2002 Fall Focus Session

Teaching, Learning and Assessment with E-Portfolios
October 25, 2002
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

Proceedings

General Sessions
Breakout Sessions
Focus Session Video
Video is available of a READY2NET broadcast on E-Portfolios, organized in conjunction with the focus session, and held on 10/24/02.

Program

Traditional higher education transcripts record time and place and presence, the number of units completed, the academic grade or credit associated with those units, and certification of the grouping of the units into a degree or certification. These academic records are linked to the Carnegie unit model of accountability for both the time and effort of the student's learning, and the determination of faculty workloads. However, more and more institutions are moving toward authentic demonstration of competencies, to the belief that student reflection is central to learning. Including this richness of information by creating some sort of digital or electronic portfolio (e-portfolio) holds promise for how such information could be collected, stored and shared. As our technical capacity continues to grow; as we become increasingly able to collect, store, manipulate and share information digitally; and as students develop the skills necessary to produce their portfolios in electronic formats, electronic portfolios become not only possible but also a potentially valuable part of a student's permanent record. From an institutional perspective, e-portfolios have the potential to help institutions of education as they think about program and performance assessment and overall issues of education reform. Additionally, e-portfolios are being used by consortia to assist employment actions such as hiring and promotion.

The Fall Focus Session provided an opportunity for those just beginning to use or planning to use e-portfolios. Participants had the opportunity to review a number of electronic portfolio scenarios prior to the session. These scenarios were prepared by a variety of institutions and consortia. For example, Northwestern University, Carnegie Foundation, Stanford University, and the University of Washington all are testing or implementing e-portfolio use with students and faculty. IUPUI is using e-portfolios for institutional review, planning, and fund raising. And in Minnesota, the ISEEK effort is a joint one that includes the University of Minnesota, the State Education Agency, and the Department of Labor, to name a few. That activity uses e-portfolios for job searching and other purposes. Each organization that prepared a case study provided a self-analysis highlighting what they believe are the strengths and pitfalls of their approach.

The Focus Session participants then compared and contrasted the paradigms used in the case studies and reflected on the assumptions, norms, and conventions used in current efforts. Together they considered how we might go about designing a set of guidelines for institutions and consortia that are just beginning the process of experimenting with e-portfolios. The goal was to identify and review "red flags," to assist those in the early stages to avoid some of the hassles that caused early adopters to have to regroup.

Meeting Purpose

Attendees worked together to review a number of e-portfolio efforts currently under way. They identified key principles that have been, or could and should be, used to create a set of guidelines for those developing e-portfolios. Using these principles, they explored the key characteristics of the institutions that are successfully implementing e-portfolios. They also considered the extent to which methods and approaches used by other institutions are transferable. Finally, they identified issues surrounding e-portfolio maintenance, privacy issues, scalability, and sustainability. The goal was to draft a set of guidelines to assist those beginning the process.

Questions Tackled

This Focus Session was designed to report back to the higher education community on current thinking, issues and concerns and to provide an opportunity to then get feedback that will inform development activities underway or planned. Some of the questions that were addressed during the day included:

What are the teaching & learning issues associated with e-portfolios?
- Why do we need e-portfolios? What are they good for? What are the pedagogical benefits?
- What should the content standards be for e-portfolios?
What are the higher education system issues associated with e-portfolios?
- What are the key challenges faced by higher education in moving from the paper transcripts to those that include e-portfolios?
- What are the short and long-term policy implications of e-portfolios (security, privacy and access, long-term legal implications, definition of official record, need for institutional gatekeepers, FIRPA)?
- What are the implications of a potential shift from institutionally-based to lifelong learner-based records?
What are the institutional planning, implementation and programmatic issues associated with e-portfolios?
- What are the institutional policy implications (e.g., intellectual property issues associated with content)?
- What are the support and long-term maintenance implications (financial models, storage and archiving, lifelong portfolios)?
- How can we use our understanding of prior efforts to avoid some of the pitfalls in e-portfolio development?
What are the technical issues associated with e-portfolios?
- How can existing technologies be used to design effective e-portfolios?
- How can e-portfolios be integrated into existing enterprise systems (student information systems)?
- What are the standards and technical specification issues?
What are the marketplace issues associated with e-portfolios?
- Are there guidelines for e-portfolio system development for universities that want to develop their own?
- Are there guidelines for influencing vendors to meet higher education's needs? What do we need e-portfolios to do?

