MyFirstPlace

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MyFirstPlace

• Steven Threadgold
• Chief Technical Officer
• Training Session
• Dr Yasmin Bailey and Virginia Tatlioglu
• Netmedia Training and Knowledge Exchange.

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Training Agenda
Introduction- What is MyFirstPlace and who is it for? Hands on Training session- Overview of Desktop Training scenarios exploring functionality Guided set up for a Reception (Foundation) pupil Developing a project for Year 1 Discussion- What are the key areas within the Early Years Foundation Stage and KS1 curriculum where MyFirstPlace has a leading role? MyFirstPlace road map Guiding development through the pilots. Feedback Questionaires Training and Functionality

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MyFirstPlace

• MyFirstPlace is an space for younger users to
  experience some of the tools, functionality and
  ideas within of Merlin.
• It provides creative tools that enable pupils to
  work as a group or independently.
• Use of MyFirstPlace is within the hands of
  schools/teachers. They can decide based on local
  needs.
• For example, schools can use MyFirstPlace with
  the very youngest users while older pupils use
  the Merlin Portal.
• Pupils could use MyFirstPlace for the first year
  of school, then move up to Merlin Portal.
• Pupils could use it right until year 3 if deem
  appropriate by the school.

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MyFirstPlace
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Merlin and MyFirstPlace
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Accessing MyFirstPlace

• All teaching staff and pupils in Reception,
  Reception, Year 1, Year 2 or Year 3 have access.
• Any user who have been provisioned into, and
  accepted the AUP will have MyFirstPlace accounts
  waiting for them.
• MyFirstPlace Desktops are set-up automatically
  the first time the user visits the site.
• If your schools does not want to use MFP, they
  simply never visit the MyFirstPlace URL.

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Training Agenda

• Hands on Training session-
• In this session, in order to experience the range
  of functionality of MyFirstPlace and explore how
  it can deliver components of the EYFS and KS1
  curriculum, we will be working as both a teacher
  and pupil, to deliver two projects within a
  school.
• The scenarios will cover-
• Delivering the foundation topic of Animals and
  Homes
• Delivering the Year 1 topic of The Seaside

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Logging in What do you see?

• We will first explore the teacher access to
  MyFirstPlace.
• Type in the URL in your browser.
• http//mfp.approval.merlin.swgfl.org.uk
• Work in pairs per training school account.

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Dorset staff accounts
Name Username Password
Linda Duffy alana.9445004 Training1914
John Foot barbaraa.9445004 Training1886
TBC alana.9445005 Training2270
Anthony Pinnock barbaraa.9445005 Training2277
TBC alana.9445006 Training3839
TBC barbaraa.9445006 Training3552
Graham Sims alana.9445007 Training4724
John Pering barbaraa.9445007 Training4638
Stuart Lees alana.9445008 Training5324
Ian Southwell barbaraa.9445008 Training5386
Keith Ansell alana.9445009 Training6716
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MyFirstPlace Desktop
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Desktops
When a user logs in for the first time to
MyFirstPlace they will see the generic default
desktop set up as the School desktop. If and
when a teacher creates a Year Group Desktop, this
desktop can be set as the default for any users
in that year group and any new users logging on
for the first time within the year group.
Setting individual (user) desktops can be set
to overide the Year Group Default. In our
training we will look at setting both year group
and individual desktops.
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Scenario 1 Working with Foundation Pupils

• You are a foundation teacher and you have been
  given your account and a manual to tell you how
  to use the MyFirstPlace functionality.
• Step 1 - You login
• Step 2.
• You decide to set up a Desktop for your R (
  Foundation 2) pupils. The focus of the topic is
  Animals and Homes
• The first ideas you may have are that you want to
  create your own Activity boxes and customise
  the Creative Tools areas for your pupils.
• Where do you go to do this?
• Admin area
•  

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Creating Activities

• Step 3.
• Click on Admin in the banner
• Step 4 .
• Customising the Activity boxes in for the
  Reception Group Desktop
• Under Activities in the left menu, click on the
  Activity Library
• If activities have been created, you can see a
  list and a drop down for creating new activities.
• Explore the activities type in the drop down list
  and create an activity for each type of resource.
• We have provided a set of resources in the
  Reception Desktop folder on the shared Network.

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What type of content can I use?

• Discussion
• What activity type will create the following-
• You want to add a notice about a trip to the
  nature centre. This is text information.
• An RSS feed to the CBBC animals pages
• An image that links to an activity website
• A flash activity that allows the children to work
  in MyFP on a Bitesize activity
• A Webcam link to africam

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Creating the Activities

• Using the resources provided, have a go at
  creating at least one of the following
  activities.
• User Content -You want to add a notice about a
  trip to the nature centre. This is text
  information.
• RSS feed - An RSS feed to the CBBC animals pages
• Image Link - An image that links to an activity
  website
• Embedded content - A flash activity that allows
  the children to work in MyFPB bitesize activity
• Embedded Content - A Webcam link to africam

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How to create the Activity

• In the Drop down menu on the left, select the
  type of Activity you want to create.
• Click on the Create button
• Add your Title for the Activity e.g. Animals
  Bitesize
• You can choose whether to you want the title
  displayed on the activity tick the Display on
  Activity
• Add a Description (this only shows in the Admin
  area)
• Add your content e.g. HTML code from BBC Bitesize
• Choose whether you want to add an enlarge link.
• Tip Very useful when working with embedded
  activities.
• The characters remaining will count down as you
  add content. There is a fixed limit of 500.
• Now that you have created the Activities, take a
  moment to explore how you can edit, view and
  delete from the Activities page.

