Use of e Portfolio to enhance student learning

Use of e. Portfolio to enhance student learning Hokling CHEUNG City University of Hong Kong May 11, 2009 @ e-Learning Forum Asia 2009 http: //www. cityu. edu. hk/edo/elearning_forum/2009/

Language portfolio Learning portfolio 2005 -06 TDG 2007 -09 TDG - pilot 10 ELC courses - language portfolios - technologies - ELC & other disciplines like BCH, BST, DCO, EN, SA, SG and co-curricular activities - learning portfolios - reflection Note: There were other courses of different departments and colleges integrating e. Portfolios into student learning and assessment activities who were not involved in our projects. Generic e. Portfolios 2009 -10 TDG - e. Portfolios for All: A Roadmap for Success - 3 -pronged approach: students, staff & roadmap - Generic e. Portfolio structure - Roadmap: transition, outcomes, ideal graduate & career preparation

Course-based Wikis and Blogs Digital story More emphasis and facilitation on feedback Website Advanced HTML Emphasis on technologies Wiki functions in My. Expo User centric application Bb Basic Portfolio function Direct use of templates Emphasis on reflection 2005 -2006 2007 -2009 One-web-page (simple HTML) Digital story More emphasis on reflection 2009 -2010 Bb Personal Portfolio functions, Google Sites & Roadmap Generic e. Portfolio structure Formative and summative reflection

Coverage Phase 1 st (2006 -2007) 2 nd (2007 -2009) Departments • English Language Centre • Biology and Chemistry • Computer Studies • Public and Social Administration • English and Communication • Division of Building Science and Technology • School of Graduate Studies Staff 2 investigators 1+9 teachers 1 RA 9 investigators 9+40+7 teachers 4 EDO staff Students 260 2333 (# portfolios)

Should we ask students to first create an employment portfolio?

The two-fold strategy e. Portfolios + Reflection

Feedback from students Having the experience in developing e. Portfolios and learning to reflect, many students identified important factors or strategies that can help them learn better. • Most students (65%) realise that preparation and planning like goal setting, action planning, knowing the course ILOs and assessment criteria, etc. are helpful for achieving better performance. (634 students responded in Semester A & B 2008 -9)

• After the portfolio development experience, students find their major achievements are in raising the awareness in different aspects of learning (50%), increasing their ability to handle technical tasks (48%) and enriching their knowledge with some new concepts and ideas (40%). • Students think that portfolio development helps them to learn better as they have to keep reflecting on the process/during the course of learning (50%), have to organise their learning when going through the editorial process for the portfolio (43%) and to record their thoughts, work, dialogues and interaction with others (38%). ays w e r a There etter! b n r a e to l

The positive effect on learning is related mainly to the practices of reflection and the process of portfolio making. • Both formative and summative reflection were agreed to be important by about half of the students. – 56% reflection is very important during the process of learning. – 46% reflective review and summary at the end of a particular course or activity is important. • 62% students think that the process of developing a portfolio is useful for learning. 34% students think the end product of the portfolio is useful for learning. rtfolio and o P e e h t th o I think b r learning. fo l fu e s u e r reflection a

Generic & Nesting Structure of e. Portfolios

Types of Portfolios • • Learning portfolios Employment/Career/Professional portfolios Assessment portfolios Showcase portfolios Personal development portfolios Teaching portfolios Training portfolios “These different “types” of e. Portfolios reflect the fact that e. Portfolios are being produced and consumed (used) in many different processes, or to manage different processes. ” Serge Ravet http: //www. eife-l. org/publications/eportfolio/documentation/positionpaper

Generic Structure of e. Portfolios PROFILE Personal particulars, biography, values & beliefs, interests and hobbies etc SUMMARY Purpose, audience, achievements and development, reflection and future direction SHOWCASE Representative work & evidence QUALIFICATION Official recognition of achievement, qualifications, contribution and participation

Generic Structure of e. Portfolios PROFILE SUMMARY Personality Goal setting Rhetorical purpose & strategic use Achievements (outcomes, competencies, attributes & standards) Reflection (Critical thinking skills) Future direction life long learning SHOWCASE Room for students (self-directed learning, belated mastery, creativity etc) Editorial and technical skills QUALIFICATION Standards and quality/ Benchmarking/Accreditation Participation in professional communities Contribution to other communities

Nesting Structure of e. Portfolios A “big” portfolio holding “smaller portfolios”/artifacts PROFILE SUMMARY SHOWCASE QUALIFICATION SUMMARY MY WORK PERFORMANCE ACHIEVEMENT GALLERY QUALIFICATION

