Final summary...what a great year of learning!!

As we come to the end of 2010 and the end of this AFLN funded project it's time to reflect on a fast and fabulous journey of learning, fun and comradeship!
The idea for the project was borne out of an interest in using Web 2.0 tools in teaching. After attending the the LearnTel conference in 2008 and attending a workshop on e-portfolios conducted by Allison Miller.
The funding opportunity provided by AFLN provided the time and resources to enable the idea to generate and the the staff from our Design and Building were eager participants.

They had planned to take a group of students to Sinagpore to study sustainable building practices and meet with peak bodies whilst there.
A plan was hatched!
We began the year with the vision of using eportfolios to record and assess the students' experiences in Sinagpore. It ended with some great embedded practice, a training plan for next year, lots of satisfied students, teachers and an Institute full of teachers eager to embrace e-portfolios in 2011.
We engaged assistance during the year from Ken Gooding from e-Works and also touched based with Allison Miller. The working party from The Gordon consisted of Sue Mandley, Allan Fairchild and Leanne Maher.
There was a lot of learning at the beginning, at the administrator level, the teaching level and the student level. Templates were established and rolled out to students who then created their own pages before the Singapore trip. This enabled them to be familiar with the environment and iron out issues before the trip.
Assessments were planned, itinerary planned and the trip began…
The students’ use of the eportfolios was well received by them – they loved having the electronic capability to store and present their work.
After the study tour lots of de-briefing was held as to what worked, what we could do better and planning has begun for next year – we will be investigating the group function of eportfolios in 2011 and look forward to the fun and the learning.
We captured students’ impressions of working with e-portfolios – see below

Eportfolio conference - Melb 3-4 Nov 2010

Allan Fairchild and Sue Mandley have been fortunate to attend the Australian Eportfolio conference in Melbourne.

The theme of conference is Widening Participation - Engaging the Learner.

Many great speakers have presented ideas and issues surrounding the implementation of eportfolios in the Tertiary / Vocational Training Sector.

Issues of privacy of online content, discussions around platforms, storage, training, student engagement, eportfolios bridging the gap betweeen social networking and learning - and so much more has been discussed and explored.

Links, notes, powerpoints etc will be posted soon...

It's been a great couple of days - lots of learning on our behalf and lots of networking.

ePortfolio site on Gordon Online

A course site has been created on Gordon Online that will house eportfolio help documentation and how tos! The information is presented in a learning module format and also in an e-book format.

video help is also available to offer more visuals for the learner. An FAQ section has been established and will grow over time.

Staff who participate in training and have requested an eportfolio site to be created will be enrolled in the gordononline eportfolio help site.

Eportfolio help notes for The Gordon Staff

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More funding for exploring the group function in e-portfolios!!

The Gordon found out today that the application for our project  ePortfolio Groups - Creating a Community of Learners  for the ELEARNING INNOVATIONS APPLICATION was successful!! We are rapt - there is lots more to explore in e-portfolios and this will help out!

Staff Training has commenced!!

Following on from the practical trial in Singapore - staff at The Gordon are now being trained in the Mahara E-portfolio environment. 

The training kicked off yesterday and there has been a lot of interest already - Tourism and Events, Beauty and Hair areas are very keen to explore the use of e-portfolios for their students.

The next step is to establish eportfolios for the staff - who will create the template view and then induct students.

The next step has begun.... very exciting times for The Gordon!

Issues with uploading photos to our E-portfolios

We have experienced some glitches - but fixed them!
Some students have been having issues with the uploading of photos to Mahara. Ken Gooding from eworks has helped out and we have established that the photos were far too large to display.

As a guide, 800 x 600 pixels works out to be approx 160 Kb per photo.

1600 x 1200 pixels works out to be approx. 550 Kb which would be a perfect size so that you can see a reasonable sized image on screen without the need to download each time. If photo/image is too large you will get a box with a small cross in centre on the front view page, however you can still view by downloading it from the second screen once you have clicked on the image.

Need to reduce all images to below 1 Mb

To compress or resize, I use Microsoft Office Picture Manager by clicking on the Edit Pictures Tab on top toolbar and then go to Resize. Enter the Custom Width and Height at 1600 x 1200 pixels and click OK. Then go to Save As and “rename” if you don’t want to change the original photo size.

This has been communicated to students and all are progressing well with the tasks.

Home Sweet Home - fond memories of Singapore

Hi all,

I am back on deck and trying to get back to normal. Had a great time in Penang with my wife Esther and enjoyed the “no routine” no buses to organise or timetable to work to. Vicki and Rebecca just delivered my book on Singapore. Had a quick read over lunch and was very humbled by your generosity and positive comments/feedback on the study tour. It will be a great asset for my coffee table and the experiences will be fondly remembered. Thanks for making the time so special. A big thank you to Noel Ryan nd Phil Rayner for allowing me the opportunity to project manage the study tour - a great example of Life Long learning for both the students and teachers.

