Archives For Learning

Minimalist Definition of an Eportfolio

Dwayne Harapnuik —  August 4, 2015 — 1 Comment

The minimalist definition of an eportfolio:

a learner’s digital evidence of meaningful connections

Can portfolios really be defined so simply and succinctly as a learner’s digital evidence of meaningful connections? I think they have to be considering the following:

  • Learning is the making of meaningful connections (see related posts meaningful connections).
  • Eportfolios are a learner’s digital evidence of learning.
  • Therefore eportfolios are a learner’s digital evidence of meaningful connections.

I have also been reviewing the literature on eportfolios ever since the term has been developed over 20 years ago and there is no shortage of definitions and debates on what constitutes an eportfolio. Furthermore, the literature is filled with obtuse (see post Our work doesnt’ have to be obtuse to be important ) academic writing that is all too often challenging to read and detracts for the usefulness of the eportfolio discussion and process. It is my hope to reduce or simplify the definition of an eportfolio and not add any unnecessary complexity.

However, if my minimalist definition doesn’t offer enough substance, then I suggest that you refer to a 2007 CETIS SIG mailing list discussion between Sutherland and Powell where they ratified the following definition before the mailing list audience:

An e-portfolio is a purposeful aggregation of digital items – ideas, evidence, reflections, feedback etc, which ‘presents’ a selected audience with evidence of a person’s learning and/or ability.

While this definition is somewhat expanded it really doesn’t say that much more or offer any more significance than the proposed minimalist definition. The more we add to the definition the more we start moving into a discussion of the why, or purpose, of portfolios and how we create them. I will be writing about the Why and the How of eportfolios in future posts.

For those who need to know more or see a more thorough handling of the definition of eportfolios please refer to the following links:

Dr. Helen Barrett, the most renowned proponent of portfolios/eportfolios offers the following definition and links to supporting essays on her Frequently-Asked Questions about Electronic Portfolios page. Barrett argues that there are two types of portfolios, the working and presentation portfolio, and that we need to combine both types to be most effective. While she is correct, she unfortunately overlooks the fact that modern tools like WordPress enable the learner to do both the working and presentation portfolio into one site.
http://electronicportfolios.com/faq.html

University of British Columbia (UBC) Eportfolios – What is it? UBC has been working with eportfolios for several years and their toolkit approach to using eportfolios provides a useful and pragmatic starting point.
http://elearning.ubc.ca/toolkit/eportfolios/

University of Waterloo – ePortfolios Explained. Another good starting point for learning about the eportfolio process.
https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/educational-technologies/all/eportfolios

JISC eportfolio – Perhaps on the most compressive sites on the eportfolio.
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/full-guide/e-portfolios

Alverno College has one of the longest traditions (since the 70’s) of using a portfolio as part of their assessment-as-learning process. They currently use the Diagnostic Digital Portfolio (DPP) which enables the learner to follow their learning progress throughout their student career at Alverno.
http://www.alverno.edu/ddp/

References:
Barrett, H. C. (2000). Electronic Portfolios–A chapter in Educational Technology; An Encyclopedia to be published by ABC-CLIO, 2001. Retrieved from http://electronicportfolios.com/portfolios/aahe2000.html

Barrett, H. (2000). Electronic Teaching Portfolios: Multimedia Skills+ Portfolio Development= Powerful Professional Development. Retrieved from http://electronicportfolios.com/portfolios/encyclopediaentry.htm

Sutherland, S. and Powell, A. (2007), CETIS SIG mailing list discussions. Retrieved from https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A1=ind0707&L=CETIS-PORTFOLIO#3

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Does Technology Belong In… We’re Still Asking the Wrong Question

Dwayne Harapnuik —  July 30, 2015 — Leave a comment
http://www.wsj.com/articles/does-technology-belong-in-classroom-instruction-1431100454

Does Technology Belong in Classroom Instruction? – WSJ via kwout

You can’t blame the Wall Street Journal for setting up a classic debate between Lisa Nielsen, director of digital engagement and professional learning for the New York City Department of Education and José Bowen the president of Goucher College and author of “Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology Out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning.” Nielsen argues that technology can personalize learning, increase collaboration and access to to content and subject matter experts, and prepare learners for the work environments of the future. Bowen argues that technology can be a distracting and that our classrooms need to be places of mental stillness where we (teachers) promote reflection and deep concentration.

The are both right! If used properly and in the right context technology can increase collaboration and access to information enabling learners to do things in ways that they could not do without technology. Used improperly and in the wrong context Jose Bowen is right because technology can distract and if you need to do something face2face that requires great concentration and reflection then technology can get in the way.

The problem is that we all too often focus on the technology itself, assume that it can provide a quick fix and keep on asking the wrong questions when we look for its impact. If we focus on the learning and the learner first, consider what learning outcomes we wish for the learner and then look for strategic activities and technologies to help us achieve those outcomes we can then use technology as a tool to help take the learner where they need to go. Technology should serve the learner and their purposes. Not the other way around.

