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Running head: E-PORTFOLIO TRAINING 1

E-Portfolio Training at John Read Middle School

Nicole Graham

EDU627

Dr. Kathy Milhauser



E-PORTFOLIO TRAINING 2

e-Portfolio Training at John Read Middle School

Introduction

E-Portfolios are an up and coming aspect of the educational world. Not only do e-

portfolios allow technology to be integrated into the classroom setting, ―they imply a process of

planning, keeping track of, making sense of, and sharing evidence of learning and performance‖

(Wozniak, 2013). In addition, e-portfolios ―help students reflect about their own learning. This

reflection is a necessary mental process for developing critical thinking. Students no longer are

just passive learners but rather actively participate in the improvement of their learning‖

(Kharbach, 2012).

The following training will focus on training the staff at John Read Middle School

(JRMS) on e-portfolios. Teachers will learn the philosophy behind utilizing e-portfolios in the

classroom as well as several different programs which offer e-portfolios platforms for classroom

settings. In addition, teachers will learn how to implement, facilitate, organize, and assess e-

portfolios with their students. The training will be take place strictly in an online format.

Stakeholders

This training will involve several stakeholders. Among these include: the project

manager, teachers in the training, students at JRMS, school specialists, administrators, the ER9

school district, Board of Education, parents, the Redding, CT community as a whole, and the e-

portfolio companies. Some stakeholders will be directly affected by this training, while others

will be indirectly affected.

Project Proposal

Scope and Requirements

In an effort to utilize authentic assessment in the classroom by providing a way for




teachers to ―comprehensive[ly] assess their students’ knowledge and skills, to have students

actively participate in the evaluation process, and to simultaneously develop students’ skills of

reflective thinking,‖ this project will revolve around e-portfolios (Ali, 2005). This project will

train teachers on how to implement e-portfolios in their classrooms. The training will focus on

the benefit of e-portfolios and provide a variety of e-portfolios for teachers to explore and trial.

Teachers will learn how to set up their own e-portfolio, as well as learn how to organize and

manage e-portfolios in their classrooms. Lastly, teachers will learn how to assess student e-

portfolios. This project will not train teachers on every type of e-portfolio available; rather,

general components of e-portfolios will be discussed. In addition, this project will not train

teachers on how to set up any technical requirements; however, the necessary hardware and

software will be listed.

Milestones

There are seven high level milestones associated with this training. Although they are

described in more detail in the Work Breakdown Structure, below are the forecasted completion

dates for each milestone.

Develop initial teacher training June – August

Teachers learn background August – October

Teachers trial software October – November

Develop student training on SmartBoard December

Prepare teacher accounts December

Train students January

Manage and assess student e-portfolios February – March




Although the development of this training will begin during the summer, teachers will

begin their training during the professional development days before the student school year

begins the entire training is anticipated to be completed by March. It is expected that teachers

will successfully be able to implement and manage e-portfolios in their classrooms by this date.

Budget

The cost of this training will be approximately fifty hours, which includes roughly thirty

hours to create the internet-based training and twenty hours for the teachers to participate in the

training and fully implement e-portfolios in the classroom. Teachers will need to have desktop

computers, laptops or tablets available for them and their students, each which has network and

internet capabilities. In addition, teachers will need to have a Smart Board available to train their

students in their classroom.

Work Breakdown Structure

The following tasks represent the work-breakdown structure (WBS) for this training:

1. Develop initial teacher training

1.1 – Create wiki as platform for teacher training

1.1.1 – Create wiki account

1.1.2 – Assign accessibility options to wiki

1.1.3 – Create layout of wiki for resources, e-portfolio options and blog

1.2 – Find and upload research regarding e-portfolio theory

1.3 – Find and upload resources on e-portfolio uses and ways to implement in the

classroom

1.4 – Find e-portfolio software options

1.4.1 – Trial software




1.4.2 – Upload links to training wiki

1.4.3 – Create pro/con list for each software

1.5 – Review basic components of e-portfolios

1.6 – Find and upload sample rubrics for technology and e-portfolios

1.7 – Make training accessible to staff

1.7.1 – Create instructional overview of training

1.7.2 – E-mail overview and wiki link to staff

1.7.3 – Troubleshoot with any teachers who have questions or who

cannot access wiki

2. Teachers learn background

2.1 – Sign in to training wiki

2.2 – Read, watch, and listen to theory research

2.3 – Read, watch, and listen to e-portfolio implementation

2.4 – Post reflection and questions in blog section of training wiki

3. Teachers trial software

3.1 – Access and explore e-portfolios from list on training wiki

3.2 – Trial each e-portfolio

3.3 – Choose e-portfolio to implement

4. Develop student training on SmartBoard

4.1 – Explain purpose of e-portfolios

4.2 – Upload link/images of exemplar e-portfolio

4.3 – Create how to guide on e-portfolio software

5. Prepare teacher accounts




5.1 – Create e-portfolio site

5.1.1 – Create account

5.1.2 – Choose layout

5.1.3 – Add e-portfolio elements (home page, title pages, blog, etc.)

5.2 – Upload student usernames and passwords to teacher account

6. Train students

6.1 – Review e-portfolio purpose

6.2 – Review components of exemplar portfolio

6.3 – Go over how to guide

6.4 – Students sign on to computers/laptops/iPads and create e-portfolio

6.4.1 – Sign in using given username and password

6.4.2 – Create layout

6.4.3 – Add e-portfolio elements (home page, title pages, blog, etc.)

