1. Using ePortfolios to Improve Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
Debra Dunlap Runshe
Instructional Development Specialist
University Information Technology Services - Learning Technologies
Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis

2. Webinar Objectives
By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
describe a variety of purposes for electronic portfolios
explain the process of “folio” thinking.
articulate why reflection is important to deep learning.
understand how to use ePortfolios for assessment purposes.
access resources that will help them begin to use ePortfolios to improve teaching and learning.

3. How are ePortfolios Used?
Teaching & Learning
Accountability & Assessment
Self-Representation & Identity Development

4. What is an ePortfolio?
“A digitized collection of artifacts, including demonstrations, resources, and accomplishments that represent an individual, group, or institution.”
(Reese & Levy, 2009)
“Created by the three principal activities of collection, selection, and reflection, student portfolios can be succinctly defined as collections of work selected from a larger archive of work, upon which the student has reflected. Portfolios can be created in many different contexts, serve various purposes, and speak to multiple audiences.”
(Yancey, 2001)

5. Balancing the Two Faces
(Barrett, H. 2010)

6. Learning or Reflection
Focused on process, students:
learn to self assess through the reflection process.
increase their depth of knowledge through the reflection process.
take control of their own learning leading to greater self-confidence.
develop life long learning skills.
… a series of events, the journey
(Barrett, H. 2010)

7. Showcase or Accountability
Focused on product, students:
have a tool for personal development.
create a personal learning record.
develop a direction for career planning.
showcase their strengths and accomplishments.
… the outcomes/results, the destination
(Barrett, H. 2010)

8. Student Development
Personal development plan; academic/career planning
Personal academic web site (take ownership of learning)
Capstone (integrate learning in expanded range of media; through reflection, articulate learning and accomplishments)
Resume-building

9. First Year Experience

10. FSU Career Portfolio Template

11. Professional Presentation
Layout
Color choice
Text readability
Text alignment
Copyright and accessibility
RESOURCE FOR E-PORTFOLIO DESIGN
Thompson, P. (2011). The web design for professional portfolios series.
[Video files].

12. What Makes Good Web Design?

13. Reflective Portfolio

14. What is reflection? Metacognition
Re-processing ideas to support understanding
Questioning assumptions
Seeing in multiple contexts
Self-examination
Integration
Self-assessment

15. Forms of Reflection Account/analysis of a process
Analysis of an experience
Analysis that connects a series of experiences
Analysis of an artifact
Analysis that connects a series of artifacts
Review of progress
Goal-setting
Synthesis

16. Preparing for Reflection
Evaluation of sample reflections
Written and oral peer review of rough drafts
Final reflection
Importance of:
Thoughtful, appropriate prompts
The “right” amount of reflection to assign

17. A Taxonomy of Reflection

18. Value of Reflection
Reflection helps students make knowledge by articulating connections
Reflection introduces students to new kinds of self-assessment that they carry into the rest of their lives
Reflection helps develop habits of reflective practice
Reflection supports deeper engagement in learning
Reflection provides evidence of learning not available by other means

19. Some Issues To Consider
How can we teach students to reflect?
What kinds of scaffolding/support do students need at different levels and in different contexts?
When and how often should students reflect?
How can we assess reflection?

20. Growth and Development

21. “Folio” Thinking
“’Folio’ thinking enables students to become aware of, document, and track their learning and develop an integrated, coherent picture of their personal learning experiences from both inside and outside of the classroom."
~Helen Chen

22. Integrative Learning
“Portfolios are inherently integrative, being composed of heterogeneous artifacts, the connections between which are explored through reflection”
(D. Cambridge, 2009)
“As students go through the process of collection, selection, and reflection, they show the ability to identify the larger design that informs their college experience”
(T.S. Edwards & C. Burnham, 2009)

23. ePortfolios for Accountability
Catalyst for more deliberate integration of general education and disciplinary outcomes into curricula
Supports guided learning experiences
Develop authentic evidence for documenting and assessing student attainment of general education and/or discipline-specific outcomes
Aggregate assessment data for improvement and accountability

24. Advantages for Assessment
“Documenting learning in this way places the focus on actual achievements that are viewed directly, rather than on proxies of achievement like cumulative GPAs or test scores that are only indirect indicators of learning. The focus is also on what students can do with their knowledge and skills and not simply on whether knowledge has been acquired.”
(Huba & Freed, 2000)

25. Implementation Issues
How will the portfolio be designed to fulfill the institution’s or department’s purposes?
How will the portfolio be integrated into program curricula? What changes will this require?
Who will read and evaluate student portfolios? When?
What are the infrastructure needs? What resources are needed?
What faculty development is needed? What skills will students need to develop?

