Introduction to ePortfolios

Jan Smith, rSmartHugo Jacobs, Leidse OnderwijsinstellingenMark Breuker, Leidse Onderwijsinstellingen

Noah Botimer, University of MichiganLynn Ward, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Susan Kahn, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

John Gosney, Indiana University

Agenda1. Introductions and Opening Activity 2. Overview of ePortfolios

– Susan Kahn, IUPUI 3. OSP Archetypes and Tool Suite

– Janice Smith, rSmart4. Case studies of OSP Use

– LOI (Netherlands)• Hugo Jacobs and Mark Breuker

– IU/IUPUI (US)• Lynn Ward, John Gosney, and Susan Kahn

– Charles Sturt University (Australia)• Janice Smith

– University of Michigan (US)• Janice Smith and Noah Botimer

5. OSP Functional and Technical Panel with questions from audience– Moderator: John Gosney, IU

Overview of ePortfolios

Susan Kahn, IUPUI

What is an ePortfolio?

• A collection of electronic evidence assembled and managed by a user, usually on the Web…Such electronic evidence may include inputted text, electronic files…images, multimedia, blog entries, and hyperlinks. E-portfolios are both demonstrations of the user's abilities and platforms for self-expression.” (Wikipedia)

• “A digitized collection of artifacts, including demonstrations, resources, and accomplishments that represent an individual, group, or institution.” (Lorenzo & Ittelson, 2005)

What is an ePortfolio?

• “Created by the three principal activities of collection, selection, and reflection, student portfolios can be succinctly defined as collections of work selected from a larger archive of work, upon which the student has reflected. Portfolios can be created in many different contexts, serve various purposes, and speak to multiple audiences.” (Yancey, 2001)

• “A selection of purposefully organized artifacts that supports retrospective and prospective reflection, as well as documentation, assessment, and enhancement of student learning over time.” (IUPUI ePort definition)

Why ePortfolios?

• Authentic assessment for improvement and accountability

• Resumes backed up with evidence of skills and abilities

• Deep learning/engagement in learning

Implications of ePortfolios for Learners and Teachers

• “Intentional” teaching and learning strategies• Thrive when faculty collaborate to develop coherent

curricula and well-defined learning outcomes• Learning-centered vs. teaching-centered• Support active learning pedagogies aimed at

promoting deeper learning• Support integrative, reflective learning• Support formative and summative assessment

Students self-assess their intellectual growth since the original creation of the artifact

Encourages clear articulation of knowledge, skills, abilities, dispositions

Encourages integration across courses and disciplines

PUL and Global Citizenship

I wrote “Born to Farm” because I wanted to interview people living in my community. I had heard them talk about farming and their memories of it. This artifact shows how the community is changing, and therefore, the citizens are also changing. Writing an account of these changes gives me an opportunity to offer some analysis of the world, the economics of the world of farming, and the values of this farming community. I can communicate with others and form their thoughts and ideas into a story. I can effectively gather information and put it together in a form that readers find interesting.

Development in Reflective Thinking

• Ability to self-assess

• Awareness of how one learns

• Developing lifelong learning skills

“I no longer see what I have to offer as an English job hunter in mere terms of degree possessed and years of experience…I look at what I have to offer in a larger context. Beyond the essential in my resume that I share with all other graduates, I now see capacities in critical thinking, communications, and multi-project analyses. All these capacities can be supported with the creative and scholarly material in my matrix.”

Portfolio Archetypes

Janice A. Smith, Ph.D.

rSmart

DefinitionsePortfolio -- A collection of web pages individuals use to represent

themselves to a selected audiencePortfolio–- The complete set of an individual’s portfolio data-- Any subset of that data for a specific purposeOpen Source Portfolio –- A suite of ePortfolio tools in SakaiThe rSmart CLE-- A version of Sakai enhanced and supported by The

rSmart Group

Three ePortfolio Archetypes

PersonalRepresentation

Assessmentand

Accreditation

Teachingand

Learning

ePortfolio Archetypes

• Personal Representation– Resumes– Professional Portfolios

• Teaching and Learning– General Education Portfolios– Disciplinary Portfolios– Co-Curricular Transcripts

• Assessment and Accreditation– Course and Program Assessment Portfolios– Institution-Wide Assessment Portfolios

PersonalRepresentation

Assessmentand

Accreditation

Teachingand

Learning

Documentation of Three Portfolio Archetypes Using OSP

• These three archetypes are available for download through the rSmart CLE Portfolio Showcase (http://www.rsmart.com).

