Interview from Conference in 2018

Part of interview at ATS2020 Conference in Brussels, February 2, 2018.

Briefly answering three questions:

1. You have previously commented "Testing gives you a snapshot, portfolios give you a movie." Would you mind expanding what you meant by this?
2. How might the use of ePortfolios provide opportunities to report progress on student learning or parents, other teachers, and students?
3. What are the possible benefits for schools in articulating a vision statement for why they are using ePortfolios?

ATS2020 Final Conference in Brussels

2018keynote - ATS2020 Brussels from Helen Barrett

This was the first stop on my European trip, to provide the keynote address to the Final Conference of the ATS2020 project, an international classroom pilot project involving 10 European countries, 250 schools, 1,000 teacher, and 10,000 students (aged 10 to 15 years) during the school year 2016-17. Below are some of the comments on Twitter.

• It's a huge pleasure to listen to Hellen Barret the Godmother of eportfolio.
• Delighted to hear Dr Helen Barrett speak of digital stories and the student voice in learning and the potential of ePortfolios to share and document these stories #ATS2020finalconference #ATS2020
• Some lovely.. and powerful examples of using non-text ways of presenting work in ePortfolios by Helen Barrett.. Audio, image, video.. #ATS2020 We strongly encourage this at @MarinoInstitute
• Reflective #learning is beautiful - and it is the first step on the path to #lifelonglearning #selfawareness @ats2020project #ats2020 @eportfolios
• Working with ‪#ePortfolio - looking into cognitive processes Best presentation for ‪#ePortfolioNerds like me, ‪@AndreaGhoneim and the ‪#ATS2020 team! Hehe! ‪#ATS2020finalconference ‪#helenbarrett ‪@eportfolios‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
• Telling a story means finding yourself. This is the power of
• ‪#storytelling.    ‬
• Such a moving story by Helen's daughter 
• An #ePortfolio is not a folder you hold. It is something you work with. It is a mindset. It is storytelling.
• #ATS2020 #ATS2020finalconference #edtech #erasmusplus
• .@eportfolios: "The learning to learn" portfolio approach has been developed before the "e" in #ePortfolio. It's all about a pedagogical basis, before thinking about #edtech. #ATS2020 #ATS2020finalconference #edtech

ePortfolio Hub from Ireland

I just received notice today about a new website in Ireland, which is part of a national program in ePortfolio development in that country.  According to their announcement:

As part of a National-Forum funded project, Dublin Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology Tallaght, Institute of Technology Blanchardstown and Hibernia College are delighted to launch the ePortfolio Hub website, which offers a one-stop-shop for anyone interested in incorporating ePortfolios into their teaching or creating their own ePortfolio, including how-tos, templates, guides, presentations, videos and research findings. 

I participated in a conference last March in Dublin, and I recognize a lot of ideas from my keynote address, which I organized around these three questions:

 

The website contains a lot of videos and resources to either create a personal portfolio, or incorporate an ePortfolio into an academic program. 

The largest section of the website focuses on the How of creating ePortfolios, focusing on four steps (for individuals) or three steps (for programs):

 

The Plan section has great resources that provide checklists and resources that are similar to the Planning resource that I have incorporated into my online course. The Reflect section has an insightful video on Reflective Writing, and a very interesting page on Reflective Practice using Barbara Bassot’s ‘Metaphorical Mirrors’. The Present section includes videos on developing digital identity. The Assess section (for programs) includes a variety of sample rubrics for evaluating ePortfolios. There are also sample portfolios, samples of reflective writing, description of the variety of online tools available, and video tutorials for developing an ePortfolio using WordPress.

Overall, this is a great resource for higher education, with a lot of local videos from students and faculty to support the elements of ePortfolio development. I am impressed and proud to have been a small part of the process, beginning with the conference last March.

ePortfolios in Ireland - Day 3 workshop

On the last day of the ePortfolios in Ireland conference, I provided my favorite workshop on digital storytelling.

Digital storytellingdublin2016 from Helen Barrett

ePortfolios in Ireland - Day 2 workshop

On the second day of the ePortfolios in Ireland conference, I led a workshop on Reflection as part of the theme for the second day, Process.

Dublin2016 reflection from Helen Barrett

ePortfolios in Ireland -Day 1 Keynote

 I am in Dublin, Ireland, providing the keynote address for a national conference sponsored by the Dublin Institute of Technology. Here are my slides.

