Programmatic approaches to e-portfolio integration:

Experiences from across the university

Benjamin KehrwaldStuart DinmoreGeorge Bradford

Learning and Teaching Unit, University of South Australia

I am a:

University administrator

Team leader for instructional designers (or similar)

Instructional designer (or similar)

Teaching academic

Interested other (?)

My department/college/unit is

Using ePortfolios across the board

Trying to implement ePortfolios

Thinking about using ePortfolios

Telling me to find out all I can about ePortfolios at Sloan-C

Not engaged with ePortfolios

Exhausted by ideas prefixed by ‘e’

We just spent $10M on our new personalised learning environment.

...when does the magic start?

Focus on ePortfolios

How do we support the use ePortfolios? widely?

effectively?

consistently?

as part of everyday learning and teaching?

integrated into existing good practices?

in innovative ways?

...the implementation of ePortfolios in the curriculum will only be effective if they are integral to the learning activities or the assessment and if they have a specific and integrated purpose.

Hallam, G, Harper, W, McCowan, C, Hauville, K, McAllister, L, & Creagh, T. (2008) ePortfolio use by university students in Australia: Informing excellence in policy and practice, Australian Learning and Teaching Council.

Programmatic Implementation

The program

Moving beyond in-course activity

Holism: understanding relationships between

courses, modules, activity

Focus on students’ experiences within a

program of study

Collaborative academic practiceShared understandings

Shared practices

Shared ownership

The process

1. Identification of eP development candidate programs

2. Program mapping3. Identification of opportunities for eP use (courses, key

stakeholders) and rationales (pedagogical, practical, etc)

4. Course mapping & Identification of eP tasks5. Materials development

6. Teaching

7. Evaluation

Identification of programs

Practical indicators

Size of the program

Future viability of the program

Program Directors to lead in the project

Staff willing & able to engage with technology

Cohesive program structures

Pedagogical indicators

Students work with rich media

Students generate artefacts regularly

Reflective practice is a feature of student activity

There are professional competencies associated with credentialing

Practical components to the program which can be supported with eP use

Program Mapping

• Explicate structure, content, progression• Map against – Assessment– Professional requirements– Program-related extra-curriculars– ‘and other’

• Develop rationales• Generate eP implementation blueprint

Opportunities to integrate ePs

ePAssessment

Opportunities for feedback

Formative processes/ feedback

Professional credentialing Professional

profiling/ Career

development

Creating records of activity or

accomplishment

Mentoring (out of course)

Course Mapping

Course Mapping

Explicit links between intended activity and eP use– Formative work– Collaborative tasks– Assessments– Creating, collecting and organising artefacts– Reflection

Identification of eP tasks

Materials development

• Electronic study materials (OLE)– Task descriptions– Technical or procedural support

• Templates, pages (eP)• Exemplars• Teaching notes

Our pilot programs

• Property Management• Occupational Therapy• Medical Radiation• Visual Arts*• Ecology*

Property

Sem 1 Sem 2 Extra NotesY1 1 course +

Y2 4 course +Y3 5 courses +

Med Ra

d

Sem 1 Sem 2 Extra NotesY1 2 course s

Y2 4 courses Y3 8 courses Y4 8 courses

OT

Sem 1 Sem 2 Extra NotesY1 3 course

Y2 4 course +Y3 6 courses+Y4 5 courses+

Heavy use- in assessments, directed learning activityLimited use – optional use, independent activity

Examples

Building Faults Report (Property)

Formative task: Report on one building fault

• In eP, provide 400 word report• Include Identity,

Cause, Fix, Cost• Include Images• Include reference

to source material

Feedback

• Text feedback in eP• Formative, informs

assignment work• Limited scope• From teacher

Assessment: Create a portfolio

of 5 faults

• Can incorporate formative example

• Formal report, outside of eP, but can be uploaded for showcase

Electronic Poster (Med Rad)

Student create posters

• Group work• Hard copy posters,

digitized

Posters uploaded to eP

for feedback

• Poster pages, one per group

• Can be linked to individual portfolios

Peer assessment of

posters

• In eP, via star rating and text

Face-to-face poster defence

• Questions, discussion and teacher feedback f2f

Reflective Video Portfolio (OT)

Perform clinical practice on

video

• Upload video to eP page,

• make available to others

Reflect on performance

(text)

• Add reflection to the page with video

Feedback on performance

• Teaching staff to view video, read reflection, provide feedback

All or some of the page can be kept in personal

portfolio

• Students decide what to include in their portfolio and what to display

Lessons Learned

Be upfront about the costs• Time• Money• Meetings• Support

Lessons Learned

Balance realistic estimates against the fear factor

...don’t scare people away

Lessons Learned

Pick your puncheseP’s don’t fit everywhere– Choose programs carefully– Be explicit about goals and keep the

focus

Many academics aren’t familiar with ePs– Work the process as an educative

opportunity

Lessons Learned

Get managers and leaders onside– Heads of school/department– Program directors– Teaching champions– Technology champions– Student representatives

Share leadership

Questions

Thank youBen.kehrwald@unisa.edu.au