• In collaboration with Charles Sturt University, rSmart has also documented these three representative portfolio implementations

• MSWord and .pdf versions are available on Sakai Confluence athttp://confluence.sakaiproject.org/confluence/display/OSP/rSmart+Contributed+Documentation

Portfolios forPersonal Representation

• Developmental focus• Guide students in collecting information about

themselves• Assist students in managing their virtual

identity• Examples include:

– Resumes– Professional Portfolios– Leadership Portfolios

Personal RepresentationePortfolio

Example Portfolio:

Rider University

Implementing Group:

• Career Services

Goal:

• Prepare for thejob search withan online resume

Chronological Resume Wizard

Institutions guide learners in capturing resume data via forms and uploaded files.

Sample Resume Form

Institutions customize forms to structure user data for use in resume portfolios.

Chronological Resume Forms

• Activities• Certifications• Community Service• Computer Skills• Education• Experience• Footer• Header• Honors• Interests• Language Skills

• Leadership• Memberships• Objective• Presentations/Publications• Professional Development

Activities• Relevant Courses• Relevant Experience• URLs• Travel

Chronological Resume Portfolio

The chronological resume can be shared via the web and/or printed out.

Rider Resume Portfolio Components

• Wizard for guidance in creating a resume• Forms for collecting

– Collecting specified data for the resume– Participant reflections– Faculty feedback

• Portfolio template for creating a chronological resume• Optional report definition to capture information on

student progress in creating resume forms and portfolios

Portfolios forTeaching and Learning

• Educational focus• Guide students in creating and submitting portfolio-

worthy evidence• Evidence is linked to and evaluated according to

standards, outcomes, objectives• Examples include:

– General education portfolios– Disciplinary portfolios– Co-Curricular Transcripts

Teaching and LearningePortfolio

Example Portfolio:

Kapi’olaniCommunity College

Participating Group:

• General Education

Goals:• Assess student learning

according to general education standards

• Promote participation in college programs

• Support educational processes

General Education Matrix

Institutions constructmatrices to structurestudent learning inrelation to learning outcomes.

General Education Matrix Cell

Students associate uploaded files and reflection with eachmatrix cell before submitting it for evaluation.

General Education Evaluation

Faculty use the Evaluations tool to access and evaluate student work in matrix cells.

General Education Portfolio

Students may alsoshare the contentsof their matrix withothers via a portfolio

General Education Portfolio Components• Five forms:

– A General Education Evidence form to document student work– A Reflection form for students to reflect upon their evidence – A Feedback form for instructors to offer formative feedback – An Evaluation form to provide a summative evaluation – A Contract Information form to identify student portfolios

• A matrix consisting of:– Six rows of General Education learning outcomes– Three columns of progressive steps for meeting each outcome– Eighteen cells with standards, instructions and the four forms

• A matrix portfolio for a personalized display of a selected matrix column

• Report templates to capture information in the matrix

Portfolios forAssessment and

Accreditation• Focus on acquisition of assessment data for

purposes of accreditation• Usually combined with portfolios for teaching and

learning• Reports aggregate and analyze assessment data and

identify representative artifacts of learning• Examples include portfolios for:

– Assessing institutional outcomes– Assessing disciplinary outcomes– Combination of the above

Rhode Island Electronic Portfolio System (RIEPS)

Participating Groups:

• Rhode Island Network for Technology

• Rhode Island Department of Education

• 15 High School Districts• 25 High Schools

Goals:• Develop and share portfolio-

worthy assignments• Assess student learning

according to state standards and district expectations

• All teachers and students participate in the ePortfolio

• All 2008 graduates will submit a Graduation Portfolio

• Provide reports of student learning to state and accrediting organizations

RIEPSPortfolio-Worthy

Assignments

Teachers may create their own assignments or import them from libraries of assignments validated at the state level.

RIEPS Assignments are Linked toState Standards and District Expectations

Teachers link portfolioassignments to sharedgoals and rate studentwork according to goals

RIEPS Goals and AssignmentsGuide Learning and Assessment

• Students apply their understanding of standards to the learning process

• Teachers rate student performance in relation to standards

• Schools gauge success according to student evidence of learning in relation to standards

RIEPS Reports Gather Evidence of Learning

• Students assess quality and completeness of their evidence

• Students use assessment to populate Graduation Portfolio

• Teachers assess student learning and effectiveness of portfolio assignments

• Schools assess student learning and teacher performance

• RIDE assesses school and district performance

RIEPS Graduation Portfolios

Customized for Each High School

Each high school provides a portfolio template for students to use in re-purposing portfolio assignments to meet graduation requirements

RIEPS Components• Teachers

– Create portfolio-worthy assignments for each section of each course

– Associate assignments with state standards and district expectations

– Use reports to assess student work in their courses• Students

– Submit assignments for teachers to rate according to associated standards and expectations

