Interdisciplinary ePortfolios: Assessing Academic and Professional Progress

1. Interdisciplinary ePortfolios:Assessing Academic and Professional Progress Kathryn Wozniak School for New Learning DePaul University

2. Introduction • Audience: • Students, faculty, staff (esp. at DePaul University) • Purpose: • Make the case for interdisciplinary ePortfolios in the University setting and their significance and meaning beyond the University • Print PortfolioePortfolioInterdisciplinaryePortfolio • Context • Student portfolios are often linked to ONE course, ONE discipline, or ONE professional situation • Facebook & LinkedIn Profiles = Demonstrate/Showcase and Discuss Social & Professional Development? • Interdisciplinary ePortfolios = Demonstrate/Showcase, Discuss, and AssessAcademic & Professional (& Social?) Development?

3. What are Portfolios? • Collection of documents and/or works (print) • Resume/CV • Essays & Reports • Certifications • Philosophy Statements • Artwork • Evaluations from others • Often used for academic and/or professional situations • Courses or departments: ex. English, Education, Art • Prospective Employer

4. Why Create Portfolios? • One package to: • Demonstrate learning process in course/s • Track knowledge and accomplishments • Showcase knowledge and accomplishments • Receive assessment from instructor • “Sell” your talent to prospective employers

5. What are ePortfolios? • Electronic version of paper/print portfolios • Oftentimes format is: • Zipped folder • PDF • Collection in an LMS/CMS • Sometimes format is: • Portfolio Software • Website

6. Why use ePortfolios? • Permanence (sometimes) • Better support for multi-media and new media artifacts • Easier to share • Public vs. Private • More options for Reflection and Assessment • Blog • Annotations (like Diigo) • Forums • Options for formatting/display • Demonstrate fluency with technology

7. "Besides the acquired and learned elements, e-portfolios document the learning process and therefore the developing process of competencies.“ Bisovsky, G. and Schaffert, S. (2009). Learning and teaching with e-portfolios: Experiences in and challenges for adult education. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 4(1), 13-15.

8. What are Interdisciplinary ePortfolios? • Electronic portfolios that: • Track and showcase work across the disciplines • Demonstrate critical thinking, creativity, logic • Demonstrate broader knowledge and understanding gained over a longer period of time: lifelong learning • May include academic, social, and professional artifacts • Have a larger audience

9. Why use Interdisciplinary ePortfolios? • Track, showcase, and assess education as a whole • Demonstrate self and identity, not just course-level or academic assignments only • Connecting with the community • local vs. international • Opportunity for/likeliness of students to keep and update after graduation

10. “ePortfolios in Higher Education typically evidence three functions: • fully public professional ePortfolios that serve to connect students and campus with the professional communities; • hybrid spaces that flex between public and private spaces where students and faculty work on group projects related to course work, assess their work, and make public and archive the final course projects (similar to how many faculty are now using wikis and weblogs); • thirdly, fully private spaces where students assess, document, and archive all academic work at the university.” Hager, L. (2007). ePortfolio Interdisciplinary Proposal. University of Oregon.

11. Sampling of Tools & Software • BEST (in my opinion) Considerations: student ownership, familiar interface, and FREE • Google Sites or Google Docs • Mahara • Sakai • PDF • OKAY Considerations: linked with school system, sometimes transferrable, fee-based • LMS/CMS: BlackBoard, DesireToLearn • eFolioWorld

12. “E-Portfolios are a new type of software and it is still relatively vague to determine, which functions are obligatory – that is which functions constitute characteristic features – and which functions are just optional (‘nice to have’).” Himpsl, K. & Baumgartner, P. (2009). Evaluation of e-Portfolio software. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 4(1).

13. Implementation? • Implementation – Course, Workshop, Seminar, Tutors, Handbook • Determine whether it is best to begin freshman year or later • Start small by integrating a few departments (Education and English? Accounting and Business?) • Develop University standards

14. Examples • Using Google Sites (Clemson University, SC) • https://sites.google.com/a/g.clemson.edu/jenniferjohnson/ • Using institutional portfolio system (San Francisco State) • http://ruthhaley.sfsuls.efolioworld.com/index.asp?Type=NONE&SEC={E901D7D9-5DD3-4CA5-9F26-D1D50E375833}

15. Other Schools • Penn State • University of Southern California • California State University • University of Oregon • University of Washington • Georgia State • Portland State • Boise State • University of Michigan ….the list goes on!

16. A Few Resources • ePortfolios – Helen Barrett electronicportfolios.org • Interdisciplinary ePortfolios – U. of Oregon eportfolio.uoregon.edu/welcome/InterePortinit.pdf • Study of ePortfolio Software International Journal of Emerging Technologies • How to do it (free!) with Google http://sites.google.com/site/eportfolioapps/overview