Dr. Helen Barrett presented on balancing the purposes of e-portfolios between student-centered improvement and institution-centered accountability. She discussed how e-portfolios can support both formative assessment for learning and summative assessment of learning. Barrett also emphasized the importance of finding balance between structured requirements and allowing student choice/voice. She suggested using separate tools for assessment management versus student e-portfolios and leveraging social learning technologies to increase engagement. The goal, according to Barrett, is to implement e-portfolios in a way that facilitates reflection, feedback and lifelong learning skills while still collecting necessary accountability data.

1. Balancing the 2 Faces ofE-Portfolios Dr. Helen Barrett http://slideshare.net/eportfolios

2. www.cic.edu/teach21/ Teach 21 program developed with support from Microsoft's Partners in Learning program

3. My contribution to the CIC website Electronic Portfolios Digital Storytelling 7 Webinars– 10+ hours Guided Tour Resources Faculty Stories Southern Wesleyan University Southern New Hampshire University Midway College 3 Webinars – 4+ hours Guided Tour Resources Assisted with development of all 5 Faculty Stories A brief look!

4. Audrey Rogers, SNHU Faculty Story http://www.cic.edu/teach21/T21_website/ep/stories/snhu.html

5. Key Themes of My Presentation Purpose Process Product

6. Raise your hands if you are… Implementing an ePortfolio System with your students Thinking about it Using e-portfolios to support student learning Using e-portfolio evaluation data for accreditation or institutional assessment

7. “Purpose” Drives the Process This presentation will balance Student-Centered Purposes (Learning, Reflection, Showcase) with Institution-Centered Purposes (Evaluation, Accountability)

8. Overlap of Assessment Types Positivist Constructivist Assessment Management Systems: that support Assessment OF Learning Electronic Portfolios: that support Assessment FOR Learning Institution-centered Learner-centered “Checklist of Competencies” • Balance • “Students’ Story of Learning”

9. Confusion of Terminology Electronic portfolios Student-centered Lifelong and Life Wide Assessment About individual learning and growth over time Focus on personalization, reflection, deep learning Formative or summative? Accountability systems Institution-centered Limited Time Frame Evaluation About comparability and sorting into normed groups Focus on standardization, validity, reliability In many ways, our technology-based tools have defined the process… and exacerbated the confusion.

10. What is a Portfolio? Dictionary definition: a flat, portable case for carrying loose papers, drawings, etc. Financial portfolio: document accumulation of fiscalcapital Educational portfolio: document development of humancapital

11. What is a Portfolio in Education? A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student's efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas[over time]. (Northwest Evaluation Association, 1990)

12. What is an Electronic Portfolio? Digital Documents Organized and presented with some type of "authoring" software Stored in an electronic container CD-Recordable disc DVD-Recordable disc WWW – Changing the genre!

13. Most of these documents began as digital documents!Today, we are moving from this container to the WWW

15. Multiple Tools to Support Processes-Capturing & storing evidence-Reflecting-Giving & receiving feedback-Planning & setting goals-Collaborating-Presenting to an audience

16. Digital Repository(Becta, 2007; JISC, 2008)

17. Questions to Ponder What happens to electronic portfolios once learners leave an institution? Can learners continue to maintain their own “digital documentation of development” throughout their lifetime? (Do they even want to?) Has the process of reflective practice become a habit of mind that will support lifelong learning? Cognitive Dissonance

18. Multiple Purposes from Hidden Assumptions What are yours? http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/acl/eMagArchive/RSCeMag2008/choosing%20an%20eportfolio/cool-cartoon-346082.png

19. Multiple Purposes of E-Portfolios in Education Learning/ Process/ Planning Marketing/ Showcase Assessment/ Accountability "The Blind Men and the Elephant” by John Godfrey Saxe

20. ePortfolio designs/strategies for different purposes Learning Portfolios(Formative assessment) Organized chronologically Focus of Reflection: LearningActivities & Artifacts Tools: Reflective Journal (blog) Faculty/peer role: Feedback on artifacts and reflection

21. ePortfolio designs/strategies for different purposes Assessment/Accountability Portfolios (Summative assessment) Organized thematically (outcomes, goals or standards) Focus of Reflection: Achievement ofStandards (rationale) Tools: Assessment system withdata from scoring rubrics Faculty role: Evaluation

22. ePortfolio designs/strategies for different purposes Showcase Portfolios(Employment, Self-marketing) Organized thematically(position requirements) Focus of Reflection:Suitability for position Tools: Choice of portfolio owner – personalized web pages – digital footprint Personal online branding

23. Campus Technology, November 2009 http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2009/11/01/ePortfolios.aspx

24. Limitations of Portfolios Shavelson, Klein & Benjamin, Inside Higher Ed, October 16, 2009http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/10/16/shavelson Main Points Lack of Standardization Not Feasible for Large Scale Learning Assessment Bias Enlightening responses to article– titles of some entries: Vision that is too narrow What's in it for the students? Why standardized tests still have not changed Maybe this approach to assessment is the real problem Accountability does not equal comparability and standardization The easy way out. . . Assessment for What? Viewpoint or ad?

