This document summarizes Travis Noakes' presentation on his research into the adoption of online portfolio social network sites (OPSNS) by secondary school visual arts educators in South Africa for e-portfolio creation. The presentation discusses the research problem and questions, findings from a 2010 pilot study, and seeks participant questions. It examines operational software affordances learners use to create and maintain e-portfolios, and the extent to which this meets educators' curricular goals. Factors influencing sustained OPSNS adoption are also considered.
Visual Arts e-portfolio research at Secondary School 2010
1. Travis Noakes’ research
PhD in Media Studies candidate at the
Centre for Film and Media Studies,
University of Cape Town.
Online Portfolio Social Network Sites’ curricular adoption
by Secondary Schools’ Visual Arts Educators for E-portfolio creation
Find more of my presentations on
www.slideshare.net/TravisNoakes
Prepared by Travis Noakes
2. Welcome to my Web 2.0 presentation !
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3. This presentation’s sections
Research problem
Rationale
Research questions
Learnings from 2010’s pilot study
Your questions
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
4. The research problem
This project aims to describe aspects of a new
medium’s use and sustained adoption in the Visual
Arts curricula at two Cape Town Secondary Schools.
There is a gap in the literature on Online Portfolio
Social Network Sites’ (OPSNS) inclusion, as Web2.0-
based media is a recent phenomenon. By
investigating this gap, we can better understand
aspects of social media’s use, outcomes and
sustainability for e-portfolio creation.
Educators and other key decision makers can use
this knowledge to support appropriate diffusion and
sustained adoption; through maximising positive
outcomes and minimising hazards.
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
5. Prepared by Travis NoakesJanuary 30, 2015
Fieldwork studying OPSNS as e-portfolios curricular adoption
Combined Analysis
2010 2011 2012
Create Your
Portfolio
Choose
Portfolio
Site
Public school
educator
Private school
educator
Choose
Portfolio
Site
Create Your
Portfolio
WCED VAD’s curricular advisers’ feedback
Visual Arts educator workshops
6. What is a Social Network Site (SNS)?
Social Network Sites are online services that:
(1) allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system,
(2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and
(3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.
(boyd and Elison, 2007).
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
7. Why an Online Portfolio Social Network Site (OPSNS) definition?
An OPSNS that shows one’s profile and
output as a visual creative.
One’s connection with others
is searchable (i.e. similar expertise).
It is not essential for the creative
to construct a public profile or interact
personally in this environment.January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
8. A Carbonmade online portfolio’s content
Profile
description
Image
Titled
folders of
digitised
artworks
Name
Carbonmade
About Name
Contact
details
Areas of
expertise
SkillsArtist. Date.
Folder
name
Artwork
Title
1 Home page
3 Portfolio Imagery
2 Artist’s profile
Work
Carbonmade Artist. Date.
Availability
9. Many visual creatives use OPSNS
Online Portfolio Social Network Sites (OPSNS) users:
Deviantart 13 000 000+
wix 5 594 823
Carbonmade 290 078
Coroflot 150 000
CGSociety 135 000
Stats taken from these websites on the 11th of November, 2010
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
10. Visual creatives’ motivation to use OPSNS’ software
EXTRINSIC
Digital showcase
Benchmark performance
Community of Practice
Recognition
Convenient audience interaction
INTRINSIC
Self-defined digital footprint
Personal creative history
Benchmark one’s progress
Improved self-awareness
Appreciate the depth of competition
11. What could OPSNS offer in well-resourced Secondary Schools’ curricula?
1. More learning opportunities
2. Learner personalization
3. Support ICT Literacy
Electronic learning portfolio benefits*
Raise a school’s Visual Art’s profile*
Help remote schools the most*
Better moderation and feedback for
tertiary access*
* To be verified…
12. 1. More learning opportunities > E-Safety & Netiquette
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Digital identity
Protecting privacy
Digital citizenship
Secure passwords
Safe shopping
Secure ownership
DANGERS
Cyberbullying
Grooming
Harmful behaviour
Identity theft
13. 1. More learning opportunities > Copyright & Plagiarism
Know what constitutes plagiarism
Understand the importance of respecting
copyright
Know how to download files and
appropriate content without legal risk
Learn how to apply copyright
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
14. 1. More learning opportunities > Creative CV writing
Profile
description
ImageName
Contact
details
Areas of
expertise
Skills
Artist’s profile
Work
Availability
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
15. 2. ICT Literacy > A DOE priority facing BIG barriers
Every learner ICT literate by 2013?
