ETC_FINAL PROJECT

RILS PLAN: 

     Relevant & Innovative Learning Scenario

Project: iGoogle PLE: From Student to Scholar in a Matter of Minutes

Target Audience: 6-8 undergraduate students in the inner city community

Materials:

·      Computers / laptops

·      Internet access

·      Digital / video camera

Objectives: Participants will be able to:
·  Create a PLE – Personal Learning Environment using the Web 2.0 tool, iGoogle
·  Quickly access, search for, and list websites for scholarly articles, images, videos, etc
·  Create tabs for each course in which they are enrolled and easily track their assignments
·  Formulate opportunities to collaborate with teachers, students, and friends
·  Create a blog, blog posts, and follow other bloggers

Procedure:

1.     Open the link: http://www.google.com/ig

2.     Take the video tour for iGoogle features: http://www.google.com/help/ig/videotour/ and research it’s various applications.

3.     Follow the steps to create an iGoogle PLE-Personal Learning Environment.

4.     Select your theme and personalize your homepage

5.     Add a tab for each of your courses (you can select a different theme for each page)

6.     Click on “add stuff” and search the Gadgets to personalize each course.  Make sure that you include the following gadgets on each course page:

                        Box of Links

                        Blogger

                        Google Scholar

                        Google Reader

                        To Do List

                        Google Docs

7.     Once you have created your iGoogle PLE take screenshots of each tab you created.

8.     Using Blogger, each student will create a blog. Click on this link (http://www.blogger.com/) and follow the instructions on how to create your blog.

9.     Post to your blog the iGoogle screenshots you took, your experiences, and your reflections before and after creating and using iGoogle. Include whether you think this tool will be beneficial to you and how.

10.  Each student will email the URL address of your blog to each of your classmates and the instructor.

11.  Each student is to follow their classmate’s blogs and post comments to at least two of your classmates’ blogs.

12.  Once you have posted you comments you will email the instructor and your classmates a link (URL address) to your post. I encourage you to use your blogs for ongoing discussions. 

Web 2.0 Tool: iGoogle

A free Web 2.0 tool that allows you to organize and access your social networks, research, favorite and frequently used websites, g-mail, and more.  

Social Participation:

·      Participants will be creating their individual iGoogle PLE and make sure that gadgets for their social networking sites (i.e., Facebook, Twitter…) are visible on their homepage.

·      Each student will create a blog, link to each classmate’s blog and post comments in response to discussion questions.

Making Connections:

Students will have an opportunity to collaborate and discuss their individual viewpoint and knowledge before and after the project. They will discuss through their blog post comments, interviews, and reflections what they knew about the iGoogle app prior to beginning the project. They will be able to connect with persons world wide using the social networks that they created / added to their iGoogle PLE.

Create / Produce:

Each student will create and actively use an iGoogle PLE. Each student will create a blog. Each will participant in the creation of a post reflective video discussing what they knew about and what they learned as a result of the project.

Assessment Rubric:

Criteria	Exceptional	Excellent	Acceptable	Unacceptable
Individual Input & Initiative	Completed homepage and a tab with pages for each course; included all required gadgets on each page and included content for each gadget	Completed the homepage and tab for one course with all gadgets but included content on only a few	Partially completed the project. Only created a homepage with only a few gadgets	Did not complete the project
Depth and Breadth of Project Content and Presentation	Completely fulfilled all of the project procedures: All content areas were addressed; Content was well presented and cohesive	Majority of project procedures were met; Some minor areas of content were not addressed; Good content presentation	Some project procedures were met: Lacking in the major content areas of significance; Content adequately presented	Majority of project procedures were not met; Severely lacked content; Poorly presented
Collaboration (Analyze, Evaluate, Apply)	Took leadership role in process: Very attentive, respectful, excellent listener, provided good feedback and problem solving	Provides input to the process: Attentive, respectful, listened well and provided some feedback to team and group members	Provided a little input to the process; Somewhat attentive to team and group members	Provided no input; Or did not contribute positively to collaboration process
Use of web 2.0 tool (Identify, Evaluate, Apply)	Exhibited expertise in the use and function of selected tool	Familiarity and knowledge of use of selected tool	Showed some familiarity and knowledge of selected tool	Exhibited little to no knowledge and use of selected tool
Writing, presentation, and style (spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, structure, organization)	No errors	Very few or minor errors, content adequately conveyed content	Several or major errors diminished content	Too many errors, painful to read / watch

REFLECTIONS

Learners:

Participants will have an opportunity to create a pre and post research video discussing what   they knew about iGoogle and what they have learned as a result of their research. They will discuss how and if this new information has changed their perspective. They will also be able to include in the second video their feelings about the benefit and effectiveness of the overall project.

educators:

Create a pre and post research questionnaire / survey for participants. Review the video responses of the participants. Develop and review an assessment rubric to determine if the project objectives were met and evaluate the level of effectiveness of the project. Follow the criterion developed to evaluate the process and the final product.

iGoogle RILS Video Short





If you have trouble viewing video follow this link:
http://www.viddler.com/explore/rosetta/videos/14/