

This has led me to:
 - identify salient common points between the "world of education" and the "world of work"
-  slowly break away from my "edu" echo chamber and go and listen/participate in other communities
-  discover an engaging and switched on to learning professional community
 - see the need for a common vocabulary when labeling and describing skills, strengths, competence
-  invest in attending conferences where I have listened, participated, presented, met with
-  see and work through others' problem with them
-  value openness as the modus operandi
-  talk a lot around dreams and ideas (sigh…)
-  throw myself in a lot of new related stuff wanting to start to understand OpenBadges potential, IT stuff around metadata, experiencing basic coding...
-  feel frustrated by not staying focus



Which in turns has opened my eyes to: (the confronting....)
- how limited I actually am to see the big picture: I find it hard placing boundaries around my ideas to have them evolve beyond just that
- the tyranny of too much autonomy! (especially let lose with a connected device)
- how limited my mastery around IT is beyond using/consuming
- how easily I forget I can't assume and must verify all hypothesis...
- how unable I seem to be at actually establishing my own actionable purpose!

Yet fabulous stuff happened such as:
- experiencing the world of entrepreneurship and start ups
- getting a feel for this whole ecosystem and going in with eyes wide open
- drawing some connections to the world as I have known it so far
- acquiring vast amount of new learning (some of it yet to be connected)
- witnessing what truly persuasive and convincing look like in practice
- starting to understand value in a commercial and business sense
- developing solid partnerships


I have maintained and grown lasting existing friendships.
I have worked on balancing my PLN, opened new channels and participated in a range of conversations.
I might have done it with too much gusto….
My teenage-like heart has fallen in love at first sight with many enlightening, supportive, challenging, critical new friends.
I count on time and actions to tell how these influences evolve!
I live with and love the most honest and caring dragon. I must never lose sight of this.

2013 as the "Year of Trying"! 
In the unstoppable momentum I have been saying yes yes and yes to so many things: I have done, got feedback, got knocked, undone, redone.
Today it feels that in terms of accomplishments for the year, well,  it is close to a "not a lot to show for". 
To move forward into 2014 I will need to do less Yes to learning and more Yes to executing.
I have a few weeks before making New Year's Resolution. Phew.

Why am I doing this?
The ability to learn is the only lasting competitive advantage for any organization. H. Jarche
Can I build a business model around this?
I have the ideas, the people, the want and the drive.
2014 will be the Year of the Concrete Steps.

Meet Abbi

MOOC "Badges: New Currency for Professional Credentials" - Understanding the Open Badges Ecosystem and Building a Badge System

CHALLENGE ONE: Define a Current Ecosystem.

Consider an industry or community of practice where you anticipate that badges could have a positive impact

 _______________________

       Meet Abbi. Abbi is quickly coming to her seventeenth birthday, with mixed feelings about leaving school. She lives in Takapuna, north of Auckland New Zealand. She started college in brand new buildings 4 years ago. Abbi is in year 12 now, and in a year's time in December she will have to have decided what she wants to do next. Abbi does not mind going to school, even if sometimes the 5 lessons a day get in the way of all the other things she really wants to do. She is quite athletic, and with the school' s soccer team training in winter and the surf life saving club in summer, she keeps fit.  Abbi's efforts in both disciplines are often celebrated, as her soccer team came first of their division this season under her captaincy, and she has received many a trophy already for her surfing ability. Abbi is a popular girl with a good group of friends and she often signs them up as a team for charity events, organized both at school and the community. Her goal this year is to get the largest team to raise money for CanTeen, since her team only came second last year and missed on the "big prize"! She knows she needs to draw on her organizational skills as well as on her time management to pull this off this year: her part time job at the local supermarket is now taking up 10 hours a week. She needs to save up as much as she can for when she leaves school, should it be for university or training or maybe a gap year.  Abbi is busy. She goes from one lesson to the next with long to do lists of assignments deadlines for her 6 different subject areas. Most of her NCEA standards  being assessed internally, she has to compile a portfolio of evidence over the course of the year, culminating to selecting the best pieces for final submissions. Her teachers are on the whole pretty helpful and keen to support her but she finds she needs constant help with unpacking the achievement objectives. Above all the sheer volume of what needs to be produced for each of her courses puts her under pressure. Abbi does not actually have neither the time, nor is she regularly offered the incentive to step back and consider and reflect on her learning. She wants to achieve with Excellence as her mum keeps telling her that it will give her more options for after school. While she has overall above average literacy and numeracy, she gets little feedback in the way of the skills she is developing through managing all of this coursework, participating in all the extra curricular activities . She is also considering going back to handing her work in written form since her teacher, while providing positive oral feedback on her creativity, found it hard to assess the cartoon strip she designed with an online tool and presented as evidence towards her History credits via her ePortfolio.  Abbi is concerned mainly by getting school work done, rather than how she is getting it done.


