Diane J. Goldsmith, Dean of Planning, Research, Assessment

Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium

Academic ImpressionsDecember 6, 2005

Electronic Portfolios

Enhancing Teaching

and Assessment

Today’s Agenda

• Introduction• Why ePortfolios, Q & A • Platform Decisions, Q & A • Implementation, Q & A • Challenges and Suggestions, • Resources• Questions and Answers

Introductions

Dean of Planning, Research and Assessment

Ct Distance Learning Consortium

ePortfolio Project supported by FIPSE and Davis

Educational Foundation

15 Partner Institutions

Introductions

Who Are You?a. Facultyb. Student Services Staffc. Information Technologyd. Assessment Personnele. Administrationf. Other ?

?Where are you in terms of ePortfolios?1. Considering it – should we or shouldn’t we?

2. In the planning stage –we’re figuring out how

3. Piloting– a small number of classes, departments, students, programs, etc. are trying it.

4. Implementing– a larger number of classes, departments, students, programs are using it.

5. Experienced users –several years of experience.

Introductions

Why ePortfolios?

It’s not the E

Electronic Portfolios

Portfolios are tools with a long history

It is the E

• But the Electronic has led to the explosion in Use.– Portable– Available any time, any where– Can maintain over time– Include any type of digital material

Why ePortfolios?

“Portfolio is a warm fuzzy idea.” Bruce Landon fromEduTools*

Google search found 199 million “portfolio” pages.

30 different names for educational ePortfolios

*From B. Landon’s presentation at WCET conference, 11/2005, San Francisco, CA.

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ePortfolio names

Chart from Bruce Landon, Douglas College and WCET EduTools, presented at the 2005 WCET Conference in San Francisco, CA

Personal Portfolio Student Portfolio

Web Folio Application Port.

ePortfolio Website Port.

Electronic Port. Application Port.

Teaching Port. Work Portfolio

?Your Interest

1. Student Learning

2. Career Planning and Job Search

3. Assessment4. Accreditation5. Showcase

6. Advising7. Teaching8. Promotion

and Tenure9. Institutional10.Other

Commonalities

Portfolios, electronic or paper based, share certain features:

ReflectCollect

Present

Collect:

Allows students and institutions to collect work.– Over time (formative)– Exemplars of best work

(summative)– Variety of work

Collect:

• Issue: Helping students know what to collect and why.– Example: Kalamazoo College Portfolio Framework

Reflect:

• Reflection is the essence of portfolios – it’s what makes them more than a collection

• Mindful Engagement with work, education, goals

Present:

• All Portfolios can be showcases.• ePortfolios make this available on the

web.

• Issues: – Privacy, – Access, – Portability,

– Plagiarism

Assessment

Portfolios allow a focus on institutional assessment:― What do we want students to learn

and be able to do with what they learn?

― How well can they demonstrate what they’ve learned?

― How can we help them do better?

Other Features

• Career Section– Education– Experience– Resumes

• Advising Section – plan of study

• Goals section – set and review goals

Q and A

? Before we move to a discussion of

platforms let me answer any

questions about his section.

Platforms?

Platforms – Issue 1

It’s a tool!

It’s a Tool

• WHY do you want to use ePortfolios?– Primary Purpose? Other purposes?

• WHO will be using it?– Who will put work in it, review it, view it?

• HOW will implementation grow?– Who is piloting? How will it Grow?

• WHO is leading the drive for ePortfolios and Why?– Who is the change agent?

• WHAT resources do you have to implement ePortfolio– Staffing, Money, Infrastructure

Platforms – Issue 2

Platform Dilemma

“It is a challenge to get people to use the rich, flexible tool ‘as is’ (meets 90% of their needs) rather than looking at it and finding reasons not to use it. When folks say "this is a really great tool, but we cannot use it because it lacks X, they are often simply resisting altering existing practices, curriculum, or processes. How can we get beyond this?”

Tom Lewis, University of Washington

Why?

• Student Learning• Career Planning and Job Search• Assessment• Accreditation• Showcase • Advising• Teaching• Promotion and Tenure• Institutional• Other

Issue 3: Who Designs It?

• Students use web page design software to create their portfolios (Penn State, Kalamazoo)

• Institution designs its own platform (Wesleyan, Alverno, University of Washington)

• Open Source – OSP• State Initiatives, Consortiums, Non-

Profits –(Minnesota, Connecticut, Carnegie)

• Commercial – Task Stream, TrueOutcomes, Foliolive

Cost Considerations

• Software – Maintenance– Upgrades

• Infrastructure – Hosted Internally

•Servers•Storage Space

– Hosted Externally –•Storage included in cost of software

Cost Considerations

Staffing– to build or customize• Network admin (set up the servers, check the operating

system, backup the files).• Database admin (backups and tunes the database server).• Developer (develops the platform or develops integration points

or customizations).

And – whether you build or buy• Project manager (coordinate the resources, coordinate

additional development, coordinate training, tech support, etc.).• Tech support and training (coordinate and answer faculty

and student questions).• Pedagogical Support and training (work with faculty on

how to use ePortfolios).

