2. Purpose To provide an overview of Ultranet Release 1 functionality for students and teachers
3. The Ultranet is a student centered electronic learning environment that supports high quality learning and teaching , connects students, teachers and parents and enables efficient knowledge transfer . It will establish a schools environment for the future that improves the educational outcomes of all Victorians. The Ultranet will be delivered to all Victorian government schools by the end of Term 3, 2010. Vision
4. online, 24/7 anywhere access for students, parents & teachers a continuous record of student learning progress over time student information for personalised curriculum planning & delivery opportunities for students to take greater responsibility for their learning facilitated knowledge transfer for teachers & sharing across the State a contemporary looking system & customised for Victoria Web 2.0 tools for teachers & students to collaborate within & across schools leading practice in online curriculum planning, delivery & assessment The Ultranet will deliver….
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6. “ If schools are engaged in the Effective Schools Model reform agenda, the Ultranet will be a great enabler of this work – a catalyst for taking it further, rather than adding an extra layer. The online application connected a lot of strategic initiatives.” Principal R&D School Effective schools and school improvement Effective Schools Provides a window into the learning and growth of each learner and a platform from which to plan Guides the construction of rigorous and relevant learning A secure space to be known and to learn with others Students, teachers, parents, schools and systems connect and collaborate Transparency of practice and interaction Ease of monitoring and increasing expectation about quality of practice and progress Captures and communicates the school’s core purpose and beliefs Enables ongoing monitoring and intervention
33. Release 2 Overview For parents, students and teachers; from the end of September 2010
34. Personalised learning information for and about each student Overview of Release 2 functionality for teachers and students A tool for planning, delivering and assessing learning activities Learner Profile Learning Tasks
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Editor's Notes
The Ultranet is an enterprise-based solution which will provide many benefits. It will provide online 24/7 anywhere access for students, parents and teachers - They will be able to log on anywhere, anytime. It will capture a complete record of student learning progress over time - a centralised solution ensures that all data created in the system remains connected to the user, regardless of which school the student, teacher or parent is associated with. This data is stored overtime and can be analysed at the individual school, class, student or system level. This is particularly exciting as it is up to date, continuous information that stays with the student throughout their school years. It will provide teachers with a rich, readily accessible source of information about each learner to inform personalised curriculum planning and delivery - we can provide individualised learning programs for students because teachers will have a full picture of each students learning needs in a click. It will enable students to monitor and take greater responsibility for their own learning. The solution will facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing across schools and the system. It has a contemporary look and feel including use of Web2.0 technologies - the solution is built for ICT users of today and tomorrow. It takes advantage of Web 2.0 technologies enabling communication, collaboration, publishing and sharing with peers within and across schools. It will provide an online workspace with a learning dashboard for teachers, parents and students. Everything they need is at their fingertips. In addition, i t is fully customised for Victorian government schools. It will drive leading practice in online curriculum planning, delivery and assessment - consistent with directions being taken and promoted by DEECD - provides a technical solution to ensure the work of teachers in this area can be more efficient.
The school accountability and improvement framework is premised upon three student outcomes: improved student learning, student pathways and transitions, and student engagement and wellbeing. Each of these outcomes will be supported by the Ultranet. Student Learning Outcomes The Ultranet will improve student learning outcomes by allowing students to access online learning activities, resources and lesson plans that can be tailored to suit their individual development needs. Student pathways and transitions The Ultranet will improve student pathways and transitions by allowing academic records and achievements to be continuous and move with students from year to year and school to school. Teachers and careers counsellors will be able to provide better guidance and advice to students, as they will be able to refer to their entire achievement records to understand the strengths of students. Student wellbeing and engagement The Ultranet will standardise and modernise the ICT education platform in all Victorian government schools – this will reduce disparity in the ICT space between the have and have-not schools The tools will be up to date with industry standards and therefore relevant to student engagement The school community will be able to communicate and share knowledge using the Ultranet The Ultranet will be a safe and secure learning environment for all users Users will only be able to access the information that is relevant to them and their role in the school community Real time data on student attendance will be available to parents and teachers
Note: effective school model pieces fly in on click The Effective Schools Model lists the characteristics that a school needs to focus on to achieve improved outcomes. The Ultranet, as a tool for school improvement, will support schools to achieve the goals and targets outlined in their Strategic Plan. The diagram above outlines some of the ways that the Ultranet can support school improvement within each of the domains covered in the Effective Schools Model. Note: The quote comes from one of the principals involved in the Research and Development project Students@Centre.