        Meet Tania. She is Abbi's Spanish teacher. Tania is in her early 30s and likes her job. The school environment is pleasant, she has been here for three years now and has built a good rapport with her colleagues and her students, who respect her. She likes the area, her young family and partner live nearby, and they can enjoy the proximity of the ocean year long. Tania has had to change a lot to her teaching since she started ten years ago. The New Zealand Curriculum was implemented in 2007, and was quite a departure from the previous documents. This fairly slim document intends to be a holistic guide to all New Zealand schools to review their own curriculum and align it with the firmly student centered vision of the National document. Tania has been involved from the outset to grasp all of its intent, based on community engagement, learning to learn, and future focus. She is experimenting with her teaching, and has moved away from the painstakingly crafted units of work she used to base all her teaching on.  She is making some use of the School Moodle where she posts resources for her students to access. She'd like to use it more as she sees the potential but she has also undertaken a year long Professional Learning course which aims to accompany her pedagogical evolution towards a task based approach to teaching and learning. Tania uses the teaching as inquiry cycle to ensure her teaching meets the learning needs of her students. Tania is busy. She has a range of classes and responsibility for her learning area. She knows she could engage in her inquiry with more depth. Tania does not actually have neither the time, nor is she offered the incentive to step back and consider and reflect on her learning as a teacher. She also knows that deadlines for the high stake NCEA assessment are always looming. Despite having been aligned to the New Zealand Curriculum, offering students a more personalized and individualized pathway to achievement, the managing of portfolio of evidence proves very tricky and imply students taking "more ownership of their learning". Tania witnesses that all of her students are also getting to grip with their new responsibility, and the response varies greatly according to their level of engagement. Plus, Tania is intent on getting good grades, as the overall image of her Faculty and of her school, will be reflected on the results. To maintain her students' level of success, as measured by the tests, she is putting on the back burner discovering with them what online tools they could use to produce work, and her students, while they BYOD, use their device mainly for research, word-processing or sharing a googledoc and sometime use language learning apps. Tania feels she "does" teaching to her students while she wishes she could do more to get them to make sense of their own learning, as intended by the NZC. She also knows that the Key Competencies too often slips under her and her students' radar. When she stops and considers, she knows they ought to be the common language across all learning areas, as they encompass knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. Tania knows too that these competencies are for teachers, learners and anyone beyond the school community.


        Meet Greg. Greg owns a medium size business, based on hydraulic engineering. He still drops his daughter Abbi at school in the morning: she can sleep in a bit longer if she rides with him rather than bus it. He has an engineering qualification and his business, thanks to a recent contract with a Chinese manufacturer, is doing quite well. Greg has been in the area for twenty years and benefits from the import/export activity generated by the Port of Auckland, the most active in the country.  Greg typically employs between 25 to 30 people. He would like this to stabilize but the lower skill employees come and go, often at the drop of a hat. He has also found it hard to find suitable match to join his management team, as he is often left disappointed that the qualification and veneer presented on the resumé does not convert into workplace skills once hired. Overall, he finds critical thinking and problem solving skills, often coupled with below par communication skills, are sorely missing. Greg is busy. He needs to travel to get more work. Competition from cheaper countries is a constant threat. While he knows he ought to do something to invest in the professional development of his employees to retain them and also to support them gain more quickly the skills he views are essential, he needs to invest in other areas first. Greg always wonders what the kids really learn at school. 



These descriptions showcase there are some good bases on which to dream a badge system development in New Zealand.
Here comes the not so distant future:

Abbi will start gaining badges, hopefully Openbadges, identifying and showcasing her sporting and community engagements and successes, issued by the reliable institutions that are offering these opportunities. Those institutions will find badges a natural digital extension to the cups, badges and certificates they already issue.  She will display them on her ePortfolio (MyPortfolio powered by Mahara, available to all New Zealand schools as SaaS) which won't be the rather dry venue where she has only been collected her speaking and writing evidence for Spanish. She will see her achievements accumulate. Abbi will start to engage in keeping a more consistent record of her learning, and possibly seek more opportunities to earn badges.  Or, why not, start issuing some to her friends when they achieve the Canteen challenge?
Through seeing the badges displayed on Abbi's portfolio profile, and engaging in conversation with her about their significance, not only will Tania get to know her student just that little bit more, but also will start thinking how she will herself issue badges. Not only it would get her to look more deeply into Moodle functionalities, she has always wanted to do to spend more time on that, but it will also be a way to finally evidence the Key Competencies in a concrete, visible, understandable manner: students getting expandable badges for essentials skills they progress on, but also for the aptitudes and competences they develop. Issuing badges credentialing time management, intercultural competence, communication skills... Tania is getting very exciting at the prospect! The visual badge would go a long way in materializing the complexity of each of these concepts, the task is now to be break them down in simple manageable steps.
When Greg reads Abbi's report inviting him to view Abbi's eportfolio, as she has not had the time to show him her badges, he will discover the Openbadges Abbi has been collecting and the competencies she has developed. Greg will relate to the vocabulary being used in the description, as these are the very things he wishes to see his employees develop or at least articulate. Short of thinking he could build badge issuing into the professional development plan he is currently considering to offer to retain his employees, he understands the value the Openbadges would bring to the interview table, or better still, prior to that as he selects the resumés. Greg  will start to see that kids in New Zealand schools really learn to learn at school.

I would argue that the New Zealand strong sport and service community coupled with a forward thinking education system offers, in appearance, a fertile ecosystem where there could be a multitude of opportunities to try and build a Badge System with a concerted approach. The next challenges will definitely allow to dive more deeply in the complexity of what it entails.


