Copyright

David John Smailes

Summary

An open source web part for learning platforms that provides a log of informal extra-curricular learning for students to share, and educators to access in order to support the activities and inform learning in school.

Description

MyNews is a method by which students can collect together information about their learning experiences out of school into an online diary, which can be reviewed by their teachers and other tutors, such as piano teachers, football coaches and the like. Those tutors and coaches can add accomplishments to a student’s diary page, which gives them online points and an online badge detailing what they have achieved. Students can also write about their experiences on their profile page, and leave comments for other students.

Badges can be awarded for anything from a music lesson to passing a grading examination, meaning that any informal learning experience that may not be recorded and celebrated normally, will now have its details stored and shared with other educators. This will mean that these experiences can have a positive effect on the time that student spends in school by making teachers more aware of the range of talents that each child possesses that might not otherwise have come to light.

How it might be used

Learners are provided with a profile page, linked to their primary place of learning. Co-learners, or their out of school tutors, create ‘accomplishments’ which are online badges with a points value attached. Co-learners can allocate these accomplishments to learners’ profiles, and learners can blog about their recent accomplishments. Teachers have access to learners’ profiles and can view at a glance the progress made in out of school and informal learning activities.

Contact

David John Smailes

david.smailes@informallearning.net