Embedding Images into your ME Online ePortfolio

The ME Online ePortfolio can be customised to include banners, images and other design elements using 'embed code'.

To add a banner to your eportfolio you need to have access to an online image URL that is licensed for public use. This may be a picture or graphic of your own, a Creative Commons (CC) or Public Domain (CC0) image.

Use this Creative Commons image search to locate a suitable online image - or watch this video on how to locate Flickr Creative Commons images.

If you have your own banner image you need to upload it and get the embed code.

Flickr Method: Creative Commons Image

STEP 1: Locate the image you wish to use (ensuring it is licensed for re-use).
Select the 'Share Icon'.

STEP 2: Select 'Embed', choose a size and then copy the code.

STEP 3: Paste the embed code into the 'About Me'  'Summary Paragraph' section of your eportfolio.

Note that when you move your mouse over the image in your eportfolio the necessary attribution information appears. If you don't include this part of the embed code then you need to add the required Creative Commons attribution yourself.

Image: Andrii Slonchak CC BY 2.0

Google Blog Method: Own Banner Image

Another way to do this is to create a Google Blog and upload the image to a post.

STEP 1: Select the picture icon and upload your banner image.

STEP 2: Switch to HTML code and copy the image URL (from https://   to .JPG as shown)
NB You can copy the entire section of code if you don't want to use the image as a banner.

STEP 3: Paste the above IMAGE-URL code into Notepad (or any text editor)

Copy and paste this code into Notepad:

Copy and paste the IMAGE-URL into the last line.


STEP 4: Copy and paste the last line into the 'About Me'  'Summary Paragraph' section of your eportfolio.

Save and Publish your eportfolio and Preview.

Alpha Release of a Possible Bookmarking Solution - Part 2

This post was created for a Yammer post.

ME Online Bookmark Links

Click the HTML icon to view a simple public webpage of ME Online Bookmarks with a contents table.

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Click the OneNote icon to view a Notebook of ME Online Bookmarks.

(Access for Department staff only.)

These OneNote bookmarks can be customised by the user.

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Click the Evernote icon to view a public Evernote Notebook of ME Online Bookmarks. You can view the Notebook without signing up for Evernote.

Evernote is a free bookmark and research tool – these tagged notes can be imported and customised by the user.

Alpha release of possible bookmarking solution

For 15 years the Department has maintained a collection of bookmarks to useful curriculum resources for teachers. The bookmarks are accessed as URLs coded into intranet webpages. The content is located across various Department systems and in multiple external storage/services. Access to these bookmarks has dropped in recent years and many bookmarks have become outdated or broken.

This service is now being reviewed to meet new needs:

• accessibility - mobile devices and open access
• resource discovery - effective searching and browsing
• content curation - sustainable and quality assured

One possible solution is to move all the bookmarks to a social bookmarking service that includes tools for sustainable content creation by multiple users and provides opportunities to develop QA workflows.

Captured bookmarks can be tagged in a way that facilitates research discovery and mobile and desktop apps provide accessible across devices.

Following agile development methods such those outlined by several NextGen Government presenters earlier this year a decision has been made to quickly develop an 'alpha' product and begin user testing within 6-8 weeks. A few topics have been selected to bookmark and a preliminary workflow has been established.

Evernote has been chosen to host the 'alpha' product. Evernote is a well established service with the required feature set to meet the needs identified above. Some staff currently use Evernote.
Bookmarks will be migrated from Evernote into OneNote which is used by many staff. OneNote doesn't have the same functionality as Evernote but will provide an adequate service.

Bookmarks will also be exported from Evernote to an 'HTML Bookmark' web page accessible across all browsers.

Users will also have the option of importing and customising Evernote and OneNote bookmark notebooks to meet specific needs.

The diigo service was tested for importing the HTML Bookmark file but tags, descriptions and graphics did not import so this part of the solution was not implemented.

My Education and specifically ME Online has been chosen as one of three topics for early 'alpha' release and feedback.

HTML Bookmarks webpage

Evernote ENEX import file (unzip before importing into Evernote)

OneNote ME Online Link (Department staff only at this stage)

EduTECH 2016 Day 2 - Possibility and Creating Preferred Futures

Jane McGonigal Presenting

For me Day 2 at #EduTECHAU 2016 was about possibility.

Anthony Muhammad began the day speaking passionately about the endless possibilities that arise when we make conscious - and then question - the mindsets and assumptions underpinning our educational processes and structures. 

Jane McGonigal closed the day by showing how a futures perspective can open up a space to think about possibilities in the present. She provided a forecasting  framework to help imagine education in 2026 so that we can create preferred futures.

