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Employability ePortfolios for Immigrants: Arrival to Employment Cannexus – Ottawa 2014. Introductions. Clifford Bell – Director, Language College & Career Services Don Presant – President, Learning Agents Lisa Herrera – Head Instructional Coordinator, LINC/ELSA. ISSofBC.
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Employability ePortfolios for Immigrants: Arrival to EmploymentCannexus – Ottawa 2014 www.issbc.org
Introductions • Clifford Bell – Director, Language College & Career Services • Don Presant – President, Learning Agents • Lisa Herrera – Head Instructional Coordinator, LINC/ELSA www.issbc.org
ISSofBC • First immigrant organization in BC (1972) • Provides settlement, language & employment services for refugees and immigrants • Over 400 full and part-time staff- ranked one of the Best Workplaces in Canada in 2013 www.issbc.org
ISSofBC www.issbc.org
Context • Funding Shift • Employment ePortfolios – Standard practice in career counselling in 2013 • Language Assessment Portfolios – To be integrated into CIC’s LINC Program in 2014 • Employment ePortfolios – Now being used in all of ISSofBC’s Employment www.issbc.org
Timeline Nov 2012 - Feb 2013 Feb - May 2013 Summer 2013 Fall 2013 • Initiative Inception • & Kickoff • Don Presant’s workshops at CAPLA, Cannexus & Moodle Moot conferences • ISSofBC establishes lead position in BC & Canada regarding portfolio development in LINC/ELSA • Agreement to move forward with integration of portfolios & eportfolios in language and employment • Research & Training • Research on how e-portfolios can fit into LINC/ELSA • Don Presant facilitates a half-day planning workshop to explore eportfolio options • Decision about Mahara platform • ePortfolio training with Don Presant • Planning • Plan for piloting e-portfolios in LINC/ELSA • Moodle course and materials developed • Employment Facilitator engaged to participate in LINC/ELSA pilot and curriculum development • Piloting & Further Development • ePortfolio launched in LINC/ELSA for the Workplace • Extend use of eportfolios for skilled and non-skilled immigrants www.issbc.org
Logic Model www.issbc.org
Career Services • Wide range of programs for immigrants with a range of needs and skill levels • Immigrant Connections • Employment Program of BC • Building Together • Job Options BC • Skills Connect • Mentoring Connections • MAPLE - Internship www.issbc.org
Portfolios and ePortfolios • Portfolio and ePortfolio services : • Workshops and individualized sessions • Embedding portfolios in job search strategies www.issbc.org
Process, Discoveries & Opportunities • Limited time & resources in employment programs • Significant amount of time devoted to language correction • Offering the eportfolio within LINC/ELSA • Build an Employment Facilitator into the LINC/ELSA program www.issbc.org
Putting E-Portfolios into Play for Immigrants: From Arrival in Canada to Successful Employment Slides from Learning Agents November 19, 2013
Learning AgentsePortfolio, eLearning, eMedia http://donpresant.ca
New service: savvyfolio.netMulti-institution ePortfolio community Professional Body Workplace Trainer Employer College Industry Sector Body Adult Learning Centre University Employability Agency
ePortfolio21st Century Employability Toolfor BC Immigrants February 14, 2013
ResearchInformation Practices of Immigrants Nadia Caidi, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, 2009 http://www.slideshare.net/settlementatwork/information-practices-of-immigrants
Technology Alternatives • Web 2.0 purpose-built • LinkedIn, about.me • Web 2.0 “roll your own” • Google sites, Weebly, Evernote, Prezi • Dedicated FOSS • Mahara, Sakai, ZenPortfolio (WP) • Adapted FOSS • Wordpress.com, Wordpress.org • Dedicated Proprietary • PebblePad, Digication, myeFolio, Pathbrite
Five solutions to consider • WordPress • WordPress.com, Zen Portfolios or download • Free, or? • PebblePad • 20 GBP/year/person • myeFolio • $20/year • Digication • $20-35/year • Mahara • Free, or?
Why Mahara?Personal Learning Environment • Free Open Source Software (FOSS) • Free (like a puppy) • Controllable, predictable • Extendable, “clusterable” (Moodle, Google Apps…) • Designed for learning • National school implementation in NZ: “MyPortfolio” • Personalized, flexible • Learner story centric, not a one-size-fits-all “tick the box” form
Why Mahara?Under the hood • Content Archive (working portfolio) • Profile, Resume, Files, Notes, Journals (blogs), Plans • Publish as Pages, Collections • Different content for different audiences • Embed external content (Web 2.0) • LinkedIn, Slideshare, YouTube, Google Apps, etc. • Groups and collaboration • Shared files, pages, collections • Multi-layered sharing/privacy • Formative -> summative assessment
PRESENTATION SUPPORT PAGE: bit.ly/ep4imm
LINC/ELSA • English language skills from CLB 1 to 8 • Settlement and workplace focused classes www.issbc.org
Essential Skills Soft Skills www.issbc.org
ePortfolio Pilot Class Class Profile Model for Pilot • Add job search skills • Add skills to build eportfolio • More emphasis on ES Evaluate www.issbc.org
ePortfolio – Cooperative Framework • LINC/ELSA and employment staff working together • Clients develop language, career planning and job search skills as a package www.issbc.org
Contribution to PLAR • Previously, referral to Employment Facilitator • Now provide: • Evidenceof • hard skills • experience • language ability • soft skills • More skills to better represent themselves to employers and professional associations www.issbc.org
Moodle + Mahara www.issbc.org
Mahoodle (Moodle Course) www.issbc.org
Example Lesson: www.issbc.org
Building Content: www.issbc.org
ISSofBCePortfolio Site www.issbc.org
Essential Skills Profile www.issbc.org
Professional Pages www.issbc.org
Audio Intro Resume Past Projects Certificates Publications www.issbc.org
Video Intro Photo Gallery Highlights www.issbc.org
Lessons Learned • LINC/ELSA Challenges • Admin Concerns - continuous intake of students • Student concerns - time • Technical issues – Firefox vs. IE • Student Technical Needs – support offered in multiple ways • New Curriculum Model • ePortfolio as the framework www.issbc.org
Next Steps April 2014 Fall 2013 Winter 13-14 Pilot Phase Continued delivery of ELSA eportfolio pilot & extend use of eportfolios for skilled and non-skilled immigrants Evaluation Phase Evaluation and further development of ELSA eportfolio, and further expansion of eportfolio use in employment services Implementation Implementation of eportfolios in LINC – creating an environment where clients can use eportfolios across multi-inventions at ISSofBC www.issbc.org
Questions Contacts: Clifford Bell, Director, Language College & Career Services – clifford.bell@issbc.org Lisa Herrera, Head Instructional Coordinator, ELSA/LINC – lisa.herrera@issbc.org www.issbc.org