TECHNOLOGICAL RESOURCES*
Only 40% of SA schools will have computer labs by 2013
Only certain subjects’ educators may access these resources
Access is very limited; contributing to rudimentary ICT literacy
PERSONAL AGENCY RESOURCES
✘ No clear, comprehensive definition of ICT Literacy
✘ Pre-Web2.0 (1980’s idea) conception of it and no benchmarks
Organizing a home computer and bandwidth is costly to educators
Participatory gap: No or low levels of social media use by most
educators (vs. learners)
CONTEXTUAL RESOURCES
No formal support networks for Web2.0 literacy at a macro- (DOE) or
micro-level (in school) for the Visual Arts
CONTENT RESOURCES
There is no local, online website content that helps Visual Arts
educators to promote ICT literacy.
* Resource categories match those listed by Czerniewicz and Brown (2004) for
framing access to ICT in South Africa’s Higher Education institutions.
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January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
17. 3. Personalization
PERSONALISATION
The learner’s Visual Arts e-portfolio can be used to
showcase the best of curricular and extra-mural art
and design. Combined with their creative CVs, this
could give their educators a better insight into what
their learners’ creative interests and aspirations are.
This may lead to curricular adaptation to
incorporate specific learner interests and better
prepare learners in matric for their preferred post-
school reality.
18. Secondary School Educators Curricular Adoption of OPSNS in 2010
School Learners Sponsor
• Noorde Paarl (Paarl) grade 12 WCED
• Saxony (Atlantis) grade 12 WCED
• Eerste Rivier High School (Eerste Rivier) grade 12 WCED
• Belhar Secondary (Belhar) grade 12 WCED
• George High School (George) grade 12 WCED
• Chris Hani School (Khayelitsha) grade 12 WCED
• Cedar (Mitchell's Plain) grade 12 WCED
• Schoonspruit Secondary (Malmesbury) grade 12 WCED
• Vida High (Mitchells Plain) grade 12 WCED
• Wynberg Secondary (Wynberg) grade 12 WCED
• Private School Field Research Site grade 10 Researcher
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
19. Fieldwork has run ahead of my research proposal’s approval
A YEAR TO DEFINE THE RIGHT QUESTIONS…
Focus primarily on a new medium and educators;
Establish the link between online portfolios and e-portfolios;
Define “software affordances” clearly;
Use Activity Theory to link “software affordances” to the
broader context;
Focus on the key factors influencing sustained adoption
versus those leading to adoption;
Learn from the classroom experience of educators.
20. Main Research Question
What are the aspects to consider when
introducing a new medium's software
affordances into Visual Arts curricula
in South African Secondary Schools?
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
Key aspects:
Pedagogy (change, educator’s curricular objectives,
closing the participatory gap, ITC Literacy)
Resourcing (technological, educator’s personal agency,
contextual and online content support)
Software-use (software affordances: perceived and real
benefits & hazards, learner aims: compliance &
subversion)
21. Four supporting questions
1. What are the operational software affordances
that learners use while being instructed to create
and maintain e-portfolios?
Software Affordances, Activity Theory {Tools}
2. To what extent does learners’ use meet the outcomes and
goals set in each educator’s curricula?
Software Affordances, Activity Theory {Outcomes}
3. What are the key factors to consider for sustained
OPSNS as e-portfolio use in the Visual Arts in
South African Secondary Schools?
Diffusion of Innovation Theory, Activity Theory
4. What are the results of mentoring educators in
OPSNS on their perception and use of Web2.0
software in Visual Arts education?
Activity Theory {Tools, Outcomes}
Every curriculum’s
lesson (in class)
For at least two years at
Secondary Schools (in-
and out-of-class)
For each curriculum’s
duration (in- and out-of-
class) and uploads in other
classes
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
DURATION (& LOCATION)SUB-QUESTIONS
22. Relating the levels in Software Affordances to those of Activity Theory
TYPES OF
SOFTWARE
AFFORDANCE
Positive or Negative
Strategic
Tactical
Operational
accumulate
combine
result in
ACTIVITY
THEORY
Goals
Activities
Actions
Operations
Outcomes
Learners’ use
Educators’
curricular aims
KEY CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
TO SUSTAINED CURRICULAR
ADOPTION
Mostly positive
Achieve curricular
aims
Reliable & efficient
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
RESULTS
+
+
=
Learners’ use
Understanding the new media’s use in curricula
1. What are the operational software affordances
that learners use while being instructed to create
and maintain e-portfolios?
2. To what extent does this use meet the outcomes
and goals set In each educator’s curricula?
23. Pilot research findings from the Private School’s grade 10 curricula
SOURCES
Interviews with learners, educators and curricular advisors
Tracking sheet for Learners’ Online Portfolio progress
Notes in research journals
EXCLUDES
Learners feedback to two questionnaires
Videos
Comprehensive Online Portfolio image capture
Prepared by Travis Noakes
24. What are the operational software affordances learners’ use? #1
ASPECTS OF SOFTWARE SELECTION AFFECTING USE
AN UNEXPECTED SOFTWARE SELECTION CRITERIA
The level of web2.0 affordances in the software matches the educator’s
perception of learners’ levels of Emotional Intelligence (EQ). In this case,
although Carbonmade offers minimal SNS functionality (“no friend-ing”,
“comments” or “rating”), this was viewed favorably by the educator; it
minimizes the potential for abuse by any low-EQ grade 10 learners AND
other audiences.
