This document summarizes an ePortfolio program called Career Portfolio Manitoba that helps immigrants in Manitoba with qualifications recognition, employability, and English language skills. The program allows users to collect qualifications and work samples, reflect on skills and experiences, develop learning plans, and demonstrate skills to employers - helping with job searches, career development, and language learning. Benefits include improved information management, skills demonstration, collaboration, and measurement of learning over time. Users can showcase qualifications for academic recognition or hiring. The portfolio also supports lifelong learning through goal setting, skills tracking, and professional development.

1. ePortfolio
Accelerating Qualification
Recognition and Employment for
Manitoba’s Immigrants
English for Specific Purposes
April 20, 2012

2. Challenges for Immigrants
Qualificiations Recognition & Employability

3. What is ePortfolio?
Emerging international practice
http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/e-portfolios

4. Benefits of “e”
• Information Management capabilities
– Collecting, archiving, making different versions
• Integration with Internet skills
– Online research: documents, networks
– Internet literacy
• Easy to share
– “one to many”, digital copies, links to specific pages
• Collaboration
– Easy to add comments, edit, mentor, coach
• Measurement
– Link to frameworks, rubrics, track learning over time
• Easy to illustrate/demonstrate with multimedia
• Can integrate with other ICT systems
• Builds personal network, grooms digital identity

5. ePortfolio: product and process
• Digital archive
• Showcase: celebration & assessment of learning
– Education
• Acceptance/advanced standing, course requirement,
graduation requirement
– Workplace
• Hiring, HR development, professional development, project
team selection
FuturEd 2004

6. ePortfolio: product and process
• Assessment for learning (e.g. CLPA)
• Reflection, self-assessment
• Transferring skills, making transtions
• Coaching, collaborative learning
• Learning plans
• Knowledge Management

7. Personal Planning and Learning
Online Locker, Interactive Workbook
• Online archive
– Personal & downloaded documents, links
• Resources for self-directed learning
– Webinars, videos, self-assessment surveys
• Learning plans and tracking tools
– Set goals and track progress to them (Learning Plans)
– Keep records of learning activities over time (CPD)
• Personal journal
– Reflect on goals and alternative futures
– Keep ad hoc “notes to self”, prepare agendas, etc.
• Ongoing Personal Learning Environment (PLE)
– “Continuous Learning Environment”

8. Employment & related purposes
Demonstrate, assess & improve Human Capital
• Qualification Recognition
– Initial, formative, summative assessment
• Academic recognition
– PLAR/RPL for courses and programs
• Career Development
– Gap analysis, exploration of alternatives, building pathways
• Employment (Web CV)
– Hiring, career advancement, team building tool for employers
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
– Tracking ongoing learning activities and reflection on practice
– Recertification

9. Professional Example
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

10. Career Portfolio Manitoba
Provincewide solution for adults in transition
• Based on Essential Skills
– Not a straitjacket - a focus for employability
• User friendly
– For individuals and employers
– Can be “simple and easy” or “rich and deep”
• Well supported
– Hands-on portfolio building program
– Exemplars, step by step video tutorials, ongoing user support
• Complementary to other programs
– e.g. Collaborative Language Portfolio Assessment (CLPA)
• Open source and global: always improving
– Flexibility & sustainable continuous improvement

11. Demonstration
Career Portfolio Manitoba

12. Benefits for employment support
(Employment & Enhanced Language Learning)
• Web 2.0 social media tool
– Complementary to job boards
• Overseas potential
– Start addressing gaps earlier
• Capstone project for programs
– Show training outcomes & workplace readiness
• Ongoing support tool
– Self-directed learning, career advancement
• Service continuity
– Smooth hand-off after Year 1

13. Benefits for regulatory bodies
Supporting fairness, providing utility
• Visibility, transparency
– (esp. with exemplar case studies)
• Holistic view of applicant
– Authentic valorization of experience
• Overseas engagement?
• Value-added service to candidate
– Process & product supports career development
– Tool for ongoing PD
• Ongoing services for registered members
– Showcase, Continuing Professional Development (e.g. CME)

14. Benefits for employers
Electronic recruitment tool
• Scaffolded solution for the Manitoba workplace
– Works with LinkedIn, job boards & other solutions
already used for electronic recruitment
– Candidate evaluation can begin overseas
• Professional Page = quick, easy dashboard
– Links to further detail and downloadable resume
• Deeper, richer “Web CV” rewards closer study
– More complete picture of the candidate
– Authentic demonstrations of skills and knowledge
• Job Match Summary simplifies assessment
– Rubric aligns with employer’s original job description

15. Options for
English for Specific Purposes
• Refer learners to WEM’s Career Portfolio
Manitoba program
• Advocate for a solution that can directly
interoperate with ESP programs

16. Phyllis Mann
Program Coordinator for Essential
Skills for Immigrants
Workplace Education Manitoba
1000 Waverley Street
Tel: 272-5044
PMann@wem.mb.ca
Don Presant, President
Producer of Career Portfolio Manitoba
Tel: 219-5933
don@learningagents.ca
See this presentation online at bit.ly/eP_ESP