Work Products

A revised set of use cases describing the potential consequential uses of e-portfolios
A set of functional requirements for each use case
Rubric for evaluating e-portfolio systems
Rubric for evaluating the implementation of e-portfolio systems

Intended Audience

Faculty leaders of institutions just considering e-portfolio development, or those in the early stages of the process
University administrators responsible for designing the system, coordinating efforts, and preparing budgets
Administrators from other organizations collaborating with universities

ELI Events ELI Events Calendar		2002 Fall Focus Session Teaching, Learning and Assessment with E-Portfolios October 25, 2002 Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois Proceedings General Sessions Breakout Sessions Focus Session Video Video is available of a READY2NET broadcast on E-Portfolios, organized in conjunction with the focus session, and held on 10/24/02. Program Traditional higher education transcripts record time and place and presence, the number of units completed, the academic grade or credit associated with those units, and certification of the grouping of the units into a degree or certification. These academic records are linked to the Carnegie unit model of accountability for both the time and effort of the student's learning, and the determination of faculty workloads. However, more and more institutions are moving toward authentic demonstration of competencies, to the belief that student reflection is central to learning. Including this richness of information by creating some sort of digital or electronic portfolio (e-portfolio) holds promise for how such information could be collected, stored and shared. As our technical capacity continues to grow; as we become increasingly able to collect, store, manipulate and share information digitally; and as students develop the skills necessary to produce their portfolios in electronic formats, electronic portfolios become not only possible but also a potentially valuable part of a student's permanent record. From an institutional perspective, e-portfolios have the potential to help institutions of education as they think about program and performance assessment and overall issues of education reform. Additionally, e-portfolios are being used by consortia to assist employment actions such as hiring and promotion. The Fall Focus Session provided an opportunity for those just beginning to use or planning to use e-portfolios. Participants had the opportunity to review a number of electronic portfolio scenarios prior to the session. These scenarios were prepared by a variety of institutions and consortia. For example, Northwestern University, Carnegie Foundation, Stanford University, and the University of Washington all are testing or implementing e-portfolio use with students and faculty. IUPUI is using e-portfolios for institutional review, planning, and fund raising. And in Minnesota, the ISEEK effort is a joint one that includes the University of Minnesota, the State Education Agency, and the Department of Labor, to name a few. That activity uses e-portfolios for job searching and other purposes. Each organization that prepared a case study provided a self-analysis highlighting what they believe are the strengths and pitfalls of their approach. The Focus Session participants then compared and contrasted the paradigms used in the case studies and reflected on the assumptions, norms, and conventions used in current efforts. Together they considered how we might go about designing a set of guidelines for institutions and consortia that are just beginning the process of experimenting with e-portfolios. The goal was to identify and review "red flags," to assist those in the early stages to avoid some of the hassles that caused early adopters to have to regroup. Meeting Purpose Attendees worked together to review a number of e-portfolio efforts currently under way. They identified key principles that have been, or could and should be, used to create a set of guidelines for those developing e-portfolios. Using these principles, they explored the key characteristics of the institutions that are successfully implementing e-portfolios. They also considered the extent to which methods and approaches used by other institutions are transferable. Finally, they identified issues surrounding e-portfolio maintenance, privacy issues, scalability, and sustainability. The goal was to draft a set of guidelines to assist those beginning the process. Questions Tackled This Focus Session was designed to report back to the higher education community on current thinking, issues and concerns and to provide an opportunity to then get feedback that will inform development activities underway or planned. Some of the questions that were addressed during the day included: What are the teaching & learning issues associated with e-portfolios? Why do we need e-portfolios? What are they good for? What are the pedagogical benefits? What should the content standards be for e-portfolios? What are the higher education system issues associated with e-portfolios? What are the key challenges faced by higher education in moving from the paper transcripts to those that include e-portfolios? What are the short and long-term policy implications of e-portfolios (security, privacy and access, long-term legal implications, definition of official record, need for institutional gatekeepers, FIRPA)? What are the implications of a potential shift from institutionally-based to lifelong learner-based records? What are the institutional planning, implementation and programmatic issues associated with e-portfolios? What are the institutional policy implications (e.g., intellectual property issues associated with content)? What are the support and long-term maintenance implications (financial models, storage and archiving, lifelong portfolios)? How can we use our understanding of prior efforts to avoid some of the pitfalls in e-portfolio development? What are the technical issues associated with e-portfolios? How can existing technologies be used to design effective e-portfolios? How can e-portfolios be integrated into existing enterprise systems (student information systems)? What are the standards and technical specification issues? What are the marketplace issues associated with e-portfolios? Are there guidelines for e-portfolio system development for universities that want to develop their own? Are there guidelines for influencing vendors to meet higher education's needs? What do we need e-portfolios to do? Work Products A revised set of use cases describing the potential consequential uses of e-portfolios A set of functional requirements for each use case Rubric for evaluating e-portfolio systems Rubric for evaluating the implementation of e-portfolio systems Intended Audience Faculty leaders of institutions just considering e-portfolio development, or those in the early stages of the process University administrators responsible for designing the system, coordinating efforts, and preparing budgets Administrators from other organizations collaborating with universities
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