We still are not getting our priorities strait if we are asking if technology belongs in the classroom. It is not an “if” question it is a “how” questions. Technology is not only in our classroom it is all around us and we use it every day. This simplistic either or thinking and debate over whether or not to use technology in the classroom must stop. For advice on how we can stop this simplistic thinking and debate refer to the post How to Patch “Hole in the Bucket” Thinking

What are you doing to move from an “if” to a “how” discussion?

Read the full WSJ article…

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5 Keys to Spreading Blended Learning Across the University

Dwayne Harapnuik —  July 28, 2015 — Leave a comment
http://www.centerdigitaled.com/higher-ed/5-Keys-to-Spreading-Blended-Learning-Across-the-University.html

5 Keys to Spreading Blended Learning Across the University via kwout

According to researchers from Canada’s York University, the demand for blended learning is growing. A survey 2,121 students in 34 courses, revealed that 48 percent of their students wanted to take blended courses, while 40 percent wanted to take classes in person.

Getting to this point will not be easy. In addition to getting students move from the passive sit and get to the go and show of active learning, blended learning requires that organizational leaders will also need to address the following 5 key hurdles:

  1. Make sure that institutional, faculty and student goals match up.
  2. Provide policies, one-on-one training and technology infrastructure to support faculty.
  3. Bring key deans, provosts and other university leaders on board.
  4. Meet each type of faculty technology adopter where they are and tailor approaches accordingly.
  5. Evaluate blended learning’s effect on student outcomes in order to give the “early majority” faculty something concrete to factor into their decision.

While these factors are key there are two more fundamental issues that can stop blended learning in its tracks – time and space. Redesigning a course to use the blended learning model takes significant time and unless given release time to make these changes many faculty are not able to do this type of redesign “off the sides of their desk”. A lack of time is another factor for students. Blended learning involves significant amounts of active learning which requires a much higher time commitment from the learner. They must do more of the work. Not all students are aware of this time commitment and with families, full time jobs and the pressures of life there are just not enough hours in the day. This is often compounded by the fact that many instructors new to blended learning will add blended learning activities to already full schedules instead replacing activities.

These blended learning activities that make up the classroom component of the blend will often require collaboration or group activities and many organizations do not have enough flexible space that will allow for group work. Lecture halls and most classroom are configured for the passive reception of information. While these traditional settings can still be use to allow peer based instructions and other minimal forms of collaboration most blended learning activities will require flexible space.

While these two additional challenges are significant they are not insurmountable. With help from instructional design specialists the issues of time for student assignments can be addressed. The issues of release time for course development or redesign can also be address with proper curriculum planning. Educational institutions have begun exploring flexible learning spaces and the learning space literature is filled with examples of how to move forward so this challenge also be addressed.

Implementing blended learning across the entire institutions is challenging but it is worth the effort. It is our responsibility to ensure that we creating the best learning environment for our learners and blended learning is one of the ways we can do this.

Read the full article…

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Are you a Constructivist?

Dwayne Harapnuik —  July 21, 2015 — Leave a comment

In a skype meeting this morning I was asked the question – Are you a constructivist? I hesitated briefly and responded “Yes, I think I am.” I went onto to add… I am If you hold that a constructivist is one who believes we learn by making meaningful connections.

I have been pondering my hesitation and attribute it to the fact that I was debating whether or not go into the full blow definition of contructivism or use the shorthand definition that I have been using most recently- we learn by making meaningful connections.

As a result of this exchange I have reviewed Jerome Bruner’s (1960) definition of learning which states:

Learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge. The learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to do so. Cognitive structure (i.e., schema, mental models) provides meaning and organization to experiences and allows the individual to “go beyond the information given”.

An active process of constructing new ideas based on new and old information is what I mean when I state learning is the making of meaningful connections. It has been over 20 years since I first studied Bruner’s work and recognized that his definition of learning and his theory of instruction offered a sound foundation for creating significant learning environments. It is good to reflect on where our current beliefs come from and to confirm how we have grown and developed those beliefs.

No hesitation this time – I am a constructivist even in the classical sense.

What are you? What are your learning beliefs based on? When was the last time you revisited those foundational ideas?

In DLL, EDLD 5313, Learning, Meaningful Connections , ,
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Show Me Yours and I Will Show You Mine – Eportfolio Examples

Dwayne Harapnuik —  July 16, 2015 — Leave a comment

In the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology article Engagement with Electronic Portfolios: Challenges from the Student Perspective the authors point to student disillusionment with the fact that they all too often are being asked to do something, create an eportfolio, which most instructors have not done. The following response from a student focus group session reveals students frustration in the fact that instructors are talking the talk but now walking the walk when it come to using eportfolios:

In terms of promotion the problem is the people trying to explain it have probably never used it so in a way they have no clue what they are talking about, basically. To put it frankly – after listening to them you would be like, Okay so you as an outsider who never even used it is telling us we should do this because it is the best thing since sliced bread but you have never used it – you can’t find someone who did use it – you don’t have enough information to tell us how to use it – and now you’re telling us use it and we’ll grade you on it – this kind of makes it hard for students to accept or appreciate it.

