Scott+Allen

=Scott Allen's Design Document=

The purpose of this design document is for the creation and implementation of a community learning environment (CLE). This CLE will serve as a central communication tool between high school math teachers in a specific school district where they can find related information to the courses they teach as well as other educational information. Teachers don't like too many meetings and like to work on their own time; this site would allow these teachers to collaborate with each other in an asynchronous format.

Within this document I will explain my design idea, the target audience, the content that will be involved, and format in which this learning environment will be conducted through.

__Design Idea:__ The community learning environment I plan to design is an area where teachers in a specific school district, specifically high school math teachers, can collaborate ideas, documents, web sites, and much more. The purpose of this learning environment is to allow a central location for math teachers help each other, learn from each other, and to stop reinventing the wheel by sharing documents (tests, quizzes, activities). This will be an informal learning center where teachers would participate at the convenience of their own time. However, participation would be encourage throughout the school year. Through the creation of this CLE, I hope that central office staff could possibly see this as a way to distribute information to teachers rather than sending multiple emails a couple times a day.

The state of the learner after participating inside the CLE would be a sense of new teaching ideas, and new information to help achieve better results in their classroom. A teacher would feel impressed and itching for more information, which in turn might have them share their ideas. The more interaction with the CLE, the better the environment's information and tools are used to an appropriate manner.

Other CLE that I've researched that are similar to my idea are:
 *  http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~lynda_abbott/teacher2teacher.html#A
 * http://teacher-share.wikispaces.com/
 * http://teachershare.scholastic.com/toer/HomePage.htm
 * http://twitter.com/teachershare

__Audience:__ The target audience for this CLE would be any high school math teacher in a particular school district. Also included in this audience would be central office staff that are related to the subject of mathematics. The target audience could range from 5 to 20 people, depending on the level of participation. For the purpose of this project I would focus my target audience to a select 4 to 8 math teachers to generate interest and receive feedback about the CLE prototype.

The needs of this target audience would be to be updated with school, district and state information regarding mathematics courses, standards, assessments, and much more. Furthermore, teachers like sharing ideas with each other however their time is limited during the school day. Most math teachers don't have the same planning time to collaborate with each other, especially about common math courses. Furthermore, most teachers like to try new activities or projects in their classrooms in order to increase the level of achievement from their students. This CLE would provide all teachers a way to communicate with each other during their planning time or after school hours so they can find or ask for information from other teachers.

The target audience would participate in the CLE throughout the school year, in addition to throughout a teaching career. All the information would be stored and added/updated upon over the years. Central Office/Department staff could use the CLE as a way to facilitate information to their teachers in a swift and easy manner.

I foresee teachers wanting to join/subscribe to this CLE because it is a way to interact with other teachers in an informal asynchronous format. They can participate, share information and come back in a week to see other information. Teachers are not required to be at the site at the same time to share their information. A teacher may leave or not join the CLE because they feel is just another place they don't have time to go to, or it may not suit their needs. That is why I am focusing on 4 to 8 teachers for this prototype to see if this is something teachers would use in an everyday school sense.

__Content__ The target auidence could learn new information, share ideas, find out information from math conferences that others had been to, share good assessments, learn how to make good assessments, and learn update-to-date information in an informal way. No meetings are required to be at, no time frame is set that the teacher has to on the site for them to interact with the content.  This would be a unique situation for a particular school or district where their teachers are performing professional development via the web and with each other.

The content inside of the CLE would be both structured and unstructured. I believe teachers would need some set structure within the CLE, such as designated pages for specific subjects of information. However, unstructured content would also benefit the teachers so that they are able to share information in a way they deem necessary. Some examples of content would include RSS feeds from state and math organizations, documentation for assessments, activities, links to great websites, and much more. Content will be delivered through Google Sites where RSS feeds, a wiki, and document sharing are available.

This CLE is an open site where teachers share as they feel necessary, therefore all teachers should be aware that their information is not copyright. However, copyright material should be posted only with the written permission of the original owner.

__Format__ I will be using the base tool, Google Apps, as the vehicle for this prototype. Google Apps allows me create a site where RSS feeds are available, Document upload and sharing is allowed, Calendar options, and a full wiki is available to create a standard way to store written information that can easily be collaborated between teachers.

The layout of this prototype is as follows:
 * 1) Home: This page is where the introduction to the site will lie. Teachers will be greeted and given information about the site, what they can use it for, etc.
 * 2) Web 2.0 tools:
 * A calendar of events that is fed from a Google Calendar will host updates, conferences, meetings, etc. for teachers to keep up with easily.
 * RSS Feeds to educational information (NY Times) allow teachers to read and keep up with information in the educational field.
 * Photos of math images via Flickr will be posted for teachers to pick and chose from if they need graphics on their worksheets, assessments or for demonstration purposes.
 * 1) Course Information: This prototype focuses on 'Algebra 1', however, other courses would be posted as well. Each course will contain a list of topics to be taught, a place to share documents and web sites with each other, and other resources that would be vital to teaching students.
 * Within each topic of a course there will be information that should be taught within that topic, a link to adding/viewing websites and documents, and possible videos a teacher could show.

