Notes from SXSWedu 2012 Concurrent Session
Note from Sandy: This was a powerful presentation! I am now full of ideas!!!!
Ranona Riggs & Thurman Nassoiy, Region 4
Joshua McDonald, Teacher, Channelview ISD
Holly R, 9th Grade Student
Amy Martinez, Teacher, Katy ISD
Today's presentation is on student led implementation of the Project Share platform.
Backchannel: www.epsilen.com/rriggs - click on Blog in left navigation panel
A Trainer's Perspective - Thurman Nassoiy
Teachers go to PD all the time. Then they go back to school and may or may not use it. Students have no idea this is happening. Thurman thought, "What if we train students and teachers together as equals?"
Did two Saturday sessions of training in Project Share including teachers and students. Experiences were built around them being equals, team building, platform training, etc. Made it ok for students to help teachers and do some of the training. What if students could help teachers make instruction more interesting?
They did role plays because they knew students might run into brick walls. Also did follow up afterwards.
Students started assisting fellow students in creating ePortfolios in Project Share. They went into classrooms and trained their peers. Students also presented at faculty meetings. (Snipit of faculty meeting training at 9th grade campus shown.) Students were coached very little and demonstrated great knowledge of the platform. Students got to pick the aspects of the platform that were meaningful to them to share.
At the end of the meeting, the principal announced students could bring their own devices to use Project Share. One student asked his Geometry teacher if he could take notes with his own device in Project Share so he would always have them if he left his notebook at school. Another student talked to a teacher about letting students store their documents in Project Share instead of using flash drives. After seeing the benefits, he asked the student to help him implement with all students.
Advice: Start Small & Choose Folks Wisely (people who will run with it). If it is successful with a couple of teachers and groups of students, it becomes a model to follow.
Make sure there is administrator buy in to make sure it moves forward when Region Trainers aren't there once a month.
Picked students who were model students who would benefit from leadership experience. They were hand picked. Biggest problem with having sessions on Saturday were band and sports. Once the students saw the platform, they were eager to come back again.
Joshua McDonald - Teacher's Perspective
Was approached by principal at start of year to participate in pilot program. Admits he was nervous at first because had never done PD with students. Wasn't sure what his role would be.
All teachers were asked to nominate two model students for the experience. After initial trainings, here were monthly meetings to follow up. McDonald checked up on students in between meetings.
Process was a little slow in the beginning. What really kick-started it was the student presentations to the faculty. These presentations just happened a month ago and the momentum since then has been incredible.
McDonald himself feels like he just jumped in feet first in the past two months. His own work on an online masters degree made a connection for him. He realizes he needs to get his students used to this online learning platform. He wants to be 100% online in his classroom by the end of the semester.
Student Perspective
Like being able to do online projects and send them to ePortfolio. Much easier to have resources in Project Share that they can access on iPads instead of just hearing lectures from their teachers.
Holly R. - Went into the AVID classroom to teach other students to use Project Share. Showed them how to put finest work in showcase for others to see and how to access courses.
Holly thinks Project Share is very beneficial. Students are more interested in using technology than working out of textbooks. She likes communicating with teachers, accessing notes, and making up work. She was able to not fall behind in her classes when she missed a week of school due to a death in the family.
Holly feels it is beneficial for students to help implement technology in the classroom. It helps everyone out in the long run. Increasing tech in the classroom will motivate students to learn.
After the faculty meeting, her world geography teacher came and asked Holly to teach her how to use Project Share and use it in the classroom. (Note from me: I got a little misty eyed hearing Holly say this!)
As students transition from the 9th grade campus to high school next year, they hope to continue the use of Project Share.
Amy Martinez - A Teacher's Perspective
Likes that it is easy to shift and move things around and tweak.
Feels Epsilen looks a lot more like what students are going to see in college than another system they were previously using. At first students did not like it because it wasn't as "cute" as the old system, but they worked to help students understand it was more beneficial for them.
Students are asking non-using teachers to begin posting course content in Project Share. They like having one place to go to find their grades or make-up work. Teachers are now asking for help in taking next steps in Project Share based on student requests.
Project Share has helped organize at-risk students and gives them a common place to look and find resources. They are less likely to give up.