SOCIAL SOFTWARE AFFORDANCES MUST BE PHASED IN FOR “CLASS MATURITY”
From grade 11, learners will be encouraged to use social bookmarking and
may choose online portfolios with more functionality. Carbonmade will
remain their official school portfolio, though.
CURRICULAR GUIDELINES FOR SOFTWARE ADOPTION FROM DOE/WCED
There are many criteria that could be used for evaluating which online
portfolio software is suitable for curricular adoption in the Visual Arts.
This process may best be facilitated by the DOE: the WCED has done
similar work for evaluating standalone software and defining which are
appropriate for schools to budget for. Ideally, the DOE’s Visual Arts and
Design Department should routinely specify which Web 2.0 software it
recommends to save educators from having to do this research for
themselves.
Preliminary pilot research findings from “Choose an Online Portfolio”
by Grade 10, private school learners
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
25. Criteria that led www.carbonmade.com being chosen for grade 10s
✔ Free (for students’
storage needs)
✔ Easy-to-publish
✔ Appropriate-brand
✔ Family-friendly
✔ Popular
✔ Variety of interests
✔ Sustainable
✔ Legal (learners’
copyright protected)
✔ Brand association
with creative
professionals
✔ Limited social media
interaction
26. What are the operational software affordances learners’ use? #2
ASPECTS OF CURRICULAR RESOURCING AFFECTING USE
EASY TO UNDERESTIMATE RESOURCES FOR DIGITISATION IN CLASS
There is no benchmark for appropriate resourcing, but one
scanner and one camera is inadequate even for a double-period.
In class, a row of scanners and several cameras is preferable.
IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE LEARNERS’ HOME RESOURCES
A curriculum’s design should encourage learners who have
resources at home to use them. This should free up in-class
resources for less-privileged learners.
USEFUL TO USE OTHER DEPARTMENTS’ RESOURCES
Educators may need to secure access to all available school
resources before launching similar curricula; for example a
scanner in the computer lab may have been useful to alleviate
bottle-necks in class.
Preliminary pilot research findings from “Choose an
Online Portfolio” by Grade 10, private school learners
Prepared by Travis Noakes
27. What are the operational software affordances learners’ use? #3
ASPECTS OF LEARNERS’ USE OF OPERATIONAL AFFORDANCES
INITIAL UPTAKE WAS LOW
"Create an online portfolio" launched in April and by May, out
of 18 learners, only three online portfolios covered all the
tasks expected. Based on their poor performance, 10 learners
should have been sent to detention and four received no
marks for the project. This sets a low benchmark to improve
on in 2011.
WITH PERSISTANCE, COMPLIANCE IMPROVED
The fact that the online portfolio was used for all new
projects and for scanning after tests, may have convinced
learners that their e-portfolio was not an optional add-on,
but an important adjunct to their classwork.
By the last Visual Arts class this year, the number of learners
who had not produced online portfolios shifted from 4 to
zero! 11 learners (or over 60%) had created online portfolios
and uploaded the work of 3 (or more) class projects.
Preliminary pilot research findings from “Choose an Online Portfolio”
by Grade 10, private school learners
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
28. What are the operational software affordances learners’ use? #4
ASPECTS OF PEDAGOGY AFFECTING USE
IDEAL HUMAN RESOURCING
It was fortunate that a student teacher was available to give
support. Teaching with technology is ideally done with at least two
educators; given the importance of helping learners to keep up with
the lesson through troubleshooting and monitoring their focus.
Lesson design must be thought through very thoroughly before this
curriculum is launched in a public school with far more learners.
CONTENT RESOURCES
Educators need readily accessible guidance on how to change their
teaching style when incorporating technology into curricula. For
example, how best to support peer-to-peer learner experience
through student placement and instruction materials. The DOE
should consider facilitating access to this knowledge.
PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL NETWORKS
Currently there is minimal interaction between Visual Arts educators
outside of moderation. They may benefit from the affordances of
“weak collaboration” in creating digital professional communities
(for example, with social bookmarking and document sharing) to
share curricula and best practice. The WCED’s Visual Arts & Design
Department could trial this.
Preliminary pilot research findings from “Choose an Online Portfolio”
by Grade 10, private school learners
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
29. What are the operational software affordances learners’ use? #5
ASPECTS OF PEDAGOGY THAT COULD AFFECT FUTURE USE
CHANGES IN TEACHING
In 2011, two weeks will be also used for grade 10 learners.