Google Apps has some strengths and weaknesses. Strengths include a sense of collaboration, RSS feed aggregator via iGoogle start page, Document sharing, Google Calendar to store event information, and a wiki that allows for the creation of written information/editting in an easy manner. Google Docs allows the teachers to upload documents, powerpoints, etc., in addition to saving what they type as a document of powerpoint. The Google Sites page has some great resources within itself such as a 'File Cabinet' to store documents, and a 'List' page with allows users of the site to add a list of whatever they want. In this case, the site will be allowing a list of web sites to be shared.

However, I've found that this may not have been the best base tool to use for multiple reasons. It doesn't allow many external widgets or flexible RSS feeds via feed2js.org. I am not able to create or have Delicious links showing, nor is the Sites application flexible within the created pages. For example, is creating a table, there is not much flexiblity in the alterations of the table. You cannot change the table properties, nor can you merge cells.

Another weakness to Google Apps is that is seems to be very buggy. Sometimes you can see document/presentations that you have linked from the Google Docs section. This is the same for photos from Flickr and videos from YouTube; these widgets sometimes show up but not always. This is frustrating when you are expecting them to always be visible.

One last weakness I will mention that I was not aware of until I began creating my prototype was that I was not aware that Google Docs and Calendar were a complete individual entity. Yes, it has the ability to share; however this is the case when everyone in your intended group has a Google account setup. I was expecting my site to possibly be a "site" where people logged in to the same kind of system (i.e. same documents / calendar / sites pages) and be able to edit as they needed. I noticed with some interaction with PBWiki and Wikispaces this is a capability; not the case with Google Apps, which is quite a downfall.

__Evaluate & Refine__ My self-evaluation of this site is that as a first round prototype I believe it gets across my learning goals and objectives. It is a great way to facilitate an informal learning environment for teachers. The basic tools such as RSS feeds, importing images from Flickr, importing a calendar from an external source, allowing for commenting and sharing information (documents and websites), and embedding videos shows the possible versatility of the learning environment.

At the beginning of the development of the prototype I had a vision of what the site might look like, and I believe for the most part I was able to accomplish that vision. I did have to work with the formatting of the site though. I found that working with tables in Google Apps was not as easy as working with them in other programs I've experienced. Therefore, I made the decision to leave tables off the pages and format the site to have a professional look without the tables. I also realized that I needed to put some kind of text-node or message on pages to inform users on what the site was about or how to use the site. One last revision that I missed, but found with the help of the professor and my peer review was that I did not realize the comments, document sharing and website sharing wasn't active unless you were logged into the site. I found how to update the site settings to allow for George Mason University (GMU) users to access the site, so I activated that all GMU users can access and edit the site. This will allow for the greatest possible interaction with the site, while before it was more of a one-way road to using the site.

To improve future versions of the CLE, I would probably take a good look at Google Apps, and determine whether or not it was teh future of the site. Spending more time on researching the best tool for this application would be best especially since I am looking for teacher/user interaction with the site. If a site doesn't allow for easy access, then that tool is probably not the best option. Whle Google Apps does allow for GMU users to login and interact with the site, I do not see a place for teachers outside of this application to login at this time. I know if I setup my own account for Google Sites I could set it up to invite users to the site, but intricaces would need to be researched.

I've looked at other CLEs from people in this course such as wetpaint, Pageflakes, and I've seen other uses of PBwiki. While some of these may not be suitable, I believe there might be a better way to facilitate this type of informal learning environment for teachers. While I do believe this is an excellent idea, where I've had some great feedback from teachers that I've shown the idea to, Google Apps is not as flexible as I would have liked it to be.

Overall, this CLE has given me the opportunity to create a learning environment using Web 2.0 tools taught in this course. This opportunity has given me insight into how to build a community learning environment, and it has also given me the chance to see other sites that are personal learning environments (PLE). Where Web 2.0 tools have excellent features, weakness can follow. While not all Web 2.0 tools may be suitable for a CLE or PLE, the designer and devleoper need to determine what tools would be best for the particular learning enviroment. The environment may use 10 external tools, while another may utilize 2. In building my CLE I realized that it is important to think of the users of the site, and what their interests would be and what their needs are. I built this prototype because I am a teacher and I've seen what other teachers have talked about using or wanting. While this may not always be the case, a simple analysis might be effective in determining the actual needs and wants of the users.


