ePortfolios Discussions - MERLOT Voices2024-03-28T16:47:53Zhttp://voices.merlot.org/group/eportfolios/forum?feed=yes&xn_auth=noUpcoming Eventstag:voices.merlot.org,2009-03-05:2093140:Topic:63772009-03-05T04:10:06.518ZKathleen Willbankshttp://voices.merlot.org/profile/KathleenWillbanks
The 7th Annual Canadian e-Learning Conference<br />
June 17-19, 2009<br />
UBC Vancouver, Point Grey Campus<br />
Conference Theme: From Implementation to Innovation<br />
Proposal Deadline: March 16, 2009<br />
<a href="http://www.celc2009.ca/">http://www.celc2009.ca/</a><br />
<br />
2008 eFolio Summit<br />
August 5 and 6, 2009<br />
Minneapolis Community & Technical College<br />
Where eFolio Practioners Explore eFolioWorld<br />
The Call for Proposals closes Friday, May 29, 2009.…
The 7th Annual Canadian e-Learning Conference<br />
June 17-19, 2009<br />
UBC Vancouver, Point Grey Campus<br />
Conference Theme: From Implementation to Innovation<br />
Proposal Deadline: March 16, 2009<br />
<a href="http://www.celc2009.ca/">http://www.celc2009.ca/</a><br />
<br />
2008 eFolio Summit<br />
August 5 and 6, 2009<br />
Minneapolis Community & Technical College<br />
Where eFolio Practioners Explore eFolioWorld<br />
The Call for Proposals closes Friday, May 29, 2009.<br />
<a href="http://efoliosummit.project.mnscu.edu">http://efoliosummit.project.mnscu.edu</a>. Support strategies and activitiestag:voices.merlot.org,2009-03-05:2093140:Topic:63762009-03-05T03:52:24.679ZKathleen Willbankshttp://voices.merlot.org/profile/KathleenWillbanks
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these strategies and activities related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* Limited success to date with faculty using eportfolios leading<br />
workshops in collaboration with faculty development staff (i.e.,<br />
me) and technology folks.
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these strategies and activities related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* Limited success to date with faculty using eportfolios leading<br />
workshops in collaboration with faculty development staff (i.e.,<br />
me) and technology folks. Implementation strategies and activitiestag:voices.merlot.org,2009-03-05:2093140:Topic:63752009-03-05T03:51:18.395ZKathleen Willbankshttp://voices.merlot.org/profile/KathleenWillbanks
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these strategies and activities related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* Building in the approach from the ground up, mapping it to all<br />
courses, program outcomes, dispositions, and professional<br />
standards (e.g., Teaching Performance Expectations). Adapting from<br />
existing bulk-portfolio process directly to new technologies.<br />
Incorporating social web components to make the process more<br />
engaging and…
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these strategies and activities related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* Building in the approach from the ground up, mapping it to all<br />
courses, program outcomes, dispositions, and professional<br />
standards (e.g., Teaching Performance Expectations). Adapting from<br />
existing bulk-portfolio process directly to new technologies.<br />
Incorporating social web components to make the process more<br />
engaging and meaningful to individuals. Let teaching and learning<br />
drive the process, not back-end accreditation processes.<br />
* Providing faculty an account to use for contract renewal and<br />
Promotion & Tenure cases. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars<br />
per faculty for copies, binders, and mailings to external<br />
reviewers, all the material is within the ePortfolio and available<br />
for internal and external review.<br />
* We are still developing our program. First introduction was a 1<br />
unit, 8 week course Fall ‘08 in the CAOT (Computer Applications &<br />
Office Technology) Dept. Spring ‘09 we are offering 2 such<br />
courses, one in the classroom and one online. Our "real" rollout<br />
is scheduled for Fall ‘09 when some instructors will begin to<br />
include ePortfolios as a part of their standard courses, with the<br />
CAOT courses available for those that want to learn more.<br />
* Identifying the core group of people who are actually motivated to<br />
do the work. The responsible committee per se won’t do it.<br />
* My classes have enjoyed using wikis to share background research<br />
and online resources. Providing a very clear upfront organization<br />
and cleaning up stray strands is key to keeping wikis usable.<br />
Blogs have been a great way for students to share and peer-review<br />
computer graphics assignments. Ease of use and user support have<br />
been important for successful implementation of both wikis and blogs.<br />
* When introducing and/or adapting ePortfolios for specific<br />
disciplines, in our experience it’s been valuable to take into<br />
account the discipline-specific practices, culture, and<br />
vocabulary. For example, in mechanical engineering, we called the<br />
Portfolio an "idea log" which was more meaningful to the local<br />
design community. For a microbiology course, the "e-poster" built<br />
upon the longstanding tradition of using posters to share<br />
findings, process, and reflections in science fields (see<br />