Cost Considerations

Low

High Staffing

Software Customization Buy OSP Web pages Build

Other Considerations

• Integration with Learning Management System

• Vertical integration – K-12 to College and Beyond

• How Long can you keep it– Minnesota – from birth to death

• Sustainability • Technical Skills Required of the users.

Other Considerations

• Assessment Focus– Rubrics– Way to keep material

• Link to Standards• Who Owns It

– Student or institution• FERPA Considerations• ADA Considerations

?

Platform Review

• Issue 1 – WHY??• Issue 2 – Nothing is Perfect• Issue 3 - Resources, Staffing• Need to Customize• Assessment features• ADA• Integration• Leadership

Before we move to a discussion of

Implementation let me answer any questions about

this section.

Implementation?

Critical Thinking

• Emphasize peer review in English Composition classes.

• Use ePortfolio to develop critical thinking and communication skills of students in the nursing program.

Advising

• Move from a paper-based pre-professional health advising portfolio to an electronic form.

• Use ePortfolios to assess student progress in a “Career Search Initiative.”

• Use ePortfolios as part of an advising process with undeclared majors to help them articulate and reflect on their goals.

Showcase

• Dental Hygiene students will create a comprehensive ePortfolio to showcase their skills.

• Students will use ePortfolios to articulate their career goals, post resumes, and present course work to demonstrate academic progress towards their goals.

Skills

• Use ePortfolios in Experimental Psychology to help assist students in making the transition from science student to science professional.

• Improve Student Learning in First Year Seminar/Orientation Courses.

• Use ePortfolios as part of Learning Communities.

Assessment

• Use ePortfolios as part of a capstone course, to demonstrate competencies.

• Use ePortfolios as part of articulation agreements

Assessment

• General Education

• Writing Across the Curriculum

• Nursing

• Business

• Dental Hygiene

Study Abroad

Students keep a portfolio while abroad reflecting on their experiences

On their return, use the portfolio to make connections to their major at the university.

For Athletics

Pioneers win Gold in Australia!!!

Summer 2005 Pioneers win

North East Conference Field Hockey Championship, Fall 2005

Q and A

? Before we move to a discussion of

challenges let me answer any

questions about his section.

The Challenges

Implementation

If we build it (or buy it), they won’t necessarily come.

Change

• Moving to portfolios or ePortfolios requires a culture shift at the institution.

• Change can be difficult or can be embraced eagerly by faculty and staff who are engaged across the institution in “a process of discovery and problem solving.”

Mellow, G. and Talmadge, R. “Creating the Resilient Community College” in Change May/June 2005

It Takes an Institution

…or at least a program or major.

ePortfolios are software packages which require new ways of thinking and practice.

Portfolios allow for documenting learning over time.

Work Load

ePortfolios create work for both faculty and students, especially at the beginning because it requires planning and change.

Both need to believe that the extra work has benefits.

Success breeds success.

Build in Assistance

•Technical – How do I use the software?

•Pedagogical – How do I use portfolios?– Peer Lab Assistants– In Class Training– Training for Faculty and staff

Assessment Issues

ePortfolios can an excellent tool for Assessment.

Need a well thought-out robust assessment strategy before deciding that portfolios are the correct tool– Learning objectives delineated – What Evidence?– How evaluated?– Who evaluates?

Ex: Truman State University

Where to Begin?

First-Year Seminars, Orientation Programs, Student Development Courses.

Issues:• Goal Setting• Self-Assessment• Reflection• One more software to learn

Who Is In the Room?

Faculty Driven

Assessment Infused

Leadership around Change

Create Your ePortfolio

Don’t ask your students to do what you haven’t done.

Administrative Portfolio

“It is a factual description of an administrator’s activities, strengths, and accomplishments. It includes documents and materials that collectively suggest the scope and quality of an administrators performance. It allows administrators to display their accomplishments for examination by others.”

Selden, P. and Higgerson, M. (2002, January) Adopting the Administrative Portfolio. AAHE Bulletin 14 (5), 3-6.

A Teaching portfolio

Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching

http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org/

Create Your ePortfolio

•Promotion and Tenure Portfolio

•For Professional Interests•For Fun

My fun ePortfolioA Professional ePortfolio

Institutional Examples

Truman State Universityhttp://assessment.truman.edu/components/portfolio/

Laguardia Community Collegehttp://www.eportfolio.lagcc.cuny.edu/

Kalamazoo Collegehttp://www.kzoo.edu/pfolio/index.html

University of Washingtonhttp://catalyst.washington.edu/method/portfolio.html

Institutional Examples

• Penn State – create web pageshttp://portfolio.psu.edu/build/index.html

• Kent State – Collage – Career basedhttps://collage.kent.edu/guest/index.html

• ePortfolio.org – CT Distance Learning Consortiumwww.ePortfolio.org

Other Resources

References at www.ePortfolio.org

http://www.eportfolio.org/resources.pdf

Links to:– institutional examples– assessment information– handbooks– lists of other references

Q&A

Diane J. Goldsmith

Dgoldsmith@ctdlc.org

860.832.3893

www.eportfolio.org