Login page for all users. Users will be promoted to tick that they comply with the Ultranet Terms of Service before logging on. They can also change or reset a forgotten password from this page, and access privacy and copyright information from this and every screen within the Ultranet.
There is a Home Page for all users. Home pages will be configured to suit the individual needs of the different users. The Notices, Moderator Requests and Learning Contacts portlets will appear by default for teachers; the Notice Viewer (pictorial view with a text summary) will appear by default for students. All users can customise the remainder of their home page to meet their needs. They will have access to a range of applications which they can make available on this page and other pages within the Ultranet. The Web 2.0 tools will support users to access or create virtual communities to support student learning. iGoogle provides a good example of the functionality of this space.
The Home Space is a personal space viewable only by the user. This is the landing space when a user logs on to the Ultranet. Users can add or delete a wide variety of applications in this space so that it is tailored to their particular preferences. This is a junior look and feel example of a home page. It has the Notices portlet, and as a soccer fanatica, an IFrame of their latest favourite soccer video from You Tube, the Portfolio Viewers portlet, a World Soccer RSS feed, some Quick Note reminders and a Calendar. By default, students will see the Notice Viewer application on their Home page, which displays notices from the spaces or communities they belong to in pictorial format, with a text summary.
Teacher home page example. Alan’s home page includes requests he has received to be his Portfolio Viewer and Learning Contact, Notices, Moderator Requests and Learning Contacts.
The eXpress Space is an individual’s personal space. It is available for students and teachers for communicating, sharing and reflecting on their learning using a suite of Web 2.0 tools including the Blogs, Wiki, Polls Display and Image Gallery applications. For teachers, it is a personal space viewable by Learning Contacts and Portfolio Viewers with a landing page, Wall, Profile and Portfolio. It is a place where teachers can communicate with their Learning Contacts, maintain a professional Portfolio, which could include evidence of professional learning, development of professional learning goals, feedback from colleagues and performance plans or strategies that have led to improved student learning; and select to be a Portfolio Viewer (see next page). For students, it is a personal space viewable only by Portfolio Viewers, and includes a Profile, Learning Portfolio and Learning Goals. It is a place where students can share their thoughts and ideas regarding their learning, document their Learning Goals, collect evidence of their learning in their Learning Portfolio and see who their Portfolio Viewers are. The eXpress Profile displays the user’s name and photo.
eXpress page junior student example – Learning Portfolio The eXpress space for students is for collaborating, sharing and reflecting on learning. Students have flexibility in the look and feel of their eXpress space and the applications on their pages. They will be able to select from multiple themes and add various portlets such as a wiki, blog, reference library, image gallery or slide show, message board, RSS feed or iFrame. This screen shot gives an example of a Fanny Blair’s Learning Portfolio. It includes a Wiki, Blog, Reference Library, a list of Fanny’s Portfolio Viewers as well as an Image Gallery/Slideshow. This space is set up and managed by the student. It is a collection of student work that represents the learner, demonstrates evidence of the student’s efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas, and illustrates a learning journey. The Learning Portfolio will provide students with a great opportunity to reflect on their learning achievements and progress. This page can be set up with links to current learning tasks and observations about students learning. It also provides teachers with a good overview of the work of their student, and provides parents with an opportunity to view the work, achievements and reflective comments of their child.
eXpress page junior student example - Learning Goals Students will be able to access their learning goals from their eXpress page. They will create a list of learning goals and throughout the year, reflect on their progress against those goals. Teachers can also comment on learning goals and reflections, thus replacing some of the requirements on existing student reports. In this example, Student Fanny Blair has set up a wiki for her learning goals and she has added the same blog for her reflections as the one on her Portfolio page.