26. Typical Guided Portfolio Workflow
Student uploads artifacts, fills out forms and/or writes a reflection
Student requests and receives formative feedback from assigned or student-selected reviewers
Student submits for evaluation
Evaluator rates and comments on work

27. Sakai OSP Frameworks Matrix Outline Wizard
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
PUL 1
PUL 2
PUL 3
ETC.
Matrix Cell
= Wizard  = 1 Portfolio Activity

28. Documenting Growth Over Time
Secondary Education Matrix

29. Summative Assessment of Learning
Transition to Teaching Wizard

30. Integrative Learning
English Capstone Matrix

31. Rubric for Reflective Thinking

32. Rubrics and ePortfolios
Rubrics have been identified as the ideal means for portfolio assessment (Buzzetto-More & Alade, 2006) Rubrics are also particularly useful in assessing complex and subjective skills (Dodge & Pickette, 2001)

33. Advantages of Rubrics Makes expectations clear
Prepares students to use detailed feedback
Encourages critical thinking
Facilitates communications with others
Helps students self-assess
eTOOLS FOR RUBRIC CONSTRUCTION
Rubistar
iRubric

34. AAC&U’s VALUE Rubrics
Learning Outcomes for the development of VALUE Rubrics
Intellectual and Practical Skills
Inquiry and analysis
Critical thinking
Creative thinking
Written communication
Oral communication
Reading
Quantitative literacy
Information literacy
Teamwork
Problem solving
Personal and Social Responsibility
Civic knowledge and engagement-local and global
Intercultural knowledge and competence
Ethical reasoning
Foundations and skills for lifelong learning
Integrative and Applied Learning
Integrative and applied learning
(Retrieved from October 23, 2010

35. Choosing ePortfolio Software
Identify primary and secondary purposes
Who are your users and stakeholders?
What is the value proposition for each?
What are their needs and expectations?
Focus on functional needs (what they need to do), not technical (how they need/want to do it)
Create a needs matrix and prioritize (must have, should have, nice to have) and use it to evaluate solutions
PUT THE USERS NEEDS FIRST!
Ward, L., 2011

36. Software Options
BUY: commercial packages TaskStream, LiveText, Chalk&Wire, etc.
BORROW: open/community source OSP, Mahara, Elgg
BUILD: develop a custom application Career Portfolio (Florida State University) STEPS for Assessment (CSU Chico State)
ADAPT: use and combine generic tools Google sites, Blogs, Wikis, survey software
Ward, L., 2011

37. BUY: Commercial Software
Pros
Cons
Rapid development; mature
High costs for licensing and maintenance
Feature Rich
Complex
Multipurpose
Duplication of other campus applications and services (CMS/ LMS, admissions, advisement, etc.)
Documentation and support (including system integration services)
Works out of the box
Can’t easily modify/customize
Some offer vendor and local hosting options
Some hosted by vendor only
Ward, L., 2011

38. TaskStream
Ward, L., 2011

39. PebblePad
Ward, L., 2011

40. BORROW: Open/Community Source
Pros
Cons
No licensing costs
May require investments in developers, tech writers, user support, etc.
Code can be modified
Documentation and testing may not be as thorough
Opportunities to participate in product direction and development
Fewer features and functions than commercial products
Emphasis on interoperability and open standards
No guarantees or service level agreements
Dependence on community for support and continued development/ maintenance of product
Ward, L., 2011

41. Mahara
Ward, L., 2011

42. Sakai Open Source Portfolio
Ward, L., 2011

43. BUILD: Develop Custom Application
Pros
Cons
Better fit with institutional or programmatic needs and processes
Development and deployment costs are difficult to predict
Implement a completely new vision or approach
Longer time to deployment
Control over future development and rate of change
Complete dependence on internal expertise
Ward, L., 2011

44. FSU Career Portfolio
Ward, L., 2011

45. Chico State STEPS for Assessment
Ward, L., 2011

46. ADAPT: Generic Web Authoring or Web 2.0 Tools
Pros
Cons
Free or very low-cost (Google sites, hosted blogs or wikis)
No support for assessment processes or reporting
Gives portfolio owner creative control
Uncertain future of hosted services
Available to students after graduation
Ward, L., 2011

