ePortfolios and Social Media as Lifelong Personal and Professional Learning Environment

Dr. Helen BarrettDecember 2, 2010

Key Concepts

• Definitions

• Portfolios across the Lifespan

• Portfolios as Lifelong Learning

• Identity Development

• Online Professional Branding

• Reflection, Motivation & Engagement

• Preparing for Portfolio Careers & Portfolio Life

Legacy from the Portfolio Literature

Much to learn from the literature on paper-based portfolios

As adult learners, we have much to learn from how children approach portfolios

“Everything I know about portfolios was confirmed working with a kindergartener”

The Power of Portfolios

what children can teach us about learning and assessment

Author: Elizabeth HebertPublisher: Jossey-BassPicture courtesy of Amazon.com

The Power of Portfolios

Author: Dr. Elizabeth Hebert, Principal

Crow Island School, Winnetka, Illinois

Picture taken by Helen Barrett at AERA, Seattle, April, 2001

From the Preface (1)

“Portfolios have been with us for a very long time. Those of us who grew up in the 1950s or earlier recognize portfolios as reincarnations of the large memory boxes or drawers where our parents collected starred spelling tests, lacy valentines, science fair posters, early attempts at poetry, and (of course) the obligatory set of plaster hands. Each item was selected by our parents because it represented our acquisition of a new skill or our feelings of accomplishment. Perhaps an entry was accompanied by a special notation of praise from a teacher or maybe it was placed in the box just because we did it.”

Hebert, Elizabeth (2001) The Power of Portfolios. Jossey-Bass, p.ix

From the Preface (2)

“We formed part of our identity from the contents of these memory boxes. We recognized each piece and its association with a particular time or experience. We shared these collections with grandparents to reinforce feelings of pride and we reexamined them on rainy days when friends were unavailable for play. Reflecting on the collection allowed us to attribute importance to these artifacts, and by extension to ourselves, as they gave witness to the story of our early school experiences.”

Hebert, Elizabeth (2001) The Power of Portfolios. Jossey-Bass, p.ix

From the Preface (3)

“Our parents couldn’t possibly envision that these memory boxes would be the inspiration for an innovative way of thinking about children’s learning. These collections, lovingly stored away on our behalf, are the genuine exemplar for documenting children’s learning over time. But now these memory boxes have a different meaning. It’s not purely private or personal, although the personal is what gives power to what they can mean.”

Hebert, Elizabeth (2001) The Power of Portfolios. Jossey-Bass, p.ix-x

Let’s get personal…Think for a minute about:

Something about your COLLECTIONS:Suggested topics:

If you are a parent, what you saved for your children

What your parents saved for youWhat you collect… Why you collect…

Some issues to consider

What do your collections say about what you value?

Is there a difference between what you purposefully save and what you can’t throw away?

How can we use our personal collections experiences to help learners as they develop their portfolios?

The power of portfolios [to support deep learning] is personal.

PortfolioOne Word,

Many Meanings

DEFINITIONSWhat is a Portfolio?

Who was the first famous “folio” keeper?

Leonardo da Vinci’s Folio

Definitions - World English Dictionary

1. flat case, esp of leather, used for carrying maps, drawings, etc

2. the contents of such a case, such as drawings, paintings, or photographs, that demonstrate recent work: an art student's portfolio

3. such a case used for carrying ministerial or state papers

4. the responsibilities or role of the head of a government department: the portfolio for foreign affairs

5. Minister without portfolio a cabinet minister who is not responsible for any government department

6. the complete investments held by an individual investor or by a financial a organization

What is a Portfolio?• Dictionary definition:

a flat, portable case for carrying loose papers, drawings, etc.

• Financial portfolio: document accumulation of fiscal capital

• Educational portfolio: document development of human capital

What is a Portfolio in Education?

A portfolio is a purposeful collection of [academic] work that exhibits the [learner/worker’s] efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas[over time].

(Northwest Evaluation Association, 1990)

+Electronic• digital artifacts organized online

combining various media (audio/video/text/images)

Golden Circle

18

Why?