Student Testimonials via Video: Student would not change ONE THING about Project Share. Loves accessing work and turning it in on the same website. Uses it from home. Uses drop boxes, forums, and groups.
2nd Student Testimonial: Worked together in workgroup in Project Share to complete a project. Also would not change anything about Project Share. Likes that it is hands on because it makes it easier for him to learn. Doesn't always listen to everything in class but gets more out of Project Share.
McDonald: Teachers might resist at first because they see it as "one more thing" but if they see a teacher using it they will become interested. Students also need email accounts so they can be notified of what is going on in Project Share.
Nassoiy: Keep the kids at the forefront. It's all about impacting students and teachers. Trainers also need to have patience with districts and teachers. It takes time for change to occur.
Questions from Audience:
Concerns about abusing blogs, chat rooms, ect. Martinez said they used it as teaching opportunity and covered digital citizenship. Students are excited to practice something that college students do. Used Know the Rules Before You Use the Tools book from Project Share website with students when they trained them.
Can Epsilen notices be sent to text message instead of email? Yes they can! Each individual must set this in their account.
Where should you begin implementation? Wherever you have someone who is passionate and will use the platform. Subject, grade level do not matter as much as passion.
How can ESC trainers use this? Riggs says she sets up groups for her in person PD sessions and uses chats, drop boxes, etc to expose teachers to the platform. Also suggests administrators use this so teachers within a district to communicate with each other.
Let teachers know they don't have to create lessons in courses, they can just use forums, blogs, etc. Start with one tool.
Showing posts with label Epsilen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Epsilen. Show all posts
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Empowering Teachers: A Roadmap for Student Success #SXSWedu
Notes from SXSWedu 2012 panel discussion/concurrent session.
Evan Nisonson, President/CEO, Epsilen
Epsilen is a learning platform created to promote collaboration. It is also a state-wide adopted tool in Texas, part of the Project Share initiative.
Nisonson was formerly a higher ed professor.
David Watkins, Instructional Tech Consultant, Region 14
Region 14 is trying to get the word out about Project Share. Teachers have to see it as important enough to invest time to learn how to use it.
Kristi Hernandez, State & Federal Solutions, Region 4
Helping districts and charter schools implement Project Share wherever they are. All districts in Region 4 except Houston ISD have all faculty and staff in Epsilen. Although there are 900,000 accounts existing across the state, many of them are not active. As a parent, Ms. Hernandez wants her children to have the skills they need to have in the workforce and Epsilen is a way to do that.
Melissa McClatchy, Tech Integration Specialist, Region 6
Like other regions, they are trying to get more and more districts to actively use Project Share. They are using Project Share in every training they do.
Critical Steps in the Roadmap to Success
How do we demonstrate value?
Project Share allows us to meet students where they already live in an online environment. If we can get to the heart of teachers in that this is what the students really need, the rest falls into place.
When training about Project Share, show how the platform can make their jobs easier. Also make the case that the skills students learn through Epsilen are the skills students will need in the workforce.
Any teacher, regardless of the size of the school or district, can open their classroom to resources in a global environment.
What's in it for me in regards to professional development?
It's hard for teachers to leave the classroom for PD. Project Share allows us to have PD within our institution. One district in the Region 6 area creates PD modules based on observations of teachers in Project Share. They have one hour of PD each day and teachers access through Epsilen/Project Share. Now that they have a library of modules built up, they can individually assign them on an as-needed basis. Modules can also be accessed outside of school.
A Region 4 district has teachers accessing PD at all hours of the day and night when it is most convenient for them. Your district leaders can create courses around what your teachers need. Making it meaningful for teachers will encourage them to get in there and use it because they know it is valuable. State-wide TOT PD was delivered face-to-face, but now teachers can also access the state-wide course in Epsilen to refresh themselves on content they were exposed to over a year ago.
Rural West Texas districts have dealt with 4X4 and RIF's over the last few years. Some teachers are teaching outside of their areas of specialization. State-wide TEKS PD courses in Epsilen have been huge resources for teachers.
Teachers have access to these resources and at the same time these resources can be updated as information changes.