– Use reports to assess their work in preparation for graduation– Re-purpose assignments according to district expectations using

the Graduation Portfolio template for their school• Administrators

– Use reports to aggregate assessment results for reporting to the state and to accrediting agencies

OSP Tool Suite

Janice A. Smith, Ph.D.

rSmart

OSP History• January 2003 - U of Minnesota ePortfolio goes open source • April 2003 - First OSP community meeting at CSU Monterey Bay• June 2003 – Open Source Portfolio Initiative (OSPI) is formed• Summer 2003 –U of Delaware, rSmart, and U of Minnesota release

OSP 1.0• December 2003 –Indiana U and rSmart receive $1 million from the

Mellon Foundation for OSP development• December 2003 – The Sakai Project is formed• July 2004 – OSP 1.5 is released• June 2005 – OSP 2.0 is released based on Sakai 1.5• Since then OSPI officially joined with Sakai and OSP releases are

now coordinated with Sakai releases• Summer 2007 – Sakai/OSP 2.4 is released• Summer 2008 – Sakai/OSP 2.5 is released

Portfolio Tools in Sakai

• Forms• Matrices• Glossary• Wizards• Evaluations• Reports

These tools are combined in portfolio sites to implement a variety of processes.

• Portfolios• Portfolio Templates• Portfolio Layouts• Styles• Goal Management• Data Points

Open Source Portfolio Tools• Provide great flexibility for ePortfolio

implementations• Operate in combination with each other• Require customization using the tool interface

and .xml coding• Out of the box, OSP tools don’t do anything, but

with careful design and customization, they can support multiple portfolio processes across a variety of contexts.

Portfolio Sites• Differentiated from course / project sites• Specifically dedicated to portfolio work• Specialized tools/roles /permissions• Portfolio tools also available for course and

project sites

Forms• Created via Forms tool• Available for export/import• Accessed through and stored in Resources• Used for

– Providing reflection prompts and structure for feedback and evaluation in matrices and wizards

– Providing structure for participant content• Matrices

• Wizards

• Portfolios

Matrices• Matrices are a type of wizard• Matrix cells are similar to wizard pages• Matrices allow:

– Application of styles– Customization of

• Rows and columns• Matrix cells (instruction, rationale, examples)• Progression across cells• Reflection, feedback, and evaluation processes

Matrix Cell

Wizards• Wizards may be sequential or hierarchical• Wizard pages are similar to matrix cells• Wizards allow:

– Choice of sequential or hierarchical pages– Application of styles– Customization of

• Wizard pages (instruction, rationale, examples)• Reflection, feedback, and evaluation processes

Evaluations

• Apply to matrix cells and wizard pages• Customizable for each cell and page• Prompts, evaluation levels, and comment fields

determined via forms• Formative review through feedback form and

accessed via matrix or wizard• Summative review through evaluation form

Evaluation

Styles and Layouts

• Uploaded to Resources• Styles applied by site organizer to

– Matrix cells– Wizards and wizard pages– Freeform (design your own) portfolios

• Layouts applied by user to portfolios

Styles and Layouts

Portfolios

• May be created– From portfolio templates

• Institution selects layout and style for guided process in creating portfolio

– Freeform by user• User selects content and applies style and layout

supplied by site organizer to portfolios created without portfolio template

• Along with reports, portfolio templates represent the most challenging aspect of implementing OSP

Portfolio Templates

Resume Portfolio

Matrix Portfolio

Co-Curricular Transcript Portfolio

Reports

• Require report definitions and prepopulated OSP data tables

• Definitions specify parameters to be applied to data to be collected

• Data tables are prepopulated nightly by job scheduler

• Data in reports may be displayed, printed, and/or exported

Report

Goal Management

• Links goals to– Assignments– Data points

• Allows comprehensive assessment of learning and reporting of results

• Assignment submissions with linked goals and ratings can be displayed in portfolios

Portfolio with Goal Management

OSP 2.5 Enhancements

• Portfolio tools added to Core• Both choices of portals offer OSP tools• OSP Help added• Forms Builder creates .xsd for forms • Forms offer far more sophistication in views and

functionality• Aggregated views of portfolios and matrices in My

Workspace• Sharing of portfolios across worksites• OSP Library for sharing data structures

Case Study:IUPUI Transition to Teaching

Program

Lynn Ward, IUPUI

Susan Blackwell, Program Director, IUPUI

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• Full time, one year immersion experience

