Content Analysis – Teachers’ Desktop and TwinSpace Sommarøy, Norway Friday 14 th and Saturday 15 th June 2013

Overview 1.Overview – aims of this session 2.Work of the task force on Public portal 3.Three R’s applied to the Teachers’ Desktop and TwinSpace 4.Blue-sky thinking – brainstorming session

OVERVIEW – AIMS OF THIS SESSION

Update Existing tools review Envisioning the future eTwinning Desktop

WORK OF THE TASK FORCE ON PUBLIC PORTAL

Analysis of recommendations January 2013 Content Review taskforce

Background timeframe to Activity 2012 September: New Portal Launched October: Content review task force agreed at Management meeting October-November: Task force reviewing Portal content December: Revised content launched 2013 January: Analysis of Content review

NSSs involved 9 NSSs were involved in content review: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Spain, Switzerland and the UK 2 NSSs reviewed one section only 1 NSS had 2 reviewers, who shared the overall review of content

Some points to consider 1.New release of Portal effected December 2012, addressing ‘weaker’ pages and with more audio- visual content 2.Not everyone reviewed every section, reviewers had the option of leaving questions blank

Reporting Segment The Analysis was divided into four main segments: Reflection (on the current portal) Recommendations (for future changes) Reference (to best practice on NSS portals) Overall layout (Is everything where it should be?)

Reflection: Who is our Key Audience? Four main audiences were identified: New users Existing/experienced users Everyone Press

Reflection: Who is our Key Audience? This is an important consideration because: It influences the portal design and the content we put there It echoes discussions at the design stage regarding whether or not the Public portal should address an existing audience or newcomers only

Reflection: Who is our Key Audience? Findings of the Content Analysis Task Force The Discover section is aimed at mixed audiences: What is eTwinning? and How to get Involved for Newcomers Tools for experienced users (although it was felt that Tools should be placed elsewhere) Support Services and Publications for all users.

Reflection: Who is our Key Audience? Findings of the Content Analysis Task Force The Connect section is also aimed at mixed audiences: Join the eTwinning community for Newcomers Browse peoples, schools and projects for all users.

Reflection: Who is our Key Audience? Findings of the Content Analysis Task Force It was felt that the Collaborate section (Gallery, Kits, Modules and Pupil’s Corner) is mostly for experienced users It was felt that the Progress section (Workshops, Awards, Learning Events, Training and Groups) is also mostly for experienced users

Reflection: Who is our Key Audience? Findings of the Content Analysis Task Force It was felt that the Keep up-to-date section (News, Press corner, Interviews and Friends of eTwinning) is for all users and also for Press It was felt that the Get Support section (Help, Contact, Guidelines, Glossary and FAQs) is mostly for experienced users

Reflection: Who is our Key Audience? Reflections and recommendations We need to understand who our Key Audience for the portal is – there is a surprising amount of content for more experienced users, even though our Analytics show that they tend to bypass the portal and go straight into the Desktop I would recommend further analysis with end- user validation

Reflection: How effective is the content? NSS reviewers were asked to look at each page on the portal and categorise its effectiveness using the following standards: Very effective Effective Ineffective

Reflection: How effective is the content? It was felt that the Discover section was generally effective or very effective There were comments regarding the Tools section – ie. that it didn’t address eTwinning tools (this has since been rectified) and that it might not be in the right section There were comments regarding the Support Services which seems to be duplicated under Get Support (this has since been rectified)

Reflection: How effective is the content? It was felt that the Connect section was generally effective or very effective It was also felt that the Collaborate section was generally effective or very effective It was felt that the Get Support section was generally effective or very effective

Reflection: How effective is the content? It was felt that the Keep up-to-date section was generally effective or very effective, with the exception of the Interviews page, which was considered to be ineffective. This page has subsequently been relaunched as People Say - it now contains much more interactive content and can be found in the Discover section

Reflection: How effective is the content? The main concern around content effectiveness was in relation to the Progress section. Whilst the Learning Events, Awards and Groups pages were considered to be effective, the European Workshops, and Training pages were considered to be ineffective

Reflection: How relevant is the content? NSS reviewers were asked to look at each page on the portal and decide whether or not they thought it was relevant to the end user. They were given three possible replies: Relevant Not relevant Don’t know/not sure

Reflection: How relevant is the content? It was generally felt that all sections are relevant to the end-user. Some individual issues were highlighted as follows: The Support Services page under Discover is a duplication of the same page under Get Support There may be some confusion/conflict between information on the European workshops page and information on the national portals The Guidelines section should be split up into smaller segments (this has already been rectified)

Reflection: How relevant is the content? Reflections and recommendations To investigate areas of synergy and/or conflict with the national portals (eg. information about European workshops) and propose and more streamlined approach

Recommendations A more detailed report on recommendations can be seen in the Content Review analysis spreadsheet, however, I have tried to capture some of the main recommendations in the following slides.