Pascale Hyboud-Peron
20th September 2013

A Lot of Learning

A week on, I can articulate (I think!) some takeaways from the Tauranga StartUp Week End
Rewind back 7 days:  I pitched, my idea did not get traction, went round the room, liked a few ideas, hard to put forward my "soft skills" when people just want to get going, needing a developer or a designer, and then chose to hang around an idea that inherently involved learning and self directed learning, as well as speaking competence and ability, and enhancement of these through feedback and feedforward, through the development of an online community dedicated to do just that. All stuff that I relate to through language teaching, ePortfolio development, understanding of what good expert and peer feedback consists of,  credentialing of evidence with Open badges, online community building experience both as a user and a facilitator... The SpeakEazy idea talked to me on many levels.
Now to make a Minimum Viable Product from an idea like this and turn it into a convincing business plan...That's the challenge.

Lean Canvas

This is where the words Motivation, Team and Leadership come alive. Those very words that are the foundation for a positive productive and supportive learning environment.
The team had a difficult challenge, the one they set themselves to solve.
The team had the tools: each other's experience, expertise and contribution, the devices, the internet, an outline of the success criteria, and the Lean Canvas.
The team had the support: honest mentors with a range of expertise, a set framework, food, drink, attentive organisers
The team had time: well not really (54hrs sounds a lot but...) in fact yes there was time since we were in "locked down" doing anything but work on the project uninterrupted.
Challenge+Tools+Time+Support =  Motivation.
> Isn't this level of engagement that we want in school?

Co constructed under effective leadership

The team members have never met before.The team recognised the role individuals within the team could play, and the strengths and limitations each has. There is respect, there is collaboration and there is ownership.  The sum of their contributions will lead to solving the problem if the pathway to it is underpinned by a thought through strategy, facilitated by a leader. The team was well lead indeed, by someone who not only had given careful consideration to what it will take to succeed but who also could articulate the steps, as well as enable team members to contribute at their level of competence, while providing opportunities to stretch beyond.
> Isn't this the type of  leadership of learning we want in school?

Then came the evaluation, the 5 minute presentation of the project to the Judges, in front of your peers turned audience, culmination of the hard work but also the competition. And the celebration of success, not just for the winning team, but for all that have fully immersed in the experience, each individual taking away with them something to reflect on, grow, emulate, extend.
> Isn't this the type of individualised learning we want in school?

In learning mode...

Just felt I have actually lived Ewan McIntosh's Design Thinking for Learning, including the ah ah moment! That ah ah moment applies actually to ThinkAgency as I have been working on getting to the value proposition. It is about serendipity also!
Isn't this the type of success what we want all learners to experience?   ;-)

ePortfolio: what tools, what functionalities?

I have recently come across two amazing examples of professional ePortfolios:

- @traintheteacher is a regular and prolific blogger whose reflections are tagged, using the Registered Teacher Criteria, collected and selected for the purpose of her PRT ePortfolio using Wordpress (a powerful blogging platform)

- Don Presant's career ePortfolio presents selected personal information, his CV as well as the services he offers, alongside much evidence of his research and presentations, using Mahara(a purpose built ePortfolio system).

A range of online services can be used and combined and together make an ePortfolio for their owner who want to showcase and flesh out their achievements, skills, and competences beyond the wording on their CV.

Typically the blog (like this one!) is a place of where one goes to put down ideas, or accounts of experience, or reflect on what they have done, where they are now and what they can do next. 
What else is there?
Vizify can be used as a visually pleasing aggregator of the stuff one produces in a range of spaces, for a range of interests (eportfolio for life wide learning!)
About.me can be used as a cover page to your ePortfolio.
Belonging to groups (on Facebook for instance), nings , listserves,  having a twitter account,  etc is a way to bring in the social component to one's learning, where you get some and you give some and where ideas can be tested out.

Using online services like those imply that the user has embedded a level of comfort with publishing online for a purpose that is usually self determined, or for personal branding.

Developing an ePortfolio, and the mindset to go with it, is the result of a range of factors: it is undoubtedly beyond the "tick the box" requirement that any professional body or employer may require. ePortfolios are a place where one can let things stew and develop, as work in progress. They also allow the owner to showcase their stuff when/where/to whom it is necessary or timely. One does not become a reflective practitioner the minute they create an account on MyPortfolio nor do they always keep organised, meaningful traces of their learning with Instagram or SoundCloud. Nor necessarily act on the feedback left on way of comments... That is why I am talking about adopting a ePortfolio mindset! And having a self chosen purpose to get started.

Developing an awareness that any of these tools actually support learning by making it visible to the owner while at the same time making the owner visible to a chosen audience or to the world at large is well worth investigating. ePortfolios have the potential to accompany the development of a range of digital competencies as well as being a space to display them.

I have also recently stumbled upon netice.fr a French start up focused on providing ePortfolio services as well as a Mahara instance, for employability with an emphasis on insertion in the world of work (post formal education or after unemployement)  supported by the development of digital competencies. Netice.fr has caught my attention, in particular as it seems to be what I would like to be part of here in NZ!

