Worldwide online class

I am pleased with the registration of my first public online class: Intro to K-12 ePortfolios. The participants are primarily from North America, although I have students from Europe (The Netherlands, Germany, Italy) and Asia (Hong Kong, Japan). In the U.S., I have several groups of 3, 4 and 10 from school districts! The majority have signed up as "singletons" so I will be developing some groups for collaboration. Any group of four or more will qualify for a private one-hour live teleconference via Skype or GoToMeeting. Deadline for registration in this cohort is January 16, so I will have the final number next week. The next cohort begins in April.

This online class has many new elements for me: using Edmodo instead of threaded discussion in a course management system like Blackboard or Moodle; posting the course content online in Google Sites; doing live conversations in Google+ Hangouts. I team-taught an online course last fall using Edmodo for student discussions, and I have been using Google Sites for years. I picked Edmodo because it was a social network that can be used in schools, and has some features that make it more user friendly than a CMS. Maybe in the future I will use Google+ Circles for asynchronous conversations in the class. However, using Google+ Hangouts is new for me. I have the option to use GoToWebinar, but that tool is very instructor-centered. I really want us to have more of a conversation.

Online course announcement

The course content of the first course of the E-Portfolio Academy is online as both a self-paced and facilitated course:
Introduction to E-Portfolios in K-12 Schools
https://sites.google.com/site/k12eportfolios/

The facilitated course is open for registration through Paypal or school purchase order: http://electronicportfolios.org/academy/register/intro.html

The content of the two versions of the class is the same. There are three differences between the self-paced and facilitated classes:

1. The facilitated class has a cohort of students who go through the content together and carry on a facilitated asynchronous discussion.
2. I will be directly involved in the private discussions and will lead the cohort through the content, including live events.
3. The self-paced class is free; there is a charge for the facilitated class.

The discussion schedule will be provided only to members of the facilitated class through the Edmodo group. The discussion will be asynchronous, so there are no specific times to be online, but I will be scheduling some Google+ hangouts which will be synchronous (live), but not during the first couple of weeks.

The course interaction will be facilitated through an Edmodo group (private educational social network), Google+ Hangouts, and email group. Be sure to sign up for Google + and an Edmodo (teacher) account. Right after the New Year, I will also send invitations for the private groups to all registrants. The first facilitated course cohort will begin between January 2 and January 16. The next cohort is scheduled to begin in early April.

I was asked about the approximate number of hours per week that one can expect. Here is my response:

There are six lessons in the course. In the facilitated course, we will have a slow start: the first lesson will last two weeks (January 2-16) to give everyone a chance to get used to the course tools and the course process... and some are just getting back from their Christmas Break. To answer your question, this facilitated course is not your traditional academic course measured by "seat time." You will get out of the course what you put into it...within the schedule with the other course participants.

In each lesson, there are four process elements:
Inputs: Readings and videos
Outputs: Discussions/Group Reflections
    Implementation Plan Component(s)
    Personal Reflections (your blog entry)

How much time each person takes will be highly personal... some people will skim the readings, some will read them thoroughly plus all of the supplemental readings. Some will write extensive discussion posts and responses, some will write brief entries, and no responses. Some will write extensive blog entries, others won't write much each week. The weekly discussions and blog posts are only "required" for those taking the course for college credit (and there is a rubric in the course content that outlines the credit course requirements). If you are not taking the facilitated class for credit, you can get caught up on readings and reflections once your other class is over.

I realize most participants are teaching full time. I will be posting the schedule for the discussions for the facilitated course in the Edmodo discussion group. We can take the "fast track" or the slower approach to covering the course lessons. In other words, we can take one week or two weeks per lesson (7 to 12 weeks). My preference is to let the participants make that decision, although I need to finish the course by the end of February. 

Intro to Electronic Portfolios in K-12

The first self-paced course of the REAL ePortfolio Academy has been completed and is posted online:
https://sites.google.com/site/k12eportfolios/
By January, there will be supplemental modules available for Implementing ePortfolios with GoogleApps Education Edition, WordPress/Edublogs, or iOS/Android Mobile Devices.

Any non-profit/educational institution is free to use this open courseware content with colleagues in a school and and teachers are encouraged to become a member of the free Google Group for open/free discussion:
http://groups.google.com/group/eportfolioacademy

I am starting the first facilitated version of this class in January 2012. If you want to be part of this first facilitated class, register on this website in December:
http://electronicportfolios.org/academy/register/intro.html
I am in the process of getting approval for professional development college credit through Seattle Pacific University for those who need it, and registration information will be available upon receipt of the facilitated course enrollment.

Rather than using a highly structured course management system, we are going to use social networking strategies to facilitate interaction in the facilitated class: email through a private Google Group and collaboration in the Edmodo or Google+ social networks.
https://sites.google.com/site/k12eportfolios/syllabus/facilitated-course-communication