2010’s experiences should lead to more efficient teaching.
With more time available, the educator can give more thorough
feedback. He will set time aside for careful evaluation; in
particular, 1-on-1 feedback seems to work best.
IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCES FOR NON-PERFORMANCE
Stricter marking, online exhibitions and class meetings to review
progress will be used to improve compliance.
HANDLING “INAPPROPRIATE” SOFTWARE AFFORDANCES
Carbonmade’s affordances were designed for creative
professionals; the e-safety needs of educators are NOT catered
for. For example, 9 learners provided their contact details even
after being repeatedly told not to AND being penalised with
losing marks!
Preliminary pilot research findings from “Choose an
Online Portfolio” by Grade 10, private school learners
30. What are the operational software affordances learners’ use? #6
Preliminary pilot research findings from “Choose an Online Portfolio”
by Grade 10, private school learners
ASPECTS OF PEDAGOGY THAT COULD AFFECT FUTURE USE, CONT.
CLEAR DEFINITION OF E-PORTFOLIO BENEFITS
To improve uptake, it may be useful to define a significant
benefit for learners upfront: the researcher (and Secondary
School educators) can learn from how CPUT Architecture
students’ use of Carbonmade, Yola, blogging and a Facebook
Group, which has had important benefits for learners and
faculty alike.
EXPECTATIONS
It may also be worthwhile to clarify to learners exactly what
is expected and how their online portfolios should develop
from grade 10 to 12. This will be made easier once learner
examples become available from each year!
OUT-OF-SCHOOL INTERESTS
Educators develop a more holistic view of their learners,
through providing them with a platform to publish “extra-
mural” art. This affords educators an opportunity to
incorporate extra-curricular learner-interests (such as stencil
use) when designing new curricula.
31. ASPECTS OF PEDAGOGY THAT COULD AFFECT FUTURE USE, CONT.
TROUBLESHOOTNG FAILURE
One student was unable to login after registering an account and could
only upload work on the 16th of November. It is important for the curriculum
to include contingency planning for major failures and be designed to
minimize problems and pitfalls.
ADDRESSING THE SCOPE FOR SUBVERSION OF CURRICULAR AIMS
DISTRACTION
In class, learners took the opportunity to use their laptops to play computer
games, listen to music, watch videos, etc. The educator must explore new
pedagogical methods to minimize this, such as; arrangement of seating and
peer-to-peer work.
E-SAFETY
A new strategy will be tried next year; students will be given an email and
physical address (P.O. Box) to use. Correspondence via these centralised
addresses will be through the educator. They will be also told which web
address format to use (i.e. do not include your school’s name!)
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
There were two examples of learners potentially infringing copyright. This
must be discussed between the educator and learner. These will also be
added to the e-safety examples for what not to do for next year’s grade 10
learners…
What are the operational software affordances learners’ use? #7
32. Does use meet the outcomes and goals set in educator’s curricula? #1
Preliminary pilot research findings from “Choose an Online Portfolio”
by Grade 10, private school learners
VALUE FOR PEDAGOGY
PREPARATION FOR THE END-OF-YEAR EXAM
Convenient access to each learners’ work was the most useful feature
to the private school’s Visual Arts educator. This helped the educator
gain a better understanding of the progress each learner is making to
the end-of-year exhibition.
BACKUP FOR MODERATORS’ REFERENCE
Although online portfolios cannot be used in the year’s final
assessment, they provide a backup for reference should student work
be stolen, lost or damaged. This occurred with one pupil whose laptop
(and artwork) was stolen in April.
PLAGIARISM
In cases where learners take advantage of different schools’ exhibition
dates to “exchange” work, having a digital record is useful to identify
the original author of the work. Given that digital media is often
associated with plagiarism, this benefit is a suprising finding!
33. Does use meet the outcomes and goals set in educator’s curricula? #2
Preliminary pilot research findings from “Choose an Online Portfolio”
by Grade 10, private school learners
ASPECTS OF PEDAGOGY THAT COULD IMPROVE GOAL ATTAINMENT
REFINE THE CURRICULUM’S DESIGN THROUGH GIVING GRADE 9’s TASKS
Covering all the aspects of online portfolio creation (including
registration, creative cv writing, artwork digitization, image editing,
and portfolio creation) in two weeks was challenging. This year’s grade
9 learners have been encouraged to begin scanning their work, so they
will start with material to upload from the first class of next year.
INCORPORATE STUDENT EXAMPLES
By encouraging learners to digitize their projects, tests and exam work,
learners are shown that the medium can be integral to their Visual Arts
practice. Another benefit of having learner work digitized is that the
educator also has a resource of learner examples that can be readily
incorporated into educational material.