Using groups in project share, you can create opportunities in Epsilen for ongoing dialog between teacher cohorts/completers of courses. 80% of the success in teacher PD will come from the follow-up and sharing between colleagues.
What's in it for students?
An online platform is a student's world.
OnTrack lessons and content repositories.
Audience Suggestions:
A desire for learning supports in regards to read-aloud support for struggling readers. Text-to-speech.
Content repository training is needed. Value & how to integrate needs to be demonstrated.
Need more access to audiences outside of their school/district/state. Easy to do with teachers, but not as easy with students. This is probably a policy issue as well.
More examples of how to use the platform are needed - video tutorials, etc. Districts are stretched with lack of staff to deliver this training.
I got to ask this question: There is concern across the state about lack of ability to bring content in from other platforms (Moodle, for example) and lack of ability to export from the Epsilen platform (for example, a student who wants to liberate their blog posts out to WordPress, etc.). Nisonson stated that they are actively working with TEA on these concerns. They have small test beds where they are working on export of ePortfolios, etc. He said he wished I had been able to ask this question earlier because he had a lot more to say and felt that PR was needed to let stakeholders know these concerns are being addressed.
Evan Nisonson, President/CEO, Epsilen
Epsilen is a learning platform created to promote collaboration. It is also a state-wide adopted tool in Texas, part of the Project Share initiative.
Nisonson was formerly a higher ed professor.
David Watkins, Instructional Tech Consultant, Region 14
Region 14 is trying to get the word out about Project Share. Teachers have to see it as important enough to invest time to learn how to use it.
Kristi Hernandez, State & Federal Solutions, Region 4
Helping districts and charter schools implement Project Share wherever they are. All districts in Region 4 except Houston ISD have all faculty and staff in Epsilen. Although there are 900,000 accounts existing across the state, many of them are not active. As a parent, Ms. Hernandez wants her children to have the skills they need to have in the workforce and Epsilen is a way to do that.
Melissa McClatchy, Tech Integration Specialist, Region 6
Like other regions, they are trying to get more and more districts to actively use Project Share. They are using Project Share in every training they do.
Critical Steps in the Roadmap to Success
How do we demonstrate value?
Project Share allows us to meet students where they already live in an online environment. If we can get to the heart of teachers in that this is what the students really need, the rest falls into place.
When training about Project Share, show how the platform can make their jobs easier. Also make the case that the skills students learn through Epsilen are the skills students will need in the workforce.
Any teacher, regardless of the size of the school or district, can open their classroom to resources in a global environment.
What's in it for me in regards to professional development?
It's hard for teachers to leave the classroom for PD. Project Share allows us to have PD within our institution. One district in the Region 6 area creates PD modules based on observations of teachers in Project Share. They have one hour of PD each day and teachers access through Epsilen/Project Share. Now that they have a library of modules built up, they can individually assign them on an as-needed basis. Modules can also be accessed outside of school.
A Region 4 district has teachers accessing PD at all hours of the day and night when it is most convenient for them. Your district leaders can create courses around what your teachers need. Making it meaningful for teachers will encourage them to get in there and use it because they know it is valuable. State-wide TOT PD was delivered face-to-face, but now teachers can also access the state-wide course in Epsilen to refresh themselves on content they were exposed to over a year ago.
Rural West Texas districts have dealt with 4X4 and RIF's over the last few years. Some teachers are teaching outside of their areas of specialization. State-wide TEKS PD courses in Epsilen have been huge resources for teachers.
Teachers have access to these resources and at the same time these resources can be updated as information changes.
Using groups in project share, you can create opportunities in Epsilen for ongoing dialog between teacher cohorts/completers of courses. 80% of the success in teacher PD will come from the follow-up and sharing between colleagues.
What's in it for students?
An online platform is a student's world.
OnTrack lessons and content repositories.
Audience Suggestions:
A desire for learning supports in regards to read-aloud support for struggling readers. Text-to-speech.
Content repository training is needed. Value & how to integrate needs to be demonstrated.
Need more access to audiences outside of their school/district/state. Easy to do with teachers, but not as easy with students. This is probably a policy issue as well.
More examples of how to use the platform are needed - video tutorials, etc. Districts are stretched with lack of staff to deliver this training.