So that finally takes me to the point of this entry, phew! Why a dedicated ePortfolio space like Mahara for instance rather than a suite of etools that the owner bundles together? After reading the report of ePortfolio use at Plymouth State University to which Ellen Mary Murphy contributed (and which link is no longer available), here is what I came up with to start visualising what functionalities support ePortfolio development, when they accompany the development of digital competencies and require an element of privacy and control over what is published. Work in progress...

Inquiry Learning in Tom's Class

Continuing to look for ways of making the eportfolio approach seamless and integrated within the learning process, I asked Tom Atkins if I could spend a bit of time in his inquiry classes at Tauranga Boys College. 

This is a snapshot of my visit last week. 

The setting:

- traditional 4 wall classroom

- 2x one hour class

- laptops available in room, wifi
- use of googledrive + edublogs + specific maths and writing online if/when necessary

The characters:

- two classes, boys, by year level groups (year 10 followed by year 9)

(students apply to participate in the Inquiry programme upon enrolling in year 9> selection is through a questionnaire where the students indicate why they would like to be considered, supported by a parent comment. 

The scene:

- students work in pairs on a question of their choice. It is their forth question this term. (In year 9, to start with students are given 2 questions to work on, then learn the process from there)

- sense of purpose: upon entering, everyone picks up a laptop and logs in, and gets started

- Tom is hands off to start with, and then spends time with each pair, evaluating and guiding and giving feedback

- This is week 3 of this particular cycle: students checking emails expecting to read from experts they have contacted, or finishing their questionnaires, or looking at the analytics from responses they have got. Some are framing their writing, others are looking for images and editing them. 

- The inquiry culminates to each pair's presentating their finding to the class at the end of the cycle. Then take comments and questions from the class. 

- Tom seizes one "teachable moment" with each class, the only time he actually speaks to the whole class for a few minutes: with year 10, he mentions questionnaires and puts a few pointers out on how to make a representative samples (eg: one yr 10 group is investigating Superannuation, and thus needed to obtain answers from people in employment: they have emailed TBC's staff the link to their survey). In the year 9 class he chose to discuss and give example of appropriate ways to write to request information to someone you have been referred to). 

My Story:
I saw:
- engaged boys, working in pairs to find solutions to their questions

- interesting questions, based around a range of themes: use of farmland, a motorway running the length of the country, lowering the drinking age, types of school, 

- students collaborating with each other, answering questionnaires for instance or working on same document

I noticed:

- the technology use is embedded, it's the pen and paper.

- respect of the environment, super effective classroom, all laptops are charged for instance

- students can eloquently talk about their inquiry and are prepared to ask me questions themselves

- students welcome a stranger to the class and are comfortable with the presence (and the questions!)

- the Year 10 class students display their ability to go beyond describing their questions, they are able to compare for instance, and have started analysing and relating ideas.

- through using googledrive students keep evidence of their learning: they will select from these artefacts for their final presentation

- Year 9 students describe the use of their blog as their log book, where they record what they did

- Year 10 students describe the notes they take when listening to and interacting during the final presentations as "their personal thoughts" that they keep to themselves.

I learnt from Tom

- each group has 8 inquiry class/week with two different teachers who work together on planning

- students tend to do better at NCEA when they go in mainstream in year 11

I wished I had asked:

The students:

-  how they feel about their choice of being in the Inquiry class

-  what they get out of it

- what process they use to get to their fertile question and how long they spend on it

Tom:

- to show me the framework he and his colleague use to scaffold students' progress.

Looking at this snapshot through my "eportfolio lense" there is plenty of evidence that the collecting and selecting of learning pieces for a purpose is taking place and is making use of the technology available effectively. Students have a strong sense of ownership of their current work and know the steps to reach the success criteria. Collecting and selecting are two main ingredients of the eportfolio approach, with reflecting and sharing two other ingredients. One angle I would be interested in looking into is how the capacity to reflect on achievements and through learning from others develops over the two years of the programme.

Learning is all around!

I have the opportunity to meet with a group of secondary teachers tomorrow morning over breakfast. These teachers have indicated their interest in looking at what IT can enable for their students and joined this group, which is a Priority One initiative through the INSTEP programme. The programme provides valuable links between businesses, which indicate their needs and local secondary schools, which request information about local businesses. This group, called the "IT Enablers group", is meeting for the second time and is made up of teachers from a range of learning areas, but mainly from Digital Technology.
To start with Joy Cottle ( Institute of IT Professional ) will present the ICT Connect Programme, linking schools and ICT Professionals to inspire students to consider a career in ICT. I have heard of the programme, and I particularly look forward to find out how it works.
The other aspect of the meeting is to establish something easy for teachers in the group to connect and communicate about their ideas and experience with enabling students to be confident ICT users.
Steven Vincent (TechnologyWise) will then present a tool to support this communication.
What I will try to do, with the short presentation that follows, is to highlight the benefits of every day technology to share ideas and experience, to continue conversations around a common purpose and to grow a support learning network from within the group. I will talk about how I have grown to extend my support network beyond geographical and learning area vicinities, and relied on social media and groups and forums to further my knowledge, understanding, experience and opportunities. I would be very happy to add members of this group in my PLN.
This short presentation will be preceded by and followed a conversation around establishing common goals and what participants already do to go and get information and ideas and what they would like to see as a first outcome of their commitment to the group.

