Finding Me in the Digital Sea

I believe my prototype met the initial learning goals I had originally proposed. I selected a topic that is wide and varied. I feel I presented the content I wanted to impart to the audience I expect to attract to my PLE.

I like the use of multiple tabs in my PLE. This feature helped to categorize topics and discussions by interest focus. If someone wanted to know what new ideas are surfacing in research, there is information in my research conversations tab. Also, the strategy conversations tab offers a few instructional approach ideas that can be implemented immediately in the classroom.  The dashboard design I now find to be rather limiting.  I found I needed to minimize and cut out websites or videos for fear of creating an overwhelming/busy site presentation.  I also felt the environmental options I explored all limited the presentation style I was seeking, as I wanted a site that didn’t require a lot of scrolling and appeared visually overwhelming.

I changed several options in my PLE.  First, I changed from a wiki format to a startpage.  I switched the base design as I felt my original wiki design caused visitors to scroll too much through the pages I created and the additional media pieces didn’t “feel” right. When I looked at the videos and images I had first incorporated on the site, it felt like an isolated demonstration of ideas rather than a cohesive presentation of ideas, discussion and learning development. I also decided to focus on one specific segment of special education: inclusion and instructing students in inclusive classrooms.  This is a very large overarching topic and could be further narrowed to subject area (i.e. reading, math, social studies, etc.)

I would like to figure out how to incorporate a synchronous conversation window within the research and strategy tabs I created. I created separate pages on my blog site and linked those pages to the respective tabs; however I feel I could figure out an option that would allow for a more seamless appearance on the startpage environment.  Also, I would like to flesh out more ideas and conversations that relate to inclusion, as well as add more discussions and tabs that explore the issue of teaching reading in inclusive classrooms. I would also like to create another startpage that provides more interaction and discussion on learning disabilities and have that linked up to my current startpage.

The main purpose of a startpage is to provide a variety of produced information through smal windows of content on a webpage. The tabbed set of pages allows for users to select content based upon interest and need, as well as allows for a varitey of content to be readily available. A startpage also  allows for numerous dynamic content to be included within a webpage.  This format appears to be a better approach for the needs of my PLE, as my goal is to provide a full spectrum of reesearch, instructional practices/techniques, and reccomendations/commentary from the PLE community. I will incorporate my blog page, as well as Twitter, youtube, podcasts and flickr within the environment. The blog page and Twitter commentary will be accessed/distributed via RSS in order to promote immediate conversation and PLE community building.  YouTube and podcasts will be incorporated in order to showcase/highlight specific teaching methods or instructional practices introduced/shared through blog or Twitter postings and noted links/commentary on recent research (which will be excerpted from my blog postings or linked websites/communities).  Flickr will be incorporated as a secondary tool to provide visual entertainment from classrooms and users expressing personal frustrations or breaks from the levity of the conversations surounding this PLE. Flickr will also be used as a tool to encourage user participation in this environment. 

The intention of the site will be to provide a learning tool, current information on issues in special education, as well as to involve users in creating a research-based, professional resource.

The target population of this PLE will include parents of special education students, special education teachers, general education teachers, and other adults who support or work with special education students. Specific members would include:

Parents of children who have children who are struggling in school and want to learn more about how to help their students.

1. Parents or future parents who are seeking information and strategies, so that they can support and work with their children at home.
2. General education teachers and teaching assistants who want to learn more about instructional strategies/supports that have been effective with special education students.
3. Special education teachers new to the profession seeking ideas, and existing teachers who are looking for fresh/different strategies to use with students on their caseload.
4. Tutors, after-school daycare providers, and school administrators/personnel who are investigating other ways to instruct students with special education needs.

 I expect some of the audience members will be familiar with the design and layout of a Wiki however, most will be new to using and interacting with wikis.  Considering the levels of familiarity among my targeted audience, navigation will be an important factor when designing this environment. I will be attempting to create easy to use navigation design with clear links and resources integrated within the wiki. I expect most members will feel like this wiki should operate somewhat similarly to an internet website, so I will try to have a FAQ page explaining how to navigate around the wiki I have created. I feel many of the constraints I will encounter will be in creating a wiki that users can interact with when some will have only a very basic understanding of Web 2.0 technology. The FAQ/guide page will try to address anticipated technical challenges.

I intend for this wiki to be a publicly accessible site, where any user can view, comment, leave feedback and interact with other users.  

Users who would like to join this wiki community and become a member, will be asked to create a member profile and register an e-mail address to receive updates of new content. Registered members will be able to contribute to content and ideas displayed in the wiki however, content will still be monitored to ensure postings present professionalism and reliability.

Regardless of the topic, social software, social bookmarking, or web 2.0 tools/features, the ever-present theme I picked up on was from the first week of the class: Data on an Epic Scale.  Each posting and follow-up discussion appeared to further the big idea that web 2.0 and its tools has offered vast amounts of data to be generated, organized and edited by individuals.  Sifting through the considerable amount of resources these tools and resources place at our fingertips.

Web 2.0 has created a system built upon sharing and communal dialogue to me.  The tools that have grown out of the Web 2.0 era has been developed to sort, classify and keep track of the data produced at such an “epic scale”. Consumers are discovering, experimenting, and making mistakes.  Yet with each epiphany and misstep, consumers are able to edit, manipulative  and change previous thoughts and ideologies.  The system has established an environment where all consumers (as well as, students and teachers) are collaborators and facilitators, rather than singular lecturers and receivers. One discussion board post impressed that “… the creation of information is now largely in the hands of individuals”. Information consumers have the freedom to discover ideas with individual, singular interest and make personal meaning out of the substantial amounts of data available.  The numerous features within web 2.0 tools further allows users to collaborate free of physical and time barriers  to create, provide and produce information with a common goal in mind. This border- and timeless restriction compounds the vast amount of data produced.  Web 2.0 provides a platform for stimulating knowledge building through independent publication, which in turn becomes a global conversation.

My PLE will focus on sharing thoughts, commentary, practices and new strategies/research in supporting special education students in the general education classroom, as well as preparing students for high-stakes assessments. My hope is to collect information that addresses students with high incidence disabilities (e.g. – learning, behavioral and emotional disabilities, ADD, ADHD, dyslexia or dyscalculia). The purpose of this PLE is to provide a way to consolidate the variety and multitude of resources and information circulating the web on supporting students with special needs in regular classroom settings. The resources I intend to collect and present will be blogs, podcasts, online videos (YouTube), and other web instructional commentary boards. My PLE will address the problems I have encoutnered as I have scoured the web looking for information and resources to assist me in developing instructional materials and mehtods to use in small instructional groups, as well as in the large classroom.  I have found it incredibly difficult to maintain and continually return to specific websites to check on recent updates and user commentary because there are just so many for me to weed through during my personal time.   My learning goals are to be able to reflect upon and dedicate time to acquiring and creating a space where various ideologies and practices can be presented for any educator to access and utilize in their professional practice or personal development.  I want my SSLE environment to be more organized and designed in a manner that connects research, practice and theory.

My PLE will be modled after another educator’s wiki  sped.wikidot.com The Special Education Wiki Site.  I like the overall presentation and user friendliness of this site.

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