6.4.4 – Add sample (or real) content

7. Manage and assess student e-portfolios

7.1 – Teacher access student portfolios through teacher account

7.2 – Utilize rubrics to assess e-portfolios

Project Components

In addition to the project proposal and project work breakdown schedule, this e-portfolio

project will also include a communication plan, quality management plan and change

management plan. These components are included in the project as opposed to a project

schedule, project budget, stakeholder assessment and risk assessment because of their higher

priority with respect to this project. The communication plan is paramount to ensuring that the




project runs smoothly throughout the process and any diversions to this plan can be discussed

prior to the project’s end. The quality management plan ensures that the e-portfolio training not

only delivers what it set out to do, but that the training met its objectives to a high standard and

lessons were learned for future trainings (Post, Unit 4, 2013). Lastly, a change management plan

is included in this project because ―change tends to be resisted‖ for a variety of reasons (Post,

Unit 7, 2013). In order for the stakeholders to be open and willing to change how things have

been done in the past, a clear change management plan must be established.

Communication Plan

Stakeholder Information Needs Frequency Medium ResponseProject manager Information Daily 1. Meetings

2. E-mailUpdates fromother

stakeholders

Teachers Influence

Information Instruction

Bi-weekly 1. E-mail

2. Phone calls

3. Meetings4. Presentations

Updates

regarding

progress

Students Instruction Weekly 1. Presentations

2. Websiteupdates

Possible

technicalquestions

Specialists Influence Information

Instruction

Bi-weekly 1. E-mail2. Phone calls

3. Meetings

4. Presentations

Updatesregarding

progress

Administrators Influence Information

Bi-monthly 1. E-mail2. Meetings

3. Presentations

4. Phone calls

Confirmation of information

School District Influence

Information

Every two

months

1. Presentations

2. Website

updates

None expected

Board of Education

Influence Information

Every twomonths

1. Presentations2. Website

updates

None expected

Parents Influence

Information

Monthly 1. Newsletters Possible

clarifying

questions

Redding, CT

community

Influence Semi-annually 1. Newsletters None expected




e-Portfolio

companies

Influence Information

Initially, then

on an asneeded basis

1. E-mail Response to

questions asked

(Post, Unit 5, 2013)

Quality Management Plan

Overview

Name Role Quality Responsibility

Nicole Graham Project Manager Teacher training review, other

stakeholders satisfaction review

Kyle Evans Technology Coordinator Review of e-portfolio sites andresources

Teachers Training Participants Review of comfort level movingforward

Tools

Tool Description

Google Forms Survey of teacher training, e-portfolio sites and resources, comfortlevel, other stakeholders satisfaction

Quality Planning

1. Define Project Quality Expected survey results include no lessthan a mean score of ¾ on all questions

2. Measure Project Quality Surveys will ask related questions on a

scale of 1 — 4. Surveys will be sent out torelated stakeholders at three points during

the training and will be given 1 week to

complete the survey

3. Analyze Project Quality [TBD based on survey results]

4. Improve Project Quality Possible follow up questions will be asked

for less than satisfactory results

Possible re-training or revisiting trainingmethods

[Other items TBD based on survey results]

(CDC, 2008)

Change Management Plan

1. Establish a sense of urgency Summarize e-portfolio rationale from




teacher training to include in presentations

and newsletter

2. Create a guiding coalition Teachers in training will report status

updates of the project to report to other stakeholders

3. Develop a vision and strategy Teachers in training will decide steps

moving forward for further implementation

4. Communicate change vision through

every possible vehicle

Presentations and newsletters via

communication plan Include booth on e-portfolios at Back to

School Night

5. Empower broad based action and getrid of obstacles

Hold Q&A/info session at school to promote training and provide awareness

6. Generate short term wins Accomplishments will be e-mailed out totraining participants as weekly status

updates

7. Consolidate gains Weekly status updates will be sent out

8. Anchor new approaches in the culture Participants will be featured in newslettersand presentations for their exemplary

efforts

(Post, Unit 7, 2013)

Conclusion

Although this e-portfolio training consists of voluntary participants, it is expected that

future trainings will include the remainder of the staff members. E-portfolios will most likely

not become a mandatory aspect of the school curriculum; however, more teachers may enjoy

collaborating with students on projects using this mode of work display and reflection.




References

Ali, S. Y. (2005). An introduction to electronic portfolios in the language classroom. The Internet

TESL Journal , 11(8). Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Ali-Portfolios.html

CDC. (2008). Project quality management plan template. Retrieved from

http://www.cdc.gov/search.do?q=project+quality+management+template&btnG.x=-

721&btnG.y=-211&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-

8&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&ud=1&site=default_collection

Kharbach, M. (2012). Teachers guide on the use of eportfolios in education. Educational

Technology and Mobile Learning. Retrieved from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/

2012/10/teachers-guide-use-eportfolios.html

Post University. (2013). Unit 4 – Planning the project. Retrieved from

http://www.coursematerials.net/edu/edu627/unit4/index.htm

Post University. (2013). Unit 5 – Project communications. Retrieved from


Post University. (2013). Unit 7 – Monitoring and controlling the project. Retrieved from


Wozniak, N. (2013). Enhancing inquiry, evidence-based reflection, and integrative learning with

the lifelong eportfolio process: The implementation of integrative eportfolios at Stony

Brook University. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 41(3), 209-230. doi:

10.2190/ET.41.3.b

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Ali-Portfolios.html



http://www.cdc.gov/search.do?q=project+quality+management+template&btnG.x=-721&btnG.y=-211&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&ud=1&site=default_collection













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