Preparing for this led me to think about the people and groups in my PLN. I came up with this diagram to try to capture not only my level of connection but also to take a snapshot of who I turn to today for information and ideas, where/who I get inspiration from.
I could have done better and linked the people/communities to their online presence, but playing with Lucidchart was enough novelty for me today!
 I notice from the diagramme:
- Pedagogy, eportfolio, digital identity and capability feature quite highly
- The closer circles are where I feel the most comfortable contributing.
- There are a range of people in this circle who have seriously influenced the way I think about learning.
- There are many other people in my PLN, but this is a snapshot and who/what community came to mind without intending to be comprehensive!

I am not that visual...

Many are trying to establish a definition of what an ePortfolio actually is. And describing the nature, scope and meaning of ePortfolio will be done in relation with who establishes this definition for what context. I particularly liked this introduction to ePortfolio for students at Victoria Uni.
One comment written by Sarah Stewart on an anti ePortfolio blog post steered me towards picking an other lense to consider ePortfolio. She wrote "ePortfolio is what you want it to be!" Yeah!
I decided to drop (for now!) the institutionalised lense (education context, assessment, evaluation, measured improved outcomes, definition, implementation, eportfolio system...) and to focus on the individual ePortfolio owner* whoever that may be at any time of their life. Folios are life wide and life long and need to be considered from the user's perspective, who is a curious self motivated autonomous proactive agent of his/own learning (coming from a school near us soon!)
I came across this Guide to Digital Portfolio and I liked its presentation format. Maybe because it is flat and linear and that it caught my eye is a reflection of my limited ability to think differently :-)? I would like to master Prezi so that I convey my thoughts and experience about things through using it, but so far my attempts have left me disappointed in the result. I need to work on why? (and suggestions to guide this reflection are welcome!)
Anyhow this is my attempt at describing what an ePortfolio is. For me. Work in progress.

* Bloggers keep blogs, need to think of a name for a person who keeps an ePortfolio...

A week of two halves!

France is in New Zealand for three test matches against the All Blacks at the moment. Typically it means intense rugby watching. Succession of high highs: admiration, exhilaration, discovery of talents, enthusiasm, connections, cheering, a win... Intermittently interspersed by low lows: indecisions, refs' decision, frustration, lack of direction, a loss! And that is pretty much the story of my week!

While there has been some talk since December that some ongoing community support for MyPortfolio has received funding, and I have been asked what I could contribute to this, things are only lifted slowly of the ground. I am not waiting. I am thinking.
Why am I so passionate about this ePortfolio thing? ePorfolio is about learning, is about learning to learn, is about life long learning. It is about gathering one's own evidence of learning, organising it, reflecting on it, sharing it. It is about keeping traces, it is about readying oneself for opportunities. This happens best if the eportfolio is building out of purpose, powered with drive,  by individuals who make choices, are proactive about their own learning and have an understanding of the power of sharing, who have embedded reflection as a way of being. Along the way, the eportfolio user develops digital skills, digital literacy and a digital identity. In becoming agent of their learning, they proof themselves against the unknown an ever changing world is putting in front of them.  They have at the ready,  evidence of who they are as a student or professional, of what they can contribute and of their reflections on how to go about it. They understand qualifications is the What, ePortfolio is the Why and the How. And they understand it is what makes them stand out from the crowd: the Why is deeply individualised and the How is much personalised.

How have I drawn this picture of the ePortfolio user? Working with teachers and students and developing my knowledge and my understanding of the New Zealand Curriculum. This awesome picture is stuff from the world of Education. It's extremely good stuff. It is education talk. Is it heard, and understood, beyond that realm at all? Are employers, recruiters, business owners, professionals ready to pay attention to the potential a 21st century learner with an ePortfolio and to leverage what 21st century learning can bring them and their organisations?
If we spend time with students in schools learning to develop an ePortfolio approach, the best way to make it an authentic learning experience for them is that they see it has a value beyond formal education, that it is not merely something one does in French or Art.
If an ePortfolio succeeds in conveying this extremely good stuff about its owner as self directed, reflective, connected, how is this presented, explained, experienced to society at large?
I spent much of the last couple of weeks continuing to "meet" people, some synchronously but remotely, like Diana Ayling, who researches at tertiary level with interest in developing human potential, some asynchronously through their published work, like Philippe Gauthier who has compiled a Why and How to the ePortfolio approach book with employability in mind in France, or like Don Presant who is championing the use of ePortfolio for employability and career development in Canada. And some face to face, like Steven Vincent, who owns an IT service provider and support company specialising in the business and education markets. His business is about Open Source software. Steve sees helping people make the best choices around the technology that supports their every day life as a cornerstone of his activity. I also had a long chat with a woman I know socially who had a successful career in HR prior to having children and who now wishes to reenter the business world. An ePortfolio could help her capitalise on the "soft competence" she has grown and harnessed through being a mum to add to her otherwise brilliant CV.
All these encounters contribute to the high High! By moving my focus slightly out of ePortfolio in New Zealand schools and by looking beyond, it becomes clear to me that there is a direct application for an ePortfolio in the "real world" and that at the mention of its potential, people are very interested in knowing more, and getting started!
All these encounters contribute to the low Low! What to do with this understanding? Where to start? Who with? How? What is my next step?
But I start to look up again as essentially there is a Why! So that there is continuity from school to work, there needs to be a common language about Learning across sectors. So that these worlds complement each other, the people who inhabit them ought to recognise and value future proofed skills and competences, to recognise and value creativity and self direction in individuals. I believe ePortfolios are the opportunity to establish this common language.
Now what? To test the theory. This is what I am going to do locally, while continuing to learn from the world of Education!