I got to ask this question: There is concern across the state about lack of ability to bring content in from other platforms (Moodle, for example) and lack of ability to export from the Epsilen platform (for example, a student who wants to liberate their blog posts out to WordPress, etc.). Nisonson stated that they are actively working with TEA on these concerns. They have small test beds where they are working on export of ePortfolios, etc. He said he wished I had been able to ask this question earlier because he had a lot more to say and felt that PR was needed to let stakeholders know these concerns are being addressed.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
The Epsilen Experience: Power Users Share Their Stories #SXSWedu
Notes from SXSWedu 2011 breakout session
Panelists:
Evan Nisonson - Epsilen
Leann Ingram - Comanche ISD High School English and Dual-Credit College English
Carrie Barnett - Dublin ISD Director of Federal Programs
Lannon Heflin - Region XIII Instructional Technologist, Program Manager for Edtech Initatives
Ingram - Comanche is one of the first districts to be using Epsilen with students. Using calendaring, messaging, and drop box features. Comanche is 1:1. Ms. Ingram's classroom is close to paperless. Posts screencasts and lectures for students to review and see when they are away from class for illness or school activities. Homework has now become reviewing the lecture and the problem solving is occuring in class. Student achievement has improved on grades and TAKS tests.
Barnett - Two hours away from Region service center in Ft. Worth. Using professional learning communities to help get PD to teachers on site. Cuts down on time needed for F2F meetings. Discussions by teachers are more in depth via the online discussions.
Heflin - Supports Project Share for schools in Region XIII. Sees it as an answer to having to find third party solutions for wikis, blogging, etc. Has hosted hands-on F2F trainings and provides on demand on-site support. Feels Epsilen is a robust platform once you get past how overwhelming all of the features are. Encourages districts to look at Epsilen as an opportunity rather than a "new problem". No new problems!
How does Epsilen help focus on the problem of learner engagement?
Ingram - Students are wired from birth to use technology. Epsilen provides a medium they want to use and makes it accessible to them. Web 2.0 tools can be integrated into Epsilen and bring all of the content into one area. It's like the "WalMart" of programs.
Barnett - Solved a huge problem for providing professional development. Now teachers who have been isolated can interact with teachers all over Texas. Dublin is now 1:1 from 2nd through 12th grade and has implemented CSCOPE in the last 18 months. Did some things "on the side" to get interest from teachers in using Epsilen. (Presented first to elementary faculty with principal support, then other teachers found out and wanted to do more.) This has helped with all of the change the district has gone through in the last year and a half. They start teachers invovled in the Connections Grant by asking them to post to Epsilen about what they are doing with technology. They are also finding information from other Connection Grant groups in other districts in Epsilen which gives them ideas for what they can do in their districts.
Heflin - Platforms like this challenge students to be authentically engaged because of the wider audience that sees their work. Engagement becomes intrinsic. As engagement goes up, a teacher's job does get harder, but it is what is right for students. Learning matrix in Epsilen is a good tool for shaping learner advancement.
Share a specific story in your experience with using Epsilen which made it "click" for you:
Ingram - Started w/ AP English class at start of the year. Students keep a dialectic journal over summer reading and should have read novels and be ready to discuss them. When students move in over the summer, counselor gives students link to Ingram's Epsilen site and gets them set up with an account. All of the info they need to accomplish the task is there and they aren't behind when the school yeare starts. Has cut down on students needing to drop the class because they are too far behind.
Heflin - Supports education specialists at Region XIII who have to become familiar with Epsilen as they go out and present it to districts. Had to present iNACOL standards to 35 specialists and make it relevant to their postitions. Set up a group and discussion forum. Topics were the iNACOL standards. In teams of three, read standards they were responsible for and post a summary in the discussion board, then go and read the summaries of other teams and comment. Now, education specialists are using this approach with teachers they are training in the region.
Barnett - Keep putting things out to keep the teachers encouraged. As they become involved, it will take off and do it's thing. The Kinder group had a teacher that created lessons for the teachers and used to share by a flash drive that everyone had to chase around. When she learned how to use the Drop Box, it streamlined the process and the teachers are much better organized. Alan November came and spoke to the district and a lot of chatter rose up in Epsilen discussions around how teachers were using the tools he had suggested.
