The In-Folio Rollout Tour - Summer 2009 from Rix Centre on Vimeo.

We first got to grips with In-folio at Henshaws at the end of the last academic year when we hosted a roll out event for Techdis. In order to do this I spent time creating a test In-folio for myself to find its scope. Bearing in mind that I have only just come across the guide to using Clippi I was using the system with no knowledge of it’s application. After hours of trial and error using the normal and admin sides of the system, I discovered the template function and this is where it started to fall into place as to how we could use this at Henshaws. The structure we came up with was creating the following tabs with headings on the next level.

1) All About Me
Dreams and Ambitions
Interests and Hobbies
My Family
Personal Information

2) My Future Plans
Leisure
Residential
Occupational

3) My E-CV
Things I’m Proud Of
Work Experience
Accreditation

4) Key Contacts
Outside Agencies
College
Home

The  tabs  were mapped against the ‘Transition Passport’ which is a paper based record containing  important information relevant for when the student left Henshaws and moves on.  As we wanted the tabs to go in a certain order, I  figured that the tabs would go alphabetically if I numbered them.   By using the template we effectively gave the students a structure to work within, whereas before we felt that it was too vast and could be confusing as to what to put on it.  This is not to say that this is set, as we continue to use it I’m sure we’ll making adjustments to it, and allowing students to create tabs on their own In-folio if they wish to.

As it was close to the end of term we knew there was limited opportunity to try it out with students so we asked a handful of students to begin to explore their In-folios.  We found that they were mostly able to navigate the website with ease and with the tabs it gave them the stimulus to fill parts of it in,  in contrast to when we first tried it.  It had been trialled without the templates prior to my exploration of In-folio and we found that having set templates allowed the students to work more independently as they knew what information to input  in contrast to the initial trial where we had to be on hand to offer inspiration and ideas for content .

The Next Stage

In-folio is now into the second stage of pilot system at the college with a timetabled session called ‘Portfolio Building’ where selected students access it for 2 hours on a weekly basis. We still have the aforementioned template system in place but in order to give further context we’re working with the Vocational Department and using In-folio to house work placement diaries, which the students have been completing by hand/verbally before. I created a Word Template with the questions the students would answer in the old style and have them fill it in and save it as a document. I did this to develop students general computer skills, as they would have to copy and paste from Word to In-folio, but it’s also to  safe guard against In-folio crashing, which we have found when working on it this year. Once the work diaries are pasted in, we then have the students work on the other sections. We do have some students accessing it using JAWS and whilst it is a bit confusing to do, this is a common issue when accessing any website as whilst those with vision can focus on what that need, JAWS tells you everything that is on the screen. To combat this I have put together a booklet which states what will be said when needing to access the work placement diaries. This is also useful as we have enablers (support workers) who help the students to fill in the diaries and access In-folio and understandably their IT skills are not as advanced as those who teach it so it offers them guidance. I’ve uploaded this document at the end of this blog so take a look, it’s only been created recently so it may still have some creases to iron out but it seems to be working so far!

I hope that’s given you an insight into how we’re using In-folio at Henshaws at present, I’m sure there’s more I can say on it but I do have to stop at some point. I’ll try do an update at some point as we move forward with In-Folio.

John

in-folio-guidebook

Training:

In September I delivered a total of eight hours’ training with, I’m guessing, over 40 members of staff taking part.  The sessions ranged from large introductory sessions with fifteen/twenty participants through to 1:1 guidance and in-class support.

In all cases I’ve covered the basics - what in-Folio is, potential uses, the benefits of compiling an eFolio as opposed to a paper-based Record of Achievement etc.  On top of that, we’ve looked at how to create an eFolio including the uploading of media, creating and editing tabs, pages and blocks.

Fingers crossed, but all seems to have gone well so far.  I mentioned this at the roll-out event back in July, but I still find that taking a physical file (complete with file dividers and pages) in with me and relating the dividers to the eFolio’s tabs etc helps people understand what they are tying to create.

Uses:

It’s obviously early days, and so we’re not yet seeing much content beyond learners adding their photos and statements to the ‘About Me’ page.  The staff are keen to take things forward though, and so we are currently sharing ideas on how we use this across the Learning and Skills Department.  At the initial training back on September 1st I told staff that they could have a few weeks to experiement and then we would get back together again and discuss how to take things forward.  That discussion was yesterday and it was interesting to hear the range of opinions on how staff felt the eFolios could (and should) be set out.

