Online Portfolios

In my search to find the perfect way to record all of our wonderings, findings, brilliance, etc. to an online "place" I found a lot of different tools.  Many of which would be very useful in the classroom, some that add more privacy, some that are more limited, and some that are just too fancy for their own good.  I'd like to give you an overview of what I've found, and hopefully you can get some use out of my hours of geeking it out on the internet.

I'll start with a GREAT resource, Schoology.  It is FREE and easy to sign up.  You and your students will need email accounts for Schoology, but it is worth that hassle.  You can keep up with grades, attendance, important calendar dates, and even use it like a social media platform (such as Facebook) for group discussion and announcements.
Students can post updates (like questions for the class about a homework assignment) and write blog posts as well.  You can link to webpages, upload documents, basically put everything on the schoology site (and easily link it to your google docs account).
A few screen shots for ya.   You can see that the fact that schoology so closely resembles the facebook platform means that most students will have no problem navigating through.

You choose instructor, your students choose student (duh)

Easily create your courses, which you can divide into periods.  

Sample gradebook
Students have access to their own grades only.

Sample attendance

Course homepage.  Posts will show up here much like the Facebook platform 

Rcampus is FREE for educators, students, administrators and academic groups and clubs, and they do have site licensees available (although, I'm not quite sure why you'd need/want one)
You as a teacher can create your own page, different classes, invite your students to join and send out assignments, collect and grade portfolios all from your Rcampus account.    It seems easy enough to create a class and invite your students using unique access codes for each class.  I did find that the site was a bit cumbersome when I was trying to set up a "Faculty Group" for our TQ group though.  I can't imagine that it would be something you could sit down in one class period and direct your students through.  LOTS of options and personalization that has to happen before you can even begin to use the services available.
I could be swayed into thinking its a perfect fit, but I'm certainly not there yet (and especially if I have to be the webmaster).  Creating your ePortfolio for us as a group to share with one another is like creating a bunch of individual websites . . . I'm a simple girl.  The blog is plenty for me.
Just a quick glimpse of all the things you can do from your login screen.

Some Extras

Here are the extras I've found.  Google Docs and Monetize.
I'll start with what is the most useful, and that's Google Docs.  If you don't know, Google Docs is a great way to store and share files online.  If you're collaborating on a project with multiple people you can easily edit and share ideas quickly without the issues that come from emailing multiple drafts of a document back and forth.  Its also a really simple way to share documents.
The way I've used here is by creating a collection in my Google Docs account and adding all TQ documents to that collection.  You'll find a link to the document collection in my "Notable Links" gadget to the right of my blog.  So, from my blog you can view my TQ Goodies collection and download/view any document I've stored there (since I've set the permissions to "anyone who has the link" and not private).  You could easily do a similar thing but require sign in, just as you can with your blog permissions.  I do wish (and we may see this in the future) there was an easier and more direct way to access your Google docs from your Blogger account.  Here's the picture tutorial:

Go first to your Google Docs page and log in (unless it does it for you).
You will then see your Google Docs home screen.

To easily organize my docs into a collection specifically for TQ, I selected "Create New" and then "Collection" which I aptly named "TQ Goodies".  

From there, I had to decide how to share my collection.  By clicking on the arrow that shows up next to my collection's name, I get this drop down menu.  

I chose share, and then have the option to select my options or simply email my collaborators.  

For my purposes, I chose that my documents (for now) are public on the web, anyone can find them.  That may change to a permissions basis once we get all TQ folks set up.  

Once you play around in Google docs, you'll notice that it works really well for your standard Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents.  A great way to share files with students and collaborators. 

Blogging on the go

I did some searching for a great app to use on the iPad for blogging in the field.  I'm gonna be honest . . . its slim pickins.  The app I settled on was BlogPress, which is disappointing because it wasn't free, but it was the cheaper of the well-aclaimed blogging apps at $2.99.

I thought I would be clever and post this app using BlogPress, from my iPad . . . that's when things went south.  I'll get to that later . . . First - how to get started with BlogPress.  After purchasing the app, you open it up and just like Blogger, it requests your Google info (something to note here, BlogPress supports MANY blogging platforms, so if you already have a WordPress or other blog you can connect it here as well and even post to multiple blogs at once. . .  supposedly)

Remember that PicassaWeb service I talked about, here is where it comes in handy.  

Very simple to set up, and you're all ready to go.  

Next, the chance to enter a post.  In the landscape view, you get that nice sized keyboard and its very easy to type in your post.  