Dublin2016 balancing from Helen Barrett

CUE2015

I'm attending the CUE 2015 conference in Palm Springs, and these are the highlights for me:

• Skitch app for annotating images uploading to Google Drive & lots of apps
• Shadow Puppets EDU for creating narrated slide shows (with lots of images available from web)
• Glogster for creating posters 
• Google Storybuilder https://docsstorybuilder.appspot.com - creates a story in Google Docs (with characters "speaking")
• Vine for iPad
• Canva - design app for iPad
• Thinglink - to annotate images or movies: https://www.thinglink.com/

EPIC 2014

Here is the page that I developed to support my three presentations at the Electronic Portfolios and Identity Conference (EPIC 2014) held in Cambridge, England, on July 9, 2014.
https://sites.google.com/site/mportfolios/workshops/epic

1. Balancing the two faces of ePortfolios: emphasis on process/learning or product/evidence
2. mPortfolios (using mobile devices to support reflection)
3. ePortfolios to replace standardized assessments

This is the twelfth European ePortfolio Conference where I have made a keynote/presentation/workshop. Their emphasis is now more on Open Badges.

ISTE 2014 Poster Session

Here is the page I developed for my poster session at ISTE 2014:
http://electronicportfolios.org/posters/index.html

Using Mobile Devices to Support Reflection in ePortfolios.

It was a great opportunity to share my resources on mPortfolios and to meet other educators.

EPIC 2013

Here is one of the presentations that I made during the Workshop day at EPIC in London, July 8, 2013:

Schools of the Future Conference 2012

Here are my presentations for the Schools of the Future Conference held in Hawaii on October 23-24, 2012.

SOTF mPortfolios from Helen Barrett

 

Sotf interactive e portfolios from Helen Barrett

EPIC 2012

Here are my SlideShare slides for my presentations at EPIC 2012 held in London:

Eifel2012 freeweb2 from Helen Barrett

 

Digital storytelling eifel2012 from Helen Barrett

 

Reflection&mobiles eifel2012 from Helen Barrett

ISTE 2012 presentations

I'm sitting in the Bloggers Café at ISTE in San Diego. Here are my slides for my presentation that I gave earlier today.

Iste google apps2012

View more PowerPoint from Helen Barrett

I also uploaded the slides from my workshop last Saturday.
Here are my slides for my poster session on Tuesday morning.

Thanks to Jackie Gerstein for taking this picture!

Here is a sample of the tweets from my presentation:

• “@2footgiraffe: What? So what? And now what? Via @eportfolios #mnpstech #iste12” @CoachWagz
• What? So what? And now what? Via @eportfolios #mnpstech #iste12
• @eportfolios says: eportfolios are a type of "Academic MySpace" #iste12 #edtech
• @eportfolios if you were building an ePortfolio from scratch and had no limits, what would your top 3 requirements be? #iste12
• @eportfolios says: "Google believes in data liberation." Hah! #edtech #iste12
• @eportfolios says: "Why google?...It's an integrated ecosystem." #iste12 #edtech
• @eportfolios is a genius! #iste12
• E portfolio is both process and product! #eportfolios @eportfolios #iste12
• @eportfolios says "remember you are telling a story, not just any story...tell it with pride." #iste12 #edtech
• The purpose (of portfolios) drives the process and content. Via @eportfolios #iste12
• #iste12 we need a balanced outcome. Student centered and school centered. Via @eportfolios #mnpstech
• @eportfolios Helen Barrett has been working w/eportfolios for 21+ yrs #iste12
• Looking forward to hearing what Helen Barrett (@eportfolios) has to share about e-portfolios w/Google Apps #iste12
• Excited to hear from @eportfolios AKA Helen Barrett on ePortfolios at #ISTE12
• Where have I heard Dr. Helen Barrett before? It had to be another conference... #iste12 #eportfolios @eportfolios
• Me 2 #pwsd RT @hglasser: Dr. Barrett http://ow.ly/bOArU @eportfolios - Student-Centered Interactive #eportfolios with #Google Apps #iste12
• Packed room for @eportfolios interested to hear how sharing items via google in public venue- how are reflections handled #iste12
• @hglasser @eportfolios Thank you both for the link to resources! #NAISTE #iste12
• Dr. Helen Barrett http://ow.ly/bOArU @eportfolios - Student-Centered Interactive #eportfolios with #Google Apps #iste12
• Student-Centered Interactive #Eportfolios by @eportfolios #SlideShare http://ow.ly/bOAAO #iste12
• Got my seat for #eportfolios at #iste12! @eportfolios , I'm ready to learn!

Conference in Columbia, SC

I provided a keynote address and presentations at a Google Summit sponsored by the Richland Two School District in Columbia, SC in June 5-7, 2012. Here are my slides:

Reflection & mobiles SC2012 from Helen Barrett

Keynote SC 2012 from Helen Barrett

 

Digital storytelling SC 2012 from Helen Barrett

 

EIFEL Preconference sessions

I just sent the following descriptions of my workshops to EIFEL for my full day of workshops on Monday, July 9, 2012, in London. It should be a fun day!

