Electronic Portfolio: A Tool for Integrating Holistic Student Development

1. Electronic Portfolio: A Tool for Integrating Holistic Student Development ACHEA Conference July 4-7 2007 Barbados Dr. Patricia A. Spradley Assistant Professor Queens College New York e

2. Presentation Overview In this presentation I will discuss: • Definition of EPortfolio • EPortfolio Basic Content: • Artifacts • Academic Plan • Introductory Statement • Academic Samples • Reflection on Experiences • Resume • EPortfolio for Potential Employers

3. EPortfolio is defined as: • An online collection of student work. • An example of reflections, progress and student achievement. • A representation of the actual work learned by students over time. • A tool for self assessment. • A tool designed for presentation in digitized form (e.g., compact disk, DVD, computer networks).

4. Artifacts • The tangible information/documents, evidence that indicates the attainment of knowledge and skills and the ability to apply understandings to complex tasks.” (Campbell, Melenyzer, Nettles, & Wyman, 2000, p.147).

5. Artifacts Include: • Documents, entries, materials, samples of extracurricular activities, achievements, images, photographs, journals, etc.

6. Academic Plan • The Academic plan is developmental. • The plan aids students as they chart an academic path for themselves and their advisors. • Guides students as they accomplish their goals. • Allows students to see learning as a self-motivated process. • Place for students to access and gain a more vivid sense of their past, present and future learning experiences.

7. Introductory Statement • Personal narrative or narrative of student learning. • Should have a unifying theme. • Should provide the reader with a sense of the student’s identity and goals as they pertain to education and career. • For example, a student may wish to highlight “beating the odds”, or a person(s) who inspired and nurtured your growth and development.

8. Introductory Statement

9. Academic Samples • Student’s work that reflects pride in achievement. • Chance to showcase integrative learning across disciplines and overtime. • Provides a rich view of general education competencies. • Show student’s educational growth and development throughout college.

10. Reflection on Experiences • Reflections on academic samples. • Require students to give careful thought to the process of reconsidering previous actions, events, or decisions. • May lead to analysis and problem solving. • Encourage student’s awareness of his/her learning experiences. • Assists students in developing analytical communication skills.

11. Thoughts On Reflection • To reflect is to look back over what has been done so as to extract the next meanings which are the capital stock for intelligent dealing with further experiences. It is the heart of the intellectual organization and of the disciplined mind. • John Dewey. Experience and Education, 1938.

12. Resume • One way to get started with recording academic, employment, and related experiences for potential employers and others. • Reflective activity. • Connects basic EPortfolio content with holistic student development. • Student can research various resume templates from Microsoft Office.

13. EPortfolios, Why Now?If Not Now, When? Electronic Portfolio promotes: • Creativity • Deep learning • Reflection • Development and growth • Integrative thinking and learning • Self-directive learning • Lifelong education

14. “Every individual can and should be enabled to manage, distribute and control his/her own personal digital information. This is the future of individual records management. This is the future of knowledge management. And EPortfolio provides the technology for that future.” • Paul Treuer

15. e Electronic PortfolioEducational Passport • We know more about learning than we ever have before. • Multiple people are now recognized as educators who continue to learn themselves. • Colleges and universities want internal and external audiences to understand and value the learning taking place in their institutions. • The social network made possible by electronic portfolios and the technology that supports them requires international cooperation. • Barbara Cambridge, AAHE American Association for Higher Education

16. E-Portfolio Websites http://www.epsilen.com http://eportfolio.psu.edu http://www.eportfolio.org http://eportfolio.d.umn.edu http://www.eportfolio.lagcc.cuny.edu

17. Have Fun---Build Your EPortfolio.