February 7, 2012 3:30 - 5 p.m. E-501
Introduction to E-Portfolio: Presented by Bret Eynon
What is E-Portfolio; how can it be used to support student development?
This program was generic, and now is discipline specific - Business, Fine Arts, Engineering, Education. Students collect work, reflect and focus on growth, present work to outside audiences, create projects and share with other students.
Students can list goals, personal statement; able to check back and see how productive they have been.
Learning Portfolios:
These are very helpful for a student's career, shows their work to employer, enriches student learning, and advances student success. Students use the portfolio in conversation with others, they reflect on what they have learned. Support Access: This deepens faculty insight- lets them see how students learn. In 2003, this was a pilot program with 370 students; today there are now over 50,000 using the portfolios.
Fishbowl on Advisement/Small Group Brainstorming:
Raj: The power of ePortfolio is it lets you see students' commitment and competencies. He wants to be able to judge whether students are developing professional skepticism and critical thinking skills.
The About Me, Resume, and Classes and Projects sections allow the professor to make better decsions about students' capabilities and the advice he gives them.
Deborah: In the final semester an ePortfolio is amazing because it helps faculty see whatis missing in the nursing student's skillset. She appreciates the shared responsibility between the student and the faculty in the academic program.
The ePortfolio allows goal setting for transfer and for beyond the NCLECS; once a student becomes a nurse, then what? A student can go back and look at her reflections throughout her educational journey and see if there are specializations about which she liked learning.
Jean: Use of an ePortfolio will help with the process of moving away from course selection and toward developmental advising.
Barbara: Giving an advisor access to the ePortfolio can help during Early Alertor other cohort advising sessions, especially when the advsior will see the student only one time or once per semester.
Jean: How can the ePortfolio be used when you see a high volume of students and not a caseload? Perhaps it can be a tool to help build relationship, even a short-term one. For the student, it's also a relationship with herself. As students reflect on their courses they can help to understand the trajectory of making course decisions. Bret remarked that it's an intentional process.
Jean/Barbara: Can ePortfolio be connected or linked to eCareer? If an advisor observes a lack of confidence within the student's ePortfolio she might make a stronger recommendation toward career exploration using eCareer. Deborah indicated that pre-clinical students could use that more.
Brainstorming session: what came up in the discussion groups?
Key elements that could be valuable in advisement:
About Me
Goals
Leadership and Community Service
How does the student feel she fits into the prospective major?
Ideas:
Access to the transfer credit evaluation in the ePortfolio; allow the student to reflect on it. More planning tools (including eCareer) to determine student's skill and assets
Nalband remarked that the ePortfolio is like a video of the student's past, present, and future and recommended incentivizing use of ePortfolio (extra points in a class, etc.).
Leslie Camacho added that just like a true physical portfolio, the ePortfolio is a powerful career development tool
Mitchell suggested a new student ePortfolio page - will this help the student get organized and understand the advisement and registration process, or perhaps explore her interests during the first semester, in a standardized format with special tabs just for this phase
Pressian added that the page could provide space for prompting student to describe her goals and aspirations
Alex Ribas asked if it's possible to insert targeted messaging into the ePortfolio, such as reminders about steps that need to be taken as a student. Also, with the Transfer Credit Evaluation, the "what if" portion of the DegreeWorks should have all courses combined, so that they will show up on all majors, allowing students to check with confidence.
Cheryl McKenzie added that DegreeWorks should be on the same page as E-Portfolio, as a link, would be one less thing to open.
Organizational Aspect: This tools helps students build confidence. They will feel better knowing their affairs are in order; not feeling lost. It will keep them on their feet, updating information regulary.