The document discusses the experiences of Marie Fisher and Andrew Hill in supporting educators at the Australian Catholic University to use ePortfolios. Their roles allow them to advise faculty on initiatives and investigate pedagogical tools. Over three years, they helped staff adopt the ePortfolio tool Mahara and integrate it into teaching. They found the process was slow and revealed unexpected opportunities. Documenting their experiences helped others and their own development. Their model moved from a project team to a sanctioned community of practice to build knowledge sharing.

1. Supporting educators
to use ePortfolios
Jochen Schlenker / Robert Harding World Imagery / Universal Images Group
Rights Managed / For Education Use Only
Marie Fisher
Andrew Hill

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Introduction and roles
Marie (Bernie) Fisher
Academic Developer
Bernie’s role as part of the Senior Leadership Team of the Learning and Teaching
Centre allows her to advise on Faculty initiatives and advocate on their behalf during
planning meetings
Andrew Hill
eLearning Advisor
Andrew’s role within the eLearning team allows him to investigate tools and advise
on their pedagogic affordances, developing and testing processes with educators

3. Aim
• We would like to share our experiences, challenges and
opportunities with the ePortfolio network.
• Explain the model of support provided to the Faculty of
Education staff at the Australian Catholic University in
developing and supporting an ePortfolio Community of
Practice (CoP).
• Show how we document issues arising in our practice which
we turn into opportunities for improving learning and teaching
at ACU through published material.
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4. Advocating
• Listen, listen, listen
• Provide drivers
• Facilitate discussions
• Build on ideas
• Test for robustness
• Chase feedback
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Patrick McDonnell / Photo Researchers / Universal Images Group
Rights Managed / For Education Use Only

5. Repository to reflection
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6. Eportfolio Model 2 – Process to Product at ACU
Figure 2: Eportfolio Model 2 - Process to Product, Source: Fisher & Hill, 2015.
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7. CoP model we used
• Move from Project team to sanctioned CoP
• Identified and invited thought leaders distributed
across schools and campuses
• Set clear and achievable goals
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8. Community building
• Moving from legitimate peripheral participation through to
self-determination;
• Stewarding knowledge assets
• Providing examples of Professional Teachers (AITSL)
standards in different Page templates
• Providing templates for teachers career development
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9. Summary
• Over the last three years we have worked with the Executive and faculties
at ACU to help academic staff with uptake, adoption and integration of the
ePortfolio tool Mahara with learning and teaching activities.
• Integration of eLearning with pedagogy has been an important part of the
journey towards a community of practice;
• We learned that this journey can be slow, reveal unexpected opportunities
that emerge from challenges;
• Documentation of our experiences to help others here in Australia and
globally has been important for the sector and our own professional
development
• Thank you for the opportunity to share these experiences with the sector.
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10. Additional Reading
Fisher, Marie, B. & Hill, Andrew, J. ”Eportfolio Implementation in a Multiple Campus Environment
4 – Disruptive Change and Innovation”, International Journal for Infonomics (IJI), Volume 8, Issue
4, December 2015.
Full paper located at: http://infonomics-society.org/wp-content/uploads/iji/published-
papers/volume-8-2015/Eportfolio-Implementation-in-a-Multiple-Campus-Environment-4-
Disruptive-change-and-Innovation.pdf
Craven, G., Beswick, K., Fleming, J., Fletcher, T., Green, M., Jensen, B., Leinonen, E., & Rickards, F.
(2014). Action Now, Classroom Ready Teachers Report. Department of Education and Training.
Retrieved from https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/action-now-classroom-ready-teachers-
report-0
Wenger, Etienne; McDermott, Richard; Snyder, William M. (2002). Cultivating Communities of
Practice. Harvard Business Press
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