Establishing an institution community of practise Emma Collins
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
0 likes•19 views
2pm Session 4D Bldg S07 Room 2.19 Establishing an institution community of practice Emma Collins Otago Polytechnic NZ ePortfolios commenced at Otago Polytechnic in 2014 in the School of Nursing. Now there are a number of Schools within the institution using ePortfolios, including a variety of platforms and in dynamic and interesting ways. As awareness of ePortfolios and the associated pedagogy grows, the focus is shifting from ePortfolios being a repository to being reflective of the learning journey and evidencing graduate capabilities. In 2018 a Community of Practice was established within the institution to connect colleagues who are using ePortfolios. While this community is still in its infancy, it is already proving beneficial to the members. This presentation will discuss why this was established, how it was established, and the successes we have had with the community so far.
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (11)
Similar to Establishing an institution community of practise Emma Collins
Similar to Establishing an institution community of practise Emma Collins (20)
More from ePortfolios Australia
More from ePortfolios Australia (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Establishing an institution community of practise Emma Collins
- 3. ePORTFOLIO HISTORY AT OP
- 4. • ePortfolios were introduced into the School of Nursing in 2014 • We were the first to introduce a highly structured and formal platform • This introduction was formally evaluated
- 5. THE BEGINNING • The ePortfolio was set up to be an electronic version of a paper version • It was a repository
- 6. TODAY • Learners are more engaged with what a ePortfolio is • More reflective
- 7. TODAY AND BEYOND… • Interest in the Polytech about what other schools are doing in this space • Fielding a lot of queries about ePortfolios
- 10. WHAT IS A CoP? “ Groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis” Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002
- 11. INQUIRE • The six phases of a CoP • Inquire • Design • Prototypes • Launch • Grow • Sustain (Cambridge, Kaplan, & Suter, 2005)
- 12. DESIGN • Purpose • Vision • Processes • Roles Knowledge sharing
- 13. PROTOTYPES AND LAUNCH • Reviewed by a colleague • Initially 12 people were invited • People were asked to introduce themselves
- 14. • Advertising: – Email sent to relevant people who forwarded the email on – Blog post on our Intranet – Message sent out via our Ed Tech Champs forum – Word of mouth
- 17. GROW
- 18. SINCE ITS INCEPTION… • Art • Electrical Engineering • Nursing Competence Assessment Programme • Enrolled Nursing • Midwifery
- 19. SUSTAIN • Where to next? – Showcasing event – Ask more questions – Explore other platforms – Support each other
- 20. Please contact me! Emma Collins Principal Lecturer School of Nursing Learning and Teaching Development Team Emma.collins@op.ac.nz
Editor's Notes
- Hello My name is Emma Collins and I am a Principal Lecturer in the School of Nursing and also a Learning and Teaching Specialist in the Learning and Teaching Development Team at Otago Polytechnic
- Otago Polytechnic is in Dunedin, New Zealand We are a tertiary institution that is very highly regarded in New Zealand. 24 ways to make you more employable – this refers to our Capability Framework which has identified 24 personal attributes employers value, irrespective of the industry they’re in, and evidenced in a Portfolio. We are located at the bottom of the South Island
- ePortfolios have long been used at OP but in various ways. From carpentry using powerpoint for students to upload pictures of their work and submitted it as an ‘ePortfolio’ (this was quite some time ago) to where we are now with many schools using a more formal and structured ePortfolio platform
- I have spoken at previous ePortfolio forums about our experience with introducing an ePortfolio into the School of Nursing. We did this in 2014 and we were the first school in the Polytech to introduce a formal and highly structured ePortfolio platform. We have had mainly success with this and we continue to use this platform to this day. Other schools around OP are now also using this platform.