eXpress Space landing page for teachers Here is an example of a teacher’s eXpress landing page (Alan Roberts). From the landing page Alan can go to his eXpress wall, Portfolio and Profile. We can see Alan’s Blog, Learning Contacts, and an Image Gallery on his landing page. Examples of how teachers can use their eXpress space: Develop teacher professional learning goals and portfolios Share their portfolio as part of performance review or a job application process Develop blogs for professional reflection
Collaborative Learning In this space, teachers can set up collaborative learning activities for students, using Web2.0 collaborative tools. Note: Video and audio conferencing won’t be available until release 2 Teachers can use the Collaborative Learning Space to: Set up a blog or discussion forum for their class Set up a wiki to work collaboratively to solve a problem or investigate an issue Embed websites, videos and other online resources Set a project/subject/theme based learning space for collaboration within a school, across the network or statewide. Teachers can easily set up learning activities for groups of students, whole classes, students across classes (including students from other schools). These spaces have a contemporary look and feel and provide significant flexibility for teachers to tailor them to meet their needs.
Collaborative learning spaces All teachers and students will have the above landing page in Collaborative Learning. They can view: Collaborative Learning Spaces I Own; Collaborative Learning Spaces I have Joined; and Available Collaborative Learning Spaces This allows both teachers and students to easily manage their learning spaces. There are three levels of access to collaborative learning spaces: Open – any user can add themselves to the space Restricted – users can request a membership from the space owner Closed – members have to be invited by the space owner
Collaborative Learning Space – Water Conservation, Year 10C Geography This page shows a collaborative learning space that teacher Tasmin Bow has set up for a Year 10 Geography class. She has added a page on Water Conservation, and an page for an upcoming Assignment. She has incorporated a range of collaborative activities for students to participate in. The Web 2.0 tools built into this activity include a discussion board, Asset Publisher and Publications library. She has also included a portlet displaying Members of the space.
Collaborative Learning space – The Great Wall of China, Year 6 Humanities This page shows a collaborative learning space that teacher Jan Mills has set up for her Year 6 Humanities class around the topic of the Great Wall of China. She has incorporated a Wiki and a Blog, and embedded a Telstra Bigpond TV commercial as a starting point for an ‘Engage’ activity from the e5 model.
Design Spaces Design Spaces are only available to teachers. Design Spaces are not viewable by students. These are flexible spaces where teachers can interact with other teachers to design/plan curriculum and learning activities before they are released to students in the Collaborative Learning Spaces. (content in Design spaces can be copied/exported into a Collaborative Learning space when ready for students) These spaces have the same functionality as other portal spaces, especially the Collaborative Learning Spaces, however they are not shared with students. Teachers can also have shared discussions about resources, research, problems of practice etc. Teachers will be able to interact with other teachers from within their school or across government schools within these spaces, increasing teacher collegiate support.
Design spaces All teachers will have the above landing page in Design. They can view: Design Spaces I Own; Design Spaces I have Joined; and Available Design Spaces This allows teachers to easily manage their design spaces. There are three levels of access to design spaces: Open – any user can add themselves to the space Restricted – users can request a membership from the space owner Closed – members have to be invited by the space owner
Design Space This slide shows a design space for teachers to showcase and share ideas about Year 7 Maths. It includes several pages on different topics. On the Home page it uses the Wiki, Publication Display, and Site Map applications to help users navigate the structure of the site. The communities that teachers can create in the Design Space are specifically focussed on increasing collegiate support. They allow teachers to set up a space to collaborate, reflect, and share. Examples of how teachers can use Design: An experienced teacher can set up a Design Space with a less experienced teacher (within or across schools) and they can collaboratively plan. Learning activities they design can be pushed through into the Collaborative Learnig Space to make them available to students. A group of teachers could set up a space to discuss literacy teaching. They could set up a document library with a range of articles/readings to share and discuss. Teachers could set up an ‘e5 learning area’ to collaborate on improving their practice. They could load videos of their practice, share resources and provide feedback. Collaboratively plan curriculum with colleagues in their school, across their network or across the state Develop and share units of work within their Professional Learning Teams Discuss findings from professional learning activities such as Instructional Rounds.