 * DRAFT:**

Design Idea
Students will describe the educational SSLE they have in mind. >> >>>
 * What kind of PLE or CLE do you plan to design? What problem are you looking to solve, or what specific learning goals do you hope to achieve?
 *  Create a community learning environment for teachers (specifically math teachers for this project) where they can share ideas, links, documents, how they have taught certain topics, some great activities they've done
 * I'm looking to solve the "reinvent the wheel" concept where a school district can utilize already good teacher ideas to spark a community of practice amongst all levels of teaching.
 * I hope to achieve teachers learning from each other, in an informal setting.
 * Describe the state the of the learner after participating, not your personal project goal.
 * Informed with new ideas, new information on how to better achieve results in their classroom
 * Impressed
 * Wanting to come back for me information
 * Wanting to share their own ideas
 * What other SSLEs will yours be like?
 * This link provides a list of teacher collaboration sites:
 *  http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~lynda_abbott/teacher2teacher.html#A
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">http://teacher-share.wikispaces.com/
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">http://teachershare.scholastic.com/toer/HomePage.htm
 * <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">http://twitter.com/teachershare
 * =====**//Rick's Feedback:// we talked by Bb chat so if you have more questions contact me. I would just add here that this last question prompt is looking for you to find another CLE (often a community of practice) or PLE on the web that is like the one you envision. It could be on a different topic and be much more complex or possibly not use web 2.0 tools much, but just that it has something about it that you think you might mimic in yours.**===== ||

Audience
Students will describe the targeted learner population. For PLEs, you should describe the background and characteristics of your target indvidual learner.
 * Describe the focus and scope of your audience? How big of an audience do you seek?
 * <span style="color: rgb(250, 10, 10);">Any math teacher in my school district, including central office staff. Audience could range from 20 to 200, depending on how many participate.
 * <span style="color: rgb(250, 10, 10);">For the purpose of this project I would like to focus on a small target audience of say 5-10 people from one high school to see if interest is genereated.
 * What needs of your audience does your SSLE meet?
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 15, 15);">Need to be updated with school, district, and state information regarding mathematics,
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 15, 15);">Sharing information that works for each teacher,
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 15, 15);">To try new activities and/or projects
 * When will your audience participate in your SSLE?
 * <span style="color: rgb(242, 28, 28);">Frequently throughout the school year,
 * <span style="color: rgb(242, 28, 28);">Department staff could use it as a place to post important information,
 * <span style="color: rgb(242, 28, 28);">A way to relay information.
 * Why will they join/subscribe? Why won't they unsubscribe/leave?
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 10, 10);">Join = a way to interact with other teachers in an informal asychronous method.
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 10, 10);">Not Join/Leave = could be just another place they don't have time to go to, may not suit their needs

Content
Students will provide an outline of the content that will be learned in the SSLE.
 * What will your audience learn? Why should they learn it through participation in a SSLE?
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 10, 10);">Audience could learn new ways of teaching a concept, information based on math conferences, learn how to create good assessments, learn how other people create assessments, learn up-to-date information from central office staff (Twitter?)
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 10, 10);">This would be a unique situation for a particular school or district where their teachers are performing professional development via the web and with each other.
 * What types of content and resources does your audience require to learn? Structured or unstructured content sources?
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 10, 10);">A little bit of both. I think some teachers would need some structure, where others might find unstructured better for their learning. Teachers need some flexibility.
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 10, 10);">Content/Resources could include, RSS feeds from state organizations, math organizations, educational groups; documentation for assessments, activities; links to great websites; auto information via Twitter;
 * What are the primary media formats that your audience needs to learn this content?
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 10, 10);">GOOGLE SITES -> RSS feeds, Wiki, Document Sharing
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 10, 10);">Also to possibly include Twitter
 * Address copyright issues.
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 10, 10);">not sure of any at this time

Format
Students will describe the format of the SSLE. Students should describe the structural layout and functional aspects of the environment. What tools and technologies support the main layout/organization of the site and drive the dynamic content aggregation and display aspects of your site?.
 * What is your reasoning for developing the type of educational SSLE you chose to achieve your learning goal?
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 10, 10);">To inform math teachers quickly of information, store ideas, and create a community of practice learning environment for these teachers to get all that they need in order to succeed.
 * What types of communication, collaboration, or aggregation tools do you need and why?
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 10, 10);">RSS feeds, Twitter status updates, Wiki pages, still pondering others....
 * How do you support your primary media content types?
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 10, 10);">Google Apps will be the base tool

Evaluate & Refine
Design self-evaluation: Students will conduct a self-evaluation of the initial prototype.
 * How well are the small pieces loosely joined to meet the learning goals?
 * I believe the small spaces join the learning goals. Each Course has sub-topics, and each sub-topic will have the same kind of format. I believe teachers will be able to learn from the RSS feeds and comments / other information that teachers share with each other on the site.
 * What types of changes did you make to your LE?
 * I had played with Google Apps some more and found that it allows you to specific page types (i.e. the document sharing and URL sharing pages).
 * How might you improve on future versions of the SSLE
 * To improve future versions of the SSLE, I may not use Google Apps. I think I would spend more time into researching the best tool for this application. I've looked at other SSLEs from people in this course and have seen wetpaint used, Pageflakes, and I've seen uses with pbwiki. While some of these may not be suitable, I believe there might be a better way to facilitate this type of informal learning environment for teachers. While I do believe this is an excellent idea, where I've had some great feedback from teachers that I've shown the idea to, Google Apps is not as flexible as I would have liked it to be.