- The ePortfolio tried to just be an electronic copy of the paper version that was in use. As a result of this, the ePortfolio was viewed by students as a repository
- Our learners are much more engaged with the pedagogy around ePortfolios and that they are much more than repositories. We work hard to ensure our learners that they understand that portfolios are a space where they can reflect, select and share pieces of work for a specific purpose
- So we are becoming a bit more experienced now with using an ePortfolio and what it is all about. I was getting a few queries from academics and learning and teaching specialist about what ePortfolio platform to use, what we were doing, and how much success we were having
- In response to all of these queries coming my way, and then me directing them to someone else who might then consult someone else, I thought it was timely that we set up some way of networking and sharing of ideas and information. So in 2018 the OP ePortfolio Community of Practice was established.
- I set up the Community of Practice through Microsoft Teams – and in this app, it is called a Professional Learning Community or PLC. But we just refer to it as a CoP as people are more familiar with this term
- Communities of practice (CoPs) are defined as “groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis” (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002, p. 4). Online communities provide useful platforms for knowledge extraction, exchange, and creation, both within and across organizational boundaries (Cheung, Lee and Lee, 2013)
- According to Cambridge, Kaplan and Suter (2005), establishing a CoP usually comprises six phases: inquire, design, prototypes, launch, grow, and sustain (Cambridge, Kaplan, & Suter, 2005). So I began with inquiring with colleagues in the Learning and Teaching Development Team. I also inquired with many academic colleagues who had an interest in ePortfolios and were keen to find out more. I got a sense that a collaborative space would be worthwhile
- Through the inquire and design phases, the purpose and vision of the community, its activities and group process, and its different roles are set (Cambridge, Kaplan, & Suter, 2005). While no formal purpose or vision has been set, the purpose was primarily for knowledge sharing. Cheung, Lee and Lee (2015) state that while many CoPs are set up for knowledge sharing, this depends largely on whether members are willing to initially and continually share knowledge. I got a sense that the potential members were keen to do this. In the ‘Teams’ App 5 categories have initially been set up.
- During the prototype phase, the community is piloted and its strategy refined. These three phases are followed by launching the community to a wider audience, growing by widening the participation, and sustaining the program (Cambridge, Kaplan, & Suter, 2005). It was tested and reviewed by a colleague with experience in this area before inviting others. Initially 12 people were invited into the CoP – these were people I thought might be interested. I followed the invite with an email explaining the purpose of the ePortfolio CoP and that it was a space to share information and ideas
- Advertising: Email sent to relevant people who forwarded the email on to others in their department Blog post on our Intranet Message sent out via our Ed Tech Champs forum Word of mouth As a result of this, a further 14 people have joined, making a total of 26 people in the organisation in the CoP
- People were asked to introduce themselves and to tell others what they are doing in relation to ePortfolios, why they wanted to join this CoP and what they hoped to get out of it. The first post was from a lecture in Electrical Engineering. They had been using PowerPoint and had experimented with Class Notebook. He was very keen to share some ideas. As a result of this we have been working with this School to develop an App that best meets their needs. A lecturer from Sports told the group about their experience using the personal Pathbrite feature. He stated that this was an excellent way for students to capture and reflect on their work based learning placements. He also said that their eportfolios have evolved a lot from when we first started using them.
- We have asked a few questions in the forum to gain feedback. An example of a question we asked was about what people would like to see in a training suite for ePortfolios that was being developed. The developer was then given some very useful information about what to include.
- The different categories in the app allow for different conversations. Many pieces of literature have been shared in the ‘publications’ stream and different conference details, including this one, advertised in the ‘professional development’ stream.
- Since the establishment of this CoP, I have helped Art, Electrical Engineering, the Nursing Competence Assessment Programme, Enrolled Nursing and Midwifery embark on an ePortfolio journey. In such a short time, this is quite a feat, and I suspect there will be loads more to come.
- Not only do I plan to sustain this group but I intend to grow it significantly. I am planning to have a showcasing event where the different schools can show the platforms that they are using and how they are using them We will ask more questions via this CoP We will explore other ePortfolio platforms so that people can get the tool that best meets their needs and share our findings Support each other with our ePortfolio queries