Degrees of Publicity

Wayne Hall (Vice Provost for Faculty Development

& Professor of English & Comparative Literature)

Wayne.Hall@uc.edu

AAEEBL Annual Conference, Boston, July 2011

Overview & outcomes:

• Student ePortfolios as– Professional & finished image, or– Personal & exploratory

• Emphasis on product or process?

• Changes over the course of a term?

Varying (& Inconclusive)Degrees of Publicity?

Case study sample:

• Large (41,000+) public research university

• 19 juniors & seniors in advanced composition

• 10-week quarter (winter 2011)

• Teacher-prep programs in our college of education or else looking to gain teaching credentials (K-12)

• College/program does not require ePortfolios

Theory? Hypothesis?

Students use ePortfolios to “build a theory or narrative that guides their identity development.”

More from Eportfolios for Lifelong Learning and Assessment:

• For Cambridge, ePortfolios help their authors in “articulating a distinctive, integrated identity grounded in evidence of learning and performance and using that self-representation to participate in institutions and social networks.”

First essay assignment:

• Strategic planning in higher education

• Specific to the University of Cincinnati

• General / vague essay prompt

What audience did you assume for this (early) essay?

Specified audience

University administratorsBroad university audienceOther university studentsInstructor & students in this classAnyone with interests in this general topicWriter as audience for himself/herself7

21

1 6

6

Week 4: Perceived advantages of ePortfolios

• Tool based (41%):– Easy to make changes over time – Incorporates multi-media

• Collaboration (33%):– Ability to share material– Ability to collect feedback

• Publicity (26%)– Demonstration of growth, progression– Shows author’s personality: 1 mention

Week 4: Perceived disadvantages of ePortfolios

• Tool based (56%):– Technology breakdowns– Access barriers

• Collaboration (28%):– Competition– Consensus– Ease of feedback

• Publicity (17%)– Not what I’m used to

Week 4:Advantages/disadvantages

• Perceived advantages outweighed perceived disadvantages by a two to one margin.

• “I think e-portfolios also create a fine line between professionalism and personal expression which must be balanced.”

(disadvantage)

End of Week 6: Who’s planning an ePortfolio?

• Yes: 10

• No: 5

• Unsure: 1

• Actual: 8 (out of 19)

To what extent do you envision the portfolio’s design – whether ePortfolio, ring binder, or folder – as an expression of your own identity or personality or character as a writer?

• Only one significant disagreement: “I believe the design can help whoever reads my portfolio get a sense of my identity and personality but to really understand those things they will have to look at the writing individually and independent from the design.”

“Identity and design go hand in hand”

• “In the same way that my personality comes out when decorating my apartment, identity and design exist interdependently in the case of my portfolio.”

• “. . . while design is not governed by my personality, it is influenced by it.”

But focus on portfolio, not ePortfolio:

A recurring sentiment in these comments:

• “I think that my portfolio would have expressed my identity in whatever format I chose.”

Actual reflections in final portfolios:

• “When viewing all of these materials in this section together, you can see the thought process behind my thinking and can get a sense of what I had envisioned for my portfolio. . . . I thought it would be interesting to place my process of development through the quarter first, because the reader can envision the track I was on and where my ideas might be headed.”

Emphasis on process over product:

• “Personal growth of knowledge” and “my journey of discovering”

• “thought process in action” and “a written record of my own thought process”

• “A real person’s thought process” • “An evolutionary thought process”• “My thought process from beginning to now”• “A developing project always changing”

Strongest statement on this theme:

• “Forming my voice as a writer is the single most important goal I have in assembling this portfolio.”

– From the student who was most determined to rely on a traditional format

End-of-term survey:

• A specific and concrete goal for this course was that, by the end, you should have a portfolio of your work that you could show to several people at UC who are involved in academic planning and that would impress those people with your writing and presentation skills as well as your ideas about the future of the university. To what extent do you think that the course helped you to achieve that goal?

Good feelings about portfolios:

• Quite effectively. I think I ended up with an impressive portfolio. – 5 (45.5%)

• Somewhat effectively. I think some parts are impressive, others not so impressive. – 6 (54.5%)

• Not really sure. I would want to test the portfolio on a few people to see their reactions. – 0

• Not very effectively. I’ll be surprised if the portfolio impresses anyone very much. – 0

• Not at all. It was a disappointing portfolio, not impressive at all. -- 0

Main question for the whole project?

• While the course required a final portfolio of everyone, you had a choice of the format, whether digital (an ePortfolio) or hard copy (such as a ring binder). Should the course have required an ePortfolio of everyone?

Mixed but mainly: no requirement• Yes, that would have made the requirement more fair, to

require everyone to do the same e-portfolio approach. – 1 (9.1%)

• Probably, although I'd want to hear what others thought before saying this should definitely be a requirement for everyone. – 3 (27.3%)

• Not sure. I can see advantages and disadvantages to making this required of everyone. – 1 (9.1%)

• Probably not require everyone to follow the same approach, although I'd be willing to listen to arguments for why the same approach should apply for everyone. – 3 (27.3%)

• Definitely not. Individuals should have individual choices that they can make. – 3 (27.3%)

One paper-port student, later: While I was so against doing an e-folio, I think it would have been in everyones best interest. Technology is the way of the world. I love and hate it and I have been trying to not give into its ways because I do not want it to be a dominating factor in my life and I hate always being "connected". However, in order for me (and everyone else) to thrive in our professional life we have to be up to date. This quarter I have a class that is requiring an e-folio/blog thing. I'm sweating it and wish that I had done an e-folio for your class so I could feel at least prepared.

All of that to say, yes, you should require it. It saves paper, ink (mine's always running low because I print so much), time and is easily accessible. Plus, you wouldn't have to worry about hard copy portfolios. By the way, you can pitch mine.

Wikispaces:

Wikispaces:

WordPress

WordPress:

WordPress

WordPress:

One final data point:

• Since completion of this class (in March), not one student has continued to develop the ePortfolio from the class (as of July 20).

In other words:

• This was not a “relevant” assignment (per Michael Wesch Campus Technology keynote on Tuesday of the week in Boston)

Works cited:• Darren Cambridge, Eportfolios for Lifelong Learning

and Assessment (Jossey-Bass, 2010), p. 49 (for slide 8) and p. 223 (for slide 9).

• Darren Cambridge, “Seeking Evidence for Impact: Lessons from the Inter/National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research,” ELI Webinar (July 11, 2011, for slide 10).

• Michael Wesch, “From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-able: New Learning Environments for New Media Environments” (keynote address for Campus Technology 2011, July 26, 2011).