STLHE 2015

This interactive session will focus on what we consider a high impact practice that helped to transform a necessary, but slightly ‘tired’ classroom practice - the research project. In order to create a more meaningful, engaging and transformative learning experience for our students, we piloted ePortfolios. Moving from a paper-based portfolio, often hurriedly pieced together at the end of term, to an ePortfolio project that is visible and accessible to students throughout the term is in-line with transformative learning practices which value the active learner and support different learning styles. ePortfolios can transform the learning experience by providing a venue for students to reflect on and integrate their learning (Eynon, Gambino, & Török, 2014), shifting the emphasis on the process rather than the product and on learning rather than teaching. The use of ePortfolios as active learning tools leads to learning that is “...captured, shared, revised, assessed, presented, reassessed, reflected upon, and integrated…” (Batson, 2011, p. 109). The presenters will share the design stage, assignment guidelines, ePortfolio template, assessment practices, and student ePortfolio examples. Session participants will be guided through a hands-on review and discussion of a sample ePortfolio in terms of four components: digital literacy and multimodal artifacts, high impact practice, documentation of learning process, and reflection. 

References:

Batson, T. (2011). Situated learning: A theoretical frame to guide transformational change using electronic portfolio technology. International Journal of ePortoflio 1(1), 107-109. http://www.theijep.com/pdf/IJEP34.pdf

Eynon, B., Gambino, L. M., & Török, J. (2014). What difference can ePortfolio make? A field report from the Connect to Learning project. International Journal of ePortfolio, 4(1), 95-114.http://www.theijep.com/pdf/IJEP127.pdf