I resonated strongly with these messages. 

Muhammad's words sit comfortably within the holistic and integral frameworks I use that highlight the importance of culture - and question our implicit assumptions and world views. He questioned the often self-fulfilling 'bell curve' mindset.

McGonigal's words reminded me of the importance of social foresight, creating preferred futures and my time playing Evoke six years ago. Her work has helped shape my educational practice over the last decade.

At #EduTECHAU McGonnigal's ideas had close links with Larry Johnson's (now ex-NMC) presentation which asked if our strategic thinking is based on a world that no longer exists. Both spoke about the future already being here - but not evenly distributed. They both mentioned Bitcoin and Blockchain - and the importance of asking 'what if' questions.

Viv White's presentation on how students excel in Big Picture Schools reminded me of the times I taught Student Directed Inquiry (SDI) in years 11/12. Students followed their interest/passion for a year which made up 20-25% of their course load. 

White spoke of recent agreements for Big Picture School students to bypass traditional tertiary entrance which opens up new possibilities for students who become deeply engaged in and responsible for their own learning. I remember an external assessor from university commenting that many SDI students were performing better than her 2nd year students. 

When you tap into student interest and passion the genius within blossoms.

I wasn't expecting to hear these views at an educational technology conference. 

For this I have to thank the #EduTECHAU conference planners for their visionary leadership.

It seems to me the educational technology agenda is about to move on. I'm looking forward to participating - and this might start with a visit to Jane McGonigal's Learning is Earning game to collectively imagine education in 2026.

EduTECH 2016 - Day 1 and a Decade of Reflection

EduTECH 2016 has been my first general educational technology conference in over a decade.

My first reaction was that not much has changed - these were the same or at least similar messages to those I heard 10 or more years ago. 

Greenfield's presentation was sensational although also a little sensationalist when it came to online games and social media. Since 2005 I've used Blogger, Flickr, Twitter and Facebook and never posted about cats or lattes :-) And my experience of students and online games has little in common with Greenfield's notions - even if they are peer reviewed.

Vamvakitis from Google presented on engaging VR tours in education and showed pictures of students high on Greenfield's dopamine :-)

The Google presentation reminded me of tools I was using with students 10 years ago. 

In later sessions I heard again about the need for 'problem solving' skills - problem prevention is also important. It was good to hear one speaker mention wicked problems - we need more of this. 

Then as the day unfolded I began to understand why this #EduTECHAU is different - at least for me.

• The delegates aren't just the early adopters - and they aren't mostly IT teachers.
• The examples are not just what a teacher is doing but what whole schools, regions and even state systems are doing.
• The 'congresses' are diverse - teachers, administrators, school business managers, librarians, IT managers, higher education, vocational education...

As I attended sessions across these groups I realised EduTECH 2016 provides an opportunity to view similar issues through different lenses. To discuss different approaches to common challenges. To meet the next ten years of rapid advances.

I think we need more of this kind of networking - or congress.

I'm looking forward to day 2.

Next Gen Government - Day 2 Takeaways

A small edit to the Waterforms International Water Vortex while waiting for departure at Canberra Airport. Somehow it feels appropriate for this post... See quote at the end.

These are some random thoughts I'm taking away from the second day of sessions at #NexGenGov in Canberra. These mostly relate to our current Department issues/projects rather than a comprehensive report on what was said - or who said it.

Innovate on service delivery not technology. 

Focus on customer events, circumstances, their journey...

Identify services with the highest impact. 

For many external clients (and even staff) your website 'landing page' is the Google search results page. 

The Department has Google+ pages for all schools and this has been very effective.

How might we influence/customise Google search results for the Department's main public online web and other online spaces? How could we use Google Ads and APIs?

Does current navigation make sense to the user when they drop deep within our website/CMS from an external search engine?

Need for a rethink...

The 'Internet of Your Things' offer opportunities to rethink aspects of service delivery.

Microsoft view.

Young people (including young adults) do not generally go to a government website for help.

How do we reach out to this group? Go to the platforms and places used by your intended audience.

Social media? Which platforms are being used by your intended audience? What value can you bring?

Gamification? Mobile Apps?  See Party for Your Rights.

The notion of a 'one stop shop' may become the 'one stop pop-up shop'.

Proactive Organisation - provides a product or service when it is needed rather then after it has been requested... 

Innovation SPRINT - 10 days - Discover, Define, Develop Ideas, Deliver Alpha.

Trans-departmental teams, design thinking, blue-sky thinking by 'digital natives'.

Leave space in thinking, processes and solutions/products for innovation.