Ingram - The finished work posted to Epsilen creates ePortfolios that stay with the student.
Nisonson - Excitement seems to be about connections with students and the learning advancements that are taking place.
What is the impact on teaching and learning? How has PD been fundamentally changed?
Ingram - Maximizes F2F time with students. Students do work and have you there to help them even at home when the lectures/notes are posted to Epsilen.
Barnett - Helps teachers understand that they too must be learners, not just their students. Teachers are finding ways to be more engaging for students. Professional learning conversations that weren't taking place before are now happening.
Heflin - Biggest paradigm shift has been the move to a Flat Texas. Professional developers need to differentiate for audiences who have a wide variety of technology backgrounds. Also need to post robust resources that teachers can refer to over and over again. It is probably information overload for some. But PD providers are no longer collectors of lists of resources, but providers of facilitated professional development. Allows for more "just in time" professional development across a state-wide common platform.
Q from audience: What is the experience of orienting teachers to the platform?
Heflin - Has learned over time to target the PD at a specific issue they have in their district and show them just one or two features at a time. Wishes he could retrain his first trainees. Starts with specific resources like OnTRACK and other state developed resources and courses, then goes to portfolios, then groups and etiquette. Courses are left to last. Talks about networking last for novice starting teachers. Visit his eportfolio at epsilen.com/lheflin where he is posting his resources.
Ingram - Teachers have an extra planning period called a Technology Integration Period (TIP) for learning about and planning for teaching with technology. (WOW!!!) This has helped with getting teachers accustomed to using the tech with students.
Barnett - Encouraging use for even small conversations helps the students get more comfortable. Giving teachers access to each other encourages use. PD can be what individual teachers need when they need it. Don't be in a hurry and take baby steps.
Panelists:
Evan Nisonson - Epsilen
Leann Ingram - Comanche ISD High School English and Dual-Credit College English
Carrie Barnett - Dublin ISD Director of Federal Programs
Lannon Heflin - Region XIII Instructional Technologist, Program Manager for Edtech Initatives
Ingram - Comanche is one of the first districts to be using Epsilen with students. Using calendaring, messaging, and drop box features. Comanche is 1:1. Ms. Ingram's classroom is close to paperless. Posts screencasts and lectures for students to review and see when they are away from class for illness or school activities. Homework has now become reviewing the lecture and the problem solving is occuring in class. Student achievement has improved on grades and TAKS tests.
Barnett - Two hours away from Region service center in Ft. Worth. Using professional learning communities to help get PD to teachers on site. Cuts down on time needed for F2F meetings. Discussions by teachers are more in depth via the online discussions.
Heflin - Supports Project Share for schools in Region XIII. Sees it as an answer to having to find third party solutions for wikis, blogging, etc. Has hosted hands-on F2F trainings and provides on demand on-site support. Feels Epsilen is a robust platform once you get past how overwhelming all of the features are. Encourages districts to look at Epsilen as an opportunity rather than a "new problem". No new problems!
How does Epsilen help focus on the problem of learner engagement?
Ingram - Students are wired from birth to use technology. Epsilen provides a medium they want to use and makes it accessible to them. Web 2.0 tools can be integrated into Epsilen and bring all of the content into one area. It's like the "WalMart" of programs.
Barnett - Solved a huge problem for providing professional development. Now teachers who have been isolated can interact with teachers all over Texas. Dublin is now 1:1 from 2nd through 12th grade and has implemented CSCOPE in the last 18 months. Did some things "on the side" to get interest from teachers in using Epsilen. (Presented first to elementary faculty with principal support, then other teachers found out and wanted to do more.) This has helped with all of the change the district has gone through in the last year and a half. They start teachers invovled in the Connections Grant by asking them to post to Epsilen about what they are doing with technology. They are also finding information from other Connection Grant groups in other districts in Epsilen which gives them ideas for what they can do in their districts.
Heflin - Platforms like this challenge students to be authentically engaged because of the wider audience that sees their work. Engagement becomes intrinsic. As engagement goes up, a teacher's job does get harder, but it is what is right for students. Learning matrix in Epsilen is a good tool for shaping learner advancement.