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Changing the Desktop

• Allocating the activities to the Reception group
  so that it becomes the default instead of the
  School Desktop.
• In the admin section, click on the homepage icon
  and go to return to the Admin Homepage.
• Click on the link to Desktop settings
• You will see three tabs..
• The School tab will be highlighted and you will
  see in the display below the Activities set out
  for the desktop.
• On the right you will see the settings for number
  of activities and the available activities.
• Can you see the activities you created?

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Customising the Desktop

1. Click on the Year Group button
2. On the right hand side, click on the link to the
   Reception Group.
3. The page refreshes with this group checked and
   the boxes on the left will show the default
   settings.
4. Click on the Activities tab on the left hand side
   
5. Click on a box on the right to highlight it and
   then click on an Activity from the left to select
   it.
6. The box should display the title of the activity
   if it has been selected correctly. You will also
   see a preview of the Activity in the central
   pane. Add the Activities you created to the
   desktop.
7. You can also choose the number of Activity boxes
   from the drop down. You can choose from, 2, 4, 6,
   8 boxes.
8. Click on Save to complete.
9. If you need more help click on the More Help
   button.

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Allocating Tools to groups.

• You have now changed the Activities on the
  Desktop.
• Click on the homepage icons to return to the
  Admin Homepage.
• Discussion-
• What Tools do your Reception pupils need at this
  point in the project?
• Look at your activity sheet in the resources
  folder.
• You want your pupils to create a picture of an
  animal and its home within MyFirstPlace, which
  you will eventually display collaboratively. 
• You want the pupils to add an entry in the simple
  diary to represent the trip to the Nature Centre
  on Tuesday 3rd November.

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Selecting Tools

• What tool do we need to create a picture?
• MyArt (from the Creative Toolbar Area)
• What tool will we need to view the collaborative
  work later on?
• Books (From the Storage Toolbar Area)
• What tool will we need for the pupils to upload a
  sound file of animal noises?
• Sound and Video (From the Storage Toolbar Area)

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Setting the Toolbars

• Under General Settings click on Toolbar settings
• You will see three buttons,
• The Default setting will be on School and as
  before we are going to set up a selection for our
  Reception group.
• Click on the Year Group button
• On the left hand side, click on the Reception
  group to select it.
• With the Creative Tools tab selected, click on
  the icon in the Available tools section on the
  left to move it to the selected tools section on
  the right.
• Click on the MyArt and the Simple Diary icon
• In the Storage tab, click on the Books and the
  Sound and Video icon.
• Click on Save to finish.
• Now lets test these set ups!

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Work as a Reception Pupil

• Log out from your teacher account and login as a
  Reception pupil to test the settings.
• Can you see the new Desktop layout?
• Can you see the Tools you selected for this
  group?
• Lets do the pupil activity,
• Go to the My Art tool and draw a picture of an
  animal in its house.
• Go to the Simple Diary and add an entry for the
  3rd of November Trip to the Nature Centre.
• Explore the features available to you
• Save your work and log out.

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Dorset Reception accounts
Name Username Password
Linda Duffy tracyj.9445004 training1193
John Foot moh.9445004 training1831
TBC tracyj.9445005 training2276
Anthony Pinnock moh.9445005 training2350
TBC tracyj.9445006 training3806
TBC moh.9445006 training3571
Graham Sims tracyj.9445007 training4625
John Pering moh.9445007 training4618
Stuart Lees tracyj.9445008 training5715
Ian Southwell moh.9445008 training5961
Keith Ansell tracyj.9445009 training6903
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Viewing the pupils work as a teacher

• Viewing the pupils work as a teacher
• Login again as a teacher
• Go to the My Art tool. Lets look through the
  pupils work. Using the browse buttons. You now
  have access to all the pupils work and can make
  changes if you wish to.
• Discussion what are the benefits and
  disadvantages to be able to change work for this
  age group?
• If you would like to, add a gold star the work.
  And save.
• Logout.

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Storage Tools

• We have explored some of the creation tools.
• What are the storage tools?
• MyFirstPlace and Merlin Portal
• Although MyFirstPlace can be used
• Files uploaded to MyFirstPlace are stored in the
  pupils Portal and count towards their quota.