Takayama, 2005).<br />
* A solid set of rubrics by which to evaluate the portfolios,<br />
rubrics which are shared with and explained to the students. Selection strategies and activitiestag:voices.merlot.org,2009-03-05:2093140:Topic:63742009-03-05T03:50:09.257ZKathleen Willbankshttp://voices.merlot.org/profile/KathleenWillbanks
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these strategies and activities related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* In Student Affairs, we have been looking into different products<br />
in the market to find the best fit for our needs. We have explored<br />
the potential of Blackboard, Taskstream and Simplicity.<br />
* TaskStream<br />
* We are in the process of building our system so it’s early days<br />
for us. we have had a strongly consultative process to date…
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these strategies and activities related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* In Student Affairs, we have been looking into different products<br />
in the market to find the best fit for our needs. We have explored<br />
the potential of Blackboard, Taskstream and Simplicity.<br />
* TaskStream<br />
* We are in the process of building our system so it’s early days<br />
for us. we have had a strongly consultative process to date with<br />
strong involvement from students. there is a sense of positive<br />
expectation from staff and students, and we are encouraged by this.<br />
* Splitting efforts to focus on technology solutions to two<br />
different purposes, learning and assessment, separately instead of<br />
fulfilling both purposes simultaneously in one application. For<br />
example using one application to focus on providing a space for<br />
teaching and learning. Another application focuses on assessment<br />
management. Support challenges (technical, pedagogical, administrative)tag:voices.merlot.org,2009-03-05:2093140:Topic:63732009-03-05T03:48:07.396ZKathleen Willbankshttp://voices.merlot.org/profile/KathleenWillbanks
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these challenges related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* Because the campus has not yet committed to a single eportfolio<br />
application, we spend far more time on "how to use this particular<br />
application" than we do on the larger pedagogical questions.<br />
* For our campus, this is a new concept. In the 1st CAOT class, we<br />
found that the students did not already have records of past<br />
accomplishments; so…
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these challenges related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* Because the campus has not yet committed to a single eportfolio<br />
application, we spend far more time on "how to use this particular<br />
application" than we do on the larger pedagogical questions.<br />
* For our campus, this is a new concept. In the 1st CAOT class, we<br />
found that the students did not already have records of past<br />
accomplishments; so much of the time was spent on collecting,<br />
organizing, and editing that information. We expect that to be a<br />
continuing problem, but have tutors in the Writing Center that can<br />
assist. For integrating into existing classes, we find that tech<br />
savvy instructors are excited by the possibilities but nervous<br />
about the time taken from their regular curriculum. We are<br />
thinking to offer a series of workshops to introduce ePortfolios<br />
to the students so that they can see the benefits and get a quick<br />
overview of how to proceed. In addition we anticipate setting up<br />
one or more tutor/"experts" specifically for ePortfolios, to<br />
assist the students outside the classroom.<br />
* College-wide buy in to single system. People remembering usernames<br />
and passwords. Tech support.<br />
* On our campus because Eportfolios are being piloted by individuals<br />
for different purposes with different methods, it’s difficult to<br />
create synergy. Because my students are accustomed to face-to-face<br />
presentations, they don’t see online reflections as important. I<br />
am only partially effective at guiding meaningful reflection.<br />
* The lack of institutional support.<br />
* Finding the resources to purchase or design an eportfolio tool<br />
* Examples/templates of eportfolios used for student services<br />
* No computer lab available for student body Implementation challengestag:voices.merlot.org,2009-03-05:2093140:Topic:63722009-03-05T03:42:05.162ZKathleen Willbankshttp://voices.merlot.org/profile/KathleenWillbanks
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these challenges related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* Providing a clean and transparent way to "lock" faculty portfolios<br />
during the review process (so they can’t modify/add content) has<br />
proven more difficult than we thought. We have created a temporary<br />
solution, but it’s not ideal for the long-term.<br />
* Scaling ePortfolios, particularly the reflection aspect such that<br />
the workload for the…
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these challenges related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* Providing a clean and transparent way to "lock" faculty portfolios<br />
during the review process (so they can’t modify/add content) has<br />
