AAEEBL conference July 2010 11

Implementing ePortfolios: An international perspective on

challenges and successes

Marij Veugelers, SURF NL Portfolio, University of Amsterdam

Helen L. Chen, EPAC, Stanford University

AAEEBL conference July 2010 2AAEEBL conference July 2010 2

Reflective exercise on ePortfolio

What kind of organization do you work for?University – (Community) College – Other

What is your role?Technical – Educational - Management – Other

Where are you in your ePortfolio implementation?Thinking about it – Pilot stage – Scaling up – Fully implemented

AAEEBL conference July 2010 33

Overview • Worldwide ePortfolio implementations• Gartner’s Hype Cycle• Implementation success factors: The Balance Model• Three common global implementation issues:

1. How can the ePortfolio be embedded in the curriculum?2. Who are your stakeholders?3. How should we address interoperability and

standardization?• 2011: What’s ahead of us• Communities of practice• Additional online resources

AAEEBL conference July 2010 4AAEEBL conference July 2010 4

Worldwide ePortfolio implementations in higher education

Very experienced:• North America: U.S., Canada• Europe: UK, NL, Scandinavia• Australia, New Zealand

Up and coming:• Europe: Austria, Germany• Southern Europe: Portugal, Spain, Italy

Emerging examples:• Eastern Europe: Croatia• Russia• Asia: Japan, China• Africa: Nigeria• Central America: Guatemala

AAEEBL conference July 2010 5AAEEBL conference July 2010 5

Where do we stand?

Trough of disillusionment: 2-5 years to mainstream adoption

E-portfolio 2009

Gartner’s idea 2008 -> 2009

AAEEBL conference July 2010 6AAEEBL conference July 2010 6

Implementation success factors

• Juggling with many balls• It is more than an introduction of a tool or

system• It is educational innovation!

• In the NL: The Balance Model

AAEEBL conference July 2010 7AAEEBL conference July 2010 7

SupportSupport

Management

Learning environment

Learning activities

Goals

InfrastructurePeople

Portfolio conceptPortfolio concept

E-Portfolio attention areas in NL (2003 – 2005)

AAEEBL conference July 2010 8

Three common global implementation issues

1. How can the ePortfolio be embedded into the curriculum?

2. Who are your ePortfolio stakeholders?– Students/Learners– Teachers/coaches– Management/Administration

3. ePortfolio Interoperability and Standardization: What do we need to know?

AAEEBL conference July 2010 9

Issue 1: How can the ePortfolio be embedded

into the curriculum?• What are the learning activities around the

portfolio?• How are ePortfolios integrated into the

curriculum at the course, department, program levels?

• How can we address the benefits of the ePortfolio as a concept to the curriculum, instead of the ePortfolio as a tool?

AAEEBL conference July 2010 10AAEEBL conference July 2010 10

Mapping Overview(Kelly, 2009)

AAEEBL conference July 2010 11AAEEBL conference July 2010 11

Mapping Exercise: CSU Anywhere

AAEEBL conference July 201012 AAEEBL conference July 201012

AAEEBL conference July 201013 AAEEBL conference July 201013

UvA Academic Skills Line

curriculum E-portfolio

• self evaluation• reflection• feedbackevidence

material

skills line

Natasa Brouwer UvA 2006

AAEEBL conference July 2010 14AAEEBL conference July 2010 14

SURF NL Portfolio Checklist Portfolio learning environment

The portfolio has a clear status / is connected to substantial learning lines. Learning lines involve core competences of university graduates and not just separate skills.

The objective is academic and professional education, in breadth and in depth. Clear levels and standards within the learning lines are communicated. Comparable experiences are necessary for pattern identification. Within learning lines

students get sequences of varied learning experiences in authentic situations. In order to enhance the self-steering process, portfolio tasks / reflection tasks are given after

sequences of practical experiences (academic and / or professional). Students are trained to reflect upon their functioning, and requirements are being put upon

pattern identification and formulation of the next step in the development (‘self-steering’). Students organize and get feedback on their functioning or products immediately after their

achievements. Systematically students bring forward evidence for their progression on the learning lines. The requirements for reflection reports by students are mirrored in the requirements for

tutor skills (i.e. a tutor has to be dedicated to the goal, be an expert as well as a coach). The performance of the tutors is part of a plan for improvement and control of the quality of

educational programs: they are being trained and assessed.

for academic universities Meeder en Poortinga VU 2007

AAEEBL conference July 2010 15

Issue 2: Who are your stakeholders?

• Who needs to be on board in order to support a successful implementation?

• How can these stakeholders benefit from adopting ePortfolios?

• What can these stakeholders contribute to the support and the success of the ePortfolio initiative?