Communities – School staff and students (Release 1); parents and school councils (Release 2) Community provides collaborative spaces where clubs, committees and other groups that extend across schools and regions can work together. It also provides a website dedicated to school organisations. These spaces are intended to provide a virtual collaboration space for school clubs, committees, associations and special interest groups. All community spaces must be moderated by a teacher. A school will be able to set up a page for their school community which can be customised by the school by adding their school logo and colours. In Community, teachers can create and communicate with groups across their school community that share a common purpose.
Community spaces All school staff and students will have the above landing page in Community. They can view: Community Spaces I Own; Community Spaces I have Joined; and Available Community Spaces This allows users to easily manage their community spaces. There are three levels of access to Community spaces: Open – any user can add themselves to the space Restricted – users can request a membership from the space owner Closed – members have to be invited by the space owner
An example of a school community space. This is the standard look and feel for a community space – background, font and portlet colours can be customised and a logo incorporated. This space includes the following subpages: Events, Contact, Our Online Communities, Sport and The Arts. The home page includes the following portlets/applications: a Welcome message, Calendar, Weekly Update, Reference Library and Image Gallery. Other examples of how Community spaces can be used in a school: Communicate daily events, school activities, meeting agendas and newsletters for the school or formal and informal school groups Set up a collaboration site for school administration and community/staff groups eg: social or planning committees, student clubs, school council Set up a site for home groups and extra-curricular activities eg: sporting clubs, chess club etc.
This is an example of a Community space that has been established for the Lilydale intermediate football team. There are two subpages within this space – one for training and one for matches. The owner of this space, the team’s coach, has set up a wiki about fitness and nutrition, as well as a message board and discussion thread on how to prepare for the first game of the season. He has also built in an RSS feed on AFL news.
My Content The Ultranet will be a one-stop-shop for content. For the first time content will be in one place, and teachers will not need to go to numerous places in search of digital learning resources. Teachers and students can choose to either search for content from a global search bar, or go directly to their own content via ‘My Content’ in the global navigation. ‘My Content’ is a personalised entry point into Ultranet content – it allows the user to first access content they have uploaded or collated for their own use. From here they can still then search globally for other content in the Ultranet. Teachers and students will be able to search for quality assured curriculum resources from within the Ultranet. Teachers and students can search a combination of their school content and tap into system content which is available in FUSE like Connect, Digilearn resources and resources being developed by a range of cultural organisations. FUSE content will be continuously updated and extended. Over time exemplar teacher-created resources will go through a quality assurance process and be made available to all schools. All curriculum resources that are produced within a school will be searchable and available to all other teachers within the school. Connect Connect includes unique environments for teachers, primary and secondary students. Users can browse or search for websites, images, video and audio with all resources tagged according to audience. Topic lists of websites are clustered under VELS and direct links from each home page makes locating great resources quicker and easier. Email The email section for teachers will link to Edumail. An email, personal calendar and contacts will be available for every student. Student email client is a web-based.
This is an example of a teacher’s ‘My Content’ landing page. Teachers can check their personal usage quota and how that is distributed between their eXpress and personal (home) spaces within the Ultranet. They can filter by category and apply tags to their content. From this page, teachers will also have access to their school content repository and DEECD endorsed content. Any content that is added within a shared space, such as Collaborative Learning, does not count towards a teacher’s quota.