Morning Session #1:
Title: Using "Free" Online Tools for ePortfolio Development
Description: In this session we will cover major categories of free Web 2.0 tools and how they support  the multiple portfolio processes that are identified in the JISC publication Effective Practices with ePortfolios: Capturing & storing evidence, Reflecting, Giving & receiving feedback, Planning & setting goals, Collaborating, Presenting to an audience. The tools include: WordPress; GoogleApps; free website builder & hosting tools that include blogs, such as Weebly, Yola; open source ePortfolio tools that require a server (Mahara, OSP/Sakai).
Website: http://electronicportfolios.org/eportfolios/tools.html

Morning Session #2:
Title: mPortfolios: Supporting Reflection using Mobile Devices
Description: Mobile devices (iOS, Chrome or Android) can support reflection through regular planning & goal-setting, capturing the learning moment, and metacognition (reflecting on change over time). The Learning/Reflection Process is based on a theory of Self-Regulated Learning.  This session will include demonstrations of mobile apps with supporting websites, or those that include the ability to upload artifacts to Dropbox, GoogleDocs, YouTube, etc.
Website: http://electronicportfolios.org/reflection/process/

Afternoon Session:
Title: Tell your Story in Digital Video created with mobile devices
Description: Digital storytelling can add voice to an ePortfolio. Mobile devices are becoming powerful enough to use for editing and posting short video clips that can be embedded in ePortfolios. Learn the basics of digital storytelling using mobile devices: write the script; record the narration; capture images with the mobile camera; edit the video with low-cost software, such as Avid Studio or iMovie, which can be used to post these creations to online video sharing sites such as YouTube or Vimeo.
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/digitalstorysite/tools/mobile-devices

Reflections on ITSC

I attended my second ITSC conference, sponsored by OETC. It was a hands-on conference, and this picture, taken by my friend and colleague Jackie Gerstein, shows the four devices I was using in a workshop put on by Hall Davidson on Making Mobile Meaningful (with my Macbook Pro, my iPad, my iPod Touch, and my iPhone). We explored lots of Web 2.0 tools that could be accessed with a mobile phone, including Polleverywhere.com. I learned that you can email videos directly to a YouTube account through a special email address found in Mobile setup; the same process can also be done within Flickr for pictures taken with a mobile phone.

I learned a lot about QR Codes, and picked my favorite QR code reader for my iPhone (i-nigma or ScanLife). I also picked two websites to generate QR Codes: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ and http://goo.gl (which will also produce a shorter URL). One website that seems intriguing provides an audio clip to accompany the QR Code: http://qrvoice.net/ I plan to incorporate QR Codes with my poster session at ISTE, including some voice recordings! Hall showed a living book that was a series of QR Codes linked to a series of dynamic websites. I am going to try to incorporate QR codes in my book, as well (which is at the editor!).

FETC Slides

Google Apps FETC2012

View more presentations from Helen Barrett

Last week, I spent two days in Orlando at the Florida Educational Technology Conference, doing a workshop on Tuesday entitled, Student-Centered Interactive ePortfolios with GoogleApps, and a presentation on Wednesday entitled, mPortfolio Development with Mobile Devices, where I used a version of the slides that I already had uploaded to Slideshare (my Powerpoint files have too many images to upload now!).

I learned a few new things at this conference:

• I can now edit Google Sites with Safari on my iPad and iPhone. I'm not sure when that change happened... but it is about time!
• The Richland2 School District, where I worked last September, was one of three districts that was highlighted in the Google Chromebook sessions. They made a very good case for adopting this device for 1-to-1 adoptions. (See Tom Vander Ark's blog entry in Huffington Post!)
• There are now at least two options for editing video online (which would include the Chromebooks): YouTube Editor and Stupeflix Studio. I will need to play with both of these options for digital storytelling.

Wednesday evening, I flew from Orlando to Anchorage (a difference of 90 degrees Fahrenheit!). I will write another blog entry about that trip, because I worked with the Languages department, and we explored a lot of strategies to help them capture student learning in their respective target languages. I am very interested in researching more strategies for documenting second-language learning.