CERTAIN CURRICULA LEND THEMSELVES TO BEING DIGITAL
Colour palette experimentation is easier on a computer than mixing
paints. A new “Exploration of Colour” curriculum was largely done
digitally and was easier to add to Carbonmade as no digitisation was
necessary.
34. Prepared by Travis NoakesJanuary 30, 2015
Third generation activity theory perspectives to consider
Pedagogy
Technology
Support
Private
School
Organisation
School
Perspective
Technological
Perspective
Pedagogical
Perspective
Pedagogical
Perspective
expansive learning
Public
School
Organisation
OPSNS
service
DOE
WCED
Parents’
Homes
Educators’
Homes
Online
Audiences
Compare
2 at a time
35. Use Activity Theory to understand conflict and tension in change
School
PerspectiveEducator
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
3. What are the key factors to consider for sustained
OPSNS as e-portfolio use in the Visual Arts in
South African Secondary Schools?
4. What are the results of mentoring educators in
OPSNS on their perception and use of Web2.0
software in Visual Arts education?
Derive the
benefits
of e-portfolio
adoption
Justify IT expenses
to concerned parents
Justify IT expenses
to concerned parents
Technological
Perspective
Keep costs
low
OPSNS
business
Help show the value of the school’s
ICT investment In 1 laptop per child
Create an online Visual Arts history
using the school’s learners
Become a pedagogical authority on
using new media for Visual Arts education
Multiple objectives
Deliver the syllabus in line with the
National Curricular Statement (NCS)
36. Researcher
Educator
Learners
Decision Makers (School, DOE)
Support Staff
Home (Parents)
Boarding House
Online Audiences
An Activity Theory pedagogical perspective for sustained adoption
Rules Community of Practice
INTENDED (IDEAL) OUTCOMES
SUSTAINED PEDAGOGY
Sustained curricular adoption of OPSNS for
e-portfolio creation.
3. What are the key factors to consider for
sustained curricular adoption?
4. How does mentoring affect educators’ use
of web2.0 affordances in curricula?
NEW ONLINE PORTFOLIO CURRICULA
Concepts of the subject area ✔
Hardcopy artworks ✔
Laptop and desktop computers ✔
Scanners and digital cameras ✔
Internet access ✔
Online Portfolio Social Network Sites (OPSNS)
Digital learning portfolios (e-portfolios)
Marking criteria (i.e. test checklists)
Tools
Satisfy educator’s personal beliefs
Fall within school’s budget and resourcing
National Curriculum Statement alignment
School’s professional values
Subject’s culture of practice
Accords with school policy (i.e. e-safety)
Satisfies other DOE policies
Discipline norms
Role of Teacher
Role of Learners
Role of Technology Users
Role of IT Support
Role of Software Users
in class
Subject
Pedagogical Perspective
New Medium
Novel Curricula ✔
Secondary Schools’ educators and
learners (15 to 18 years)
Object Outcome
TRANSFORM
Division of Labour
ACTION
What:
Curricular
adoption of a
new medium
1.How is the new
medium used by
learners?
2.Does this meet the
educators’ goals?
Outside?
Time for buy-in?
ICT proficiency?
Third-party resource?
Dominant pedagogic approach.
Addressing the needs and preferences
of educators and learners.
Benefits?
Varied drivers…
Not ideal OPSNS users
Service down: plan B?
37. Rules Community of Practice
INTENDED (IDEAL) OUTCOMES
ORGANISATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY
Sustained curricular adoption of OPSNS
for e-portfolio creation.
Tools
Subject Object Outcome
TRANSFORM
Division of Labour
What:
ICT investment
delivers better
outcomes for
learners and their
parents
An Activity theory school perspective for sustained curricular adoption
NEW ONLINE PORTFOLIO CURRICULA
Curricular support
Resource allocation
Follow government policy
Meet legal & social obligations
Adhere to strategic plan
Control costs
Apply VA department’s policy
Approval criteria for new
curricula
Executive
School Management
Educators and Support Staff
Prepared by Travis Noakes
School Perspective
Educator
New Curricula
Secondary School’s Management
and Executive
Role of School Executive
Role of School Management
Role of Educator
Benchmarks?
Examples?
ROI?
Sufficient?
Support staff
resourcing?
Track record?
Maintenance
costs?
ACTION
38. NEW ONLINE PORTFOLIO CURRICULA
Computers
Scanners and Digital Cameras
Online access
Online Portfolio Social Network Sites (OPSNS)
Digital learning portfolios (e-portfolios)
Affordable
Service Level Agreement
Access Rules
Terms of Use
School Policy
E-Safety
Privacy Policy
Copyright
Visual Arts Department
IT Department
External Support
Researcher
School Executive
Online Audiences
Role of Educator
Role of IT Support
Role of Technology Users
Role of Software Users
in class
An Activity Theory technological perspective for sustained adoption
Rules Community of Practice
INTENDED (IDEAL) OUTCOMES
TECHNOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY
Sustained curricular adoption of OPSNS
for e-portfolio creation.
