eFolio Minnesota TM – A Project at the Crossroads

1. eFolio MinnesotaTM – A Project at the Crossroads Reflections on leading (or “surviving”) the country’s first electronic portfolio infrastructure

2. 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 Minnesota’s project manager was a recognized leader in the portfolio community.

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

6. 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. 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. 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. Project assumptions

10. 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. 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. Project structure • Leadership and commitment to the needs of the 21st 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. 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). • Neither party expected the huge success of the project.

14. 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. Timelines

16. 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. What does the future hold? Fame Fortune Glory

18. 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. • Research • Darren Cambridge’s research will be finalized within a couple of weeks.

19. 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. “But are you successful?” • Two measures of success: • Formal – structured research • Informal – word of mouth, numbers of users, web trends, etc.

21. 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. Formal measures of success • Research will be released in late April of 2005. Preliminary results are included in the April 14th international satellite broadcast. • Some preliminary research results of note include: • eFolio Minnesota users are likely to be women; • Top three uses are documenting KSA’s , 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. 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. Seeing is believing • Sample sites • Student • Worker • Educator • Educator resources • “Portal”

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

26. Thanks!!!Merci!!!Grazias!!!

27. Copies of brochures Back