1. eFolio Minnesota TM – A Project at the Crossroads Reflections on leading (or surviving) the countrys first electronic portfolio infrastructure

2. April 2005 Did you know this about MnSCU, at least at the start of this project? That the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) invented the electronic portfolio. That MnSCU is an international leader in electronic portfolio research. That national and state education standards drove the design of eFolio Minnesota. That eFolio Minnesotas project manager was a recognized leader in the portfolio community.

3. April 2005 What is true then when we started this effort... MnSCU is one of the larger public higher education systems in the country and is well positioned to work with K-12 and workforce partners. There was interest in and resources for investing in an electronic portfolio project. The project manager had managed both education and workforce technology projects but none involving electronic portfolios.

4. April 2005 eFolio Minnesota today Based on research and numbers eFolio Minnesota is one of the premier electronic portfolio projects in the world. As of the beginning of March 2005 there are over 28,000 registered users. Adoption of eFolio Minnesota by K-12, higher education, and workforce organizations. Addition project resources being provided by other public organizations to use eFolio Minnesota to complement and support their work efforts.

5. April 2005 Examples of eFolio Minnesota Uses St. Louis Park Intermediate School (K-12) Inver Hills Community College Urban Teacher Program Inver Hills Community College Urban Teacher Program Two-year and four-year nursing cooperative program Two-year and four-year nursing cooperative program Partnership with the States career and education portal (ISEEK)ISEEK Use by coparts (competitors/partners) – Hamline University and U of M Hamline University U of M

6. April 2005 The journey to eFolio Minnesota was actually fun (really!) Trip checklist Resources (about $500k) Project definitions / assumptions Project teams Project leadership / sponsorship Flexible contracting Sense of humor

7. April 2005 Project resources Funding for this effort came through a FIPSE administered Congressional Award that was intended to ramp up e-learning efforts within the Minnesota State College and University system (MnSCU). The funding was split into two pools: Curriculum – support for on-line courses and programs Student services – web-enabled student services including eFolio Minnesota

8. April 2005 Project definition Design, develop, and deploy a statewide electronic portfolio tool kit that would support Minnesota residents and students in their individual career and education goals….. Make it lifelong, and keep it free!

9. April 2005 Project assumptions

10. April 2005 Key assumptions About the portfolio user (customer) Assume the value of portfolios within an education and workforce setting. One size does NOT fit all – personal customization key. Owned by the individual and not by the institution - learner driven (sidestep the question of K-12 graduation standards) Need to accommodate reflections for a lifetime worth of learning and work.

11. April 2005 Key assumptions About the technology Word processor technology literacy for users. Nothing but net! Everything should be web based. KISS – keep it simple stupid If a simple alternative presents itself - take it! Accommodate our multi-media world. Provide for help tools and templates to assist users. Provide for security mechanisms that keep the user in control. Take the data security / privacy issue head on.

12. April 2005 Project structure Leadership and commitment to the needs of the 21 st century learner provided by: Linda Baer – Sr. Vice Chancellor Gary Langer – Assoc. Vice Chancellor Four project teams focused on unique needs: Worker / professional Student requirements Educator uses look-and-feel

13. April 2005 Contracting – keeping it flexible Developed and issued an RFP (request for proposal); both custom build and licensed products were eligible responses. Decided to go with a proposal submitted by Avenet, Inc. Proposal offered a lifetime, in perpetuity license for Minnesota (key given the dot-bust problems).Avenet, Inc Neither party expected the huge success of the project.

14. April 2005 Keeping a sense of humor Dealing with the what if questions What if someone dies and their relatives want to keep their site? What if a site is an porn site? What if someone lies about their eligibility? What if the Internet changes? What if……. Dealing with terms of use issues Commercial sites Organizational sites Classroom management sites

15. April 2005 Timelines

16. April 2005 Summer 2001 – Summer 2004 Summer 2001 – Project kick-off, establish project structure, release RFP August 2001 – Contract with Avenet, Inc. is executed Winter 2001-2002 – Project teams work through designs Spring 2002 – Alpha testing begins Summer 2002 – Beta testing begins and infrastructure installed August 2002 – eFolio Minnesota goes live (soft launch) May 2003 – Revamped portal site is released at a public launch Summer 2004 – Work starts on research project with Darren Cambridge; establish Advisory Committee

17. April 2005 What does the future hold? Fame Fortune Glory

18. April 2005 The known future! Enhancements Courtesy of our state agency partners we are developing tools to support interview interfaces, structured data tools, opt-in / grouping methodology, tools to support links to standards and/or competencies, and IMS compatibility (working on testing this with the U of M). State Summit We are developing (thank you Karen Thoms and group) plans for an eFolio Minnesota Summit in November. New communication tools New brochures and start-up guides are in the works.brochures Research Darren Cambridges research will be finalized within a couple of weeks.

19. April 2005 The slightly less well know future… Life cycle costs Base budgets are part of the costs for Minnesota Online but there is always a need for more resources. We have launched a value-added service (buy more space) with some success which provides a potential model for other services. Partnership with Avenet eFolio Minnesota was the first statewide effort within MnSCU to establish a public-private agreement with a private company. We are still exploring ways that this can mature. Future partnerships A number of organizations have approached us about possible partnerships (accreditation, economic development, licensing, medical, etc). How these mature has yet to be decided.

20. April 2005 But are you successful? Two measures of success: Formal – structured research Informal – word of mouth, numbers of users, web trends, etc.

21. April 2005 Informal measures of success Numbers look solid – 100% growth last year (2004). Web traffic is up – 2.9 million hits in December. Other agencies have provided fiscal and staffing resources (the help desk services have been provided by our workforce agency at no charge to the project). Asked to make presentations at various state and national workforce and education conferences. Feedback from various training/orientation sessions has been VERY positive – this is way cool, great idea, YES!, etc.

22. April 2005 Formal measures of success Research will be released in late April of 2005. Preliminary results are included in the April 14 th international satellite broadcast.satellite broadcast. Some preliminary research results of note include: eFolio Minnesota users are likely to be women; Top three uses are documenting KSAs, educational planning, and finding work (the greatest percent of satisfied users are those using it for educational planning); 1/3 of the survey respondents use eFolio in a role other than that which they signed up for; Ownership is a key factor for users along with ease of use; Giving a chance for users to experiment on their web self is vital. 18% of the respondents report that eFolio had a substantial impact on their learning and development.

23. April 2005 A few great quotes Training faculty on eFolio is like passing out ice cream to kids. – Lynde Milne, MnSCU Director – Center for Teaching and Learning eFolio [Minnesota] is the best US example of a portfolio project addressing lifelong and lifewide learning. – Darren Cambridge, George Mason University "Minnesota is leading the world in the ePortfolio Movement. You are the pioneers." - David Brown Wake Forest University

24. April 2005 Seeing is believing Sample sites Student Worker Educator Educator resources Portal

25. April 2005 Questions Contact information: Paul Wasko paul.wasko@so.mnscu.edu 651-649-5956 www.paulwasko.efoliomn1.com

26. April 2005 Thanks!!! Merci!!! Grazias!!!

27. Copies of brochures Back