proven more difficult than we thought. We have created a temporary<br />
solution, but it’s not ideal for the long-term.<br />
* Scaling ePortfolios, particularly the reflection aspect such that<br />
the workload for the faculty/instructor does not become too<br />
burdensome. It seems like building a peer community would be an<br />
essential component of any solution. It would be great to see some<br />
models and case studies for how this might be designed and<br />
implemented.<br />
* Faculty buy-in in programs where faculty research and publication<br />
take precedence over teaching especially in large programs where<br />
scale and workload become issues related to changes in the type of<br />
work students do and the attention assessment of this work requires.<br />
* I’m not convinced that amassing these materials necessarily helps<br />
student learning. Sometimes, I think that it’s more work rather<br />
than more learning. This comes from listening not just to students<br />
on my campus, but to my mentee who took a library degree from<br />
UCLA. The question remains: is the added work worth whatever<br />
learning they get out of it? If not, then we are creating more<br />
work with little added value.<br />
* The portfolio process is complicated by different professors<br />
requiring different elements for e-portfolios. This makes sense if<br />
the differences are content-driven, but often they are not. They<br />
are presentation-driven. This creates more busy work for students.<br />
Professors have always had differences in this regard, but the<br />
portfolio process exacerbates this. Integration challengestag:voices.merlot.org,2009-03-05:2093140:Topic:63712009-03-05T03:35:37.864ZKathleen Willbankshttp://voices.merlot.org/profile/KathleenWillbanks
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these challenges related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* Quality LMS bridge so students aren’t having to do more tasks than<br />
necessary. The ePortfolio should be able to automatically build as<br />
they go through a series of courses in a LMS, rather than them<br />
having to use a separate application to build from the beginning.
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these challenges related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* Quality LMS bridge so students aren’t having to do more tasks than<br />
necessary. The ePortfolio should be able to automatically build as<br />
they go through a series of courses in a LMS, rather than them<br />
having to use a separate application to build from the beginning. Selection challengestag:voices.merlot.org,2009-03-02:2093140:Topic:62962009-03-02T22:27:40.560ZKathleen Willbankshttp://voices.merlot.org/profile/KathleenWillbanks
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these challenges related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* Selecting a single application is a huge undertaking since none do<br />
everything that everyone wants them to do.<br />
* Some of the issues we are concerned about: Scalability - The<br />
potential of having a large amount of user and still keep the<br />
price down. Permanence - how long will the product exists and for<br />
how long can a user maintain his/her…
Before the February 25, 2009 ePortfolio Day of Dialogue, attendees submitted these challenges related to selecting or implementing ePortfolio solutions:<br />
<br />
* Selecting a single application is a huge undertaking since none do<br />
everything that everyone wants them to do.<br />
* Some of the issues we are concerned about: Scalability - The<br />
potential of having a large amount of user and still keep the<br />
price down. Permanence - how long will the product exists and for<br />
how long can a user maintain his/her content available.<br />
Versatility - Can the product be used by both Graduate and<br />
Undergraduate students? Size - how much content can be stored and<br />
displayed? Share-ability and networking - what opportunities does<br />
the product offer for others to share their content? Can faculty<br />
edit student’s work? These are so far some of the issues we<br />
currently face when evaluating and testing ePortofolios... Answers<br />
to these during our day of dialogue, would be a successful<br />
indicator of my trip.<br />
* It is difficult to define real requirements and priorities for<br />
ePortfolio solutions on our campus. There is a strong need for<br />
tools to assist assessment and accreditation efforts, critical<br />
campus initiatives to increase student success (and efforts to<br />
faciliate teaching and learning through the effective use of<br />
technology), and "real world" requirements for personal<br />
representation to obtain internships and job interviews.<br />
Prioritizing these objectives and choosing the best tool or tools<br />
is a challenge.<br />
* Each of these applications presents unique challenges. We have not<br />
found one that is intuitive, easy to use, avoid duplication, low<br />
maintenance and meet our needs in terms of measuring the learning<br />
outcomes.<br />
* We use BlackBoard. I’m not crazy about the platform, but it’s what<br />
we’ve used. There’s talk of moving to a different platform.<br />
Preserving the portfolios will be a problem for us and for students.