I have been keeping an eportfolio since the late 90’s. Unfortunately, my earlier work was maintained on sites that I did not control and when I left those organizations I was not able to take my work. Therefore my current site www.harapnuik.org archives only go back to 2009. Lessons learned — take control of your domain and site and ensure that you can take your work with you.

Rather then attempt to explain what goes into an eportfolio I am going to offer the following list of examples. You will note significant diversity in the way the sites are setup, the content that is covered and the levels of sophistication. The common factor is that each of these eportfolios highlights the authors personal, professional and social interests and passion for sharing their ideas and experiences.

This post/page will be a work in progress and as I find additional examples they will be added. The examples are broken into the following categories:
Primary & Secondary Students
Undergraduate Students
Graduate Students
Teacher & Principals
Professors/Instructors and Academic Professional

Primary & Secondary Students Eportfolios:

Levi Harapnuik – My Life as an Extreme Athlete. Levi’s started his eportfolio in primary school and after graduating from high school started to shape his portfolio to help him gain sponsorship for his Down Hill Mountain Bike racing career. The following post and video point to the advantages keeping an eportfolio
http://www.levibikes.com/how-my-blog-has-helped-me/
Levi’s main site:
http://www.levibikes.com

Undergraduate Students Eportfolios:

Vance Holms
http://vanceholmes.efoliomn.com/metro_state/

Urban Planning Portfolio
https://zakcq.wordpress.com/

Andre Malan
http://andremalan.com/

Jesse Lee
https://learn.uwaterloo.ca/d2l/eP/presentations/presentation_preview_popup.d2l?presId=509947

Karen Bell
http://karenbell.myefolio.com/Home

Graduate Students Eportfolios:

Roselynn Verwoord’s Electronic Portfolio highlights and shares the work that she is doing with a diverse community of educators, community-based practitioners and researchers, and policy makers, at both the local and international level.
http://blogs.ubc.ca/rverwoord/

Savita Malik – Masters of Public Health Portfolio
http://savitamalik.myefolio.com/

Rebecca Lynn Taylor – Graduate student teaching portfolio: Graduate student developing a portfolio for professional development
https://rebeccalynntaylor.wordpress.com/

Teachers & Principals Eportfolio Examples:

Sean Robinson – On The Side of Technology – His post Who Needs a Digital Portfolio points to the postive benfits of having a digital portfolio.
http://seanrtech.blogspot.ca/2015/06/who-needs-digital-portfolio.html?m=0

George Couros – The Principal of Change: Stories of learning and leading
http://georgecouros.ca/blog/
Related Youtube Video – Blog as Portfolio #leadership20

Joe Bower – For the Love of Learning
http://www.joebower.org/

Erin Klien uses her background in teaching and program development to create ideas to infuse technology enhanced activities that directly correlate to the common core national standards.
http://www.kleinspiration.com/


Professors/Instructors and Academic Professional Eportfolios:

Tony Bates personal site for resources in online learning and distance education. Perhaps one of the best Academic Professional sites.
http://www.tonybates.ca/

Karen L. Kelsky, Ph.D. spent 15 years as an R1 tenured professor, department head, and university advisor, and will tell you the truth about grad school, the job market, and tenure.
http://theprofessorisin.com/

Wesley Fryer – Moving at the Speed of Creativity
http://www.wesfryer.com/

Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues.
http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/

Kevin Corbett’s site highlights his professional interests as they relate to the Internet, education & media technologies.
http://kevincorbett.com/

Michael Stephens – Tame the Web site focuses on emerging trends, tools and processes driving change in library and information communities.
http://tametheweb.com/

Tony Karrer’s eLearning Blog on e-Learning Trends eLearning 2.0 Personal Learning Informal Learning eLearning Design Authoring Tools Rapid e-Learning Tools Blended e-Learning e-Learning Tools Learning Management Systems (LMS) e-Learning ROI and Metrics
http://elearningtech.blogspot.ca/

Alec Couros – Open Thinking and Digital Pedagogy is Alec’s personal and professional blogging. Alec is a professor of educational technology and media at the Faculty of Education, University of Regina.
http://educationaltechnology.ca/couros/

Dr. Helen Barrett – No list would be complete without an acknowlegement of Dr. Barretts work with Electronic Portfolios and Digital Storytelling for lifelong and life wide learning.
http://electronicportfolios.org/

Luke Wroblewski – LukeW is an internationally recognized digital product leader who has designed and built software used by more than one billion people worldwide. The simplicty and elegence of Lukes site is impressive.
http://www.lukew.com/

Innovative Educator – Lisa Nielsen is currently a director of digital engagement and professional learning and an advocate for changing the future of education. Her blog is a great example of a professional eportfolio.
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.ca/

Tony Wagner – Transforming Learning
http://www.tonywagner.com/

References:
Tosh, D., Light, T. P., Fleming, K., & Haywood, J. (2005). Engagement with electronic portfolios: Challenges from the student perspective. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology/La revue canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie, 31(3).

In Eportfolio, Learning
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