PS: Like the image? Just a little fun reminder to self that I have got to start believing that I can be a little part of that!

ePortfolio blah blah

It appears we have had very different weeks and not only weatherwise... This is what I have been up to. Hesitations, blanks and repetitions included, but a podcast no longer (?!) than 10 minutes. Lucky you! Put the SoundCloud app on your phone or your browser and give it a go, suggest to your students to create an account, start recording anywhere anytime and share wherever (including MyPortfolio!) It even works for words list :-). Could be useful for revision prior to mock exams!

Enjoy your long week end and keep warm and happy!

No brainer

This is why we* do what we do, why we believe what we do is the way to go, why we trust, amongst others, the Key Competencies, Learning to Learn, Assessment for Learning,  to empower learners to think critically, to be curious and articulate, flexible and adaptable, to act independently and make their own free choices, in their context, in their culture.
Because we** don't want that. Anymore.

* You, me, and so many other teachers
 ** You, me, teachers, lecturers, employers, parents, friends...

Nano Presentation!

Upon leaving #Ignition13 Sonya (@vanschaijik) asked if I would give a three minute (nano) presentation at the first #teachMeetNZ that she is courageously (and effectively!) lifting off the ground.
This is happening Saturday 4th May at 2pm! 
It will be via Google Hangout and will stream live.
Sonya got a range of teachers say they d give it a go just like that! (Compare this with what it takes to get to agree on a date and time to meet with some colleagues...)
 
And I said I would join in. 

I am not too worried about the tools, I have used HangOut and screenshare quite a lot (especially since Skype removed screensharing), and right now it looks that the format of TeachMeet requires that I send the moderator (Sonya) my 12 slides spaced with 15" in between. Total time presenting is 3 minutes. That is the scary bit.

Thought I would talk ePortfolio why not? Although I toyed with an idea around Intercultural Competence (maybe another time LOL!)
And that got me to trial the text to speech SlideSpeech. The developer John (@slidespeech)  was showing its capabilities at #Ignition.
I remain unconvinced about the mechanical voice and the intonations. Maybe better than the French accent though. (Edit: I have now chosen to do a voice over version though!)  On the plus side the synthetic voice will deter from focus on content: getting a point across in 3 min flat is a big ask, and I am unsure that what I am saying is either clear or convincing. Having said that I will actually be presenting on the day. If you want to watch, it will stream live from here. There are some cool people lined up.

Anyhow, here is my first ever 3 min worth. I will really welcome feedback my critical friend!

                   You Teach You Learn - ePortfolio approach  

May 4th:
#teachmeet took place and it was a great experience!
Very good presentations indeed! Worth checking out here and more about the presenters on the wiki
Due to last second "stage fright" I pressed on the wrong button and my slides did not display properly. Luckily I was stopped midflow and could readjust! When you show something on Hangout you dont actually see as the other participants. Yet did not capture well on the clip... La prochaine fois!
So here is what I actually presented. Hover over the little cog option tool (bottom left) to bring up speaker's notes):

On peut toujours si on veux!

Une petite histoire très chouette qui illustre détermination, volonté, collaboration, esprit de communauté, imagination,  de discipline et de perséverance. Tout ce qui est possible lorsqu'il y a un but commun, tangible, auquel chacun apporte quelque chose en fonction de ses moyens et de ses capacités mais aussi apprend des autres!
Un clip à montrer à tes élèves quand elles ne trouvent pas la motivation ou oublient pourquoi elles apprennent!

About receiving comments notification via email...

Since only one of us two admins can have their email address set up to receive notification that a comment is been left on a post, I think this is the work around:
after you publish a post, proceed as if you were going to leave a comment, and select "subscribe by email". Voilà.

Un peu de ménage.....

Salut ma co-bloggeuse,

It occurs to me (again) that responding to posts with 'comments' runs the risk of things slipping under the radar. I've just been back through the comments and see I've missed yours because I don't seem to get any notification about comments, so I thought I'd bring them back from the dead and combine them with some of mine in a housekeeping post. Well, that's the plan but you know me...... Here goes. Your comments are in italics. Mine are as is. I'll put my responses to your comments in blue.

