Tech Play 2 eportfolio

 Explore: Sites

The sites that I played with this week were Google Sites, Wix, and Dreamweaver. First I looked a Wix and from my first post I shared how I did not like their layout but I thought I would give it another try and nope it is still not for me. Dreamweaver seemed like it would be great but for 20.99 a month that was not for me either. So Google Sites was the winner. It was so easy to use and to set up. I was nervous at first about setting up a eportfolio but it was easier than I made it out to be. 

Folio Thinking

A portfolio is a collection of work that someone has done over time. Eportfolios are digital collections of work. This is a way to show how someone is doing and learning that goes beyond the standard pen-and-paper assessment of understanding. It is a way to see where someone is having difficulties and how to better help them understand.  For my graduate degree, it is more meaningful showing what I know and what I am learning and provide artifacts about that learning. Even though it is meaningful for me and I prefer it. It did cause me some stress at first. Prior to taking this course, I had never made an eportfolio. I saw it as a place for my failures to be seen. However, it has been easier than I thought and I find it meaningful to see what I have created. 

I am a resource inclusion teacher and at first, I did not see the value in using folios for my learners. I see them for a short amount of time and some of them I only see once a week. Upon some reflection and thinking outside the box. I now can see how this can be of value to my learner. Expecly my learners who only do their work on their Chromebooks and my learners that have anxiety when it comes to taking assessments. Creating folios could be a great measure of progress. It is something that they are creating and adding to and it gives them a way to grow and a way for me to track growth and progress. 

Create something

The way that I see eportfolios working for my learners is for them not to only upload what they are doing when they are with me but also to upload the work that they are doing when they are in the general education classrooms as well. Google Sites would be the application that I would have them use to create their eportfolio. It is easy to use and since they have Chromebooks that are assigned to them this is the best way for them to do this.  An example of this is when they are doing writing assignments. The class as a whole uses google docs to write and edit their drafts and their final papers. The learners can upload their drafts which is substitution/augmentative. This aligns with my classroom as well because most of my learners have IEP goals in writing. Having them upload their work as artifacts is a way to track growth and for them to be able to see their growth as well. 

Tech Play Reflection

 A blog is a digital way to update, inform, and communicate your ideas and thoughts with people that want to know what you have to say. The affordances of using a blog in the learning environment allow users to read, write, and comment on someones writing. I can see it as a good tool for reading, collaboration, and feedback. I am a special education resource and inclusion teacher. Most of the students on my caseload have an eligibility of SLD (specific learning disability) in the areas of reading fluency and reading comprehension. So, I can see this being helpful to some and not helpful to others. In addition, I do not see my students every day, and some I only see for a short amount of time. I do not see this being helpful in my classroom.  I can, however, see this as a great way to communicate with parents. At the beginning of the school year, I send out an introduction letter to all of my returning and new parents reintroducing or introducing myself. This would be a good way to give a good introduction and a way to keep them up to date with new things and different resources. The platforms that I played with were Wix and Blogger. I did not find Wix as easy to use as I did Blogger. Wix had a lot of steps to just start using the website. Blogger asked a couple of questions and then you were in. They both are good websites to start and use for blogging. I just preferred one over the other. I am excited to try this out this upcoming school year with the parents. I normally use email and class dojo. I think this will be a more creative and engaging way to communicate. This would be a modification because I am creating a thread of discussion rather than it being just one-on-one. 

TPACK Model

Content: This can give students a different, fun, and engaging way to learn new content and practice content that they need to have more understanding of. 

Pedagogy: Parent involvement 

Technology: It gives parents and students a way to access information digitally.

Some obstacles that I feel I may have are my students finding this difficult to use and adding more stress to them because they do have difficulty with writing and reading. Another obstacle is if the parents do not use it or find it useful. However, if the parents engage I think it would be worth trying for the simple fact of trying something new with communication.