Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Project Share Support Center #SXSWedu

Notes from SXSWedu 2011 breakout session.

Project Share Support Center: Scaffolding for a New Platform

http://projectsharetexas.org/support
Presentation Handout: http://projectsharetexas.org/support/pdf/sxswedu_agenda.pdf
Presentation Prezi: https://prezi.com/secure/4cf2d078d1ad3e8f9f53cf43b51ba7536f2210e4/

There is a Project Share support center course where these tools are shared in Epsilen. They are also developing some of the OnTrack courses. Search for OnTrack courses to see lesson samples.



Presenter has been using Epsilen "out of the box" for about five months. Charged with creating content that was relevant with no "bling for bling sake".

21st Century Learners are networked. They create and share content almost instantly.

Scaffolding addresses novice, proficient, and expert users.

Novice
  • Has opened an account
  • Can navigate MyPortal
  • Exploring lefthand nav menu
  • Developing ePortfolio
  • Navigating online courses
Novices can
  • Microblog (updating their status; many know how to do this b/c of Facebook and Twitter)
  • Use wikis and forums straight out of the box (have seen message boards on the Internet before)
  • Blog (have seen professional blogs before)
Proficient
  • Created or participated in groups
  • Tried to create a course
  • Has used Web 2.0 tools to enhance teaching and learning
Proficient users can
Experts
  • Work with embedding Flash and other multimedia assets in to Adobe PDF files
  • Extensive working knowledge of HTML and CSS
  • Program using Java
  • Customize the look and feel of Epsilen course content (change background colors, embed Java script interactive tools)
Experts can
  • Create interactive PDFs for students - they can type in then roll over an area to self-check an answer
  • Embed Flash and other multimedia including audio
  • Use inline styles within the Epsilen HTML editor
  • Import external style sheets/CSS in HTML code - more info on how to do this in the PS Support Center
  • Goal is to posts snipits of java code on the support center to assist with helping others customize their content in Epsilen
Take-aways
  • Epsilen space capabilities vs. external server use
  • Browser recommendations: Firefox (NOTE: In another presentation I heard varying recommendations on which browser to use.)
  • Width issues while embedding files and graphics with NYTKN articles