The showcase was greatly aided by the example offered online. It gave me a model to follow in preparing my own electronic portfolio. One thing that makes the portfolio informative is to have a clear unit plan and support materials that correspond to each stage of the plan development. The preparation of an introduction and of a explanatory item for parents gave real focus to the unit development, at least to me personally.
The feedback form provided was useful for giving constructive criticism on the different portfolios. It is always hard to critique another's work because everyone has tried hard to do their best. By having a rubric of some kind, it makes it more objective. Also, look for the positive points first and then add the 'by the way' comments.
The really valuable aspect of this course was for me being introduced to the tools available online. I would never have tried a blog if not for this course. I had heard of wikipedia, but never knew that there were personal wikis. I had never heard of diigo and how useful it can be nor of google.docs or surveymonkey. These are all valuable resources that I now have at my disposal. Another valuable aspect was the presentation on formative and summative assessments. While we do test the students regularly, that is not quite the same as assessing. We were shown different ways to gauge student learning.
This training will allow me to interact better with my students and provide more interesting ways for them to learn. I can now have them incorporate a wiki or a blog besides the standard word, powerpoint, or publisher programs.
I guess knowing about all the available resources on the web will have the biggest impact on my students' learning. Now I can direct them to websites they normally would not think of to find information, music, and pictures. I can help them set up a blog or a wiki. I can use other forms of assessment besides testing to gauge their learning.
All in all, I am glad I took this course and appreciate the knowledge gained.
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