Tools
Subject Object Outcome
TRANSFORM
Division of Labour
What:
Reliable provision of
ICT within budget.
Prepared by Travis Noakes
Technological Perspective
New Medium
Novel Curricula
Educator’s IT support
Support levels ?
Planning?
Learner support at home?
Software guidance?
Additional support?
Web2.0 service sustainability?
Legal skills?
ACTION
39. Prepared by Travis NoakesJanuary 30, 2015
Issues from third generation Activity Theory
SCHOOL MANAGEMENT AND PEDAGOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
Without a strong pedagogical rationale from the educator, school management may
stop adoption of new curricula.
School management may need to apply resourcing to more important items in its
strategy. This may delay or prevent the rollout of OPSNS in curricula.
If the costs of resourcing new curricula become high, school management may act
to stop these curricula.
In the absence of a clear value proposition, high maintenance costs may lead to
new curricula being rejected by school management.
Best teaching with ITC may require two educators, not one. School management
may not support added costs.
Educators may need support in learning about new copyright conventions, e-safety,
etc. before they roll-out Web2.0 related curricula. School management may not
support this if it is costly.
40. Prepared by Travis NoakesJanuary 30, 2015
TECHNOLOGY AND PEDAGOGY PERSPECTIVES
If the costs of providing OPSNS technology support and broadband access are high,
the IT Department may restrict or block OPSNS use.
Many public schools will not have an IT Department. Their educators may find
providing IT support in new curricula too much of a burden.
The multiple legal requirements of supporting the curricula may be too onerous for
poorly-resourced schools.
OPSNS may own the copyright of work uploaded to them, which could conflict with
the learner’s and educator’s interests.
Web2.0 OPSNS are a free(-mium), third-party service, which changes regularly.
Updating curricula to keep up with changes (i.e. new GUI and terms of use) may
pose a problem for the educators.
OPSNS are designed for creative professionals, not learners. Educators will find it
hard to prevent learners from using software affordances that compromise e-safety
(such as contact details). It could be worthwhile to encourage the development of
an OPSNS service designed for learners.
Issues from third generation Activity Theory, cont.
41. Prepared by Travis NoakesJanuary 30, 2015
DOE AND PEDAGOGY
If the WCED wants to publish curricula, but educators and/or their schools believe
that these belong to them, then tension between the ownership of curricula and
publishing them online will occur.
Without the support of a broader Visual Arts educators’ Community of Practice, the
school’s educator may not see real professional benefit in using Web2.0
technologies.
OTHER
Learners from well-resourced homes may choose to use OPSNS there. This may pose
a challenge to the fairness of educator’s marking criteria, when learners without
after-hours access do not have sufficient time to use digitisation and OPSNS
equipment in in class.
Issues from third generation Activity Theory, cont.
42. The key factors for sustained adoption of OPSNS for e-portfolio use #1
KEY CRITERIA FOR INITIAL ADOPTION
FACTORS
Change aide influence (WCED curricular adviser or researcher)
Educator buy-in
Sufficient technological resourcing (or ability to upscale)
No major new costs to the school
NEW UNDERSTANDING
OPSNS curricula are unlikely to “bubble-up”!
If school, the WCED and/or DOE want to promote
ICT Literacy they need to support interested educators
with appropriate resources.
Preliminary pilot research findings from
“Choose an Online Portfolio” by Grade 10, private school learners
Prepared by Travis NoakesJanuary 30, 2015
43. The key factors for sustained adoption of OPSNS for e-portfolio use #2
KEY CRITERIA FOR SUSTAINED ADOPTION
Out-of-school resources
Budget to increase resources
Interested learners
Educator assistance with web2.0 media
Visual Arts department policy
Support from curricular advisers
NEW UNDERSTANDING
1. Visual Art’s department policy must be updated quickly to
assure sustained adoption.
2. Learners with out-of-school support and resourcing are
likely to produce more substantive online portfolios.
Preliminary pilot research findings from “Choose an Online Portfolio”
by Grade 10, private school learners
Prepared by Travis NoakesJanuary 30, 2015
44. An educator’s opinion of Web2.0 software’s value in Visual Arts education?
Preliminary pilot research findings from “Choose an Online
Portfolio” by Grade 10, private school learners
2010 OUTCOMES
SEVERAL WEB2.0 SOFTWARE SERVICES COULD OFFER VALUE
In just over a year, an educator has moved from not using web2.0
media to using varied services in class. In addition to Carbonmade,
colourlovers.com (a colour palette generation SNS service) was used
in a new “Exploration of Colour” curriculum. Diigo.com is a social
bookmarking service that will be used to give learners’s feedback and
allow them to comment on each others’ work within a secure
environment in grade 11. Dribbble.com allows visual creatives to
respond to each others’ works. This could be used as a “soft launch”
for grade 11’s to receive audience feedback.
