Online EYLF Tools

[linsaa fdc]

Hi LA,

It is where you click the tab online tools, it is the little flashing box above to the right of the family day care EYLF templates that says contribute. I didn't have any difficulty but three Educators I referred have.
Thanks
Linsaa

[Lorina]

Hi Linsaa,

Thanks for getting back to me. I've taken a note of that. We will probably change it so it's not flashy and change the wording of it so it doesn't confuse others.

I really appreciate you for taking your time to notify me about this and also Thank You for referring other educators to our site. That's really great of you!!

Also it is very helpful for us in knowing what is and isn't working well on our site and it's kind of you to let us know so we can fix it in order to keep the site user friendly.

Much obliged,

,
L.A

[mummymusingsmayhem]

Hi, hope it's ok to post in here re the online templates. I love all of your templates and the ease of being able to complete everything on the computer. However I am having trouble saving information on the form. I keep losing info as when I bring back up the saved version it often only has one or 2 photos and text has disappeared. Any clue as to what I am doing wrong or can't we save them? I wanted to use the daily reflection forms to email to parents each day rather than printing out. Any thoughts would be appreciated as I am having the same issue with the portfolio templates so it must be something I am doing wrong I know!!
Thanks so much for putting them all up...such a fantastic site you have here!
Jode

[Lorina]

Hi Jode,

Its okay to post troubleshoot questions regarding online tools here.

Regarding your problem, you should be able to save them. If you are having trouble, can you tell me more on the following:

1) Before you close the form, do you make sure that you go to File -> Save As at the end? Sorry I know this might sound obvious, but sometimes forgetting to save the file before you quit might not save the changes done after the last saved section.

2) How do you re-open the files after they are saved? I mean, do you save it on a location in your computer, and then double click on this saved file to re-open it? or do you go file -> Open from your browser or other pdf reader?

3) When you re-open the file, does it open in Adobe Reader directly (or) does it open inside your browser (meaning inside your Internet explorer, safari, etc..)?

Just trying to figure out what may be causing this issue for you...

Also Thank You for your kind words. I am happy to hear that you find this site fantastic.

Thanks,

,
L.A

[mummymusingsmayhem]

Hi L.A
Sorry for my late reply, do appreciate you getting back to me, just been an awfully hectic week here! Would you believe that they seem to be saving now? I think my problem was that i was 'saving as 'pdf' and should have just hit save...I think lol, really not sure but the last few have worked although when I try to email them to parents they say they can't open the file. Should we be able to email to them?I'll keep playing round and get back to you if I have more trouble. I usually reopen them by double clicking on the saved file and it opens in Adobe. Thanks for your help.

[Lorina]

Hi Jode,

Thanks for updating me on this and I am glad it works for you now.

Regarding emailing these forms, you are able to email them but if the parents dont have the desktop or laptop version of Adobe Reader / browser plug-in (or) if they are trying to open it from an ipad, or mobile devices, then they will not be able to view them. So in order to view these pdfs, they can download the file and open it directly via Adobe Reader (instead of viewing through the email preview which will not work for these forms) in their windows or mac. That should work. Here are a link to our FAQ and have a read through the "Opening Form Issues & Troubleshoot Related" and "Emailing and File Share" that address these issues:

http://www.aussiechildcarenetwork.com/o ... ls_faq.php

Another work around for this would be printing and scanning the completed form and emailing the scanned image instead which can be viewed from any devices.

This is the limitation at the moment. However, in 2014 we do have plans to release a feature that is mobile friendly and works in various operating systems without relying on Adobe Reader. We will soon start developing that feature.

Let me know if you have any further questions...

Cheers ,
L.A

[grandma]

Hi LA
Its been a while since I posted on here. I have a question? I have been using your templates for a while and have been happy with them. My FDC service has devised their own now especially for new carers who were having difficulty catching on and the headings they are using for carriculum plans include the old way of Gross Motor fine Motor cognitive etc. I use the playbased plan and now Im a bit confused as to which heading I show gross motor in the playbased one.
Probably a silly question I know but it has thrown me a bit. what I have been normally doing is putting up a chart for "Activities available every day" and all my gross motor skills are included,eg:bike riding climbing, running etc etc. However now it looks like I have to add it in the actual plan.I would say it could come under all of the headings. Climbing trees could be sensory and dramatic, riding bikes manipulative and so it goes on.I am not actually planning on changing what I am doing but just need to be able to put it on the table when they ask. Do you think validators would accept my chartof Available every day if they visited me.? Or does anyone have suggestions.

[Lorina]

Hi Grandma,

Welcome back!

It is best to have gross motor activities in the actual curriculum plan itself since its an experience which will be available for the children on that particular day. You would also need to add learning outcomes as well as input keys to the gross motor activites so it would be much easier to see how it links in when it's seen in the curriculum plan itself. Yes, you're right gross motor activities can fit in to any of the play based learning headings but it's up to you to decide which fits best according to the goal you set for the gross motor experience. 

I'm also going to provide you with a link to a post I previously posted in this topic. It gives each of the play based learning headings and examples of activities that could fall under each. Like I said previously, gross motor can fall under any headings...