Drive rapid iteration.

Overcome the fear of failure - "fail fast, fail cheaply".

3 steps to making 'good mistakes'

1. making mistakes after due care and attention

2. acknowledging mistakes

3. not repeating mistakes

Common current drivers are fear and hope - fear of disruption/disconnection/disengagement - hope for transformation.

Launch Alpha to selected audiences - even public- and then move to 'perpetual beta' or launch Beta and then move to ongoing interative development.

Gartner predicts 75% of digital organisations will 'build' not 'buy' by 2020.

See the US Digital Services Playbook - "Today, too many of our digital services projects do not work well, are delivered late, or are over budget. To increase the success rate of these projects, the U.S. Government needs a new approach. We created a playbook of 13 key “plays”...  "

Social Media

Think about archiving social media - have information management policy/procedures for social media. Think about minimum meta tags for social media.

See Tasmanian Government Information Strategy Unit and  guidelines.

See national Digital Continuity 2020 Policy and actions/dates.

Open Source, Open Data, Open Culture, Open Government

Open source is about much more than software. 

Tasmania has a new Open Data Policy. 

In what ways are we benefitting from and contributing to the staten national and globalopen agenda?

During 2016 the Department will be seeping its adoption of Creative Commons Licensing. How might this facilitate a more open culture and enable changes in service delivery?

AI, natural language and the user interface

How far away is a Siri/Cortana user interface for organisations?

"What can I help you with?"

Digital Identity and Authentication

Biometrics is delivering higher confidence authentication

eg RealMe photo/video, Australian Tax Office voice

One identity and login for multiple government services...

Watch MyGov, MyTax, My Health Record over the next few months and years...

Google ID, Apple ID, Facebook Connect... are already international IDs and logins.

Blocks to innovation and faster development.

A focus on fully tested perfect solutions delivered years into the future.

A focus on how to monetise assets rather than what we can do that's best for citizens/clients.

Being risk averse about privacy and security issues rather than using 'Privacy by Design' principles, getting it right, and then moving on. 

"Silicon Valley is a state of mind not a place."

“If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” ― Jack Welch

NextGen Government 2016 – My Day 1 Highlights

I’m attending the NextGen Government 2016 sessions at a time when our state Education Department is taking a step back and reviewing online services before moving forward.

This review is shaping up to be a little different from those in the past for a number of reasons:

1. There is general acceptance that a review is necessary
2. There is an enthusiasm for participating in the review
3. There is some appetite to do things differently
4. The review is a collaborative project involving IT services, marketing, communications and digital media, and an external consultant.

Within this local context my takeaways from day 1 of #nexgengov were as follows.

• User expectations have changed – largely driven by the commercial sector.
• Users want online services to be simple, accessible on mobiles and satisfying.
• Use client language  - not the language of compliance.
• 55% of users can’t find what they are looking for.
• Users want search to work, easy navigation and click-to-chat.
• Most users enter websites deeply via Google – not via your front page.

• Technology disruption is now largely seen as a positive thing – this is a big change and an opportunity to create the future.
• Move focus from procurement to servicing user needs. User-centred design.
• Spend twice as long talking to users as other activities when preparing business case.
• Start by telling the user story – then expand the story and join the dots. Explain the level of pain.
• What is it really like as a user? Follow the human experience. Get on the ground and see how things work.

• Agile. Agile. Agile. Smaller projects with rapid iterative development. Larger projects should not take such a long time to get to launch – if they do you are too late because things have moved on.
• Public access and testing of Alpha, ongoing Beta iterative update.
• Iterative design and iterative development is an explosive combination.
• Culture. Culture. Culture. Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Eliminate blame culture.
• Service to others is a key driver for staff.
• Keep good people by doing interesting work, creating things that make a practical difference.
• Collaborate. Collaborate. Collaborate. Collaboration is about giving up something to make someone else successful. Consider In-sourcing AND Out-sourcing.
• Talk about values, needs, courage to take risks.
• Openness, honesty, transparency generates trust and respect.

• Benchmark what happens now.
• Think through intended and unintended consequences.
• Create once publish everywhere.
• Citizen design – get users involved in design.
• Gov 3.0 – customisable services
• AI and data layers
• If your data isn’t being openly shared you are missing out on opportunities - and soon the future of online services
• Innovate. Innovate. Innovate.

While much of this isn't new to our organisation I'm not sure it's deeply understood.

Much of what was discussed today fits within a simple 4 quadrant model from Integral Theory from a few yeas ago. The key message is that the left hand side cannot be ignored.

Image: Dr Sue Stack

Looking forward to day 2...