How?

What?

Purpose

• The overarching purpose of portfolios is to create a sense of personal ownership over one’s accomplishments, because ownership engenders feelings of pride, responsibility, and dedication. (p.10)

• Paris, S & Ayres, L. (1994) Becoming Reflective Students and Teachers. American Psychological Association

Four key pillars of Lifelong Learning(Barbara Stäuble, Curtin University of Technology, Australia)

http://lsn.curtin.edu.au/tlf/tlf2005/refereed/stauble.html

Knowing the learner (Self-awareness)

• Understanding prior knowledge

• Motivation for and attitudes toward learning

• Help learners understand themselves

• See their growth over time

Planning for learning (Self management)

• Setting goals

• Develop a plan to achieve these goals

Understanding how to learn (Meta-learning)

• Awareness of learners to different approaches to learning

• Deep vs. Surface Learning, Rote vs. Meaningful Learning

• Different Learning Styles

• Help learners recognize success

• Accommodate approaches that are not successful

Evaluating learning (Self monitoring)

• Systematic analysis of learners’ performance

• Responsibility to construct meaning

• Be reflective & think critically

• Learners construct meaning, monitor learning, evaluate own outcomes

Deep Learning

• involves reflection,• is developmental,• is integrative,• is self-directive, and• is lifelong

Cambridge (2004)

“Know Thyself”Temple at Delphi

Managing Oneself

• “Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves – their strengths, their values, and how best they perform.”

• New Purpose: Use ePortfolios for managing knowledge workers' career development

• What are my strengths?

• How do I perform?• What are my values?• Where do I belong?• What should I

contribute?• Responsibility for

Relationships• The Second Half of

your Life

Peter Drucker, (2005) Harvard Business Review

ePortfolios and Academic Advising • Advisors can know a lot more about the

students• Help students make connections across

courses (Portland State University research)

• Reflection and Feedback• Students record their goals in their

ePortfolio• Have students respond to interview

questions in their ePortfolios?

DEFINITIONS

What is an electronic portfolio?

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

Lifelong Context for ePortfolios

Portfolio Careers

• Video: http://vimeo.com/15236162

• Use ePortfolios to help students:

– explore their life purpose and goals

– explore their personal & professional identity

– build their professional online brand

– prepare for portfolio career/life

E-Portfolio Components < Multiple Portfolios for

Multiple Purposes-Celebrating Learning-Personal Planning-Transition/entry to courses-Employment applications-Accountability/Assessment

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

< Digital Repository(Becta, 2007; JISC, 2008)

Multiple Purposes from Hidden Assumptions

• What are yours?• • Showcase • Assessment • Learning •

http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/acl/eMagArchive/RSCeMag2008/choosing%20an%20eportfolio/cool-cartoon-346082.png

Multiple Purposes of E-Portfolios in Education

– Learning/ Process/ Planning–Marketing/ Showcase/ Employment –Assessment/ Accountability

"The Blind Men and the Elephant” by John Godfrey Saxe

ePortfolio designs/strategies for different purposes

• Assessment/Accountability Portfolios (Summative assessment)–Organized thematically (outcomes, goals

or standards)– Focus of Reflection: Achievement of

Standards (rationale)– Tools: Assessment system

with data from scoring rubrics– Faculty role: Evaluation

Forms of AssessmentFormative

AssessmentsProvides insights

for the teacher

Assessment FOR LearningProvides insights

for the learner

Summative Assessments (Assessment OF Learning or Evaluation)Provides insights

(and data) for the institution

Nick Rate (2008) Assessment for Learning & ePortfolios, NZ Ministry of Ed

Two “Paradigms” of Assessment (Ewell, 2008)Assessment for Continuous Improvement

Assessment for Accountability

Strategic Dimensions: Purpose Stance Predominant Ethos

Application Choices: Instrumentation Nature of Evidence

Reference Points

Communication of Results

Uses of Results

Formative (Improvement)InternalEngagement

Multiple/TriangulationQuantitative and QualitativeOver Time, Comparative, Established GoalMultiple Internal Channels and MediaMultiple Feedback Loops

Summative (Judgment)ExternalCompliance

StandardizedQuantitative

Comparative or Fixed StandardPublic Communication

Reporting

Ewell, P. (2008) Assessment and Accountability in America Today: Background and Content. P.170

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 actionWhat is the opportunity cost of emphasizing accountability in portfolios over reflection, deep learning, and continuous improvement?