IT WILL BE DIFFICULT TO MOVE TO WEB2.0 FROM DESKTOP SOFTWARE
Corel Draw is used in educating learners, because its reliable and
the educator is familiar with it. There may be cheaper web2.0
alternatives, but these will not be adopted into curricula unless
the educator has time and support to learn new services.
ONLINE SCHOOL ART COMPETITIONS
The educator will be entering online digitised learner work into
Saatchi & Saatchi’s international school art competition this year.
49. OTHER USES
SUPPORT A SCHOOL’S STUDENTS WHILE THEY’RE ON EXCHANGE
Carbonmade was used by the educator to give feedback to a grade 12
learner on exchange in preparation for his matric exhibition.
ONLINE VISUAL EVIDENCE FOR LEARNING SUCCESSES
Opportunity to augment the text descriptions of Visual Arts on the
school’s website by providing links to the best portfolios
- In preparation, the Visual Arts department is working to update its
webpages.
ALUMNAE EXHIBITIONS
Creates an easily accessible record of past students’ work when used
with social bookmarking lists
- This supports online exhibitions of current and former students’
work in the computer lab.
DEMOCRATICES EDUCATION
Learners’ can exercise their voice and the educator may choose to
address valid concerns.
Preliminary pilot research findings from “Choose an Online Portfolio”
by Grade 10, private school learners
Other ways Web2.0 software offers value to Visual Arts educators
50. THANKS to this research’s supporters
National Research Foundation.
University of Cape Town,
Department of Film and Media Studies.
Dr Marion Walton
Cape Peninsula University of Technology,
Department of Informatics and Design.
Prof Johannes Cronje
& Educational Technology MA & PhD
Colleagues
January 30, 2015 Prepared by Travis Noakes
Video screengrabs from
John Salt of
Notas del editor
It’s very intimidating presenting before a speaker whose going to tell us how to use PowerPoint to educate an audience. So, I’m going to pre-empt s criticism by saying that these slides are primarily NOT for use in class: its primary audience is ONLINE (at Slideshare). As you’ll see from my Slideshare stats, I can reach a many viewers online… even if they seem to flock to my first, worst-designed presentation, 1240 views is not to be sniffed at! And I want to thanks MikhaelPaskevius for helping build these stats by helping me to publish my presentations to UCT’s Open Content portal.I do text heavy slides, so that its viewers can easily understand what I’m presenting with, WITHOUT ME. So, please focus more on the slide’s content than on what I say.
Although both schools are much better resourced than the average; their learner make-up and ethos differ, which may affect adoption.
Here’s the best definition of a Social Network Site. Please keep in mind that two of its points focus on connections… (Yes, that Boyd with a lowercase b. To get that, one needs a prolific output in youth media research… before you are Hip 2 B lowercase!)
It’s important to distinguish Online Portfolio-focused sites from other Social Network Site varieties. Remembering the 2 points on connections from the previous slide;OPSNS are primarily developed to support thepublication of online portfolios,so connections CAN BE less important than in other SNS. The connections aspect is often secondary in the design of OPSNS, as you see in this example of Carbonmade; where there is no relational information about Joel Cooper’s “friends” asthere would be in Facebook….
Talking of which, the OPSNS this project focuses on have smaller user-bases than giant SNS (like Facebook); catering as they do to a niche group of professional and amateur visual creatives.That said, the fact they’ve developed into sustainable businesses catering to niche-bases suggests that many creatives using OPSNS derive some kinds of value from investing their time (and even money) into developing onlineportfolios.
This slide gives a simple view of some external and internal objectives for creating an online portfolio: the objectives in blacker text are arguably most conveniently served by an online portfolio (versus analogue alternatives; like a traditional portfolio, art association membership, et al.). Combined with the affordances of “weak collaboration” these may explain OPSNS popularity amongst visual creatives.
Given that online portfolios offer value, the question arises as to whether OPSNS-use might benefit learners and educators? Pilot research at a private school in 2010 suggests that the top three benefits are supported. The lower ones are speculative, but I hope they are confirmed and |I can discuss them in the years to come !
There are useful learning opportunities offered in respect of E-Safety and Netiquette. Creating a digital identity and protecting one’s privacy, in particular, have been addressed in this year’s curriculum, “Create an online portfolio” for grade 10s at a private school. However, there is scope to address other issues.
Another learning opportunity exists with respect to copyright and plagiarism. This year, the private school educator addressed the top two and there’s scope to discuss“What is appropriate to download and re-mix?” and “How can I protect my work’s copyright?” in future curricula.