16

Special concept guides for different stakeholders:• Learners• Teachers and trainers• CEOs and managers• IT and teaching and learning support staff• Employers, professional bodies and career

services• Employees

AAEEBL conference July 2010 17AAEEBL conference July 2010 17

Fostering Student Buy-in

University of Washington’s Electronic Portfolio Contest Personal/Reflective

ePortfolio Professional ePortfolio Academic ePortfolio

18

Project team ePortfolio HAN 2005

  

Educational expertise

Appli-cationexper-

tise

Technical expertise

Faculty in the disciplines

Application administration

Application building

Functional administration

System administration

Infrastructure

Help desk

19

3 Principles-> 1 aim

Organise the attentionOrganise the attention

Be truthfulBe truthful Go for the dialogueGo for the dialogue

Create value for ALL parties

Rudi Claus & Evy Fioole Avans University 2010

AAEEBL conference July 2010 20

Issue 3: ePortfolio interoperability

and standardization• How do we scale “Folio Thinking” from an

individual course program institution higher education workplace?

• How can an ePortfolio facilitate transfer from the educational “market” to the labor market?

• What are the implications for ePortfolio tools and standards?

21

Statewide (regional) ePortfolio initiatives

Service center LifeLong Learning Limburg NL

StePS NLNew non profit organization for Portfolio Support connecting labor market with education section’ Goal: ‘everybody enters the market with an ePortfolio’

AAEEBL conference July 2010 22

Graduate Medical Education Learning Portfolios

• Six Competency Areas• Professionalism• Interpersonal &

Communication Skills• Patient Care• Medical Knowledge• Practice-Based Learning

& Improvement• Systems-Based Practice

Portfolio FeaturesCurriculumAssessment ToolsEducational OutcomesCommunication and

feedbackProfessional

DevelopmentAccreditation

23

UCSF Portfolio Approach:Bridge from Data to Discovery

Learner receives, Learner receives, instructions and instructions and

selects experienceselects experience

Evidence Warehouse

Reflects and Reflects and summarizessummarizes

Discusses Discusses reflection with reflection with

mentor (formative)mentor (formative)

Reflection is Reflection is scored as evidence scored as evidence

of a specific of a specific competency or competency or

PBLI (summative)PBLI (summative)

Learman (2008)

AAEEBL conference July 2010 24

2011: What’s ahead of us? Employability aspects link up with learning Regional/Statewide ePortfolios are coming up Co-operation across educational sector arises as a

result of retention problems and an aging population Scaling up in higher education, moving to a new

system Standardisation and interoperability is key at macro

level, but may conflict with context dependent portfolio concepts at or within universities

Channelling the Net Generation’s web 2.0 informal learning with formal, school provided activities and tools is a challenge for the next decade

AAEEBL conference July 2010 25

Communities of Practice

• Learn from each other• Don’t invent the wheel again• Start at your school/university• Look for colleagues in the region/state• Nationwide CoP• International CoP

AAEEBL conference July 2010 26AAEEBL conference July 2010 26

More information online 1USA• EPAC: http://epac.pbworks.com/ and http://epaccop.blogspot.com/• Inter/National Coalition on ePortfolio Research: http://ncepr.org/• Helen Barrett: http://electronicportfolios.com/• AAC&U’s VALUE Project: http://www.aacu.org/value/

Netherlands• Stimulating Lifelong Learning: The Eportfolio in Dutch Higher Education -

Special publication in English, result of 7 research projectshttp://www.surffoundation.nl/download/Stimulating%20Lifelong%20Learning%20-%20ePortfolio.pdf

• SURF NL Portfolio website with articles (in English)http://www.surfspace.nl/en/themas/Portfolio/start/pages/overzicht.aspx

AAEEBL conference July 2010 27

More information online 2UKJISC InfoKit: http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/e-portfolios Covers the main drivers, purposes, processes, perspectives and

issues around e-portfolios

AustraliaThe ePortfolio Toolkit with ePortfolio Concept Guides http://www.eportfoliopractice.qut.edu.au/information2/toolkit/

Adapted for the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector by the Australian Flexible Learning Network.

http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/content/e-portfolio-resources

Opportunities for Collaboration?Suggestions from the audience

• For campuses who are new to ePortfolios, who’s doing what? Are there other campuses doing something similar to what we are doing? If yes, how can we find out?

• Progression from learning to work contexts; engaging professional associations; helping students understand connections between learning and their profession

• Collaborations with K-12 institutions, statewide; keeping records and reflections for life

• Transitioning from extrinsic to intrinsic motivations to complete ePortfolios; related to autonomy, self-determination, student ownership – how do students make this transition, what factors influence this?

AAEEBL conference July 2010 28AAEEBL conference July 2010 28

AAEEBL conference July 2010 29AAEEBL conference July 2010 29

Thank you!

• Marij VeugelersSURF NL Portfolio, University of Amsterdamveugelers@uva.nl

• Helen L. ChenEPAC & Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning hlchen@stanford.edu