• Graduate level program

• Admission requirements3.0 GPA in the major and overall

Successful completion of PRAXIS I and PRAXIS II required for licensing

Successful interview

• Accompanying courses– Psychology of Teaching and Learning– Teaching and Learning in the Middle School– Teaching and Learning in the High School– Professional Issues and Portfolio Creation

Overview of the Secondary Transition to Teaching Program

• Curricular and instructional focus on …• content and instructional differences for middle and high

school teaching• developmental differences between middle and high school

teaching• differentiated instruction and assessment• working with diverse learners• inquiry and reflection as a process for growth as a beginning

professional

• Performance based on IU Principles of Teacher Education• IUPUI Principles of Undergraduate Instruction (PULs)• Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium

(INTASC] standards

Program Expectations

Three Sources of Evidence

Portfolio Structure

• Based on prior paper-based process• Three sections, each of which has multiple

components (total of 17 sections)– My Teaching Situation– Teaching My Class– My Professional Growth

• Evaluated holistically

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Transition to Teaching Wizard

T2T Evaluation Form

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Evaluation process

• Selection and training of raters– Liberal arts faculty, School of Science faculty,

graduates of the program, professional education faculty, coaches, teachers

– Brief training prior to reading

• Evaluators work synchronously in pairs and complete a single copy of the evaluation form

• Program director reviews evaluation

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Reporting

Summary Information

Charles Sturt University New South Wales, Australia

• Professional Portfolio• Student Portfolio• Freeform Portfolio

– Five Layouts– Eight Styles

Professional Portfolio

Expandable categories that can be re-titled by the user

Usersuppliesthe image

Professional Portfolio

Rich text editors in forms allow insertion of images, re-titling of captions and uploaded file attachments.

Student Portfolio

The Student Portfolio uses many of the same forms asthe Professional Portfolio (only fewer).

Student Portfolio

Students and faculty alike may experiment withincluding all kinds of uploaded files in the rich texteditors in each form, including Flash, Fireworks, andaudio files.

Freeform Portfolio

Five different layoutscan be used with eachstyle. Users supply theirown banners.

Freeform Portfolio

Eight different styles canbe used with each layout.

Freeform Portfolio

The portfolios tool can show thumbnails for each layout. A stylecan be selected for the entire portfolio or for each page.

The “Michigan Difference” ePortfolio Pilot

• Highly diverse, distributed & interdisciplinary environment– 54,000 students– 225 undergraduate majors – 600 degree programs in 19 Schools & Colleges

• No centralized leadership, vision or resources with regard to student learning

• Many different ePortfolio pilot sites with a variety of needs and goals

UM Undergraduate Integrative and Generative

Knowledge ePortfolios

• Surface and articulate the value of both formal and embodied (tacit) knowledge

• Connect learning with professional ethics and personal values, aspirations and moral commitments

• Imagine alternatives to complex problems – identify and show evidence of working toward solutions

• Develop identity and capacities as innovators, life-long learners and leader

• Gather data for research on learning and accreditation needs

Integrative Learning Portfolios for

Undergraduates

Surfacing and understanding embodied knowledge increases adaptive capacities needed

for innovation

Step 1: Surface Embodied Knowledge: use interview and dialogue methods to help students identify and value the knowledge and skills gained from informal learning and lived experience

Integrative Portfolio-Based learningBuilds Identities and Capacities for

Social Innovation

• Pre: “I don’t see a lot that can be changed or how I can do anything to make things different….it is just not who I am, it is not my personality…”

• Post: YEAH I AM a social change agent! Now, I say, “This is a problem!”“ This isn’t right!” …I ask, “What can I do?” “Where can I go?” “Who else is working on this?”

I see my power now…my ability to fight for and implement an IT system in the agency I worked for…to inspire and train people to use it….it is now saving the State of Michigan $ millions….

Based on Research

(Peet, 2006)

UM Hospital Department of Internal Medicine

• Demonstrates asynchronous and blended learning environment

• Bridging research to practice gap• Strengthening residents’ patient-safety knowledge

and skills• Producing data for research, programmatic

improvement and accreditation needs

Pre-Assessment Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Post Assessment

Patient Care

Medical Knowledge W

Interpersonal Skills & Communication

W

Professionalism

Practice-Based Learning & Improvement

Systems-Based Practice

Career Development

Analyze Medical Errors Conduct on-line analysis reflect on underlying causes Assess Response Evaluate Learning Discuss incidents in seminar

Internal Medicine

How Can I Learn More or Get Involved in OSP?

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To Learn More/Get Involved

• Attend other OSP sessions at this conference• Community mailing list• osportfolio.org (general information and

community library of examples)• OSP space on Confluence (the Sakai wiki)• Weekly community calls• Test drive the application on an OSP QA

server

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