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paddling aroundthe PebblePad newsletter issue 03 - 2009
Introduction
Once upon a time we wrote a newsletter. Sometime after that we wrote another and then… nothing. For ages! This issue of Paddling Around is the first of a much more regular series of newsletters keeping you up-to-date with what’s been happen-ing; what’s coming up; what’s good to know, and who and what is around to help you make the most of PebblePad. There’ll be at least three issues a year and we’d love to include some of your tips, stories or resources.
Welcome new customers
PebblePad continues to grow and we’d like to welcome our new users into the fold. Special mentions for Victoria University and the University of Plymouth as our latest enterprise users. Peb-blePad, and its bespoke versions, can now boast 100 custom-ers worldwide – a great milestone for the first, new look newslet-ter. New users may wish to sign up to our Ning community for support and the latest Pebble news. Email [email protected] for a Ning invitation password.
The Past
Over the last 18 months we have seen a very healthy increase in the use of PebblePad around the world. We now have around 400,000 users based in over 100 organisations pebbling away. Since our launch in September 2005 we have seen a wide range of uses for PebblePad including: primary school pupils creating portfolios to support literacy; undergraduate students produce rich and varied portfolios for assignments; for employ-ment; and to support their own learning.
We are now seeing an increased use of PebblePad to support recording and reflection of professional practice, particularly at the Institute for Learning and the Chartered Society for Physi-otherapy. It’s fair to say that PebblePad has come a long way since our first pilot with 160 students at the University of Wolver-hampton in 2004!
The Future
Better mobile paddling…PebblePad users will soon benefit from improved mobile use thanks to work funded by the IfL for their bespoke version of PebblePad called REfLECT. As a result there’s now an updated PebblePDA; a better version of PebbleMobile and a java-based widget for your phone allowing users to send any file from their phone, including images, sound and video, straight to their PebblePad account. http://www.pebblepad.co.uk/mobile
Free Alumni accounts…We will be providing free accounts to graduating PebblePad us-ers. Accounts will last for a year and will allow users to transfer up to 250MB of assets into a 500MB account using the new LEAP2A exporter.
Projects we’re involved in
We’ve been lucky from the start to be involved in a range of innovative projects that have helped shape PebblePad. Some projects have been for professional organisations like the Chartered society of Physiotherapists (CSP) and the Institute for Learning (IfL) whilst others have been part of the body of work funded by the JISC. Recent projects include:
PortisHEad: the application to HE project where we demon-strated how students could send tailored eportfolios to each HE institution they were applying to. This project also showed how users could utilise data from PebblePad’s about me to auto-complete online forms.
Flourish: the eCPD project has been run at the University of Cumbria and has explored how ePortfolios can be used to sup-port a range of staff activities including appraisal; professional accreditation and personal administration.
PIOP: is the Portfolio Interoperability Project which looked at creating much simpler ways of exporting and importing eport-folio assets. The initial project involved PebblePad and the universities of Nottingham and Newcastle and led to a second phase with 4 additional developers all managed by Simon Grant at JISC-CETIS. We have always led the way in eportfolio in-teroperability and will be endorsing the new specification in the clearest way possible by implementing it fully into PebblePad and using it to support our Alumni service.
The Pebble Learning Office
The Present
Version 2.3 has arrived with these updates:
Multiple inline images and re-orderable page sections in the •webfolio editorInstitution desktop theme tool available for enterprise users. •VU’s new default desktop is on the next pageNew search and filter options on gateways•Zoho integration for directly editing MS Office and Open •Office documents from PebblePad
Full release notes are available in the Ning group.01
Competition
We are giving away an iPod Touch, an iPod Classic and three Nanos for the best example webfolios we receive. Users should be creative and should use the whole range of tools available in Peb-blePad.
For example including a CV and about me section. We are looking for stories about the impact PebblePad has had on users
working practice. Submission details and rules are available at http://www.pebblelearning.co.uk/competition.asp
Interview with a PebblePaddler; Geoff Rebbeck, Thanet College
Geoff has been involved the use of PebblePad to make radical changes in how all aspects of staff development is approached and completed. He recently won the LSIS National STAR Award for the Innovation category and was recently honoured at the BECTA Future Learning Awards.
How long have you been a PebblePad user? Over two years now. I started using one as part of my research for a degree dissertation. Having spotted the potential for Col-lege I kept going to make sure I understood its properties before introducing it into College.
How is PebblePad integrated into your institute’s curriculum? We use it heavily to support our staff learning. We plan to use them with students as soon as we understand how we can use them for ourselves.
Which is your favourite feature? I think the blog because it allows sharing of ideas with col-leagues rapidly and provides a narrative of progress on projects running in College. I like how I can add any other asset to a blog so anything becomes sharable within the confines of a project group.
Geoff’s full interview is on our website at http://www.pebblelearning.co.uk/paddlers.asp
Power tips
Adding a blog to a webfolioYou can add existing blogs as pages in a webfolio. When adding pages to the webfolio, click the item tab and click the arrow - this will give you a number of options to add special items. Click the blog icon to view a list of your blogs. Click the one you wish
to add and then click the add page icon below the list of blogs. Once added, any posts to the blog will appear on the webfolio blog page.
Managing shared itemsWith the asset store open (view – my assets) you can find items you have shared by clicking the arrow in the my assets tab at the top of the page and choos-ing the shared assets icon. If you click an item from the asset list, the overview pad will load on the right
of the screen. There are three tabs at the top of the overview pad. Clicking the shared tab will give you a list of all the people you have shared with. By hovering over a name, you will see if the person has viewed your asset. Should you wish to make a change to the share properties click a name in the list and from the options change the permissions, send a reminder or use the bin icon to remove the share.
Victoria University Interface
Enterprise users of PebblePad now have access to the new ‘institutional theme picker’. This allows administrators to design a custom interface for PebblePad and make it the default theme for the institution whilst still allowing users to choose their own personal interfaces. Here’s an example created for our newest enterprise customer, Victoria University.
Events
PebblePad Roadshow (including user group meetings):
01 April 2009, London – City University20 April 2009, Birmingham – Aston University22 April 2009, Cheltenham – University of Gloucestershire
More information: http://pebblelearning.co.uk/events.asp
Conferences
22 - 24 June 2009, City University, London – eP2009 Conference30 June - 2 July, University of Manchester – HEA Conference 20098 - 10 September, University of Manchester – ALT-C 2009 (International Conference of the Association for Learning Technology)
Further reading
PortisHEad - • http://www.portisheadproject.orgFlourish – • http://www.flourishproject.orgPIOP - • http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/Portfolio_interoperability_prototyping
Online Meetings
If you would like to arrange a meeting, see a demo or just have a chat about PebblePad feel free to get in touch ([email protected]) and we’ll be delighted to organise an online meeting, showcasing PebblePad.
Contact us
Pebble Learning Ltd.e-Innovation CentreUniversity of WolverhamptonShifnal RoadTelfordTF2 9FT
+441952 288300http://[email protected]
PebblePad Custom Interface - Victoria University
02
We use it exclusively for Observation of lessons, Evaluation of training,
dissemination of scholarly work, supporting sub-communities of staff
and for a class of HNC computer studies students.
“
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Geoff Rebbeck
© Pebble Learning 2009