25. A few thoughts about Assessment -- What Type? Assessment OF Learning? or Assessment FOR Learning? or Assessment AS Learning

27. Student-centered – embedded in learning

29. Portfolio Processes Traditional Collecting Selecting Reflecting Directing Presenting + Technology Archiving Linking/Thinking Storytelling Collaborating Publishing

30. Types ofE-Portfolio Implementation Working Portfolio The Collection The Digital Archive Repository of Artifacts Reflective Journal(eDOL) Collaboration Space Portfolio as Process-- Workspace (PLE)“shoebox” Presentation Portfolio(s) The “Story” or Narrative Multiple Views (public/private) Varied Audiences(varied permissions) Varied Purposes Portfolio as Product-- Showcase

32. Structure of E-Portfolio Types Portfolio as Process/ Workspace Organization: Chronological – eDOL(Electronic Documentation of Learning – U. of Calgary) Documenting growth over time for both internal and external audiences Primary Purpose: Learning or Reflection Reflection: immediate focus on artifact or learning experience Portfolio as Product/ Showcase Organization: Thematic – Documenting achievement of Standards, Goals or Learning Outcomes for primarily external audiences Primary Purpose: Accountability or Employment Reflection: retrospective focus on Standards, Goals or Learning Outcomes (Themes)

33. QUOTE The e-portfolio is the central and common point for the student experience… It is a reflection of the student as a person undergoing continuous personal development, not just a store of evidence.-Geoff Rebbeck, e-Learning Coordinator, Thanet College, quoted in JISC, 2008, Effective Practice with e-Portfolios

34. Student-Centered Philosophy "A portfolio tells a story. It is the story of knowing. Knowing about things... Knowing oneself... Knowing an audience... Portfolios are students' own stories of what they know, why they believe they know it, and why others should be of the same opinion.” (Paulson & Paulson, 1991, p.2)

35. Constructed Meaning "The portfolio is a laboratorywhere students construct meaningfrom theiraccumulated experience."(Paulson & Paulson, 1991, p.5)

36. Some Basic Concepts “ePortfolio is both process and product” Process: A series of events (time and effort) to produce a result- From Old French proces (“‘journey’”) Product: the outcome/results or “thinginess” of an activity/process- Destination Wiktionary

37. What is the best tool? Do you need an all-in-one system or multiple tools?

38. Categories of E-Portfolio Software Created as part of my study of different online tools: http://electronicportfolios.org/categories.html “Not just tools for telling [presentation] but more tools for talking![conversation]” - Julie Hughes, University of Wolverhampton Conversation transforms!

39. http://electronicportfolios.org/categories.html Web 2.0

40. Major Categories of ePortfolio Tools Higher Individual & Institutional Authoring Tools Static Web Services Interactive Web Services Institutional Software - Server required Hosted Services Assessment Systems - Hosted Services Lower Level of interactivity Higher Level of personalization & creativity Lower

41. Web 2.0 tag cloud

42. Recent changes in technology

43. Architectureof InteractionArchitecture of Participation (Web 2.0) allows a Pedagogyof Interaction (ePortfolio 2.0)

44. All you need is… an <Embed> Code! Hall Davidson To link students’ Web 2.0 content into e-portfolio systems

46. Lifelong and Life Wide

47. Increasingly Self-Directed

48. Motivating and Engaging

50. Think! What are the engagement factors that drive the use of social networks and how can we incorporate those factors into ePortfolios?

