Googling Towards ePortfolios

Dynamic Landscapes, 5/11/2012Bram Moreinis, Presenter

Todays Menu1. WHAT do/should we mean by ePortfolios,

and how does that relate to student, teachers and school readiness?

1. Student-centered, student-driven?2. Standards-centered, school-driven?

2. What do ePortfolios look like?3. GOOGLE: How does “Google Apps for

Education” support these specs (and not)?4. NOT GOOGLE: What overlay/complementary

systems exist?

ePortfolio Specifications

1. Purpose2. People3. Structure 4. Design5. Content6. Interactions

Purposes Change as People Change

http://nickrate.com/page/2/?s=e+portfolios

• The more students can do, the more they should! Intrinsic motivation is the most effective for depth and creativity.• Tension between student-directed and standards-driven portfolios: start where? NH model vs. VT / NZ model.

Why Keep an ePortfolio? For Students

1. Cumulative Archive (saving things so they can be found later)2. Self-Assessment (creating rubrics and narratives)3. Constructing Learning (making connections between work

products and experiences in different contexts and moments)4. Owning Learning (developing a sense of personal evolution

through work products and commentary over time)5. Valuing Work (expressing and demonstrating the importance

of what self and others make and share – think file vs. print)6. Social Learning (student-to-student sharing, interacting,

commenting - think digital science fair)7. Comparative Assessment (seeing others’ paths and qualities)

Why Keep an ePortfolio? For Students: As Questions

1. Cumulative Archive (what did I make and say about it?)2. Self Assessment (how well did I do?)3. Constructing Learning (how do these things connect?)4. Owning Learning (how am I growing and changing?)5. Valuing Work (how much does my work matter?)6. Social Learning (what makes sense to my peers?)7. Comparative Assessment (how does mine compare to theirs?)

Why Keep ePortfolios? For School Staff

8. Student evaluation (performance assessment)9. Self-evaluation (individual & team program assessment)10. Program advising (school improvement and transformation)11. Parent communication (building home/school connections)12. Interdisciplinary / thematic assessment (“roundtables”)13. Holistic, authentic assessment (supporting formative

assessment before, summative assessment after, with a real audience and context and meaningful feedback)

Why Keep ePortfolios? For School Staff: As Questions

8. Student evaluation (how well is this student doing?)9. Program self evaluation (how well are we doing?)10. Program advising (how well are you all doing?)11. Parent communication (what is my kid up to in school?)12. Thematic assessment (were these experiences connected?)13. Authentic assessment (how deeply engaged is the student?)

Now think of YOUR school…• Which questions are “hot” now? Who is

asking them, and are they very important?• Does it make sense now to tinker towards

ePortfolios (build a culture of innovation and discovery) in your classroom / school?

• Or should the process be driven by data-based decision-making and performance standards?

• Should this be student-driven or top-down? • What kind of culture are you building?

ePortfolio Specifications

1. Purpose2. People3. Structure 4. Design5. Content6. Interactions

Different Purposes, Different Audiences = Different Portfolios

http://www.slideshare.net/nickrate/eportfolios-101 - Nick Rate

http://www.slideshare.net/nickrate/eportfolios-101

Individual Purposes1. cumulative developmental record: an archive of work over a long time. 2. standards proficiency: used to determine graduation/completion eligibility.3. thematic showcase: to exhibit best work during a period of time.4. employability showcase: to evaluate work readiness skills.5. college admission showcase: to convince a college you are an asset.Teacher Purposes6. class project archive: to manage and compare work for particular project. 7. criterion-referenced record: to measure all students against standards.Team and School Purposes8. standards exemplars: teacher-selected benchmark indicators (TASS)9. program assessment: a criterion-referenced “matrix” / tagged archive

Focal Points1. S: cumulative developmental record2. S: present thematic showcases / exhibits 3. S: demonstrate standards attainment4. T: support student portfolio development5. T: manage & review student project work6. AT: share/discuss benchmark exemplars7. AT: assess an educational program

People to watch!Lauren Parren, Mt. Abraham (Rutland, VT): • http://prezi.com/invvepegvtvi/pathways-at-mt-abraham/• https://sites.google.com/a/anesu.org/mtabeportfolio/

Matrices: Grids Linked to Work

Project Matrix

Program Assessment: Criteria Across Courses

ePortfolio Specifications

1. Purpose2. People3. Structure 4. Design5. Content6. Interactions

What are school ePortfolios made of? DESIGN:

A CuratedExhibit

CONTEXT:Interactions

and Evaluations

CONTENT:An Annotated

File Archive

Interactions give CONTEXT

STUDENT to STUDENT• Peer Doc Commenting• Peer Email Coaching• Peer Rubric Evaluation• Audience Feedback• Social Context of

Learning (Objects)• Social Construction of

Learning• Cumulative Curriculum

OTHER INTERACTIONS• Teacher Doc Commenting• Teacher Email Coaching• Teacher Rubric Evaluation• Cover Comments

Submitting to Archive• Sharing with Others• Audience Feedback (e.g.

comments on YoutubeVideos, Letters to Editor)

1. Maintain a cumulative developmental record: Yearly archives of selected Google Artifacts & Digital Files

2. Students present thematic showcases / exhibits:Create Google sites with links to Google Artifacts

3. Students self-assess standards proficiency: As above, with criterion tags/tabs, self-assessment, teacher feedback (NZ)

4. Teachers support student portfolio development: Review and comment on showcases & exhibits

5. Teachers manage & review student projects:Maintain student lists with linked work, provide feedback

6. Teacher teams identify and share standards exemplars:Share with teacher teams (groups, shared sites, annotated docs)

7. Administrators assess educational program: Require and consult criterion-referenced matrices (NH)

Models and Methods

http://www.slideshare.net/nickrate/eportfolios-101 - Nick Rate

http://www.slideshare.net/nickrate/eportfolios-101 - Nick Rate

Google Apps Patterns

From “Regular Email” to Google

• Points to Current Version with Current Comments.• Control who sees, who edits, who modifies – as process proceeds.• Saves file storage and find time (all those emails & attachments).

The ePortfolio Triad (plus!)

Any Portfolio System Needs:• Artifact Storage (many

formats, web-visible)• Artifact Folder Storage

(include rubrics, other docs)• Comment Storage (cover

pages, artifact-embedded)• Notification System

(submissions, comments, status changes)

Adding Embedded Comments

Word Has:• Track Changes

Feature (UGH!)

Google Docs has:• Embedded

Comments • “Resolution” system• Email Notifications• Version Control

Embedded Comments for Collaboration and Peer Review

Adding Groups

Groups Provide:• Social Learning

(discussion) vs. Peer Evaluation (embedded)

• Group Access to Docs• Email notification vs

Groups Service

The Problem with Google Apps….

Staged Content Management:Hapara Teacher Dashboardhttp://www.youtube.com/user/TeacherDashboard

You define the teacher-shared folder structure for all students in your class!

ePortfolio as Staged Content Management

You can help students use that structure!WOW! Integrates with Picasa!

TD shots

People to watch!Lenva Shearing, Bucklands Beach (Auckland, NZ):

• Focus of Helen Barrett’s new research on ePortfolios

• Major partner in Hepara Teacher Dashboard

• Highly evolved student-created multimedia culture

• Highly evolved student-centered, meta-cognitive, inquiry/discovery learning culture

• Highly evolved authentic audience assessment culture

Students build media-rich sites that share self-assessments.

Students create and embed rubrics!

A 20-year portfolio,7-year ePortfoliostudent-centered school culture.

Stages of ePortfolio Adoptionfrom http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/eportfolios.htm - George Siemens

• Stage 1 may include simple websites and incorporate blogs or wikis. Limited navigation of content is included.

• Stage 2 consists of dynamic web pages. Navigation and search features are available. Portfolio owners can also create different sections of the site to allow access for different reasons.

• Stage 3 requires institutional support of eportfolios, including instruction on actual use. The institution may also host the software to allow learners to build their portfolios.

• Stage 4 requires the institution integrates portfolio use and development into the process of instruction and assessment

• Stage 5 requires the institution adheres to standards, permits interoperability of the portfolio with other institutions.

Analysis of Levels

http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/eportfolios.htm

Stay Focused!

Issues and Concerns

• Technical complexity of full implementation in an institution

• Faculty and leaner resistance to ePortfolio implementation and use

• Who has ultimate control – the learner or institution?• Life long access, separate from institution – a concern

impacted by limited ePortfolio software options

http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/eportfolios.htm

http://www.slideshare.net/nickrate/eportfolios-101 - Nick Rate

Standardization of eportfolios is a potential challenge. Heavily regulated efforts may stifle creativity and innovation. Ultimately, in order for a tool or technology to succeed, it must be adopted at the end user level. The field of learning objects, as an example, seem to be hindered in development due to the proliferation of complex standards.

