Recent Updates

The Learning Experiences Collection is frequently updated. The changes will be listed chronologically on this page.

November 29, 2007

Teaching Materials tab updated
Activity Collections replaces subjects in the teaching materials green tab.

October 17 , 2007

NCSS era
Entry and display of NCSS eras added to Learning Experiences.

October 8 , 2007

Field-Test and Research Notations
An F for Field-Test and a R for Research has been added to the Overview Tab of Learning Experiences, if the experience has been Field-Tested or had Research attached to it.

September 27, 2007

Standards changed
Standards display for search Learning Experiences has changed to a remote host. The display from the search page is altered. Additionally, the display for viewing standards aligned with one Learning Experience has also changed. A display function has been added the entry page for standards so that a user may look up the standard in order to copy and paste into the standard field for the Learning Experience.

May 2 , 2007

Updated print view for printing a complete Learning Experience
The print view now reflects changes in the display of all Learning Experiences.

April 27 , 2007

Updated display for Learning Experiences
Displays for non-published Learning Experiences now show with the associated TPS partner identification in preparation for multiple partners using the site.

April 18 , 2007

Updated material entry
Entry for materials needed to implement a Learning Experience has been updated so it opens within the Overview tab.

March 26 , 2007

Updated Library Items entry
Entry for Library Items needed to implement a Learning Experience has been updated so it opens within the Overview tab. In order to reduce duplicate entries in our database a user begins with the title when entering an item within an Experience or within My Library Links. The title is checked against similar titles in our database with the results shown with thumbnail. If the item is not already in our database, then the user can continue in adding a new item.
Decreased Library Items entry fields
User required entry for items has been reduced to only the title, area and URL. An image is optional, but highly recommended.

February 15 , 2007

Updated look for Portfolio
A user's portfolio now reflects the TPS program in which they are participating.

February 12 , 2007

Updated Library Links Organization
Library Links can now be organized into groups by the user.

January 12 , 2007

Primary Access links provided on Learning Experiences
Through a partnership with University of Virginia, an easy link enables users to download items from a PrimarySourceLearning.org Learning Experience to PrimaryAccess.org in order to be able to create digital movies.

December 11 , 2007

Updated Actions and Analysis pages
The Teacher Actions have been updated to remove the Editize feature. All actions already begun in Editize will remain. All new actions for Learning Experiences will begin with the new actions page automatically. The new actions allow the user to input steps individually. The new Analysis requires the user to identify the action in which a Best Instructional Practice was used as well as give a description. A user may request to have their Learning Experiences be changed over to the new format at any time, if desired.

December 5 , 2007

Analysis Tool added as a material option
Material attachments now allowed for Field-Tests
Users may now upload materials used in their Field-Test of an item.

November 15 , 2006

Notes displayed when entering a Library Link item into a Learning Experience
Notes attached to the Library items a teacher saves in their Library Links now show when choosing to add an image from the Library Links into a Learning Experience.

November 14 , 2006

Standards Correlation Phase 1
Learning Experiences are being correlated to standards by Edgate. Correlations can now be seen on the Standards tab of Learning Experiences that have been correlated. Eventually all Learning Experiences in the Collection will be correlated, although not all are currently.

October 2 , 2006

Icons used throughout the site
Icons for main concepts are used throughout the site, including the entry/display of Learning Experiences in the collection.

September 18, 2006

New entry format
A new entry and display format was launched. The new format allows entry through individual pages that mimic the organization of the new display format.
Some new features include:
  • an organizational page for resources allowing users to understand how the designer intended the Library items and other resources to be used
  • the ability to identify Library items already in use on the Web site in order to cut down entry time
  • expanded teacher actions and analysis designed to allow the user to understanding exactly where resources and Best Instructional Practices were used in the design and implementation of the lesson
  • A.P.A. formatting for credits to resources used
  • online entry of LibraryQuest student pages easy to design through the use of the program Editize
  • easy help and publishing criteria directions when entering

September 15, 2006

Teacher Actions expanded
A program called Editize which creates a word processing type atmosphere for web development has been implemented in order to help teachers enter Teacher Actions and LibraryQuests into the database.

September 8, 2006

New Display Format
The display for all Learning Experiences was changed to use page names to display information instead of showing all information on the same page.

July 22, 2006

Materials Expanded
Materials associated with a Learning Experience now include non-fiction books and a supply list in addition to the previous uploaded files and URLs.
 
Publishing Rubric Completed
Publishing criteria has been condensed into an easy-to-use web page. Publishing Rubric Link

June 18, 2006

Password protection upgraded
Passwords are CASE specific. For example, "cat" and "Cat" are not the same. If "cat" is your password, then entering "Cat" will not allow you to login.

June 16, 2006

Portfolio page launched
Entering into the Learning Experience entry section of the website is now controlled through an individual portfolio page. The "My Learning Experiences" tab of the portfolio basically behaves the same way the prior entry system did. Prior experiences a user created with show up on this tab. Your previous work has not been lost.
Learning Experience entry updated
The entry process received many improvements in layout and functionality. In addition many fields were changed and/or added to the Learning Experience entry pages. If you would like to update your Learning Experience to reflect the current fields, please contact sarah@aamnva.org. If you have any difficulties in using the entry website, please contact db@primarysourcelearning.org
Exemplar criteria posted
You will see links to view criteria for experience fields as well as the old help links for fields. The new links give the criteria for each field that is required to be met as the public Learning Experience database is changed over to include exemplar materials.

April 10, 2006

Help on each page
Links to this page, the FAQ's page and a link to email us for help has been added to each database page.
Teachers can now delete experiences that they do not want.
By logging in with your password and clicking "go" on the experience you want to delete, teachers now have a choice of removing the experience from their list.
Experiences can now have multiple subjects.
Contact your workshop leader or the database administrator if you feel that your experience should be listed under multiple subjects. Only PrimarySourceLearning.org staff can do this.
Different states have been added.
You will notice that you must choose your state now in places where you didn't before. PrimarySourceLearning.org may be used by other states as well as Virginia.
Recognize users
You will notice that when you enter a new experience, you will be asked if you have already entered something into the database. You will be asked for information to narrow down who you are so that multiple entries for one user in the database will be reduced or eliminated.
Submission completion help
The final page to check your experience before submitting has been adapted so that items that must be completed are shown in red . If not completed, you will not be permitted to submit.
Layout & order has changed
The order of the information that teachers enter on some pages has changed, as well as the layout of some pages. Feel free to email us with feedback on these changes.