Share a specific story in your experience with using Epsilen which made it "click" for you:
Ingram - Started w/ AP English class at start of the year. Students keep a dialectic journal over summer reading and should have read novels and be ready to discuss them. When students move in over the summer, counselor gives students link to Ingram's Epsilen site and gets them set up with an account. All of the info they need to accomplish the task is there and they aren't behind when the school yeare starts. Has cut down on students needing to drop the class because they are too far behind.
Heflin - Supports education specialists at Region XIII who have to become familiar with Epsilen as they go out and present it to districts. Had to present iNACOL standards to 35 specialists and make it relevant to their postitions. Set up a group and discussion forum. Topics were the iNACOL standards. In teams of three, read standards they were responsible for and post a summary in the discussion board, then go and read the summaries of other teams and comment. Now, education specialists are using this approach with teachers they are training in the region.
Barnett - Keep putting things out to keep the teachers encouraged. As they become involved, it will take off and do it's thing. The Kinder group had a teacher that created lessons for the teachers and used to share by a flash drive that everyone had to chase around. When she learned how to use the Drop Box, it streamlined the process and the teachers are much better organized. Alan November came and spoke to the district and a lot of chatter rose up in Epsilen discussions around how teachers were using the tools he had suggested.
Ingram - The finished work posted to Epsilen creates ePortfolios that stay with the student.
Nisonson - Excitement seems to be about connections with students and the learning advancements that are taking place.
What is the impact on teaching and learning? How has PD been fundamentally changed?
Ingram - Maximizes F2F time with students. Students do work and have you there to help them even at home when the lectures/notes are posted to Epsilen.
Barnett - Helps teachers understand that they too must be learners, not just their students. Teachers are finding ways to be more engaging for students. Professional learning conversations that weren't taking place before are now happening.
Heflin - Biggest paradigm shift has been the move to a Flat Texas. Professional developers need to differentiate for audiences who have a wide variety of technology backgrounds. Also need to post robust resources that teachers can refer to over and over again. It is probably information overload for some. But PD providers are no longer collectors of lists of resources, but providers of facilitated professional development. Allows for more "just in time" professional development across a state-wide common platform.
Q from audience: What is the experience of orienting teachers to the platform?
Heflin - Has learned over time to target the PD at a specific issue they have in their district and show them just one or two features at a time. Wishes he could retrain his first trainees. Starts with specific resources like OnTRACK and other state developed resources and courses, then goes to portfolios, then groups and etiquette. Courses are left to last. Talks about networking last for novice starting teachers. Visit his eportfolio at epsilen.com/lheflin where he is posting his resources.
Ingram - Teachers have an extra planning period called a Technology Integration Period (TIP) for learning about and planning for teaching with technology. (WOW!!!) This has helped with getting teachers accustomed to using the tech with students.
Barnett - Encouraging use for even small conversations helps the students get more comfortable. Giving teachers access to each other encourages use. PD can be what individual teachers need when they need it. Don't be in a hurry and take baby steps.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A Project Share Story: Ensuring a Successful Implementation #SXSWedu
Notes from SXSWedu 2011 breakout session...
Jill Galloway
Coordinator of Instructional Technology
Irving ISD
jgalloway@irvingisd.net
Twitter: @ajillgalloway
Irving ISD has had a very peaceful roll out of Project Share. They are sharing things they wish they had known ahead of time today.
All Irving ISD high schools are 1:1 with laptops. Middle school migrant students also have laptops.
Irving has Blackboard in their district and it is heavily used, but Galloway sees great potential for Epsilen and feels it is more of a 21st Century platform.
Questions to Ask:
Galloway is a Google certified teacher and had Google Apps for Edu at her previous district. She feels Epsilen and Google Apps are excellent compliments to one another.
This was offered up from a member of the audience: Join 6tech group in Epsilen. Region 6 has developed a trainer of trainers document that you can get for free!
http://www.epsilen.com/grp/119578
Jill Galloway
Coordinator of Instructional Technology
Irving ISD
jgalloway@irvingisd.net
Twitter: @ajillgalloway
Irving ISD has had a very peaceful roll out of Project Share. They are sharing things they wish they had known ahead of time today.
All Irving ISD high schools are 1:1 with laptops. Middle school migrant students also have laptops.
