ePortfolio Design Project – First Draft

First conduct a needs analysis

Needs analysis – why do you (the teacher) want students to create a portfolio?

  • assessment collection (same as 1 by 1 assessment of artefacts but in one place)
  • artefacts are to form a cohesive whole or theme
  • additional integrative artefact to be produced
  • portfolio mandated by leadership
  • assessment to include iterative revision of artefacts
  • assessment to include reflection on process/product
  • formative assessment
  • summative assessment

Needs analysis – why do students want to create a portfolio?

  • learn through reflection and revision
  • leverage assignments into useful collection or single artefact
  • retain collection of artefacts to aid in future learning
  • retain collection of artefacts as employment portfolio

Whose portfolio is this? In plotting out the needs analysis for your portfolio project how do you answer this question?

Another component of the needs analysis are use cases. These are discrete tasks that users of the platform are going to need to do. Use cases might look like:

  • teacher creates a new ePortfolio instance for a new student
  • student uploads a (document/graphic/media file) to the ePortfolio
  • teacher reviews a media file and reflection text
  • teacher provides feedback on a document
  • student creates a collection for view by potential employer
  • teacher creates archive for storage in case of grade challenge

Document this needs analysis in a blog post.

Having identified the purposes of your portfolio you must identify the features the technology that will host your ePortfolios must support. You might also identify features that will not be needed in order to prevent scope-creep. Below are some possible features.

  • ability to present different artefacts in specifically purposed collections
  • ability to make collections and artefacts public or private
  • ability to host artefacts internally
  • ability to include artefacts hosted externally (embed etc.)
  • ability to host reflection pieces
  • ability to associate reflection pieces with specific artefacts (or not)
  • ability to export in a format for future use by students
  • accessible by mobile devices
  • compliant with relevant policies and regulation for institution and jurisdiction
  • ability to manage various roles (student, instructor, administrator, community member, employer, mentor etc.)
  • ability to host for long term
  • ability to archive
  • support for private instructor feedback

Once a needs analysis has been completed and features have been identified this is the stage where you may commit to paper a project plan to formalize planning and place some realistic limits on what you will do going forward. At this stage submit a 2-page project plan or write a blog post that details your plan (the option you use should be discussed with the instructor).

The next step is to find platform/provider solutions that will meet the features you need. In many cases the platform as offered by a provider (e.g. WordPress as provided by Edublogs) will offer many of the features found in WordPress, but not all. Your options will be limited if you have no financial resources to expend on an ongoing basis and you have limited or no ongoing outside support (technical platform support) for your project. The gist of the problem is you can have a wide range of options if you have money; or, you can have a wide range of options if you have some web server space (or a little money) and some ongoing support (ranging from a web development professional to an enthusiastic teacher or two).

Prototyping your ePortfolio is an important step before investing time and/or money in deploying a system at the scale of a class or larger. In order to prototype effectively you need several use-cases (that you developed during the needs analysis) that you will test. These use-cases should explore each of the features you identified earlier, in each of the roles or contexts possible.

A prototype will typically consist of an actual installation of the software with one or more ePortfolios and identities representing each of the needed roles.

Once the protoype is complete testing must be done to ensure compliance with needed features in the contexts outline in the use-cases. The most effective way to do testing is with a script that can be followed by multiple testers (even if this is a one-classroom project you will benefit from having other sets of eyes run through your setup). The script should include those tasks imagined in the use-cases. The prototype should be tested in each online environment to be supported. This should include both Windows and Mac OS systems using the most popular browsers and may include mobile devices.

Resources

AAEEBL ePortfolio Review.
http://www.aaeebl.org/?page=AePR

Barrett, H. Electronicportfolios.org.
http://electronicportfolios.org/

Barrett, H. ePortfolios with Google Apps.
https://sites.google.com/site/eportfolioapps/

Barrett, H. ePortfolios with WordPress.
https://sites.google.com/site/eportfolioswp/

Barrett, H. (2009). ePortfolios and new Accountability Systems. eportfolios for Learning.
http://eportfoliosblog.blogspot.ca/2009/07/eportfolios-and-new-accountability.html

Batson, T. (2007). The ePortfolio hijacked. Campus Technology.
https://campustechnology.com/articles/2007/12/the-eportfolio-hijacked.aspx

Brown, S. (2015). The Impact of the ePortfolio Tool on the Process: Functional Decisions of a New Genre. Theory Into Practice, 54(4), 335-342.
https://ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=110728313

Buyarski, C. A., Aaron, R. W., Hansen, M. J., Hollingsworth, C. D., Johnson, C. A., Kahn, S., & … Powell, A. A. (2015). Purpose and Pedagogy: A Conceptual Model for an ePortfolio. Theory Into Practice, 54(4), 283-291.
https://ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=110728307

Cote, K., & Emmett, T. (2015). Effective Implementation of ePortfolios: The Development of ePortfolios to Support Online Learning. Theory Into Practice, 54(4), 352-363.
https://ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=110728315

Cousins, J. (2016). Student Assessment and the ePortfolio. Assessment Update, 28(2), 5-14.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/doi/10.1002/au.30052/abstract;jsessionid=4B48A55EA3037D6F02C80BD44DBEFEBB.f03t01?systemMessage=Wiley+Online+Library+will+be+unavailable+on+Saturday+14th+May+11%3A00-14%3A00+BST+%2F+06%3A00-09%3A00+EDT+%2F+18%3A00-21%3A00+SGT+for+essential+maintenance.Apologies+for+the+inconvenience.

JISC. (2014). E-portfolios.
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/e-portfolios

JISC. (2015). Getting started with e-portfolios.
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/getting-started-with-e-portfolios

JISC. (2015). Key e-portfolio resources.
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/key-e-portfolio-resources

Jones, D. (2014). A story about the failure of institutional eportfolios. A Weblog of (a) David Jones.
https://davidtjones.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/a-story-about-the-failure-of-institutional-eportfolios/

International Journal of ePortfolio.
http://www.theijep.com/

Kehoe, A., & Goudzwaard, M. (2015). ePortfolios, Badges, and the Whole Digital Self: How Evidence-Based Learning Pedagogies and Technologies Can Support Integrative Learning and Identity Development. Theory Into Practice, 54(4), 343-351.
https://ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=110728314

Nguyen, L. T., & Ikeda, M. (2015). The effects of ePortfolio-based learning model on student self-regulated learning. Active Learning In Higher Education, 16(3), 197-209.
https://ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=111153026

Nicolaidou, I. (2013). E-portfolios supporting primary students’ writing performance and peer feedback. Computers & Education, 68404-415.
https://ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=89739330

Ring, G. L., Waugaman, C., Brackett, R., & Jackson, D. B. (2015). Using eportfolios to assess and improve the general education curriculum. JGE: The Journal Of General Education, 64(4), 310-333.
https://ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=111887328

Scott, K., & Kim, J. (2015). ePortfolios: The Method of Choice for Validation. Community College Journal Of Research & Practice, 39(8), 784-787.
https://ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=102269951

Shedd, J. (2008). Rethinking accountability: Response to “The ePortfolio hijacked”. Campus Technology.
https://campustechnology.com/articles/2008/01/rethinking-accountability-response-to-the-eportfolio-hijacked.aspx

TRU. ePortfolio Development.
http://www.tru.ca/learning/students/eportfolio-development.html