I’ve been keen to stress that In-Folio represents a great example of personalised learning, and that learners should be encouraged to set theirs out as they wish; likewise in terms of changing the colour of their eFolios, opting to use a picture-based login etc.  I used this argument when playing devil’s advocate to those who wanted a standardised system for their learners.  However, as eFolios are a totally new concept not only for our learners but also for our staff, many did feel that templates would be useful initially to help users understand the concept of what they were building and why.  I could see the logic in this too, and so created a set of exemplar templates and assigned these to colleagues’ (learner) accounts.

The outcome of the meeting yesterday was exactly what I’d expected (and secretly hoped for!) - namely that there is no one way of setting out an eFolio, and moreover nor should there be.  From an institutional perspective I appreciate that there is certain information that we would like all learners to record, but how they present it is totally down to the individual.

So how is In-Folio being used at Portland then?  Well, every learner within the Learning and Skills Department has an account set up.  That’s over 120.  Tutors are currently using their Review and Transition sessions to support learners in adding content, with the initial focus on their ‘About Me’ statements and also on a new tab entitled ‘Personal Profile’ which has pages relating to ten or so separate areas (likes, dislikes, important people, learning styles etc), all of which were previously covered by their Transition Passports.

It also seems that some tutors are setting up tabs for each college year, with pages for each subject.  Others have set up tabs for subjects with pages for individual aspects within that.  For example, you could have a tab for AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) and then pages representing specific AAC-related skills, such as maintaining eye contact, switching skills etc.  I’m sure that once the initial information has been added we will see the real developments in terms of layouts, but that’s where we’re up to at the moment.

Finally on the design side, a colleague told me today that one learner has decided to create a ‘Home’ tab.  His parents are very proactive in encouraging him to work on things outside of college time, and so he’s going to use this tab, with the support from his parents, to upload files relating to the things he does when he’s not at Portland.  That way, when he comes back after a holiday or weekend away, he can show various people what he’s been up to.  It’s a simple idea, but I really like it.

Admin:

Right now I’m the only active administrator within the college, although that should change in the coming days.  I have started to talk briefly about the admin side of things to a couple of colleagues and, in preparation for them coming on board, I’ve started to create groups for colleagues’ tutor groups or groups of learners they have for specific sessions.  This has been extremely beneficial when assigning tab templates (relating to specific subject areas) to large numbers of learners.  The admin interface is very easy to use, and it should save a lot of time in the long run.

General:

Obviously In-Folio is a fantastic way of allowing learners to collect, organise and show multimedia evidence.  The one thing to remember with all this is that it increases the expectation on staff in terms of them having to support learners in getting this evidence in the first place.  We coincided the In-Folio roll-out with giving all tutors a new Flip Mino video camera.  It’s not rocket science, but if you’re expecting people to collate quality evidence then you have to support them and give them the means to do so.

In addition to the Flips, all trainees have had the opportunity to take copies of the Rix handouts relating to using digital cameras, Audacity and also the information sheet on the benfits of using multimedia with people with learning disabilities.  With these resources and ongoing support I’m sure that our learners’ eFolios will soon be filling up nicely.

And I suppose that’s pretty much where we are right now.  I’m not too sure what October will bring yet, but my money’s on loads more groups being created and a few more administrators coming on board.  Oh, and I can see some training sessions on tagging evidence in ‘My collection’ being needed too.

I’d be really interested to hear how other organisations are getting on, so please post your comments on here and share the good practice!

Thanks,

Matt

The day consisted of presentations by various members of the Rix team, and also one from myself when, as mentioned in my earlier blog, I went on about omelettes and somehow managed to link them to e-portfolios and learner achievement.

As is the case when you bring colleagues in and introduce new technology into the equation, we had a few technical hitches, but such is life!  I still think that we managed to cover everything and do In-Folio (and all the supporting technologies) justice.

The delegates I spoke to certainly seemed inspired by the presentations on creative uses of multimedia.  The hands-on sessions were also very well received with people glad of the oppportunity to try out the Flip cameras, Audacity etc.

From a personal point of view it was good to get feedback that we seem to have the correct intentions in how to use In-Folio.  Also, and as daft as it sounds, the technical hitches were also a blessing in disguise.  You have to learn from these experiences, and I now deal with new technology differently when bringing it into the college.