Online Tools 0.1.1 - Support Forum!

Can I ask why you use a separate document for gross motor activities? If you can't fit it in, I can try and help you or maybe add a separate gross motor section to the play based learning template in the future... 

Let me know,

,
L.A

[grandma]

thanks La. think I will keep going with the playbased carriculum as I was. Maybe a gross motor section could be incorporated. I do have L/Os and input keys in the everyday activiities. I have always had this activity sheet and just continued with it as well as the playbased carriculum and couldnt fit it all together on one page.
I had read that link before and dont have issues with activities that come unde each of these headings. I think I need a holiday!!!! I was going along well and then began to question myself. thanks for your input

[Lorina]

As long as you are linking the Learning Outcomes, have input keys and the gross motor experiences are being evaluated then there shouldnt be a problem from what I understand. Assessors need to see where the experience came from (input keys), goals (learning outcome) and evaluation of the experience (through evaluation e.g daily diary). Sounds like its fine to me.

I will look into integrating a gross motor section on the curriculum plan. We will be releasing an updated version of Online Tools next month. We will make a few additions by releasing new templates as well as minor updates to the documentation. We will let you know in due course.

,
LA

[Lorina]

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ: It has come to our attention that some users are copying our Online Tools templates and distributing it online. It deeply saddens us to see this. Please note that our Online Tools templates are Copyright protected. We are happy if our templates inspires you to create your own program and it is okay to do that as long as you come up with your own design and DO NOT copy our designs, texts and formats. Using or recreating copyrighted contents is the same as stealing others worand we are very disappointed to see that our hard work is being copied by others and being passed on.... We work very hard in designing and creating these resources in our Aussie Childcare Network website and its not an easy job. We spend countless number of hours in creating, updating and providing many resources that other educators can use. When we see that our work is being copied and imitated by others like this, it disappoints us so much. This also affects us financially since some of these templates are premium templates and you copying our templates and distributing it to others has a huge impact in our revenue that we solely depend on in order to keep our website alive. So we are kindly requesting you to refrain from reproducing and distributing our contents in other website, Facebook pages, etc.. This is in direct violation of our Copyright terms. If you do notice such practices, please do let us know since all our hard work is wasted when people do this on materials we had worked so hard to create. Please understand this and do the right thing....

[catchmeifucan]

I hear your pain Lorina. Some people just dont care about copyright when they copy. They dont respect the copyright and unfortunately thats how the world is. My last director (she left the job due to other issues she was having) copied one of your portfolio templates and created it exactly the same in word and was bragging how she did this using ms word to our staffs. She was carrying on how she worked on it for 2 days and created it herself. She doesnt know that I am a huge follower of this site although I was the one who suggested this website to her. I told her that she cant really claim she had created this when all she did was copied it exactly from this site. I did tell her that its not right since you guys allow us to download anyways for a very reasonably small donation. In the end she did donate since she also wanted some of your other templates that she couldnt create in word. But this goes to say, some people dont care how important copyright is and how wrong it is to copy other materials. I can imagine how painful it will be for you when you see your work being stolen. Shame on them for doing this!

BTW, a few weeks back I noticed this woman, uploading another portfolio template. When I had a look it was copied exactly from your design. The only thing she changed was the picture in it (maybe she couldnt figure out how to copy that too) and everything else was the same. I wanted to tell you this but couldnt get to it. She said she borrowed some ideas from Aussie Childcare Network, but its not "some". It was all your ideas and an exact copy of that template! Many people have already downloaded this from her. That is all "donations" you guys would have lost due to this inconsiderate woman. I will try and locate it again and will email you the link and details soon. This is so wrong what this woman is doing... You need to do something about it.

[Lorina]

Hi Nat,

Thanks for your PM! We followed up with that person and requested her to delete her file which violated our copyright.

Last night when I was browsing I noticed three other sites doing the same. I was very upset. It took me so much time to come up with all that. I have sent them an email requesting them to remove the files from their site since its affecting our work. Even though damage has already been done since these were uploaded months ago!

I hate to think how many sites or people out there who have stolen our work! Oh well, thats the internet I guess!

I really appreciate you for letting me know!

Cheers
L.A

[cathiek]

Such a shame isn't it LA. It always irks me when sites that help others, such as this, are treated poorly, when in fact we should all be trying to help one another navigate the industry we are in.
Hopefully it is only one or two bad eggs. I am sure the majority of people really appreciate that this site provides so much free (or donation) resources.
Hope all is going well. Sorry I haven't been on too much lately. Chasing my tail with family stuff atm.
Hope all is well for you
Cathiek

[Lorina]

Thanks Cathie K, I appreciate your support!

Unfortunately stuff like this is bound to happen, Especially since we have previews and samples of all our documentation available. I understand now why some sites give no previews of their templates until you subscribe... We have noted down a few sites and a few people and we will keep an eye on them from here on in. If you search hard enough you can find anything! We will continue monitoring anyways...

Yeah I can understand how busy things can get. I got my hands full re-editing all the old articles to the new Wiki, answering forum and taking care of my little one. It's not easy sometimes juggling everything, especially if you give yourself a deadline! I've been up late at night over the past month or so trying to get everything completed. Nearly done!!!