Clicking on the "i" info button to the left of your title gives you the opportunity to provide the label to your blog just like in the full platform on your computer.  You can also easily add photos and videos . . . IF they are stored on your iphone or ipad.   Unfortunately, where I found this app lacks the most is in adding images.  You can not connect to images already stored on your PicassaWeb album (or any other online photo storage).  The remedy, is as simple as editing your posts once you get to a real live computer.  Just make sure you save your post before touching anything on your ipad . . . It will eat your post. . . I promise.  Remember I mentioned wanting to post this from my iPad?  Yeah. . . lesson learned.  

I did find a solution for the photo issue and that is by purchasing a different app for your iPad blogging needs.  Blogsy claims to be THE app for iPad bloggers.  But its pricey at $4.99 I didn't buy it to try it (especially since some of the reviews mentioned it being a bit buggy with Blogger).  However, it does appear to be simple to add images from ANYwhere you may have them stored (and upload them just as quick).  However, unlike BlogPress, Blogsy does not have iPhone blogging capabilities.  So, take your pick!  For my money, I like apps I can use on all my i-devices.  

Getting it all set up

Here I will talk about getting those specifics all set up for your blog.  Like your permissions, display options, and even a few ways to try to make a little money with your blog.

You've already chosen your template, but you can get really customized if you have the know-how.  I don't, so you'll have to learn that from someone else :)  But, I can help with a few basics.

We'll start with basic settings.  (Click on the "Settings" tab at the top of your screen)  Here you can add a description to your already determined Title (remember, we did that first?)  Here you can also choose if your blog will be listed and searchable on search engines.  Depending on the content you're planning on adding, you may want to opt out of these.

Next are the basic publishing options.  You also already chose a unique URL for your blog, here is where you can change that if you'd like.

The formatting tab allows you to format how many posts show on the main page, how the date will be displayed and lets you choose your time zone.  

The Email & Mobile tab allows you to opt in to a mobile template for viewers using a smartphone and gives you options for publishing via text or email if you are away from your computer or iPad.

The permissions tab is the important one.  Here you can add authors to your blog and set who can view the blog.  To gain more privacy, you have to select readers of your blog (which means you need to have their google id and they have to log in to view your blog).  I chose "Anybody" to make it easiest to share information and because I don't plan on posting anything too racy or private here (or anything that could get me fired in the future).  If you plan on using student work and photos in your blog, you'll either need to be REALLY careful about blacking out names/faces or be sure to add this extra privacy step to your blog.  

Creating a Post

This is the fun part!  Where you get to tell the world (or a few select friends) what you really think.  The post editor basically works like a normal word processor and then some.  You can type, edit the format of your text, the color and insert hyperlinks, pictures and even video.  I'll give a few tips on getting a little fancy.

I'm not going to go into detail on how to type and edit your text . . . I think we're all at least a little tech savvy.  I will however let you know how to easily insert links, photos and videos.
On the picture below, I've inserted text to show you where I'm talking about when I'm mentioning these features.

For hyperlinks, it is best to connect the link to a word identifier.  For example, if I wanted to link you to my PicassaWeb Album, I first typed my words, "PicassaWeb Album" then clicked "Link", to create the hyperlink, and entered the URL of my actual Picassa Web Album.  (Hint:  Its smart to test your links before publishing).  That's it.  Link entered.  See it!  Its blue!  Feel free to test me ;)


Pictures can be a little bit more cumbersome, depending on how "connected" you're trying to be.  I've tried my best to connect as much as possible, so I am choosing to use the Google owned PicassaWeb Album for my image storing.  Really nice if you use the Picassa program on your Mac (if you don't have a Mac, its not my fault) and I'm sure its simple on a PC (well, as simple as anything is on a PC).  Unfortunately, there are no (free) upload apps for Picassa for the iPhone or iPad (however, you can directly blog and save images to your PicassaWeb album from the i-device which I'll go into later . . . )  Anyway, to start you just click on the Picture in the toolbar to insert your picture.   Once you've clicked that, this box will open.  You have a few options here, you can Upload directly from your computer by choosing the file, choose images you've already attached to your blog another way, choose from your Picassa Web Albums or enter a URL if you use another online photo storage option like Photobucket or Flickr.

Here is where I select "From Picassa Web Albums"and choose the pictures I want to insert (which you are looking at RIGHT NOW - pretty cool, huh?)

Once your picture is inserted, it is easy to change the size and layout of the picture or add a caption describing the picture.  Hover over your picture until crosshairs appear and then click ONCE.  A menu will appear under your picture allowing you to make changes.  

View once image is selected (Wee!  A caption!)

Videos have a similar process to photos.  First, click on the picture to insert your video.  You'll then get the Add Video box.  Again, you have several options.  You can upload from your computer, choose a video from YouTube or choose from videos you have uploaded to YouTube (like from your Flip camera perhaps?)

I chose from my videos on YouTube and this is what you get.