Andre Seguin, University of Ottawa: E-Portfolio

From OUCEL Wiki

André Seguin – “University of Ottawa Experience with E-Portfolio” -Portfolio is not new concept, it was used in business, but it is in infantile stage of using it in education

• E-portfolio is a collection of artifacts online; can be for individuals or institutions (Lorenzo & Ittleson, 2005)
• Main functions of e-portfolios: learning, reflection, documentation, evaluation
• E-portfolios need to be integrated with the course – it needs to be point of the assessment process; otherwise students would not make portfolios

Up-to-date educational concepts:

• School as information highway
• Teachers as information guides
• Customized online materials
• Customized interactive learning
• Schools are not any more a “warehouses of information”
• There is a shift in learning – from linear to hypermedia learning and from instruction to discovery

• Some examples of e-portfolios: occupational therapy portfolio; co-op programs; e-portfolio for microteaching
• Important question is the ownership of e-portfolio; who owns it;?what happens when group of students make portfolio? What should we do when students want to publish their marked papers with professor’s comments, but professors do not want the same?

• E-portfolio at Ottawa University came as part of strategic plan – ‘focus on learning driven by excellence”
• It started in 2006 with the Occupational Therapy program
• The tool chosen was iwebfolio for several reasons: it was cheap, hosting was provided, and there was support for students and professors

Challenges for e-portfolios at Ottawa University:

• hosting aspect – everything hosted in the States, which was questionable because of FIPPA regulations;
• It was difficult to find products that support both English and French (Ottawa U is bilingual institution)

Other e-portfolio projects at Ottawa U:

• Co-op program (iwebfolio)
• Experiential learning (Sakai)
• Second language program (Blackboard)
• Nutrition program
• Individual professors and courses (iwebfolio, Blackboard)

Challenges

• creating a culture (reflective, student-centered) that will support e-portfolios
• official stamping (how much value/certification can be provided to e-portfolio; is it the same as official transcript)
• ownership
• post graduation – Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia want to use e-portfolios for K-12, which means that the prospective students may want to submit e-portfolios for the admission; how can institutions adjust to that? What if their high schools use different e-portfolio technologies, which are not supported by universities?

Technical challenges

• bilingual applications are difficult to find
• compatibility
• Personal preferences
• Funding for servers, hosting, training

A survey asked professors why they do not use e-portfolios:

• 93% not informed about the tool
• 14% tool is not valuable
• 13% time constraints
• 12% costs

Main obstacles

• information overload
• FIPPA copyright issues
• adoption factors
• Lack of standards – frequent changes in professional associations/industry

What tools other institutions use for e-portfolios?U of Toronto – through Blackboard; Carleton – Wordpress, Western – *Desire2Learn and 2 homegrown portfolios;