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Storing Files
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Working with Storage Tools

• Downloading school files that you wish to
  distribute.
• You want your Reception pupils to download a
  sound files, you have collected, of animal
  noises.
• Login as a teacher to your this URL you are now
  in the teachers MyPlace account.
• Click on eportfolio
• Click on shared files
• Open the MyFirstPlace folder and upload a sound
  file from your resources folder, e.g. sheep.mp3
• Logout of the teachers account.

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Uploading files within MyFirstPlace

• Login as a Reception pupil
• In the Sound and Video area, click on My Files.
• Upload an animal sound file from the resources
  folder.
• Once your file is uploaded, explore the drag and
  drop functionality of within the folders and the
  delete option.
• This part of the Reception project is complete.

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Downloading school files

• Login as a Reception pupil to MyFirstPlace and
  click on the Sounds and Video icon in the storage
  area.
• Click on the school files tab.
• Can you see your animal sounds file.
• Click on the file to download and play.

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Creating a Year 1 Project

• You have been given a folder of resources on the
  Network or you can find your own from the
  internet.
• Project outline
• As a Year 1 teacher, you want to create a
  customised desktop for your year group with
  Activites related to the Seaside topic you are
  studying.
• In the resource folder, Year 1 project there
  is an activity sheet with the outline of the
  project you need to complete.
• Work through these activities with your trainers
  support.
• Tips-
• Create a Year 1 Desktop with activities related
  to the seaside.
• Create a user content area describing to the
  pupils what they need to do in MyFirstPlace to
  complete this activity.
• Provide the All tools for Storage and Creation
  including the Standard Diary and Books!
• Upload the Year 1 activity document to the school
  files area.
• Test your settings!

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Working as a Year 1 pupil

• Login as a Year 1 pupil.
• Open the Year 1 Activity.doc and complete the
  tasks.
• Once you have completed the tasks, log out.

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Dorset Year 1 accounts
Name Username Password
Linda Duffy isabellef.9445004 training1218
John Foot joshr.9445004 training1551
TBC isabellef.9445005 training2322
Anthony Pinnock joshr.9445005 training2282
TBC isabellef.9445006 training3290
TBC joshr.9445006 training3820
Graham Sims isabellef.9445007 training4809
John Pering joshr.9445007 training4269
Stuart Lees isabellef.9445008 training5226
Ian Southwell joshr.9445008 training5419
Keith Ansell joshr.9445009 training6509
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Creating Books

• We are now going to create to areas to display
  the work done in our two projects. One book will
  be seen by our Reception pupils, and one by our
  Year 1 pupils.
• Login as a teacher and navigate to the admin
  section. Click on Book creator.
• Reception
• Follow the onscreen instructions to create a book
  for the Reception pupils displaying their animal
  pictures. Include comments and share with the
  Reception group. (Tip Click on the Options tab)
• Year 1
• Repeat for the Year 1 pupils and share with Year
  1.

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Viewing Books

• Login as a Pupil in either Reception or Year 1
  and click on the Books icon in the storage area.
• View the books,
• Can you see the different pictures and comments?
• You can test the edit function of the books by
  logging in again as a teacher, going to Book
  creator, editing your books and rearranging the
  work, changing who can see the books and choosing
  not to display the teachers comments!

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Differentiation

• What if you have an individual that you want to
  give specific activities to!
• You can set individual desktops
• Activity
• Log in as a teacher and go the admin section, and
  set an individual desktop for the user account
  that you have been using for either the Reception
  or Year1 pupil.
• Click on the Homepage button and click on Users
• Find the pupil user and click on edit, you can
  choose the homepage settings from the drop down
  list. Pick the option for a User settings.
• Test the settings by logging in as a pupil.

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What are the key areas for use in the curriculum?

• Discussion
• Early Years Foundation Stage
• Key Stage 1.
• Key Stage 2 Year 3
• Why not create a space in MyPlace where you share
  these ideas for use!
• Review of School Task booklets for MyFirstPlace
  pilots.

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Roadmap
Start of Service December 08
Additional Interoperability Feb 09
Additional Icon Sets June 09
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Roadmap Additional Featuresat Start of Service

• Pupils can add comments to Books (under teacher
  control).
• Access to school files shared in SWGfL Merlin
  Portal.
• More how to guides (based on pilot feedback).
• Rude word filterer.
• Set users default by year.
• Usability tweaks to Book Creator.
• General interface improvements.
• Updates based on pilot and training feedback.

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Roadmap Additional Featuresfor Feb 2009

• Additional icon set (look and feel).
• To be built with SWGfL
• Move pupil diary/art to Merlin SWGfL Portal
  eportfolio.
• Minor interface improvements.
• View of school links/calendar from Merlin SWGfL
  Portal.

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Roadmap Additional Featuresfor June 2009

• Two new icon sets (look and feel).
• To be built with SWGfL
• Possible other developments to be agreed with
  SWGfL.

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Feedback

• Please visit this URL to complete the survey.
• http//www.mysurveys.netmediaeducation.com/go/myfi
  rstplace
• Thank you for completing the survey ?.