For those who weren’t present, the laptop we were using for presentations didn’t support my multimedia files, and so all videos became audio-only files, losing a lot of their impact in the process.  It turns out that the machine didn’t have the codecs from the camera I’d used, and so couldn’t play the videos.  Having subsequently ordered 25 Flip video cameras to ensure that staff and learners have the means to populate eFolios though, it was a lesson well learnt as we can now address this before the cameras are distributed.  As a result, staff will not face an unnecessary problem in viewing evidence and so will not lose motivation.  If that’s not a silver lining to draw from a cloud, I don’t know what is!

Since the roadshow, I’ve been flat out creating 124 learner accounts and also a large number of ’student’ accounts for staff to play with.  The feedback and interest in In-Folio has been incredible:  staff are using Review and Transition sessions to get In-Folio going.  Many are also quite proactive, and so are already asking for further developments and functionality.

Staff are meeting next week to discuss the idea of having a generic template for the initial batch of folios, and whilst I want learners to design their own, I can also see the value inthis early on, especially when staff are only just getting to grips with it.  Once we have agreed on a template or two I’ll post some screen shots and/or descriptions on here for general comment.

Matt

We were pretty late in coming in on the In-Folio development but we quickly got to grips with the programme due to its intuitive functionality. There were a few difficulties with the application but that is to be expected and the RIX centre was very amenable in getting that sorted.

A message that was reinforced throughout is that it is not about the application but rather the power of the multimedia in allowing students to celebrate their learning journeys. At the Derwen, we have successfully introduced e-portfolios through PowerPoint. While it has limitations, it has proven invaluable in allowing us to assess the impact of e-portfolios on our learners. The students have a much better understanding of their learning and are able to take ownership of their progression. A simple camera, Flip or even mobile phone can capture the moment in real time and be shared with others over infinitely. It works!!!

We are currently trialling the In-Folio with students and staff and will keep you posted.

To enable switch access for a particular user, to set their symbol password and switch options you’ll need to visit the user-manager section in admin [http://www.clippi.com/yourcollege/admin/] and click ‘edit user’.

By default switch access is disabled for all users, since the password method is quite insecure. When downloading an ‘.inf’ file, you can choose to include the password code - this allows a user to login automatically, bypassing the symbol password entry stage.

The ’switch.inf’ and the Switch Browser program need to be in the same folder on your hard drive or placed together on a thumbstick.

Auto-scanning and multi-switch scanning methods can be used. All media (such as text-to-speech audio from the server, video or audio) plays automatically.

Selection Events

• Mouse Click (either button)
• Spacebar
• Enter Key
• ‘1′ Key Press
• Joystick or Gamepad Firebuttons

Multi-switch - (pressing any of these keys also switches off autoscanning)

Move Forward Events

• Right Cursor Key
• ‘2′ keypress
• Tab Key
• Joystick or Gamepad Right

Move Backward Events

• Left Cursor Key
• Joystick or Gamepad Left
• Backspace Key

To exit the application press ‘ESC’.

Toggle between automatic and manual scanning using an ‘S’ keypress

Download in-folio Switch Browser Version 1.2.1 for Windows

Versions for OSX and Linux desktops are pending.

Despite some initial glitches with the program, as might be expected from a product in development, it offers the potential for our students to take responsibility for their own portfolios in a way which has simply not been possible with other packages. Staff enthusiasm has been such that there was a request to set up every student with an account for the current (autumn 2009) term and this will include some trialling with switch users. I’ll keep you posted on how it all works out!

Hope people had a good summer. I promised to post links to some of the things I was showing on the roll out.

The software I was using to make custom environments for people, and switch cause and effect stuff with live video and also playing files was called Isadora and you can find out about it here.

The windows program for taking pictures and recording video controlled by a switch is free and is called Debut.

On the Apple Mac I was using osculator to get signals from the wiiremote and the device i had connected to the Wii remote was called Hori fighting sticks, but they don’t seem to be available anywhere at the moment.

On windows you can use GlovePie to hook up to Wii remotes, but the bluetooth side of things is very problematic on windows. Glovepie does work well with usb devices as well though.

I was using the PSEye camera which works on a Mac with the Macam webcam drivers. On windows it works with the drivers found here. They are totally legit, honest.

We had some very good news just before I went on holiday. I application to do the symbol project was successful, so I will be spending a chunk of time over the next year documenting and improving that, as well aqs looking for places to work with on new ideas. If you are interested get in touch.

I will also be supporting a group in London to use inFolio, so will be posting her now and then about that.

Have fun

Nick