I'll see you around,

,
L.A

[Lorina]

Hi Everyone,

New Portfolio Templates Coming Soon!

Here is a sneak peek of the End of Year Portfolio templates that is going to be released in the next version of our Online Tools (v 0.2.0). These 4 new templates should be released very soon - probably by this weekend itself so you can start using these templates at your centre from next week onwards.

The following new templates will be released:

1) Thank you For The Memories (a poem from the educator to the child)
2) Moments to Remember ( a child questionnaire)
3) A Parent Letter (a letter from educators to parents)
4) My Achievements of Learning (a 2 page report based on the EYLF)

[attachment=0]27_Nov_13_Online_Tools_0_1_1_Sneak_Peek_Preview_Sample.jpg[/attachment]

Hope you like these new template designs. Stay tuned for updates...

Cheers ,
L.A

[linsaa fdc]

Hi L.A,

They look great.
Thanks for making our job easier and documentation enjoyable.
Regards
Linsaa

[Lorina]

Hi Everyone,

Online Tools 0.2.0 is now Released with 4 Brand New Portfolio Templates Available to Download!

We are excited to release this new version of Online Tools that includes 4 new Portfolio templates that will help all educators in completing the end of year portfolios for each individual child. These templates are designed to support Early Childhood Educators working in a Long Daycare setting, Family Daycare or OOSH Setting in Australia. These templates can be used to complete individual child's portfolio in a simple and professional way by adding a personal touch and sharing your memories of the child with their families. New templates include a report based on EYLF, a personalized letter to the parent, an end of year poem and a Q&A for the child. So, if you are stuck on ideas on how to end your portfolios these new templates should solve all your problems!

Here is a brief overview on the new templates that are released in this version:

1) EYLF Achievement Report: This is a report written by the room leader for each child. For each learning outcome add comments and details on how the child has achieved the learning outcome. At the end of the report there is a "Message from the educator" section where you can add a personalized message about the child and how they did throughout the year.
[attachment=3]EYLF_Achievement_Report_Page_1.jpg[/attachment]

2) Moments to Remember: A little questionaire to ask each child to add into their portfolios. Just a few questions about their year which is a good momento to have. There are three photo options at the bottom to add any photos of the child with friends, playing etc.
[attachment=2]Moments_to_Remember.jpg[/attachment]

3) Parent Letter: It's always a good idea to include a thank you to the parents for offering their support. This template helps you to do this. Add parents names as well as the childs to make it more personal. There is also a box to add a personal message of what you will remember about the child.
[attachment=1]Parent_Letter.jpg[/attachment]

4) Thanks for the Memories: A nice little poem to say goodbye to each child. Add a class photo or a group photo of the children in the room. This can be used as the final page of the portfolio.
[attachment=0]Thanks_for_the_Memories.jpg[/attachment]

PS: These Portfolio templates are released as "Premium Templates" which means you need to be a member of our Donator Group in order to download these templates from our website. To join this Donator group, you just need to donate $25/- or more to Aussie Childcare Network. Creating, developing and maintaining the Online Tools templates take considerable amount of time & planning and by offering it to users who donate, we are able to create a small revenue that enables us to spend more time on this project as well as maintain and create more templates and features in the future. Just remember to be logged into your account with us when donating so your user account gets added to the Donator group. Click here to make a donation: http://www.aussiechildcarenetwork.com/donate/index.php


--> Click here to Check out our Portfolio Templates <--

Hope you find these templates useful!

Cheers ,
Lorina.

[KymmieJ]

I am currently looking at donating to be able to download your templates.
I am wanting to use these templates in the children's portfolios which will go home with the children and their families.
And as I have such a big room I will be needing my co workers to help complete this documentation to make sure they all get to go home on time.
I am wondering, am I breaching any terms or conditions if I do this. Also I would like to continue using different templates over the next 12 months during my time as room leader in the same kind of conditions so would that be breaching any terms or conditions, or will this be fine ?

[Lorina]

Hi Kymmie,

First of all thank you for your interest in Donating to Aussie Childcare Network.

Usually, our terms of use states that users are not allowed to distribute our templates to others. Here is the quote of this terms:

"You are not allowed to share / upload / email / re-distribute these premium templates to other users, members, friends, businesses or individuals. If you are in the Donator Group, only your account is authorized to use these premium templates."

REF: http://www.aussiechildcarenetwork.com/p ... .php#terms

Having said that, if you are a room leader and if you are needing help from your co-workers to help complete the documentation for your room then its understandable. I think that should be fine. However, please do notify your co-workers that if they need these templates for their use (not related to your room), then they need to register an account with us and become a donator in our site. Its just that often times, when the templates are given to other co-workers to assist you to complete your documents,if they distribute these templates to other educators or continue to use these templates when they moved to another centre or for other rooms that will be in violation of our terms. Since its like using the templates that they haven't paid for and that affects us. If they are only helping you to complete your documentation for your room, then its okay.

I have just now updated the terms & conditions in the above link with this clause so it clarifies for all users.

Hope this makes sense. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions.

Cheers ,
L.A