E-portfolio… A Valuable Individual, Group, & Institution Learning & Assessment Tool Presentation by: Sonja Garris-Taylor Wednesday, - June 20, 2012 Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science (MS)² Howard University Washington, DC

Definition of E-portfolios An e-portfolio is a digitized collection of artifacts including demonstrations, resources, and accomplishments that represent an individual, group, or institution (Lorenzo & Ittleson, 2005, p. 1).

3 General Purposes for Developing & Using E-portfolios Learning (Formative) Portfolios (occurring on an on-going basis) Assessment (Summative) Portfolios (occurring within the context of a formal evaluation) Employment (Marketing) Portfolios (used for seeking employment) (Barrett, 2001, p. 1)

Education E-portfolios Education E-portfolios may be design to be used by the following individual, group, and or institution learners: - Students - Teachers - Schools

Education E-portfolio Contents Think of an education e-portfolio as an electronic container that operates via electronic technologies and purposely contains an on-going collection of students, teachers, and/or institutions work (artifacts) and their reflections on that work. The contained reflections transform the artifacts into “evidence” of achievement.

Education E-portfolio Digital Information Contents The contained artifacts can be in text-based, graphic or other multimedia formatted elements (i.e.; audio, video, etc.). The contained elements may be archived and saved on a Web site or other electronic media (i.e.; Partitioned Hard Drive, CD-ROM or DVD).

Education E-portfolio Digital Information Contents Education E-portfolios are not a haphazard collection of artifacts (i.e.; digital scrapbook or a multimedia presentation). Education E-portfolios differ from digital scrapbooks due to the way they are structurally organized.

Education E-portfolio Digital Information Contents Education E-portfolios are organized by the following criteria: – A set of standards or learning goals – The learner’s reflections (their achievements of the standards, rationale for selecting specific artifacts, and portfolio as a whole)

Student Education E-portfolio Reflective tool that exhibits the student’s effort, progress and achievements in one or more areas over a designated period of time. E xamples include the following: – Graphic bar chart of students standardized assessment scores over the period of 5 th thru 8 th grades. – Mastery of verbal communication skills via video taped interviews each consecutive academic year.

Education E-portfolios Education E-portfolios can be designed to function as a performance-based or standards-based assessments.

Performance-based Education E-portfolios Performance-based E-portfolios contain generated artifacts and reflections that transform the artifacts into evidence of achievement. ArtifactsReflections Evidence

Performance-based Education E-portfolios Characteristics of a performance-based education E-portfolios are as follows: – Student is involved in meaningful performance tasks – There are clear standards and criteria for excellence – Emphasis is on meta-cognition and self-evaluations – Student produces products (artifacts) and performance – There’s a positive interaction between student and teacher

Education Standards-based E-portfolios Uses a database or hypertext links to show relationship between standards or goals, artifacts and reflections. Create linkages between student tasks and performance assessments, with associated scoring guides, and standards that were designed to demonstrate.

Education E-portfolios As E-portfolios are learner centered, the collection of contents must include the student’s participation in the following: – Selecting contents – The criteria for selection – The criteria for judging merit (i.e.; rubrics) – Evidence of student selection

Teaching E-portfolios Derived from paper-based teaching and course portfolios Can serve as documentation of skills and accomplishments for career advancement Can be used for critical reflection and learning purposes (i.e.; collective learning and knowledge sharing)

Teaching E-portfolio Issues and Challenges Can present information overload Faculty Professional Development Technology Training Copyright and privacy issues Faculty adoption/buy-in issues Note: Teaching E-portfolio ‘s content can receive input from student E-portfolios and its content can serve as input to institutional/schools’ E-portfolios.

School E-portfolios Institutional E-portfolios incorporate student and teaching E-portfolios as well as a wide range of programs and departments. Typically present “a focused selection of authentic work, data, and analysis that demonstrates institutional accountability and serves as a vehicle for institution-wide reflection, learning, and improvement. (Lorenzo & Ittleson, 2005, p. 5)

School E-portfolio Issues and Challenges Use permission: can be resolved via subject release forms Complexity and scope effort: institutional e-portfolios require significant organizational development and maintenance efforts. Assembling the right team: requires the building of an effective and knowledgeable institutional research staff, web developer(s), graphic designers, and technically skilled staff (i.e.; analyst, multimedia, database construction and maintenance, etc.)

Benefits of Developing & Using E-portfolios for Students or Teachers Minimal storage space Easy to create back-up files Portability Long shelf life Learner-centered Increases technology skills (i.e.; multimedia) Improves higher order thinking skills Easier to make arguments that certain standards are met with the use of hypertext links Accessibility and ease of documenting, tracking and reporting student outcomes.

Developing & Implementing Education E-portfolios It is recommended that the integrative use of the ADDIE instructional design and E-portfolio Multimedia Development Process methodologies be used to develop and implement an education E-portfolio.

ADDIE Stages of Instructional Design Analysis Implementation EvaluationDesign Development

Stages of E-portfolio Multimedia Development Process Assess/Decide Design/Plan Develop Implement Evaluate

E-portfolio Multimedia Assess/Decide Stage of Development Focus is on the needs assessment of the audience, the presentation goals, and the appropriate tools for the final portfolio presentation.

E-portfolio Multimedia Design/Plan Stage of Development Focus is on organizing or designing the presentation. 1. Determine audience-appropriate content, software, storage medium, and presentation sequence. 2. Produce and use flow charts and story boards

E-portfolio Multimedia Develop Stage of Development 1. Gather materials to include in the presentation. 2. Organize the materials’ sequence (or use hyperlinks) using an appropriate authoring program.

E-portfolio Multimedia Implement Stage of Development Developer presents the e-portfolio to the intended audience.

E-portfolio Multimedia Evaluate Stage of Development Focus is on evaluating the presentation’s effectiveness in light of its purpose and the assessment content.

Sample Education E-portfolio Development Tools No digital artifacts and some video tape artifacts Word processing files PowerPoint presentations Adobe Acrobat PDF files HTML-based web pages Multimedia authoring programs (i.e.; Macromedia Director)

Suggested Education E-portfolio Functional Operations Collection – teachers and students save artifacts that represent day- to-day growth opportunities Selection – teachers and students review and evaluate the saved artifacts and identify those that demonstrate achievement of specific standards. Reflection – teachers and students become reflective practitioners by evaluating their own growth over time--- including any gaps in their achievement Projection – teachers and student compare their reflections to the standards and performance indicators, and set goals for the future (beginning of professional development and lifelong learning). Presentation – teachers and students share their portfolios with their peers encouraging collaboration, professional development, and lifelong learning.

References Barrett, Helen C. (2001). Electronic portfolios – a chapter in Education Technology; an encyclopedia to be published by ABC- CIO, Retrieved June 17, 2012 from Lorenzo, George & Ittleson, John. (2005, July). An overview of e-portfolios. Retrieved June 17, 2012 from