Irving has Blackboard in their district and it is heavily used, but Galloway sees great potential for Epsilen and feels it is more of a 21st Century platform.
Questions to Ask:
- Who will manage institution?
- Who will pilot? Irving is a large district with 35,000 students, so they wanted to find a small group for piloting. They decided to start with T3 grant participants, instructional technology specialists, and high school math teachers who needed access for training materials. T3 teachers saw a lot of potential for students, but student accounts cannot be created without email addresses, and Irving ISD doesn't have student email addresses.
Tipping Point: Presented Epsilen to upper administration, who started using it in ways they had not planned yet but were happy to see.
Special Ed department began creating online professional development courses in Epsilen, which helped them leave a mark since their positions will not be funded next year.
Grant writers are using it for grant facilitation. They can collaborate with other districts participating in the same grant.
Principal of a new middle school is using Epsilen to network with the teachers she is hiring for her campus. - What about the kids? Irving wanted to use ePortfolios with their students. They created ePals email addresses for one 8th grade teacher's students so he could pilot with them.
- What will students access? You can choose the level of access for any type of user. Irving did not change access levels at first, so they had to go back and enable some features during roll out. For example, students by default cannot search for courses. Irving enabled this to make enrollment in online courses easier than the "invite to course" method. They use access codes so just anyone cannot enroll in the courses.
- Who can access ePortfolios? Irving has decided to keep the ePortfolios within Irving for now since they are using with 8th grade and 4th grade and are not applying to college at this time.
- Will students be searchable? Irving did not enable this at this time.
- Will students have profile pictures? Irving does allow this.
- Will students blog? By default they do not have rights to blogging features. Irving turned this on because of its potential for instructional use.
- 8th grade science and 4th grade class.
- Students are using ePortfolios and enjoy uploading their information to them.
- Interactive notebooks
- Students post projects for presenting to peers
- Homebound instruction - Homebound instrutor works with a homebound student this way. Teacher back on campus uses drop box with student to look at work and give feedback.
- Stay connected with each other. One teacher who was at a training away from campus used Epsilen chat feature to communicate with his students back in the classroom. Teacher can also hold virtual office hours in the evening.
- Have a training plan. Hands-on workshops initially, but then met one on one with teachers who were interested in using it. Also did a lot of webinars through illuminate. In the beginning overview trainings were very much in demand. Also how to work with your ePortfolio. Course creation is a popular topic. If you know these three topics you can use the rest of the system.
- Teachers can create courses, and those must be approved by an administrator. NOTE: Administrator does not get an automatic notification when a new course is submitted in Epsilen for approval.
- Pick a starting point for users. ePortfolios - charge teachers with creating one for themselves. One district (not Irving) required teachers to create ePortfolios.
- Populate the system with content for your staff. Get teachers using the system so they'll see the benefits of it.
- Course Tips:
- Make all teachers certified faculty so they can create courses
- Define student acess levels ahead of time
- Simplify the course menu so as not to overwhem students. Don't have features you are not using enabled on the menu. Teachers have this control over their courses
- Turn on drop box notifications so teacher knows when students turn in their assignments. Date and time stamp is very helpful!
- Collaborate across classrooms with Workgroups. Can create groups with kids who aren't even in the same class. They complete group projects. Sharing files, leaving notes for each other. True 21st Century collaboration!
- Facilitate a virtual classroom via chat (virtual office hours, interact with students when you are away from school.
- Save often in Take Notes - especially if wireless access is an issue. This has been Irving's biggest challenge
- Back up your course content with Resources
- If a teacher leaves, institution admin can change the administrator or instructor of a course so it can be reused - Student oversight - Teachers can delete inappropriate content inside course blogs. Institutional admin can delete content from individual student blogs. Not sure if teachers can get to student email. Make sure students are signing an AUP every year and incorporate Epsilen into it.
Galloway is a Google certified teacher and had Google Apps for Edu at her previous district. She feels Epsilen and Google Apps are excellent compliments to one another.
This was offered up from a member of the audience: Join 6tech group in Epsilen. Region 6 has developed a trainer of trainers document that you can get for free!
http://www.epsilen.com/grp/119578
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