Metaphors for Reflection Use the mirror to prompt reflection about yourself. Look for connections and relationships. Go deeper and analyze the details of an event, task, or experience. Identify relevant and best evidence to support claims What choices lie ahead? Think about how you could have done something better. Cheung, Dean, Pickard & Chan 2009

Metaphors for Reflection How do you feel till now at the last lesson of SG 8001? Try to use at least three different adjectives to describe your feelings. What is/are the most What capacity do you remarkable thing(s) you have now as a teacher? How will you apply what came across in this you have learnt from this course? What aspects of yourself will need to improve or enhance? What is the concrete action plan for that? What have you achieved in this course? How would you describe your achievement? How would you describe How do you know your achievement in have achieved at terms of the course which level? outcomes? Is there any evidence How relevant and to support your claims related it is between of achievement? What Is there anything you what you have learnt can they be? think you could have from this course to your done better? What is duties, studies or else? it?

Reflection – mental activities

Reflection – content domains

e. Portfolio pedagogies Reflection • Discovery • Problem Solving • Evaluation ment • Learning & Advance Objectives Outcomes Observation Obstacles Opportunities Opinions Learning management skills IT skills Employability skills Generic skills Editorial skills Presentation skills Assessment of • Process • Product/Pe rformance • Outcomes • Competenc ies n Transitions n Documentatio agement Learning man gagement n E g n i n ear Self-directed l Mentoring y t i n u m Learning com ollaboration C ing ising Life long learn Academic adv ration a p e r P r e e r a C ment p lo e v e D n o s r Whole Pe Accreditation flectio e r e v i t a m For reflection e v i t a m m Su dback e e f e v i t a Form eedback f e v i t a m Sum

The two-fold strategy e. Portfolios + Reflection • • • Ownership of learning Learning community and collaboration Goal setting and internalization of outcomes Facilitate self-assessment Development of critical thinking, technical, communication, and presentation skills

• Some quotes from students talking about benefits gained from creating an e. Portfolio. "I remember not just the goals that I want to achieve in this course but also my intention to become a marine Biologist. " "Review of all my coursework. From others' comments and feedback, I can learn more. Train my web-page design skill. Putting my smile to everyone makes my confident. My classmate, friends, instructors or even strangers can have a platform to know me. “ "I understand more of my self and learning experience. I can summarize the learning material and my past experience. I know how to create the e-online-CV(Resume). I know I need to learn how to organize my own materials. (Resume and certificates). “

"I learned to figure out problems on my own, problems like how to use the Dreamweaver. It gives me more confidence. I treated my works, assignments and reflections seriously, which makes them more valuable. The process of creating an eportfolio developed my patience. I got to know more about myself, not only the learning ability but also the personality" "I can summarize all my works and the quality of my works can be improved next time. I can also reflect myself and look what I've done in this year. " "This increase my "index" of my creative. I found it interesting to write down and comment what I learnt. It really help me to remember it and even more. " "In the creation of an e. Portfolio, I have learnt to create a simple movie in the computer that I have never done it before. The confidence in using the computer to make a

Performance Appraisals Learning portfolio for a programme study Learning portfolios for courses Language portfolios My life University study Work portfolio Employment portfolio Graduation Promotion event organisation workshops community services projects recognition study trip courses exchange further study publication final year project competition study trip internship awards professional membership part-time jobs group projects Student unions community services

Performance Appraisals Learning portfolio for a programme study Learning portfolios for courses Language portfolios My life University study Work portfolio Employment portfolio Graduation Promotion

Benefits of Discipline Specific e. Portfolio Templates Transitions Life long learner e. Portfolios as Roadmaps Discipline Specific e. Portfolio Templates Ownership of Learning and Development City. U Ideal Graduate Career Preparation OBTL

e. Portfolio technologies ces but i o h c f o a A lot o rward t o f g n i look one! perfect Structured or free form? Database home grown systems Bb/LMS pre-defined structure & forms Google Sites ü Search ü Data! ü Ownership issues ü User friendliness ü Scalability Free form Wikis Blogs Dreamweaver HTML/websites electronic video/doc/ppt/ digital story telling ü Personalisation ü IT skill requirement ü Time & effort ü Connectivity ü Interoperability & compatibility

Would that be the case that an ideal e. Portfolio tool is actually a user-centric e-Learning system? e. P tool = {user-centric}n e. L platform

e. Portfolios Showcase • Students’ work – – – 2005 2006 or Darry’s portfolio 2007 2008 2009 • Sample portfolios – Vera’s Graduate Portfolio – Gut’s Portfolio (Google. Site) – Gut’s Portfolio (Bb) • Portfolio templates – CTL (discipline specific e. Portfolio template) – Employment portfolio – Sandy Wong’s Language Portfolio