47. Blogfolios (Penn State)
Ward, L., 2011

48. Google Sites
Ward, L., 2011

49. Wikifolios
Ward, L., 2011

50. ePortfolio Galleries
Bowling Green State University:
Clemson University:
IUPUI Personal Development Plan:
LaGuardia Community College ePortfolio:
Portland State University:
San Francisco State University:
University of Michigan:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University:

51. ePortfolio Associations
AAEEBL:
EPAC:
EIfEL:

52. ePortfolio Research Projects
Making Connections:
Inter/National Coalitions for Electronic Portfolio Research:

53. In Summary: Uses of ePortfolios
Support/document academic and professional development
Increase student engagement and achievement
Help students become more intentional, integrative learners
Support reflective practice
Support curricular development
Support authentic assessment for improvement and accountability
Support academic and career advising

54. Implications for Learners and Teachers
Learning-centered vs. teaching-centered
Supports active learning pedagogies aimed at promoting deeper learning
Supports integrative, reflective learning
Supports formative and summative assessment
Students thrive when faculty collaborate to develop intentional, coherent curricula

55. Why Use ePortfolios? For students For faculty
Track and document own growth and development
Integrate and apply learning
Develop capacities for reflection and metacognition
Increase engagement in learning
For faculty
Track development of abilities over time
Enable assessment of broader set of abilities and skills
Provide richer, more contextualized information to guide curriculum/program development and improvement
For programs and institutions
Support academic and career advising
Enable authentic and psychometrically rigorous assessment for admissions, improvement and effectiveness, accreditation

56. Questions?

57. Thank You for Your Participation!
Debra Dunlap Runshe, Instructional Development Specialist University Information Technology Services – Learning Technologies Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Information Technology and Communications Complex (IT 342H) 535 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN Phone:

58. Resources
ALTEC at University of Kansas. RubiStar. Web site: Association for Authentic, Experiential, and Evidence-Based Learning. Web site: Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2009, Winter). Peer review: Emerging trends and key debates in undergraduate education, 11 (1). Association of American Colleges & Universities: VALUE Project. Web site: Banta, T. W. & S. J. Hamilton. (2007). Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis: General education case study. In M. J. Bresciani (Ed.). Assessing student learning in general education: Good practice case studies. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Banta, T.W. (Ed.). (2003). Portfolio assessment: Uses, cases, scoring, and impact. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

59. Resources
Barrett, H. (2010.) Balancing the Two Faces of ePortfolios. Educação, Formação & Tecnologias, 3(1), [Online], Available online: Barrett, H. Web site: Buzzetto-More, N. A., & Alade, A. J. (2006) Best practices in e-assessment. Journal of Information Technology Education. 5: Cambridge, B., Cambridge, D. & Yancey, K. (Eds.). (2009). Electronic portfolios 2.0: Emergent research on implementation and impact. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Cambridge, B. L., Kahn, S. ,Tompkins, D. P. & Yancey, K. B. (Eds.). (2001). Electronic portfolios: Emerging practices in student, faculty, and institutional learning. Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.

60. Resources
Cambridge, D. (2010). E-portfolios for lifelong learning and assessment. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Dodge, B., & Pickett, N. (2001). Rubrics for web lessons. Retrieved 10/23/2010 from Lorenzo, G, & Ittelson, J. (2005b, October). Demonstrating and assessing student learning with eportfolios. EduCause Learning Initiative Paper 3: Reazon System, Inc. iRubric. Web site: Reese, M., and R. Levy (2009). Assessing the future: E-portfolio trends, uses, and options in higher education. (Research Bulletin, Issue 4). EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. Retrieved from

61. Resources
Reeves, T. C. (2000). Alternative assessment approaches for online Learning environments in higher education. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 23, Stevens, D. D. & Levi, A. J. (2005). Introduction to rubrics. Sterling, VA: Stylus. Thompson, P. (2011). The web design for professional portfolios series. [Video files]. Retrieved from Yancey, K. B. (2001). Digitized Student Portfolios. In Electronic portfolios: emerging practices in student, faculty, and institutional learning (pp ). Washington, D.C: American Association for Higher Education. . Zubizaretta, J. (2009). The learning portfolio: Reflective practice for improving student learning (2nd ed.). Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company, Inc.