REAL* ePortfolio Academy for K-12 teachers
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REAL* ePortfolio Academy for K-12 teachers
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Introduction to Electronic Portfolios in K-12 Schools
Details on the Academy Program and Services:
Individual Teacher Professional Development
There is a need to provide this information to educators around the world, using a variety of tools and strategies. Right now the Academy will offer four levels of individual professional development:
- Self-paced and Collaborative: a website with course content and readings, which will be free, plus a collaborative group for dialogue throughout the year
- Facilitated courses: take a structured course, facilitated by Dr. Helen Barrett (requires a course fee)
- Credit: participants in the facilitated course may earn university credit with full participation in the course requirements, for an additional credit fee
- Webinars: distance-delivered workshops and planning committee meetings are also available to be delivered via the Internet to schools for a fee
- Face-to-face workshops: one- or two-day face-to-face workshop with Dr. Barrett for school or district. (for daily fee + travel expenses -- includes course fees for planning committee)
The self-paced website will be available to anyone. The sign-in to the Facilitated Course will be provided upon payment of the facilitated course fee.Content of Individual Teacher Professional Development Online Courses
- Capture & store evidence in a variety of multimedia formats and Web 2.0/mobile tools
- Reflect on Learning - “reflection = the heart and soul of a portfolio”
- Give & receive feedback as part of formative assessment FOR learning
- Plan & set goals as a lifelong learning strategy
- Collaborate using Web 2.0 tools
- Present showcase portfolio to an audience
- Evaluate portfolios used for summative assessment OF learning
- Share strategies for using reflection to support student learning, both “capturing the moment” during the learning process and retrospectively as a culminating activity
- Support classroom-based research on the implementation of electronic portfolios in K-12 classrooms through community of practice and guidance on gathering data, publishing results
School-level or District-level services
In addition to individual classes for teachers to implement e-portfolios in individual classrooms, there is a need to support institutional planning and implementation, either at the school or district level. These services can be provided over the Internet or face-to-face. Here are examples of the services that are available.
- Private Web-based Conferences with individual or team of teachers, or district-level teams - Using Skype Desktop Sharing
Webinar Series - 1.5–2 hour private formal presentations using GoToWebinar
- Assessment and Planning Assistance - Where are you now, where do you need to be, how do we help you get there?
- Teachers: Portfolio Pedagogy, Technology Skills, ISTE NETS-T
- School/District: Essential Conditions, Technology Environment
- Deliverables (survey, written report, debrief workshop)- Face-to-Face: hands-on workshops and planning sessions are also available to be conducted in school districts for a fee + travel expenses
- Online questionnaire focusing on needs assessment to be completed by teachers. Analyze results. Develop report of findings for planning purposes.
Assessment and Planning Assistance to Schools and School Districts
- Develop a long range plan for implementing electronic portfolios in classroom/school/district
- Determine success criteria for electronic portfolio implementation
- Clarify a Vision for implementing electronic portfolios with students in classroom/school/district
- Provide Institutional Assessment (of school and/or district) to include ISTE Essential Conditions Assessment, Technology Needs Assessment, including feedback and recommendations report
- Provide teacher skills assessment for electronic portfolio devepment: NETS-T + Assessment for Learning (planning, reflection, feedback) + collaboration, to be able to target professional development at an appropriate level for the teachers.
- Identify different tools available to implement electronic portfolios for both teachers and students
- Support a pilot study with students to test out the different free electronic portfolio tools, based on Internet connectivity (Digication, Google Sites, etc.) and mobile devices or 1-1 laptops
Descriptions of Online Courses Planned
It has become apparent that there is a need for multiple courses, meant to answer three questions about Electronic Portfolios in K-12 Schools:
- What? (Definition, Description, Examples)
- Why? (Purpose, Benefits, Philosophy)
- How? (Implementation Strategies, Pedagogy, Promising Practices).
In summary, the following courses are planned: a generic, tool-neutral short course that provides an overview of electronic portfolios; a more in-depth course that supports specific implementation with students using Google Apps (later, a course on WordPress/EduBlogs may be offered, if there is enough interest); a course on creating a digital narrative/story to add voice to e-portfolios; a course to build a professional portfolio (may be taken simultaneously with overview course); and a course to support classroom-based research on implementation of electronic portfolios. For those concerned about how to use data management systems to collect assessment data about student learning, another course will be developed, if there is sufficient interest. Courses are currently under development and submitted for approval by Seattle Pacific University for Professional Development Credit.
- Introduction to K-12 ePortfolios (Overview of Student-Centered Electronic Portfolios in K-12 Education) (generic, no specific tools, an overview of the different purposes/tools, with an emphasis on collection, reflection, and direction/goal-setting) - 3 quarter credits - (60 hours) - (cohorts starting January 4, 2012; May 1, 2012; September 17, 2012)
Specialize within the course -- participants may choose to focus on more specific applications of ePortfolios:
- Implement Electronic Portfolios with K-12 Students using Google Apps -- Participants focus on using Google Docs, Sites, Blogger, YouTube, Picasa, Digication, Teacher Dashboard.
- Implement Electronic Portfolios with K-12 Students using Mobile Devices -- Participants focus on using Mobile devices to support student reflection and learning portfolio development.
- Create Your Professional Portfolio using Web 2.0 tools -- Participants create a Professional Portfolio with choice of tools:
Google Sites, WordPress Pages, WikiSpaces, Blogger Pages, Mahara (hosted at http://portfoliocommunities.com/ or http://foliofor.me/)
- Assessment and Evaluation with Electronic Portfolios (This 2013 course is under development, and will look at data management systems to use electronic portfolios for institutional assessment and evaluation of K-12 student learning.) (How?) (starting in 2013)
- Classroom-Based Research on Implementing Electronic Portfolios in K-12 Education - 1-3 variable credit - 10 weeks (may be repeated twice?) (20-60 hours) Prerequisite: Implementation class - This class is meant to support teachers the rest of the school year, to create an opportunity for a collaborative network to support classroom-based research on the implementation of electronic portfolios. (available in 2013)
Google Group set up to design courses: http://groups.google.com/group/eportfolioacademy - Membership by invitation. To request invitation, fill out the form above and go to http://groups.google.com/group/eportfolioacademy/subscribe?note=1
Sponsors
Advisory Board
- Sònia Guilana, Teacher, Catalonia, Spain
- Karen Barnstable, British Columbia, Canada
- Jamin Lietze, Teacher, New Zealand
- Lisa Nielsen, Technology Coordinator, New York City, U.S.A.
- Dr. Iolie Nicolaidou, Researcher, Cyprus
- Serge Ravet, EIFEL, France
- Nick Rate, Core-Ed, New Zealand
- Sylvia Martinez, GenYES, U.S.A.
© Helen C. Barrett, Ph.D. - updated September 10, 2012
