Reflections of Year 1

For those who want to know how to do things better;

• it would be important that participants have access to the Portal to test drive it with at least their own classrooms, versus having training now and access next year
• being able to attend inservices interspersed with using it in schools is a good way to manage learning yourself and then teaching others
• it would be more helpful for Div. 1 & 2 teachers to have their own PD inservices so its more pertinent, useful and adaptable to their division level.
• some more explicit instruction or demonstration of how to use new features e.g. Aviary tools
• there needs to be time to 'learn through play' for participants but we appreciate tutorials to share with staff and students, that are ready to use and for use review, when needed.
• team planning and teaching between classroom teachers or with a teacher-librarian, allows you at the school level to work in partnership, rather than in isolation in implementing Portal features.
• teaching students ahead of classroom teachers through direct instruction leads to students requesting their teachers to use the Portal.
• Template sharing/building together started to build resources we can all adapt or modify for our own usage e.g. Digital Citizenship Plan
• Start with higher grades and work downward, or by matching Div. 2 students to train Div. 1 students in usage of Portal was helpful in building comfort and capacity of students and teachers alike.
• 'Just-in-time' support to teachers who are trying to use the Portal is necessary; access to Portal Tech leaders, lead teacher time in schools and technology resources helps teachers and students to make use of the Portal.

Looking forward, we need to examine which Web 2.0 tools we can integrate within the Portal or web based software we can use within the Portal, as well as developing training 2 minute tutorials for staff/students when they need to learn how to use features of the Portal.