Due to some glitches with access to computers in Singapore and the issues with Mahara last week, I have extended the final due date for student's to complete their upload of journals and assessment reports onto the Mahara e-portfolio site to Wednesday 20th October. Next year we will ensure all students have a laptop which will provide more flexibility and alleviate the need to book external facilities.

Once again, thank you to all the students for their cooperation during the tour and the commitment to meeting the challenges and flexibility when things did not go quite to plan. Was it Harbour Front or Promenade station to the Singapore Flyer…Confuses say Mr Aarun should not wissen to wayman.

Cheers,
Allan

Bon Voyage from Singapore

Currently finalising packing ready for flight out of Singapore this morning. It has been a wonderful experience for both teachers and the students.  The students have been excellent ambassadors for the Gordon and have all worked cooperatively during our study tour.
We have established many new contacts who have welcomed us during our stay and have provided us with invaluable information to support our learning's on Sustainable Design and Building practices.

The following pic is from our visit to Fusionopolis 1:

Last night we joined Han Liew-Juan from Bovis Lend Lease who would have to be one of the funniest and most helpful contacts in Singapore. He has been very helpful in extending our network and was most supportive throughout the tour. One of the highlights was the day we helped the Deaf School sorting books in their library during the Bovis community work day.

The following is a pic of our final dinner shared with Han and his partner;

The students presented me with a book on Singapore which I will cherish always. Loved the individual comments they wrote...I am commonly known now as Mr Aaran! They caught me off guard and I was stuck for words for a moment....only a moment. It was a great gesture and I appreciated the opportunity of organising the tour and the many new friendships developed. We finished the evening in the Karaoke bar where we all enjoyed some fun...wow can Han sing. He has many talents.

Must go so Bon Voyage from Singapore. I look forward to sharing my final Animoto video once I return.

cheers....Allan

National Library Singapore - What an amazing building.

Students had the privilege of visiting the Singapore National Library Building in Victoria Street. What an amazing building. The Deputy Director of Properties and Facilities Mr. R.Sanamurthi provided a very comprehensive presentation and tour of the building. The building was opened in 2005 and has many sustainable initiatives and has been accredited by the BCA Academy for a Platinum award which is the highest achievable for Green buildings.

Cheers from Singapore.....we are over the half way mark and have such a wealth of knowledge from our friends in Singapore. We are off to Clarke Quay today to watch the AFL football Grand final...Go Saints

Allan Fairchild

Community work in Singapore - Students help out at School for Deaf

Allan and students were invited to work with Bovis Lend Lease during their company community project day at the School for Deaf in Mountbatten Road Singapore. This was a fantastic way to further build our relationship with BLL. The work varied from lifting boxes of books up and down stairs (the boys did the hard stuff) and sorting of library books and then putting them on shelves. The BLL team was very enthusiastic and grateful that we could assist them. Fortunately we had the inside jobs, whereas many  of the BLL team were working in the garden and got very very wet after a sudden very heavy tropical rain. Singapore is an amazing place and within 30 minutes everything is hot and sticky again.

Cheers from Singapore from the man in the yellow boots, thanks Sue.

Allan Fairchild

Allan's Boots!!

Funny story today, we had to wear work boots, so I had a very old pair at home with crack sole like new and brought them so I could throw out at end to save carrying to Penang. Got to front of hotel and looked back and my boots were sticking to polished floor, everywhere I walk I had left black mark right through reception and on bus floor. The black rubber had broken down in the heat and the sole was breaking away in big chunks. It was like soft bitumen and was making a hell of a mess. Had to take them off in site office and bus. They found me a pair of bright yellow gum boots that they often use on site. What a look. The students could not contain themselves. The best part was when we walked across the site. Many had nice new boots and the site was very muddy in spots, and when we returned to site , there was a washing station, so they all had to was there boots before entering the site office complex.

Funny as....I got the last laugh. The office was that clean, you could eat your dinner on the floor. I bet they put my pics up on their e-portfolio....bugger not a nice look.

A week in............

We are now here a week, and have seen and done lots so far, both organised (well done Allan) and people going out and checking out Singapore itself. It is an easy place to get around and really quite safe to be out at any time. Evening and night time are good to be out as it is cooler and the City definitely lights up for the locals and tourists to dine/shop socialise and take in the amazing skylines.

All of the host presenters we have had (High Commission, Austrade, Bovis Lend Lease etc.) have been invaluable and extremely genrous in the time they have given us and the knowledge they have shared. For my part it has been an education in a region that is very much a leader in innovation and constantly moving towards a better future for itself.It is by no stretch of the imagination a City that rests on its laurels in terms of forward thinking, it is very progressive, with many cultures to experience and enjoy.I will attempt to upload some images but as this is my first success is not guaranteed

Sporting Stars fly back from Singapore and return triumphant!

