This document summarizes an introduction to ePortfolios presentation given at the University of British Columbia. It provides examples of how ePortfolios are being used at UBC in different faculties like Education, Nursing, and Dentistry. It also discusses the history of ePortfolio use at UBC over a three-year initiative and examples from other institutions. Hands-on activities are suggested to have attendees create their own ePortfolio using WordPress. Challenges and opportunities around sustaining an ePortfolio community of practice are discussed.

1. University of British Columbia (UBC) - Introduction to ePortfolios Catherine Paul, Community of Practice Facilitator – Office of Learning Technology Emily Renoe, Office of Learning Technology, UBC

2. Agenda Welcome & Introductions History, Definitions and Hopes Current UBC Portfolio project examples and others Discussion Hands-on activites Closing, feedback and follow-up

3. Objectives Give examples of how ePortfolios are being used at UTT, UBC, and around the world Create an ePortfolio space using a blogging platform Identify ways that portfolios can contribute to deeper learning and teaching

4. Brief History of UBC Portfolio Community of Practice Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. ~ Etienne Wenger A 3-year campus-wide initiative 2003-2006 TLEF funded (Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund) investigated the pedagogical benefits & resource implications of implementing e-portfolios for multiple purposes & contexts (course, program, personal) 13 projects from multiple disciplines - 2000 students, 91 instructors and 37 staff strong community of practice (CoP) in parallel

5. Successes cross-faculty collaboration research component engaged different areas of academic environment encouraged informal learning spaces for students deep learning

6. ePortfolio Pilot @ UBC

8. Challenges during pilot technology (no one size fits all!) sustained support add-on rather than integration increased workload for instructors and students

9. New directions currently reviving the Portfolio Community of Practice, a collaborative coordination effort (Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth & Office of Learning Technology) regular meetings; highlighting work members are doing collecting stories collaborating on workshops developing resources and a new online space

10. Tools Social Networking Software (Facebook, Ning, Prezi) Weblogs Wikis Carnegie's KEEP Toolkit Google Sites

11. ePortfolio examples Using WordPress: http://blogs.ubc.ca/egan/ http://efolio.educ.ubc.ca/maribeth/ WordPress is an open source blog publishing application; it lets you create your own web space. Keep Toolkit UBC examples: http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org/gallery_of_tl/effectively_representing_educational_experience.html Keep Tool Kit: http://www.cfkeep.org/html/stitch.php?s=2814408673732&id=94404660812025 The KEEP Toolkit is a set of web-based tools that help teachers, students and institutions quickly create compact and engaging knowledge representations on the Web

12. More examples Use of a wiki: http://cis.apsc.ubc.ca/wiki/index.php/Jim_Sibley_Portfolio LaGuardia Community College gallery of examples: http://www.eportfolio.lagcc.cuny.edu/advanced_gallery.html San Francisco State University gallery: http://eportfolio.sfsu.edu http://rachelpoulain.sfsu.efolioworld.com/ http://pedroarista.sfsu1.efolioworld.com/ http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~wwong21/ Google Sites: http://sites.google.com/site/eportfolios/ Prezi: http://prezi.com/3835

13. Examples from UBC community Faculty of Education slides to follow Faculty of Nursing slides to follow

14. Examples from UBC community Faculty of Dentistry: At the University of British Columbia, we introduced an ePortfolio assignment in the operative dentistry clinical simulation module and conducted a pilot study to explore the usefulness of ePortfolios as a learning tool for dental students. Qualitative assessments included student self-reflections on the ePortfolio experience. In the quantitative evaluation, ePortfolio learning was hypothesized as a multidimensional experience with four dimensions: 1) an ePortfolio experience is valuable for learning operative dentistry 2) an ePortfolio is time-consuming, but overall a useful experience 3) ePortfolio learning requires technical skills that are manageable 4) ePortfolio experience may be beneficial for lifelong learning. Overall, both quantitative and qualitative assessments demonstrated that students valued ePortfolio learning as a positive experience. In multivariate analyses (confirmatory factor analysis), the four-dimensional model of ePortfolio learning was confirmed. Future studies are needed to validate or revise the four-factor model of ePortfolio learning in different student cohorts.

15. ePortfolios ….. address graduates ’ relationship to the Standards of the profession establish a collection of artifacts & reflections as evidence of professional growth provide a digital record of one ’ s evolving identity as a teacher

16. Technological : WordPress was recommended by the Office of Learning Technology and e-coaches (who are also teacher candidates). We have provided several resources e.g. a support blog Conceptual : [e]portfolios as assessment tools for teaching/learning in schools also apply to teacher education. We try to model this and clarify the practice and process of demonstrating teacher identity/development with a “ why & how ” blog .

17. Coordinator, Special Projects Anne Scholefield [email_address]

18. A Practice E-portfolio (PeP) for Nursing: What is the PeP? The PeP is an electronic replacement for the existing paper-based clinical evaluation system. The Practice e-Portfolio will provide a one stop resource to support and record clinical learning. The application will provide an environment to support clinical learning incorporating a Web-based interface to a Practice e-Portfolio. It is designed to be used by students and instructors throughout the program, and give a record clinical progress

19. What does it contain? 21 Overall Thematic Competencies - incorporating all of the relevant (i.e. clinically focused) CRNBC, and CNA competencies, and CRNBC Standards Specific levelled Clinical Competencies for each level of the program and evaluations Clinical Journaling (reflective journals) Clinical Skills logging (specific skills, e.g. catheterization) Clinical Experience record (placement/instructor history) Learning Plans/contracts 128bit encryption of all data stored/transferred

20. PeP Components

21. Faculty Design Contacts Undergraduate Nursing (BSN) Dr Bernie Garrett [email_address] Cathryn Jackson [email_address] Dr Maura Macphee Nurse Practitioner (MSN-NP) Gloria Joachim Barbara Boyle

22. Questions for roundtable discussion Introduce yourself: name & university campus What is a challenge/hurdle you are facing in your Institution/Department using portfolios? How do we encourage leadership within a community of practice? How do we embrace diversity within a community and engage people at different levels of expertise? How can we encourage interaction and learning around portfolios in an online environment?

23. Sustaining community Figure: Cambridge, et al (2005) components that make up the iterative ‘rhythm’ of a community foster collaborative projects; send people to events; builds prestige and encourages these members to give back to community don’t forget the important role of coordinator

24. Hands-on Activities Go to wordpress.com Create an account use an email account you can access during this session (eg. hotmail, yahoo, gmail)

25. Resources Online tutorials http://blogs.ubc.ca/eportfolio02 More are here: http://tv.wordpress.com

26. Resources **New online presence currently under construction! General UBC ePortfolio info https://www.elearning.ubc.ca - click on ePortfolio WordPress support: http://blogs.ubc.ca/eportfolio02/ Examples in this session: Education Portfolio site: http://efolio.educ.ubc.ca/cpaul/efolio-support/ General Context: http://efolio.educ.ubc.ca/whyandhow/ Teaching Portfolios: http://www.tag.ubc.ca/resources/teachingportfolios/

27. Objectives Give examples of how ePortfolios are being used at UTT, UBC, and around the world Create an ePortfolio space using a blogging platform Identify ways that portfolios can contribute to deeper learning and teaching

28. Contact information Catherine Paul, UBC [email_address] Twitter catherinepaul Facebook: catherine.paul@gmail.com Emily Renoe, UBC [email_address] Twitter: emilyr Facebook: emily renoe http://wiki.ubc.ca/EmergingTech