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One of the things about Web 2.0 content is that it gets us to begin thinking about content in more creative and less static ways.  Just because something is published to a web page does not mean that it has to stay there...

Let's think about how this could be useful...

We know that some web pages contain content originally published someplace else.  This content reports to this page, sometimes because a tag was used to indicate this relationship.

What if we could put this functionality into the hands of every user?

What if we created one page, a master page that serves as the container looking for certain tags. 

Now, we can have users create a blog entries that include this tag.  These blogs entries would report not only in their blog listing along with all their other blog entries, but more importantly report to the master page as well.

Let's make the master page focus on the learning outcomes for a course or even a program.  Let's use tags that are associated with learning outcomes.  Will this help use organize what we do and share this more efficiently?

I have been asked by a number of individuals how to embed video here.  So, here are a couple of methods.

FIRST - you must have captured video and made it available in a web playable format.  For instance, web browsers will most likely automatically recognize movie files with the extensions .mov (Quicktime) or .wmv (Windows Media Player) and use the proper player.  But it depends on how the user has configured their browser.

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EASIEST OPTION:  Link to the movie file

Use the 'Insert File' option in your Moveable Type Dashboard editor to upload and insert the file into your page or blog entry.

Example: Introduction to e-Portfolios: A Short Movie welcome.mov (1MB)

Notice that I let the user know how large this file is!

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EMBED OPTION: Here you want the player to show up right in your web page or blog entry.  If this is the case then you need to use the following code.  Copy and paste this into the source code (<A> icon in your Moveable Type editor) - you will have to decipher the HTML code you find there and look for a good place to place this code.

<embed src="moviename.mov" width="240" height="196" controller="true" autoplay="true" type="video/quicktime"></embed>

Where:

• src is the name of the movie file.
• height and width correspond to the dimensions of the movie.
  (Add 16 pixels to height for a movie controller.) A controller can be true - present, or
  false - absent
• autoplay set to true lets the movie begin playing without user intervention
  if so saved.
• type helps browsers recognize QuickTime when the page is opened locally, not
  from a web server.

Example: Introduction to e-Portfolios: A Short Movie



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YouTube OPTION: This option is the best of both worlds it seems, you share your video on your site, but the video is being stored elsewhere! 

First, create an account at YouTube, then upload your video there.  You have up to 10 minutes or 10 MB for each video I believe - check the fine print - but once your video is processed and available, copy the embed code (upper right of the YouTube page) and paste this in the source code of your Moveable Type web page or blog entry, again deciphering the HTML to figure out where a good place for this to go might be.

Example:  Introduction to e-Portfolios:  A Short Movie





Need help with any of these options?  Check with the Digital Commons at your Penn State campus location.

Over the years Penn State's involvement in the coalition has provided us with opportunities for moving thinking into action.  Do we use our discussion and notes about integrative learning? Here is an example of where we are now:

"Integrative learners do not separate learning from life..."

The integrated learning experience presupposes purpose, involves reflection and personal connection, while at the same time implies an understanding of what the important attributes, values, understandings that are to be learned.  From the beginning of our involvement NCEPR our goal at Penn State has been has been to find out whether a structured e-portfolio system, designed to communicate high expectations and intended learning outcomes could have an impact on student engagement and learning.

In other words, how do we share a 'big picture' of learning and then place our students within this picture such that this position serves as a scaffold for finding new understandings, promoting meaning making that leads to self-authorship, concepts that Kegan and Baxter-Magolda advocate.  We know we need to invite prior experience to play an important part in shaping this experience but also realize that students bring messy pictures into this arena.  The challenge lies in the gap between where students are and where our big picture implies they should be.

What is the developmental pattern for how students can be brought through this integrative process? A simple advanced organizer is not enough.  How do we infuse structure while at the same time allow for a flexibility that cultivates students' becoming 'architects of their own education'?

We've moved through a variety of unsatisfactory solutions and frustration surrounding technology as 'a moving target' is getting old, but we are learning.  Nonetheless, we are excited about our most recent deployment, MovableType4, to support Blogging as e-Portfolios.  We don't think of this as a new service because of how nicely it integrates into the technology infrastructure already in place.  Further, it has dramatically reduced any learning curve associated with online publishing, students are comfortable with its capabilities and convenience. But more importantly it allows us to 1) include templates that state program learning outcomes, 2) use tags to associate artifacts with these outcomes, 3) use tags to provide intellectual access to content previously not possible, and 4) aggregate and 'pack up' specific program outcome related evidence for assessment or evaluation purposes.

We are hopeful that this most recent exploration into the use of the MovableType blogging platform will help us in delivering the three curricula we have been talking about: the delivered (teachers' goals for students), the experienced (students' perceptions of the learning experience) and the lived (personalization of how this is experienced in life). The unobtrusiveness of this solution is perhaps it greatest feature because looking back at earlier solutions we've thought that perhaps the more we get out of the way, the better we'll serve our students.

As Kathleen Yancey noted at the Waterloo meetings, "Biggest take-way: be very intentional with communication."