51. Premises of Deep Learning Motivation Active Learning Interaction with others A deep foundational knowledge “Because portfolios get students into a rich and deep knowledge base focused on their own learning experiences, portfolios are highly motivating. Collaboration with others deepens these individual experiences by allowing probing questions, socially constructed knowledge, and alternative viewpoints. Zubizarreta, J. (2009) Learning Portfolios. Jossey-Bass , p. xx

52. How can you leverage the technologies learners own? Accessibility from “net books” and home computers Connectivity with cell phones Audio (podcasts) and Video (digital stories)

53. “every day-ness” How can we make ePortfolio development a natural process integrated into everyday life? Lifelongand Life Wide Learning

54. Making ePortfolios Stick Will your students want to use thee-portfolio process after they graduate? Will ePortfoliotools be available to them after graduation? Gartner Group “Hype Cycle for Education” has ePortfolios"Sliding Into the Trough"

56. Two “Paradigms” of Assessment (Ewell, 2008) Ewell, P. (2008) Assessment and Accountability in America Today: Background and Content

57. Opportunity Cost The alternative you give up when you make a decision… The cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action What is the opportunity cost of emphasizing accountability/compliance ine-portfolios over improvement/reflection and deep learning?

58. Opportunity Cost – a conversation with a high school teacher: "It took all the thinking out of it. They gave me the standards and told me which artifacts to put into each one! It wasn't as effective as what my students did!” http://electronicportfolios.org/blog/2008/07/necc-2008-update.html What learning opportunities are we missing when we completely structure the learner’s portfolio?

59. Goal: Balance in Electronic Portfolios Purpose Accountability/ Compliance (Institution-Centered) Improvement (Student-Centered) (Or Course-Centered) Along a Continuum ?? ?? Opportunity Cost

60. Goal: Balance in Electronic Portfolios Purpose Improvement Accountability Highly Structured Uniformity and Standardization Required Assignments Faculty Evaluation Complexity Checklist Data! Engagement Deep Learning Personalization Choice and Voice Lifelong Skills Ease of Use Ownership Time Opportunity Cost

61. Goal: Balance in Electronic Portfolios Purpose Accountability Improvement Flexible Structure Self-Assessment & Feedback Lifelong Learning Skills More Social Learning Personalization Choice and Voice Engagement Story Faculty Time Involvement Ease of Scoring for… Collection of Data for… Accountability Institutional Support & Funding? Opportunity Cost

62. Goal: Balance in Electronic Portfolios Purpose Accountability Faculty Feedback Uniformity Flexible Requirements Data Program Improvement Improvement Self-Assessment Personalization Choice and Voice Student Engagement Increased Achievement Social Learning Faculty Time Involvement Complexity Opportunity Cost

63. Finding Balance in E-Portfolio Implementation Tools Use separate tools for assessment management and student e-portfolios? Ball State’s rGrade & WSU’s Harvesting Gradebook Incorporate blogging and social networking tools for interactivity and engagement Open Source Tools: WordPress, Movable Type, Mahara Allow embedding student Web 2.0 links, including video, into their e-portfolios Enable exporting e-portfolio to students’ lifetime personal webspace

64. Finding Balance in E-Portfolio Implementation Strategies Acknowledge the importance of both portfolio as workspace (process) & showcase (product) Support student choice and voice in e-portfolios Facilitate reflection for deep learning Provide timely and effective feedback for improvement Encourage student use of multimedia in portfolios for visual communication and literacy Digital Storytelling & Podcasting Picasa/Flickr slideshows Acknowledge/Encourage students’ Web 2.0 digital identity

65. Move beyond text-only artifacts Encourage development of multimedia artifacts Introduce alternative strategies for reflection Blogging Digital storytelling

66. Why Digital Stories in ePortfolios? Reflection is the “heart and soul” of portfolios Digital Stories can humanize any model of ePortfolio Digital Stories add VOICE

67. Do Your e-Portfolios have VOICE? Individual Identity Reflection Meaning Making New Literacy “When words are infused by the human voice, they come alive.” - Maya Angelou

68. Convergence

69. Midway College Faculty Story Lori Henderson http://www.cic.edu/teach21/T21_website/ep/stories/midway.html

70. Ongoing dialogue about e-portfolios My Google Group: Researching Web 2.0 Portfolioshttp://groups.google.com/group/web2eportfolios EPAC: http://epac.pbworks.com/ Electronic Portfolio Action Committee Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL) – a professional organization for e-portfolios in education http://www.aaeebl.org AAEEBL’s first National E-Portfolio Conference planned:Boston (co-located with Campus Technology Conference) July 19-22, 2010 AAC&U E-Portfolio Day planned:Washington, D.C., January 20, 2010 IUPUI Assessment Conference in October – e-portfolio track

71. My Final Wish… May all yourelectronic portfolios become dynamic celebrationsandstories of deep learningacross the lifespan.

72. Dr. Helen Barrett Researcher & Consultant Electronic Portfolios & Digital Storytelling forLifelong and Life Wide Learning Center for Advanced Technology in EducationUniversity of Oregon College of Education eportfolios@gmail.com http://electronicportfolios.org/ http://slideshare.net/eportfolios