ISTE 2011 Reflections

I just finished my presentation, Student-Centered Interactive E-Portfolios with Google Apps.

Iste google apps2011

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Here are the tweets I just captured about my presentation. I thought it was one of my better presentations. I really feel like the elements are aligning to make student-centered portfolios a reality: tools, philosophy, pedagogy.

• @TheHomeworkDog RT @jessievaz12: More on #eportfolios http://bit.ly/iioGvf #ISTE11
• @erinbarrett Lots of "ooohs and aaahs" when @eportfolios shows #teacherdashboard! Great tool! #ISTE11 #eportfolios
• @jessievaz12 An 'ooooo' overtook the crowd as the teacher dashboard plug in was showed from the google marketplace! #eportfolios #ISTE11
• @rgriffithjr Agreed! - RT @jessievaz12: Portfolios should be a conversation about learning, not a presentation on learning #eportfolios #ISTE11
• @cbuchanan_dasd RT @millpub: Taxonomy of Reflection http://bit.ly/5PpwuF #iste11 #eportfolios #iste11dasd 
• @RSOldring #eportfolios Lvl 1 - collection of Artifacts/ Lvl 2 - collection with reflection/ Lvl 3 - selection and presentation #ISTE11
• @RSOldring #eportfolios being built in social media tools can be a great motivator for students #ISTE11
• @Sharvey85 The power in the portfolio is the process/journey not the destination #eportfolios #iste11
• @erinbarrett My mom, @eportfolios is rocking her presentation...of course! #eportfolios #iste11
• @jessievaz12 A dad uses twitter as portfolio showing growth and experiences of his child. Started the minute she was born! Amazing! #eportfolios #ISTE11
• @Sharvey85 Give students ownership of their learning with #eportfolios
• @Tim_Yocum Social media makes portfolios easy. RT @jessievaz12: The line between eportfolios and social media is blurring #eportfolios #ISTE11
• @divatechie12 @Student Centered #eportfolios with Google Apps. Website for presentation is electronicportfolios.org/ slidesshare.net/eportfolios
• @jessievaz12 Slidehare.net/eportfolios check out all those resources! #eportfolios #ISTE11

The themes I found repeated at this conference were mobile devices (everyone has an iPad or iPhone!) and Google Apps really took off this year. I also found a lot more teachers interested in portfolios through our Birds of a Feather sessions on Electronic Portfolios and Google Apps in Education. It has been an exhilirating conference!

A new tool - Motorola Xoom

I'm playing with a new tool, courtesy of Costco's 90 day return policy (for the same price as my original iPad)! If I like it, I'll keep it. I was able to download some of the major apps I use on my iPad: Dropbox, Twitter, Facebook, Edmodo, Evernote, Kindle, as well as the Google apps, Docs, Gmail, Maps, Earth. I started this post in the Blogger app, but when I went back to the app, after it quit, I couldn't see the draft. So I am editing in the browser, something I cannot do on the iPad. (Blogger also lost my last edits, so I'm posting it again!)

The Xoom was fairly easy to set up, once I was able to manually type in my hidden wifi ID and password. The latest update to Honeycomb, Android 3.0 for tablets, downloaded automatically when the Internet connection was made. It took a few minutes to synch with my Google account, but now I can see all my Docs, and I can do basic editing on my Sites, another task I cannot do on my iPad.  I am trying to figure out the Android version of iPod/iTunes, to download my favorite podcasts. I am preparing for an mPortfolio workshop next Saturday at the ISTE conference, where I am focusing on iOS  apps on iPad/iPod Touch/iPhone, and so we really won't be doing a lot with Google Apps. However, I will be doing a presentation on Student-Centered Interactive Portfolios with Google Apps on Wednesday, so I want to really assess how well it works on an Android tablet.

Editing typos on this screen is frustrating, to get the cursor in the right place (I am making the final edits with my Mac). I took this picture with the camera on the Xoom (has a flash...nice!), which uploaded it automatically to my Picasa Blogger album. It was easy to insert it from there with my Mac. Still trying to insert it with the Xoom.

Update: I returned it to Costco. Compared to other Android tablets it was bigger and slower! I didn't like it well enough to keep it. 

ISTE 2011 Sessions

My following proposals were accepted for the ISTE 2011 conference in Philadelphia:

Hands-on mPortfolio Development with iOS devices (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) [Workshop : Hands-on] 
Scheduled: Saturday, 6/25/2011,  12:30pm–3:30pm 

Bring your mobile iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPodTouch) to explore mPortfolio development. Create/upload artifacts (text, images, audio, video). Download free apps for blogging, GoogleApps, Mahara. 
[Website: https://sites.google.com/site/mportfolios/]

Student-Centered Interactive ePortfolios with GoogleApps [Concurrent Session : Lecture]
Scheduled: Wednesday, 6/29/2011,  8:30am–9:30am 
Create a comprehensive student-centered system supporting all three levels of ePortfolio development: Create/collaborate/store/share artifacts in GoogleDocs; Reflection/Feedback using blogging; Presentation Websites with GoogleSites.  [this is my book adapted to the GoogleApps environment, similar to my 2010 presentation] 
[Website: http://sites.google.com/site/eportfolioapps/]

ISTE 2011 Proposals

In a late night writing marathon, I submitted three proposals to ISTE 2011 in Philadelphia:

• Presentation: Student-Centered Interactive ePortfolios with GoogleApps
  Create a comprehensive student-centered system supporting all three levels of ePortfolio development: Create/collaborate/store/share artifacts in GoogleDocs; Reflection/Feedback using blogging; Presentation Websites with GoogleSites. [this is my book adapted to the GoogleApps environment, similar to my 2010 presentation]
• BYOL Presentation: mPortfolios: Make ePortfolio Development Easier with Mobile Devices
  Bring your mobile device (iOS or Android) to explore mPortfolio development. Create/upload artifacts (text, images, audio, video). Download free apps for blogging, GoogleApps, Mahara, others.
• BYOL 3 hour Workshop: Hands-on mPortfolio Development with iOS devices (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) Bring your mobile iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPodTouch) to explore mPortfolio development. Create/upload artifacts (text, images, audio, video). Download free apps for blogging, GoogleApps, Mahara.

I only expect one of these proposals to be accepted. I set up a new Google Site to begin to develop the concept of mPortfolios. I was shocked that the Site name was still available: https://sites.google.com/site/mportfolios/