All learners had the opportunity to reflect and write their “creative CV”. Most found their way onto the online portfolios…
Someone should teach the DOE to “underpromise and overdeliver”. In their “White Paper on e-Education, 2004, p.17” they aim for every learner to be ICT literate by 2013.There are significant barriers to delivering this promise in the Visual Arts, as highlighted in these resourcing categories. Not least is the definition of what ICT literacy could mean by subject area and benchmarks for educators to test it.
Following this definition, the online portfolio curriculum promotes ICT Literacy by helping learners to develop their technical, cognitive and ICT proficiency.The latter is promoted through showing learners how to access OPSNS’ services and create an online portfolio through managing their artworks and integrating these with their portfolio.
High School Educators in the Western Cape Province have begun adopting OPSNS into their curriculums this year.For background: while most of the grade 12s are being taught in Arts and Culture Focus Schools, the others are at schools where Visual Arts will not be continued next year due to concerns about the subject’s quality-of-instruction and pass rate.
This research focuses on the key aspects of a new medium's software affordances
“… affordance offers a distinctive perspective on the use of ICT in education, because of its focus on possibilities for action” (Hammond, 2009).Learner’s use of OPSNS’ softwareaffordances’ will be studied at operational, tactical and strategic levels to understand: 1. what they use;2. whether they meet the outcomes desired
Given the limited time, I will focus on the high-level findings relevant to other educators from interviews, a progress sheet and research journal notes.
The timing of specific social media functionalities launch into the syllabus is important.Just as the WCED offers schools software selection support, this may need to be expanded to cover freemium software in the Visual Arts.
This slide shows important criteria that individual educators must consider when adopting OPSNS. A curricular authority could help by using these for reviewing and shortlisting recommended sites.
Since the online portfolio curricula shows potential, a resourcing request has been made for more equipment. It will be difficult for schools without more than 1 camera and 1 scanner to adopt these curricula. This could prove very difficult for the public school I aim to research.Thatsaid it is also important to understand the learners’ access to resources: it does not automatically follow that if there is limited resourcing at school, the same applies to home.
At the start of the project, learner compliance was disheartening. It will be interesting to benchmark this “e-portfolio” compliance versus similar environmentsThe educator’s vision and persistence paid off and eventually most learners had created online portfolios that were a fair reflection of the traditional portfolio.
There are three slides on “Aspects of pedagogy that could affect future use”, this shows that much has been learnt and that the initial focus has been to get the initial adoption working in class.These learnings will be documented as guidelines and supplied to the WCED for sharing on its curricular website.
To understand sustained adoption, this project will primarily use Activity Theory. In its current “third stage”, Activity Theory says “expansive learning” (like the learning opportunities I described earlier) occurs as a result of the interaction of diverse groups which allow people to understand what happens in the “other world”. These perspectives have different foci, which lead to conflict, tension and change for the better, at best!
A key Activity Theory insight is that there is no common object between organisationsinvolved in reforms and this leads to tensions and conflicts. For a sustained adoption to take place, these must not be too great to prevent buy-in from the educator, his department, school management,IT (support), the WCED and other role-players. So this project describe these different objectives and their potential to create tension. This may be used by the educator to address the most important issues.
An example of this would be using Activity Theory perspectives focused on pedagogy, school and technology support in school. This perspective is the one for pedagogy and it is useful for highlighting several concerns in the relationships between subject, tool, object, rules, community of practice and division of labour: Visual Arts Educators “must” draw on third-parties to launch and, potentially, sustain OPSNS curricula. DOE policy does not define ICT proficiency clearly. Nor does it include it in an ICT framework. Visual Arts Educators may lack the time to secure buy-in from their department. Educators have varied objectives for adopting e-portfolios. This framework would need to be modified for a new school. In the absence of other examples, what is the value of adopting a new medium into curricula? Keen learners could derive the most value out-of-class, though “out-of-class “ activities have not defined in the curriculum statement.
The school organization perspective focuses on physical, financial and human resources. Schools management’s goals are to: - Maximize value from an ICT investment.- Prove the value of parents’ educational investment.- Be a sustainable organisation.Visual Arts Department’s new curricula must assist in showing the value of the school’s ICT investment.
The technological perspective focuses on staff, influence, hardware and software. A school’s IT support aims for:- stability and scalability, standards and protocols, realizing value from the ICT investment.As a non-core IT activity, Visual Arts Department’s new curricula must not burden the IT Department with many demands on its often stretched resources.
Activity Theory has been used for showing why educational change is so difficult. A long list of issues that relate to OPSNS adoption in school illustrates the challenge facing sustained adoption. And this is just from three perspectives!
And if these aren’t useful in the long-term, at least this project has helped deliver on the social obligation that better-resourced private schools have to make the expensive mistakes!