Learner Profile The Learner Profile introduces some of the most powerful benefits of the Ultranet. A detailed picture of the strengths, weaknesses, goals and entire learning history of each student will be available to the teacher, student and their parents. It provides readily accessible and up-to-date information about each student to inform personalised curriculum planning and discussion. Teachers can also see basic information about other teachers including their classes and timetable. Information will be captured on the following areas: Learning progress against curriculum standards Observations and feedback – collates all of the feedback on assessment tasks that a student has received from teachers and the observations they have made about this student. Attendance – an up to date view of attendance including unexplained absences. (The Ultranet will not record attendance. Data will be taken from CASES21) Timetable – provides a daily or weekly view of the student’s timetable. Learning Tasks – lists current learning tasks across all subjects. Submissions – for students and parents, this feature lists work which is due. This widget will also note if work is overdue or incomplete. Student Reports – will link to semester reports. Students will be able to view the learning tasks that a teacher has prepared for them. This includes Learning Activities, Learning Sequences, Assessment Tasks, Submissions, Feedback and Teacher Observations. This information enables students to take more responsibility for their own learning. Learning Tasks Teachers will be able to plan, deliver and assess learning activities - for individuals, classes and/or cohorts. It will support planning and curriculum delivery within and across schools. They can link these to collaborative learning tasks which they may have set up in the collaborative learning spaces. They can team teach within and across schools. Carry out curriculum planning and development within and across schools Easily link to VELS/curriculum frameworks Embed digital learning resources Allocate learning tasks Assess against standards Provide feedback Monitor student progress NOTE : “Cohorts” are groups of students or classes with something in common ie: all Year 7 Science classes etc.
Learner Profile The Learner Profile introduces some of the most powerful benefits of the Ultranet. A detailed picture of the strengths, weaknesses, goals and entire learning history of each student will be available to the teacher, student and their parents. The learner profile gives the teacher access to personalised information about each student in their care. It provides readily accessible and up-to-date information about each student to inform personalised curriculum planning and discussion. Teachers can also see basic information about other teachers including their classes and timetable. Information will be captured on the following areas: Learning progress against curriculum standards Observations and feedback – collates all of the feedback on assessment tasks that a student has received from teachers and the observations they have made about this student. Attendance – an up to date view of attendance including unexplained absences. (The Ultranet will not record attendance. Data will be taken from CASES21) Timetable – provides a daily or weekly view of the student’s timetable. Learning Tasks – lists current learning tasks across all subjects. Submissions – for students and parents, this feature lists work which is due. This widget will also note if work is overdue or incomplete. Student Reports – will link to semester reports. The following are teacher and student views of the Learner Profile. Separately we will show what the parents see in the Learner Profile.
Students will be able to view the learning tasks that a teacher has prepared for them. This includes Learning Activities, Learning Sequences, Assessment Tasks, Submissions, Feedback and Teacher Observations. This information enables students to take more responsibility for their own learning. Teachers will be able to plan, deliver and assess learning activities - for individuals, classes and/or cohorts. It will support planning and curriculum delivery within and across schools. They can link these to collaborative learning tasks which they may have set up in the collaborative learning spaces. They can team teach within and across schools. Carry out curriculum planning and development within and across schools Easily link to VELS/curriculum frameworks Embed digital learning resources Allocate learning tasks Assess against standards Provide feedback Monitor student progress NOTE : “Cohorts” are groups of students or classes with something in common ie: all Year 7 Science classes etc. This functionality is delivered by the Oracle Student Learning (OSL) product. The Ultranet will have a newer version of OSL so some functionality will change slightly.
Parent Functionality Overview Through the Ultranet, parents will be more connected to schools and more informed about their child’s education.Parents will have: Clear, detailed and up-to-date information about learning progress, curriculum, assessment, homework, attendance, and school events Track their child’s progress and respond to issues when first arise Ease of use – collates student information for each child (even if children are at different schools) in one space a secure logon through the Department’s soon to be released Identity and Access Management System (IDAM). Note: Parents will not be able to see information about any other students or schools. Learner Profile – Parent view In this space parents will be able to access personalised information on each of their children – irrespective of the government school they attend. This includes learning progress, attendance, learning tasks ( in school and at home), student reports. Parents can access information about the school, their child’s class, and their child. They can participate in polls, receive messages, communicate with their child, their child’s teacher and other parents at the school. Communities – Parents Parents are able to join school communities. This is a way that parents can stay up to date with information about school issues or groups that they are interested in. Please note that all communities include at least one teacher as a moderator.
