Back to Inspiration
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Conclusion
According to a study by Apple about learning in the 21st century, (2006) most students expect to learn in an environment that mirrors their lives and their futures. Looking at current hiring and workforce practices shows that portfolios and blogs are required for most jobs interviews. Creating blog portfolios at New Tech High is in direct alignment with preparing students for their future as a means of highlighting strengths as well as growth over time.
This year so far, students are blogging more frequently, having written, on average, 6-8 blogs in the first semester of the 2016-17 school year. Most students do not understand yet, about how to apply visual thinking to their posts, and are in the process of learning about how to effectively use procedural writing to teach others what they know. It is not surprising that students are quite successful in using blog posts to reflect, as this is a skill that has been practiced since the beginning of New Tech as a school. It is, however, an ongoing task to get students to understand that blogging is not to be done just for the benefit of the teacher, but also for a broader readership outside of their classroom. Next steps will be to continue introducing concepts such as how to use visual design to increase learning and ease of use, the SITE and Situation/Gap/Help models to understand one’s audience, Clarke’s Model for teaching concepts and procedures to go beyond what we have done so far with blog portfolios. Learning Models that Can Inform Your Blogging Program
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Research
Design Process
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Next Steps
There is still more work to be done to improve on the school portfolio process. We are planning a special expo night for the spring so that all students can showcase the work they have done on their Blog/Portfolio. We will be inviting parents, friends and professionals from the outside community to participate.
I am also, along with my colleague Andrew Biggs, continuing to create lessons and lesson plans for teaching these new design concepts to students as they really begin to get their blogging feet wet. It is my hope that as we continue to develop this program, that we document all that we do so we can share our findings and our progress with other teachers, both in the District and throughout the New Tech Network nationally.
There is opportunity to do workshops on our process, both at NTAC (New Tech Annual Conference) in the summer, and through the Digital Innovators Series sponsored by NapaLearns, of which I already play a role as workshop facilitator and curriculum developer.
We will continue to collect data as to how many students are participating, send a survey to get feedback from students and staff now that we are further into the process, and examine analytics for a select sampling of students from a wide range of backgrounds and profiles.
I am also, along with my colleague Andrew Biggs, continuing to create lessons and lesson plans for teaching these new design concepts to students as they really begin to get their blogging feet wet. It is my hope that as we continue to develop this program, that we document all that we do so we can share our findings and our progress with other teachers, both in the District and throughout the New Tech Network nationally.
There is opportunity to do workshops on our process, both at NTAC (New Tech Annual Conference) in the summer, and through the Digital Innovators Series sponsored by NapaLearns, of which I already play a role as workshop facilitator and curriculum developer.
We will continue to collect data as to how many students are participating, send a survey to get feedback from students and staff now that we are further into the process, and examine analytics for a select sampling of students from a wide range of backgrounds and profiles.
Gratitude
A big Thank You goes to Napa Learns for helping me through their grant program. NapaLearns does some amazing work out in the community and should be recognized for their work in helping teachers get advanced training, getting technology into the classroom, providing funds for bringing experts into the classroom and so much more.
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Through NapaLearns I have been lucky enough to help create and teach curriculum for teachers in the Digital Innovators program, a series of free teacher trainings that include tracks in Maker Movement, Film, Project Management, Robotics, and Digital Innovation in the Classroom.
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