Welcome to a new term everyone.  Here's the latest updates to our program.

• be sure to check the updated CP Guide
  
• look at the TOEFL longitudinal study
• post and comment on our new online forum
• read through the minutes of our last meeting
  

Our first ever live webcast took place today.  Special thanks to our brave students who took part in this special event.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/hawaii-tokai-international-college

If you would like to do a similar project in your class, please let us know.

1. The first thing a student should do is fill out his or her profile.  This is an ideal CORE  class or homework assignment during the first few days of a student's first term.  Information such as likes and dislikes, future goals and wishes, contact, and tons of other fun stuff can go here, very similar to a MySPACE or Mixi account.  This is also where students upload their site picture which is the little icon that identifies them on the blog and other places around the network.  A first speaking sample should also be collected during a students first term.
2. The next stop on the system is the personal blog .  A great first blog is a simple introduction of oneself to the learning community.  Following blogs can be announcements about upcoming events, reviews of places around HTIC, or really just about anything that a student wants to share.  The goal here is to express yourself. Please note complete essays and research papers are usually too long and not appropriate for blogs, however excerpts from such items may make good postings. For all field trips, it is recommended that students join the Classroom without Walls Community, and use the community blog to informally reflect on their excursions.  (Please ask students to include the date of their field trip in posting)  It is also possible to add MP3s to blogs for podcasting, and flash video for vodcasting.  Just about any file you have uploaded can be added to a blog entry.
3. Probably the most useful feature of this system is the ability to add files .  Students should make folders of each class, especially Core classes,  and upload files. Subfolders for in-class essays and research papers for each course are also suggested.  All research papers and midterm and final in-class essays are required to be uploaded and serve as good evidence for learning and show progress over time.  Students may also add pictures, audio, and video to really enhance their collection.  Teachers should encourage students to add work to their collections and this system may also serve as a paperless way to submit assignmments.  Note that student can make special access groups so that only their teachers will be able to view their files.
   
4. The real magic of the portfolio system comes from making presentations of student work.  The presentation tool allows students to arrange their files, blog posts, and textboxes in a meaningful order and add comments about each entry.  A comprehensive presentation of all their work is required to be made in the CORE 5 class since it is during their final term in the College Prep Program .  In this presentation students can write an introduction textbox, add papers, blogposts, and other files with meaningful comments that track their progress, and finally add a self-assessment textbox that reflects upon what they have learned in the program.