1 Bridging the Gap between Technology & ePortfolio Students EDUCAUSE Western Regional Conference April 24, 2006 Copyright UAS, This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

2 Presenters… Marsha Gladhart, Coordinator of the Educational Technology Program, University of Alaska Southeast Shirley Kaltenbach, Assistant Professor, M.ED Reading / Reading Endorsement Program Coordinator Michael Ciri Director of Information Technology Services

3 A little about UAS Small campus –Approx 4300 students, 1800 FTE Commitment to distributed education –25% of student headcount Heritage of technological innovation –LMS adoption: 90% and climbing

4 UAS ePortfolio Development Long gestation (1999 to 2005) –Much talk, little action Co-development –Faculty, Student, & IT (TLTR Model)

5 ePortfolios: No clear path Purposes Formative Summative Formal, Recreational, Personal Perspectives Time frame Audience Ownership

6 Architecture: Can One Size Fit All? Everyone controls a single collection of pages Pages may have… –Static content –Items (artifacts) –Weblog / Forum –Additional Subpages

7 Portfolio Items (Artifacts) Title Abstract Content Reviews & Comments Self Reflection Assessment

8 Architecture Close / loose integration with the LMS + “Flexible” authentication & authorization + No storage restrictions + No retention policy (forever?) = Nervous IT Director!

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10 Technologies Camtasia Breeze Discussion forum Weblogs Streamed video Real-time video Instant messenger Audio conferences

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12 Candidate Response to Cognitive Load Has intention to understand a task Attempts to relate new information to prior knowledge Generalizes aspects of the issue Biggs & Collins (1982)

13 The Learning Outcome (SOLO) The way that the cue and learner response are related How candidates use induction to build toward a conclusion How candidates balance consistency with their need for closure

14 High Tolerance Group I am mindful of Chomsky’s notion (1968) that language is a “property of the mind” waiting to unfold as long as there is a “triggering environment”. The structures that I include are partner response, cooperative learning, and ample time to process. I am careful to model and provide sufficient practice before I ask for independent performance. I carefully partner students so that a talkative child won’t dominate a less talkative child. ( 6/23/05)

15 Mid-level Tolerance I have read everything that you sent. I have watched the breeze presentations. However, my problem is not in understanding the information that is written. I am having a problem with what exactly you are looking for. Is there a way that we can get samples a portfolio so we can see what you are looking for? I have written about 5 different papers, all of which I had to delete and start over because I have no clue where to go with the information. Just a point in the right direction can be a huge help. (Online discussion 6/15/05)

16 Low Tolerance I have received this information. Sorry I wasn't at the conference but it was a beautiful day and i wanted to enjoy it outside with my family. I have already completed my knowledge statement for assessment and instruction. [Response partner] needs to review it. I will begin to add concept maps before writing the drafts so that the statement will be more focused and concise. (Online discussion 6/30/05))

17 Lessons Learned Front loading of the information Integration of scholarly writing skills across the program “Infinite Problems”

18 Technology “adjustments” Unit (and unity?) of assessment Ownership (again) Fine-tuning the details

19 Additional Questions? Marsha Gladhart, Coordinator of the Educational Technology Program, University of Alaska Southeast Shirley Kaltenbach, Assistant Professor, M.ED Reading / Reading Endorsement Program Coordinator Michael Ciri Director of Information Technology Services