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