Recommendations – 5 main priorities 1.Make the pages less ‘text-heavy’ 2.Provide more explanation on some of the pages (eg. Browse people, schools and projects) 3.Some pages are a little bit out-of-date and should be updated more regularly 4.Some pages are unattractive (eg. with dark heavy lines and small or irrelevant images) 5.Some pages should be made more visible on the top level

Recommendations – other suggestions -Some pages could do with a better layout -Some pages are in the wrong place -Information is duplicated -Rename some sections (eg. Get Inspired instead of Collaborate) -Logos should look more professional -An Advanced search option on Projects Gallery, Kits and Modules -Add a publishing date to news items -Provide more language support, eg. on Guidelines -Improve download links, as they sometimes don’t work, especially on the Press section -Don’t use too much jargon, eg. using eTwinning specific terminology in the Discover section -Implement Technical improvements eg. not having to retype search words

Reference The task force was asked to reflect on synergies between the main eTwinning portal and their national portals They were also asked to provide some best practice examples – a more detailed report of this is available on the spreadsheet, however, the following slides show two examples of best practice from National portals

Reference – Best practice Example 1 Section: Discover/Get Support – Support Services Example from France Using a more visual interactive mapinteractive map, rather than a long list of NSSs

Reference – Best practice Example 2 Section: Connect/Browse people, schools and projects Example from Latvia Using a more detailed interactive mapinteractive map which lists all projects by location

Reference Reflections and recommendations That the task force should continue to explore synergies and best practice between the main portal and the national portals

Overall layout: Are things where they should be? It was generally agreed that most pages are where they should be – some recommendations were made as follows: Move the Tools page to Collaborate Move Join the eTwinning community to Discover Move Friends of eTwinning to Get Support Incorporate the Glossary within Guidelines, ie. not on a separate page

Overall layout: Are things where they should be? Reflections and recommendations That the CSS considers task force recommendations, but also considers carrying out further end-user validation

THREE R’S APPLIED TO THE TEACHERS’ DESKTOP AND TWINSPACE Activity 1 - Reconstruct

Desktop 1.Homepage 2.Profile 3.Projects 4.Find eTwinners 5.Teachers Rooms 6.Resources 7.Helpdesk TwinSpace 1.Homepage 2.Project Activities 3.Blog, Chat, Guidelines 4.Teachers 5.Pupils Structure of the current eTwinning Desktop and TwinSpace

Teacher’s Desktop - HOMEPAGE CSS NewsNSS News Mailbox NotificationsLearning Events/Groups Quick Poll Teachers’ Rooms

Teacher’s Desktop - PROFILE My Photo (Gallery) About meMy eTwinning Life My contacts eTwinning and me: My Journal My projects My resources My teachers rooms

Teacher’s Desktop - PROJECTS SearchCreate Project information – Open/Closed/PendingActions

Teacher’s Desktop – FIND ETWINNERS Quick SearchYour messages Find eTwinners Search tool Forums

Teacher’s Desktop – TEACHERS ROOMS Topic cloud - SearchMy Rooms Teachers Rooms Search tool Featured Popular

Teacher’s Desktop – RESOURCES Latest uploaded resources Search tool – Upload - Manage Featured external resources

Teacher’s Desktop – HELPDESK Helpdesk Forum Room information – links to guidance Chat Room

TwinSpace- HOMEPAGE MailboxNew to TwinSpace? Calendar Latest Actions Member Management Members Link to TwinSpace public pages

TwinSpace – PROJECT ACTIVITIES ActivitiesWelcome message Manage activities Manage activities – Create/Reorder/Publish/Delete

TWINSPACE – BLOG, CHAT, GUIDELINES Search BlogAdd Blog entry Chat Guidelines

TwinSpace – TEACHERS Welcome message Forum File Archive

TwinSpace – PUPILS Welcome message Forum File Archive

THREE R’S APPLIED TO THE TEACHERS’ DESKTOP Activity 2 – Reflection/Discussion

1 – What is the purpose of each section? 2 – Does the section work? 3 – How could the section work better? DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

THREE R’S APPLIED TO THE TEACHERS’ DESKTOP Activity 3 – Record your ideas

1 – Does the section work? Write Y or N 2 – How could the section work better? Comments on pieces of paper DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

BLUE-SKY THINKING – BRAINSTORMING SESSION

Wireframes Evolution or Revolution? Paper-based Computer- based