Loving the new found discipline, secretly wishing it was going to be a constant as it is really a huge bonus for our conversation here! It is all very coherent Ruth and highlights the need indeed for a "method to our madness". 
In my case the discipline is entirely generated by hedonism!! You know me well enough to realise that if there were any sense of obligation or duty associated with this undertaking then I would be off like a rocket. I'm doing it because I love it. INTRINSIC MOTIVATION PAR EXCELLENCE. You couldn't coerce me into blogging previously because I would've derived no pleasure from a one-sided conversation. I'm an interactive dude!! Actually, although I often claim to be ill-disciplined I think I may be motivated by a deep underlying discipline driven by perceived needs or wishes to go down a particular path when the time seems right. Synchronicity. I also prefer to have things ordered in my mind rather than on a piece of paper that I may not refer to. You can't escape your own mental order. I spend a lot of time just thinking about things. I've discovered about myself that I have to be very careful not to impose too much obvious order on what I do as it tends to elicit a rebellious response in me. If, for instance, in a fit of uncharacteristic efficiency I decide to plan my day in an orderly fashion, I can almost guarantee that I'll end up doing something else (unless the plans involve others). It'll always be something worthwhile as I'm not a time-waster, but it just won't be what I planned to do. That's just me and it's something I've come to understand about myself. I'm a great believer in the old Delphic oracle tenets 'Know thyself' and 'Nothing in excess', both of these help to keep my life in pretty good balance while still leaving scope for risk-taking and exploration. Having said that, I can be highly disciplined in certain spheres where there's no margin for error, such as planning for our school France trips. I could almost have been described as a control-freak. They went off very smoothly due to meticulous dotting of 'i's and crossing of 't's.

None of this above is very practical for "la rentrée" I am afraid. We need a list of classes (year group) and a list of key ideas to tackle the diversity with gusto! I have a couple more ICOT posts to add to the smorgasbord, I know you dont do recipes. Or can this too evolve?
I'm sure it was practical, whatever it was. However, I now have a list of classes but I'll have to wait until I've got to know the students a bit before making too many decisions on how to tackle the diversity. I have a number of things that I'm interested in trying, for example designating at least one lesson a week for completely student-directed study where they're identifying their needs (a la Ewan McIntosh) and devising their own strategies (with my support) for meeting them. There remains the question of harmonising with the departmental goals and I can't walk in with hob-nailed boots and presume to change the world, if indeed it needs changing, but I envisage making incremental changes, some of which will involve quite a mind-shift for the students who, I suspect, have been fairly spoon-fed and exam-prepped. I'll be teaching in optimal conditions, for teacher well-being, anyway, as my largest class has 20 students. The others are in the 17 - 20 range with the smallest being a Year 10 of 11 students. Given that they all have laptops and the classroom is well equipped and supported for IT, there should be scope for integrating IT creatively. Yesterday I was planning with Ostiane Amigues Mathon, who has a CM1/CM2 (as well as her teacher training) to see if we could get an exchange going with my youngest Year 4 group. Her class has both a Twitter account and a blog. That's what's generated my latest appearance on Twitter. Will it last?

Yep. (re ICOT) It's certainly great to be able to benefit from others' synthesis and analysis of such events. Even though I would love to have been there, I feel that I haven't missed out, thanks to the conversation we're now having and reading of the links.
As far as Twitter is concerned, I can see you've missed your calling as a super saleswoman. I have never doubted the value of Twitter for creating a sense of community and sharing of great stuff but for me it's just too fast. I'm a bit like Mainland Cheese and take a long time to mull over things. I find Twitter vaguely unsettling, as though I can never quite catch up with it. You're a speedier person in every respect. So I rely on other ways of accessing great ideas. As you know I'm somewhat of a Facebook junkie and following various pages and belonging to various groups, as well as exploring links suggested by friends from all over the world, in areas other than education, is about the right pace for me. As far as developing a following is concerned, it would be nice to think that whatever I write could be of potential value to someone else out there but it's mainly a reflective tool for me at this stage, as I undertake a major challenge. The other thing about Facebook I really like is taking part in educational conversations in the threads and having random real time chats with Art teachers in Lithuania, English teachers in Turkey, friends from closer to home that I don't see often enough. Since I joined Facebook I find I feel connected and think about my friends more than I did before. I've tried Twitter 3 times and failed to get hooked. It's just the way I am. I'm a long-winded and ruminative old carthorse rather than a thoroughbred racehorse. We both get there in the end.

Would love a job with Twitter :-)! Yep I find Twitter hugely unsettling too (and horses too by the way!)and it needs some taming to extract the goodness. And also if I am not careful it is very easy to follow and read from people that sort of think like me, and that does not make me progress in my thinking much. One can only take so much affirming! I get my head out of the "education" thread. I am enjoying following a range of tweeps, who keep me real: fashion, activists,journalists, businesspeople etc. People I am unlikely to meet in real life.
I would not go as far as envisaging to develop a following and making the buzz, but you and I have friends and colleagues whose awesome contributions would be very beneficial to help us in our thinking. Lesley is very keen on "Starting with the end in mind", Kheya teaches in an inquiry school, Simon has huge experience and expertise in language teaching, at that is just to namedrop a few! I would like to think that we could at times invite their feedback. 
Yep, it's great to get inspiration from outside the educational sphere. Things that you can mull over and perhaps incorporate into your teaching. Important, as you say, not to limit your reading/viewing to those already of your persuasion. Broadens the mind and opens you up to new possibilities. It would be very good to share ideas with Lesley and Kheya. 'Starting with the end in mind' is a logical modus operandi, as long as the end isn't too set in concrete. There has to be room for flexibility. As my colleague and friend Simon put it 'If you know exactly what it's going to look like before you arrive, what's the point of going there?' Likewise, it's helpful to know what the objective is (preferably an open-ended one) but maybe you don't need to map out the entire itinerary, which could be different for each traveller. It might be convenient and tidier for the driver or tour guide that everyone travel together by a predetermined route but possibly less interesting and rewarding for the travellers than if they had more autonomy and input into the process.