Goal: Balance in Electronic Portfolios

Accountability(Institution-Centered)

Improvement(Student-Centered)

(Or Course-Centered)

Opportunity Cost

?? ??

Purpose

Along a Continuum

Goal: Balance in Electronic Portfolios

AccountabilityHighly StructuredUniformity and StandardizationRequired AssignmentsFaculty Evaluation ComplexityChecklistData!

Improvement

Opportunity Cost

EngagementDeep Learning

PersonalizationChoice and Voice

Lifelong SkillsEase of UseOwnership

Time

Purpose

Goal: Balance in Electronic Portfolios

Accountability

Opportunity Cost

Faculty TimeEase of ScoringCollection of Data for AccountabilityInstitutional Support& Funding?

ImprovementFlexible Structure

Self-Assessment & FeedbackLifelong Learning Skills

More Social LearningPersonalization

Choice and VoiceEngagement

Story

Purpose

Goal: Balance in Electronic Portfolios

Accountability Faculty Feedback UniformityFlexible RequirementsDataProgram Improvement

ImprovementSelf-AssessmentPersonalization

Choice and VoiceStudent Engagement

Increased Achievement

Opportunity Cost

Social LearningFaculty Time InvolvementComplexity

Purpose

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

ePortfolio designs/strategies for different purposes

• Learning Portfolios –Organized chronologically–Focus of Reflection:

Learning Activities & Artifacts–Tools: Reflective Journal (blog)–Faculty/peer role: Feedback on

artifacts and reflection

Portfolio Learning

Figure 2 A model of e-portfolio-based learning, adapted from Kolb (1984)

JISC, 2008, Effective Practice with e-Portfolios, p. 9

Experience

Understanding

FeelingReviewing

Reflecting

Publishing &Receiving Feedback

Sharing &Collaborating

DialogueSelecting Synthesizing

Recording Organizing Planning

Conceptualizing& Constructing

Meaning

ePortfolio “Mash-up”

ePortfolio “Mash-up” Small pieces, loosely joined

Lifetime Personal Web Space

Digital Identity

Creating Digital Identity

• “YouTube and other social media can mitigate the cultural tension between teens’ conflicting needs for independence and community by offering them ‘connection without constraints.’ What looks like narcissism and individuality is actually a search for identity and recognition.

• Wesch: ‘In a society that doesn’t automatically grant identity and recognition, you have to create your own.’

• PopTech: Michael Wesch on Using Social Networking For Good, September 23, 2010

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

Balancing the 2 Faces of E-Portfolios

Types of E-Portfolio Implementation

Working Portfolio– The Collection– The Digital

Archive– Repository of

Artifacts – Reflective Journal– 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

Boundaries Blurring (between e-portfolios & social networks)

• Structured Accountability Systems? or…

• Lifelong interactive portfolios

Mash-upsMash-ups FlickrFlickr

YouTubeYouTubeblogsblogswikiswikis TwitterTwitter

PicasaPicasa

FacebookFacebook

NingNing

Electronic Portfolios

• almost two decades (since 1991)• used primarily in education to – store documents – reflect on learning– feedback for improvement – showcase achievements for

accountability or employment

Social networks • last five years –store documents and share

experiences, –showcase accomplishments, –communicate and collaborate– facilitate employment searches

58

Processes

Portfolio

Collection

Selection

Reflection

Direction/Goals

Presentation

Feedback

Technology

Archiving

Linking/Thinking

Digital Storytelling

Collaborating

Publishing

Social Networking

Connect(“Friending”)

Listen(Reading)

Respond(Commenting)

Share(linking/tagging)

Ask!