The flaw in learning objects standardization appears to be the attempt to create the system on the assumptions that interoperability is what end users need. Many people are sharing learning objects with colleagues (in the form of Word documents, PowerPoint notes, graphics, lesson plans), and it works because people don’t have to repackage the object with detailed metadata. With eportfolios, a similar concern exists. Eportfolios will be successful if the urge to excessively standardize is resisted. Simple technologies like RSS and SOAP reveal that content can be shared when interoperability is built into the sharing structure, not the content itself.

…The social implications of living your learning life in a “fish bowl” are not fully understood. An online portfolio remembers more than successes – it is also a compilation of work-in-progress as a learner, and taken out of context, could misrepresent intended meaning. Like any web resource, eportfolios are subject to security and privacy risks.

http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/eportfolios.htm

Implementation: Readiness Ideals• The portfolio is viewed as a learner-in-control tool.• Learners get technical and “how will this help you” orientation.• The curriculum requires learners to use the portfolio to complete

assignments and enable assessment of learning objectives.• Instructor feedback is integrated into the eportfolio as an artifact.• Learners are provided staged advising to evaluate their use of

portfolios (meta-cognition)• An eportfolio culture encourages learners to include personal life

experiences, and other revealing artifacts in their portfolios.• Dialogue, debate, and reference to eportfolio use are common.• Sufficient time is allotted for portfolio development.• Faculty understand and promote the value of eportfolios.• Technical managers support a simple, positive end user experience.

http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/eportfolios.htm

Questions to Ask• http://educ6040fall10.wikispaces.com/ePortfolio• As e-Portfolios accumulate and grow year after year they take up more server space and require

more system maintenance.• How long will institutions support your e-Portfolio and to the e-Portfolio tool you utilized?• Who owns the e-Portfolio - does the institution providing the e-Portfolio system own or have

certain right to students archived works? Who can make changes to the portfolio, who can use the archived documents?

• How to establish a student and teacher culture where both parties understand how to effectively use an e-Portfolio system in learner centered, developmental, and reflective way? Is training needed?

– What is the level of computer skills of the teachers?– What is the level of technology competency and independence of the students?– What is the access level to computers by students?

• What mechanisms ensure evaluation of e-Portfolios is both valid, reliable, and fair?• What is the scope of the assessment? What time frame?• How will results be linked to the curriculum?• Will student portfolios be used to assess individual students and/or student cohorts?• Has a rubric been created to help guide student development of their e-Portfolio?• Will you take a teacher-centered or student-centered approach?

ePortfolio components• Digital File Storage

– editable documents– web pages– scanned images – audio and video

• Metadata– ownership, date– related file pointers– status, “tags”– course context– reflections, rubrics

• Interactions– formative comments– cover page statement

comments– evaluation comments– embedded comments– connections to anything

else, local or linked.

• Notifications– Emails– RSS Feeds

Google, Not Google

• What Google Does • What Google Doesn’t

Educause Bibliography http://www.educause.edu/ELI/Archives/EPortfolios/5524

• Stephen Acker, " Overcoming Obstacles to ePortfolio Assessment," Campus Technology Newsletter: Technology-Enabled Teaching/eLearning Dialogue, March 2005.• Barbara Cambridge, ed., Electronic Portfolios: Emerging Practices in Student, Faculty, and Institutional Learning (Washington, D.C.: American Association for Higher Education, 2001)• Helen L. Chen and Cynthia Mazow, "Electronic Learning Portfolios and Student Affairs," NetResults , October 28, 2002.• ePortConsortium Whitepaper, ePortConsortium, 2003.• Gary Greenberg, "The Digital Convergence: Extending the Portfolios Model," EDUCAUSE Review, Vol. 39, No. 4, July/August 2004.• Glenn Johnson and David DiBiase, "Keeping the Horse Before the Cart: Penn State's E-Portfolio Initiative," EDUCAUSE Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 4, 2004 .• S. Kahn, "Making Good Work Public Through Electronic Teaching Portfolios," in The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions, 3rd edition, P. Seldin, ed. (Bolton, Mass.: Anker Publishing, Inc., 2004).• Douglas Love, Gerry McKean, and Paul Gathercoal, "Portfolios to Webfolios and Beyond: Levels of Maturation," EDUCAUSE Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2004.• George Siemens, "ePortfolios," eLearnSpace, December 16, 2004.• Paul Treuer and Jill D. Jenson, "Electronic Portfolios Need Standards to Thrive ," EDUCAUSE Quarterly , Vol. 26, No. 2, 2003.• Judy R. Wilkerson and William Steven Lang, "Portfolios, the Pied Piper of Teacher Certification Assessments: Legal and Psychometric Issues," Education Policy Analysis Archives, Vol. 11, No. 45, 2003.