"The heart of our problem is indeed in the task design..." Yes indeed.
I'm thinking a lot about the affective element of learning and Ken Robinson's 'exile of feeling'. I couldn't agree more.
As far as a more scientific approach is concerned, it isn't really a method that I warm to. I know it might unsettle some of the students not to know at every step of the way where they're going but isn't this a more accurate microcosm of life? I may in the short term be obliged to stick with some of the tired old material but together we can devise ways of making it relevant, in some wider, more open-ended context.

 As far as the key attributes that I would like to help my learners develop, we need look no further than Guy Claxton's Magnificent 8 Qualities. I've internalised them in the same way as I've internalised the Key Competencies and Ellis' principles and am trying to internalise Newton's Intercultural Principles, so that they provide a constant filter through which I pass my pedagogy. What is this activity doing to help develop .....?

I've just had another look at Ewan McIntosh's Problem Finding Ted Talk and that has also reassured me that I don't need to map my methodology out in advance. I need to follow my instinct and intuition, honed over the years and trust that my experience both as a linguist and a teacher will be equal to whatever comes up. I have a few doubts about the German for precisely the reason that my lack of depth here won't allow me to be such a flexible resource as I can be in French or Spanish.

My prompts worked: you did "list" your principles! Yes step by step and back to the drawing board if needed I would be happy to devise materials with you as the need arise. All to be revealed when you meet your students, discover the learning environment and take stock! 

Indeed, indeed. It'll be great to incorporate you in the process. In particular your e-portfolio expertise will be invaluable. I haven't had an answer to my question regarding the school and Google. We'll see.

Wow I am very awake! We indeed learn and process information really differently: I enjoy getting the info "second or third" hand from a respected "intermédiaire" before going to the source. Not necessarily the most adventurous way but... I had secretly wanted you to tell me more about your take on Guy Claxton for a long time and here it is. I am also glad that you have an opportunity to consign to the page what you stand by, clearly and loudly. I have heard you before and this has been at the heart of many conversations.I know you will tell me how to go about acquiring the first chunks of language learning to enable this interaction, in TL, happen. I look forward to your post on the NZC now. Surely there is going to be something about formative assessment...
We have a point in common: I am well used to the concept of sharing good ideas which after polite enthusiasm are relegated to the too-hard basket too: the relative slow uptake of eportfolios by our language colleagues is leaving me perplexed. I am convinced that developing an eportfolio is an awesome way to develop and strengthen Key Competencies in language learners but I have obviously not done a good job at selling it to them... I did throw in NCEA many times even...
To your relief I am sure, I have nearly "emptied my bag" about ICOT apart from a couple of things I will add. I never envisaged when we started talking about this blog a couple of weeks ago that I would actually be able to write anything. I have put it all out there as it may be something I/we would want to revisit/refer to at a later stage, who knows? I don't pretend that any of it would be of any influence as you are about to go and meet your many students (name tags, does it still work :-)?) In a couple of weeks I envisage that our conversation here will have slowed right down, in frequency and quantity, as you will be otherwise engaged. I ll ensure to probe and poke, such is my curiosity as getting to know your learners alongside you. Eh, are you still awake?And yep conversation in a post is the way to go! Loving it!

I'm hoping our conversation won't slow right down when I get started in a couple of weeks. It'll be a privilege to have your continued support and input as I negotiate my way around this new challenge. It's bound to be a re-learning curve from the structural point of view. I can well remember the uncomfortable feeling of being on a mouse-wheel, at the mercy of bells and time constraints. About things which offer no choice, it's best to go with the flow.

Yay!! Problem solved with a modicum of tinkering and fine-tuning. (in response to posting photos and comments directly from a smartphone) This is a perfect example of working things out by trial and error. Text, although written above, appears below on the blog. :-)

That reminds me.... did I ever tell you about the great 'distance' plumbing lesson that François Muller gave me when I was staying at their place in Bagnolet? The bathroom shower tap was on it's last legs and had a habit of shooting off and flooding the bathroom, however, with careful adjustment it could be coaxed back onto the straight and narrow. Well, I was staying there by myself when the family were down in Tarbes, and the tap did the dirty on me. I knew where to turn the water off but didn't know the 'astuce' for fixing the tap. I texted François and he tried to contact his brother (you know, first response - get a man in) but when that failed I suggested we might try a virtual repair lesson. First he sent me off to locate a set of allen keys (or was it a phillips screwdriver?) (I can't remember the translation for allen keys, and who the hell was Allen anyway?). Then, armed with the requisite tools, I effected a magnificent repair following François phone-delivered instructions. Difficult to hold a phone and grapple with a defective tap but we got there.(You'll immediately notice that I didn't think of putting the phone on speaker!!) François observed with satisfaction that it was a perfect example of peer collaborative learning. It was even more satisfying, from my point of view, as it took place entirely in French. 

Voilà pour le ménage.

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