Engagement Factors?

Social networks?

ePortfolios?

The Future?

• Future of Personal Metadata in the cloud• World Economic Forum: potential impact on

human capital development and economic implications. (Quite big picture!)

• (Paul Kim, Stanford University)PrPl and PCB: a new e-portfolio environment in the cloud?

Portfolios Can help learners find their Voice…

• and explore their Purpose and Passions through Choice!

ePortfolios should be more

Conversationthan Presentation

(or Checklist)Because Conversation transforms!

Do Your e-Portfolios have CHOICE and VOICE?

• Individual Identity• Reflection • Meaning Making• 21st Century Literacy

Voice6+1 Trait® Definition

• Voice is the writer coming through the words, the sense that a real person is speaking to us and cares about the message. It is the heart and soul of the writing, the magic, the wit, the feeling, the life and breath. When the writer is engaged personally with the topic, he/she imparts a personal tone and flavor to the piece that is unmistakably his/hers alone. And it is that individual something–different from the mark of all other writers–that we call Voice.

• http://educationnorthwest.org/resource/503#Voice

Self-Regulated LearningAbrami, P., et. al. (2008), Encouraging self-regulated learning through electronic portfolios.

Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, V34(3) Fall 2008. http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/viewArticle/507/238

Goals Captions/Journals

Change over Time

Strategies for Helping Students Reflect

• Interactive tools– Journals: Blogs & Wikis– ePortfolio tools with built-in reflection– Survey tools– Mobile devices (Google Voice or voice mail)

• Student self-expression – Digital Storytelling

• http://electronicportfolios.org/reflection.html

What about Motivation?

• Why would a student want to put all that work into developing an ePortfolio?

Similarities in Process

• Major differences:– extrinsic vs. – intrinsic motivation

• Elements of True (Intrinsic) Motivation:– Autonomy–Mastery– Purpose

Tools?Expressive vs.

Structured Models

Institutional Portfolios• What happens when a learner leaves or

transfers?

Learners’Digital Archives

and presentation portfolios

Class portfolios

Guidance portfoliosEmployment

portfolios

Institution’s server or

online service

Limited Time

Frame

Institutional data

Blogs

Faculty-generated evaluation data

Academic focus

Social networks

Separate Systems Learner-Centered

• Learners maintain collection across the lifespan, institutions maintain evaluation data & links

Learners’ Digital Archive & Blog

Learner-ownedLifelong Web Space

Class portfolio

Guidance portfolio

Employment portfolio

Institution’s Server or Service & Purposes

Limited Time Frame

hype

rlink

s

Institutional data

Meta-tags

Faculty-generated evaluation data

Life-wide focus Social

networks

Why Web 2.0?Access from Anywhere!Interactivity!Engagement!Lifelong Skills!Mostly FREE! All you need is an <EMBED> Code

Web 2.0 is becoming the Personal Learning Environment

of the “Net Generation”

Learning that is… Social and Participatory Lifelong and Life WideIncreasingly Self-DirectedMotivating and Engaging… and Online!

The Future of mPortfolios (m=mobile)

Reflection with WordPress App

iPhone App for PebblePad (U.K.)

More PebblePad Screens

Digital Tools for Reflection

Digital Storytelling and Engagement

Learner-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)

Digital Storytelling Process

• Create a 2-to-4 minute digital video clip– First person narrative

[begins with a written script ~ 400 words]– Told in their own voice [record script]– Illustrated (mostly) by still images–Music track to add emotional tone

Erin

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ObJ0iUdLR4

82

Reflection & Relationships• … the “Heart and Soul” of an

ePortfolio…• NOT the Technology!

My Final Wish…

• dynamic celebrations• stories of deep learning • across the lifespan

My Story

• http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5663623151376237595&hl=en

Dr. Helen Barrett• Researcher & Consultant

Electronic Portfolios & Digital Storytelling for Lifelong and Life Wide Learning

• eportfolios@gmail.com • http://electronicportfolios.org/• http://www.slideshare.net/eportfolios