Personal Multi-media Projects:Experience of Olean’s ELA

Department

Sally Ventura, Olean High SchoolLou Ventura, Olean High School

Tim Houseknecht, Catt-Allegany Teacher Center

Initial Goals of the Project

• Provide a student-driven & authentic assessment with guidelines & suggestions from teachers

• Allow for creative expression• Have students learn great ways to showcase

their skills to colleges and employers

Additional Outcomes of the Project

• Provided a platform for 21st century skills: • Critical thinking & problem solving• Media literacy• Technology literacy• Flexibility & adaptability• Initiative & self-direction• Climate of collaboration• Leadership & responsibility

History of the Project

• Our concept of the classroom changed when we rewrote the English 12 curriculum.

• The project began as a shared folder on the district server.

• Students wanted to personalize their work creatively.• We recognized the limitations of our own knowledge

base.• We needed someone in the room who understood the

goals of the project and had the technical know-how.

History of the Project• We started to use the Teacher Center’s

Sample Word project. • An online option was also discussed. • Many students loved the online version.• We liked it because it got around some

technical problems.• It offered an opportunity to promote a positive &

responsible web presence.

Work SamplesHere are some better examples of student work from our first year of online projects:

 

Wordpress.com Projects:

Brianna BakerSarah ShembedaCaitlyn McNameeChris Mosher

Projects done in MS Word:

Kevin StevensKatelyn ParksCasey Konieczka

How We Are Using Wordpress• Each student creates their

own account.• Pages can used instead of

posts.• Comments are turned off• One of the many Wordpress

themes can be used. • Email, address and phone #’s

not included.www.wordpress.com

Another Idea: Wikispaces• Very easy to set up.• Ad free educator

accounts available.• The teacher can easily

set up student wikis.• Files can be uploaded to

each wiki. • Each student has their

own wiki address.• Multiple pages can be

made in each wiki.

Another idea: Wordpress.org

• Software can be down-loaded to a server and hosted by your school/district.

• Allows for more district control. • Go to www.wordpress.org. • Educational showcase at

http://wordpress.org/showcase/tag/education/

Yet another idea: Edublogs

• Similar to Wordpress.• Blogs have ads, but can be turned off with a supporter account.• Schools can purchase larger accounts.• Go to www.edublogs.org.

Challenges & Solutions

Challenge:• Accessibility to Programs & Equipment

 Solution:• Team up with technology coordinator.• Convince administration to lower security settings in some

cases.• Be prepared to sell the idea to administration.

Challenges & Solutions

Challenge: • School security and student privacy issues

Solution: • Remove contact info from online work. Contact information

would be in an email or letter that would include a link to the online work.

• Create 2 projects • one web-based (no contact info)• one MS Word based

Challenges & Solutions

Challenge:•Technical Know-How

• Our knowledge needs to be increased.• Some kids know more than we do.• Uneven student skill base

Solution:• Students teach skills to other students• Outside tech help (Teacher Center, BOCES, etc.)• Improve and utilize (develop and implement) a standardized

student tech skills plan.

Other Challenges

School Politics • Department duplication

AssessmentAuthentic assessment takes time, but worth the effort.

Developing a rubric to assess workMaintaining flexibility

Grading Rubric in present form

Unexpected Bonuses

• Got to know our students better• Professional development

o Video cameras, scanning, digital images, blogging sites, school networks, Delicious online bookmarks, the list goes on and on

• Team approacho Relationships: Student to student, Teacher to

teacher, Students teaching teachers, Teacher to administrator, Outside agency assistance

• All students contributed

What Next?• Start next year off with this project.• Modify and improve our rubric.• Bring on other teachers in our department and other

departmentso We worked with the Music and Art departments for several students'

projects.• Make a wish list:

o schedule tech helpo look at programs and equipment (be part of the conversation for tech

purchases)• Make sure students share the product of their isolated efforts

with others, like colleges and employers.• In other words – Live locally & think globally.

Questions?

Resources• Cattaraugus-Allegany Teacher Center’s Tutorials page:

http://cateach.org/Tutorials/tutorials.htm • Teacher Center’s Example portfolios:

http://delicious.com/cateach/PortfolioExamples• Wordpress: www.wordpress.com• Wikispaces: www.wikispaces.com• Tim’s sample Wikispaces account:

http://thouseknecht.wikispaces.com/ • Wordpress.org: www.wordpress.org• Edublogs: www.edublogs.org