Two of the students on the Singapore Study Tour were flown back by their footy club to make sure they could lend a hand in their team's win on Saturday!!  Amazing effort by both club and students!! They are now back in Singapore  - probably suffering from jet lag in a bigger way due their win in the Grand Final!  Congrats to them! Let's hope we see them add the details to their own eportfolios!

Singapore - informing our Stakeholders

The use of Animoto and YouTube has been a bonus this year - we have created short videos via Animoto - http://www.animoto.com/ - and then uploaded them to YouTube. This has been well received by all stakeholders - it's a great way to disseminate information - it's interesting and captures the interest of the viewers.

Animoto itself has then become a session of PD offered to many areas within the Gordon as it's a web-based application that is extremely easy to use

Students are in Singapore!

Yesterday the staff and students headed off to Singapore for their study tour.  All arrived safe and tired but very excited.

We can't wait to see their e-portfolios evolve over this time so will keep posting about the adventures.

This will be the first trial of such social media within The Gordon. There has been a lot of hard work and learning going on behind the scenes and it will be fantastic to see how the students utilize their e-portfolios to capture their learning whilst on the move

For me, it's been great to have Allan on board  - he put in lots of  hard work, had lots of vision, offered lots of assistance and has fantastic attitude in undertaking learning this new ‘e’ medium – the e-portfolios.

The Singapore Study Tour can be followed on twitter as well - @eportfoliosgord - watch out for their adventures!!

He well deserves a good stop and shop in the duty free area!

Check out this from Queensland University of Technology

http://www.eportfoliopractice.qut.edu.au/information2/toolkit/index.jsp

The ePortfolio Toolkit comprises a series of ePortfolio Concept Guides designed to inform the diverse stakeholders in higher education about issues and opportunities associated with ePortfolio learning

A text we recommend..

There seemed to be a lack of support materials available for working with Mahara - we located a book that we were able to purchase both as a book and as a pdf file - we purchased from https://www.packtpub.com/mahara-1-2-e-portfolios-beginners-guide/book and found the level of service great.

This book will help a with step-by-step instructions to get started with Mahara and create an impressive electronic portfolio. The book is packed with lots of useful examples and screenshots to help with easy and quick learning.

Some minor glitches...but some positive stuff too...

As the time draws closer to the students and teachers leaving for Singapore we have some last minute queries to work on - both from an Administrator perspective and a student perspective.

Some students have had problems adding friends and joining the group.

Allan and I will beaver away at these issues this week - we have our fingers crossed that it will be sorted before "take off" on 15 Sept!!

On a good note - Ed Development has now 2 more staff!! This means that we have more resources to assist with the development of the instruction/how to documents. These will be developed for students, teachers and the Administrator. We will be able to share these docs when they are developed.

Mahara @ the Gordon

Pilot e-portfolio for Singapore student  study tour @ the Gordon...

Mahara e-portfolio setup now complete. The students are enjoying this new tool and most have set up their profiles. They have started to stylise the view ready for the study tour in two weeks. The time has gone quickly and we are in process of finalising arrangements prior to departure on the 15 Sept.

The first delivery class for the sustainability module commenced last Friday with time made for some practice on Mahara at end of class so that the students could upload some sample documents and pictures,most are coping well and have adjusted quickly to this new mode of delivery and assessment.

I have included a photo of the student group including Noel Ryan our program Manager who is accompanying me on the study tour and our Skills Centre Manager Phil Rayner and Sue Mandley who has provided enormous support to me with training and setup.

It will be added to our video which was previously uploaded to our Mahara group view.

Exciting times for us at the Gordon. The use of Mahara as the preferred Gordon e-portfolio site has created a lot of interest and many are anxious to trial.

Any how back to planning...will provide another update prior to departure in two weeks and hope you track our progress while we are on tour. Can't wait try a Singapore Sling and sample some yummy Malaysian cuisine!

cheers,

Allan Fairchild

Advanced Design & Building

Singapore Student Study Tour - Itinerary

Almost got the itinerary bedded down. Student e-Portfolio training on Mahara went extremely well and the students are very excited with this new tool. The Learning and Assessment strategy for the educational component and timing is now complete and will be communicated to students this week. Currently waiting on Eric from the learning Hub to finalise arrangements for part delivery of the Sustainability units while we are in Singapore.
Overall, very pleased with progress, however still lots to do.
cheers,
Allan

Mahara screen shot - so exciting

Students are in..

the students are now using their e-portfolios. An introduction and training session was held and the students found it easy to move around their e-portfolio.

Pilot student testing the eportfolio for us!!

Yahoo - seems that we have a keen student who wants to "play" during the term break - will get her feedback asap.

Sustainable Built Environments in Singapore

What will your students do with their e-portfolios?

What can an e-portfolio do?

Welcome to the Gordon's e-portfolio project site:

The project will involve students from the disciplines of:

• Building & Construction
• Building Design (Architectural)
• Building Surveying
• Interior Decoration & Design

Establishing e-portfolios using Mahara to document their experiences and learning whilst undertaking a study tour to Singapore in September 2010.