ISTE 2012 Sessions Scheduled

Today, I received notice of approval of these sessions for the 2012 ISTE Conference in San Diego:

• Create Interactive ePortfolios using GoogleApps: Docs, Picasaweb, Blogger, Sites [Workshop : Hands-on] Scheduled: Saturday, 6/23/2012,  8:30am–3:30pm PDT.
  GoogleApps provides a comprehensive ePortfolio system: Store artifacts in GoogleDocs/Picasaweb; maintain reflective journals using Blogger; create showcase/assessment/presentation portfolios with GoogleSites; manage domain with Teacher Dashboard.
• Student-Centered Interactive ePortfolios with GoogleApps [Concurrent Session : Lecture] Scheduled: Monday, 6/25/2012,  12:45pm–1:45pm PDT.
  Create a comprehensive student-centered system supporting all three levels of ePortfolio development: Create/collaborate/store/share artifacts in GoogleDocs; Reflection/Feedback using blogging; Presentation Websites with GoogleSites.
• mPortfolios: Supporting reflection in ePortfolios with mobile devices [Learning Station Session : Poster] Scheduled: Tuesday, 6/26/2012,  10:00am–12:00pm PDT.
  Mobile devices (iOS, Chrome or Android) can support reflection through regular planning & goal-setting, capturing the learning moment, and metacognition (reflecting on change over time).

I've never done a poster session before, so it will be a challenge to present a complex topic like reflection and mobile devices in this format. But my presentation on GoogleApps is a reprise of my 2011 presentation that I thought was on of my best! The full-day hands-on workshop will give me an opportunity to provide an overview on my online Introduction to K-12 ePortfolios class with GoogleApps supplement. I'm pleased!

RCAC 2011 Keynote & Workshop

I just returned from London, Ontario, where I gave the Thursday afternoon keynote for the Western [Ontario] Regional Computer Advisory Committee (RCAC). I also did a short breakout session to have a conversation about ePortfolio implementation. There were representatives from the Ministry of Education, so the questions tended to focus on policy, privacy, parents, and permissions.

RCAC Dec2011

View more presentations from Helen Barrett

On Friday, I gave a full day workshop to help technology consultants plan for the implementation of electronic portfolios in their boards/school districts. I used the planning process that I outlined in my online class, where the components are linked to the different course lessons. Here is a sample of the tweets from the conference:

• @Gill_Ville #rcac11 this year the theme is storytelling!
• @thecleversheep Storytelling... the unofficial theme for the day. Love it! #rcac11
• @lisaneale (e)Portfolios are dynamic celebrations & stories of deep learning = choice & voice of the individual recognizing lifelong learning. #rcac11
• @harryniezen #rcac11 Very moving examples of ePortfolios ... via @eportfolios
• @markwcarbone @eportfolios: blogging for a public authentic audience makes a +ve difference to student learning - nice connection to my FBk w/shop today
• @sadone #rcac11 @eportfolios Keynote slide show available for you at www.slideshare.net/eportfolios
• @harryniezen #rcac ePortolios as a vehicle for students to share their passions (via @eportfolios )
• @harryniezen #rcac11 Going deeper with @eportfolios (Dr. Helen Barrett) on the value and implementation of ePortfolios as a tool for student learning

The provincial government has established E-Learning Ontario and is providing the Desire2Learn platform to all schools in the province. Recently included in their D2L implementation is a portfolio tool. One adaptation that will be made to their D2L portal will be inclusion of GoogleApps, and they will also incorporate the WordPress blog. It sounds to me like this integrated platform will provide educators in Ontario with a broad choice on cloud-based tools, that can be a powerful combination for ePortfolio development. I am looking forward to following schools in Ontario for some exciting learning with ePortfolios!

AAEEBL Conference Reflections

The second AAEEBL Conference was held in Boston on July 25-28, 2011. Below are the slides from my two pre-conference workshops. The first workshop was led with Eileen Brennan from Mercy College.

Aaeebl2011 monam ds

View more presentations from Helen Barrett

The second workshop was lead with Cynthia Lucena from the University of Puerto Rico.

Aaeebl boston2011-web2 pm

View more presentations from Helen Barrett

Her story about the commercial and open source tools that they tried at UPR, followed by their current adoption of GoogleApps and Moodle to collect evaluation data, is an interesting journey through a variety of different ePortfolio tools, both commercial and open source. Their decision to adopt Google Sites reinforces the message of this workshop: adopt student-centered tools that can be maintained across the lifespan, not tools that require a lot of technical support or fees to maintain beyond graduation. 

I received some interesting feedback from one of the participants in the afternoon workshop. She told me that my presentation, which tends to take a more student-centered, personal development viewpoint, was a marked contrast with the majority of the institution-centered sessions that tended to focus on accountability and program assessment. I tend to agree; my perception is that the people who attend AAEEBL are more focused on the use of electronic portfolios in institutional contexts... perhaps that is because the membership of AAEEBL is primarily higher education institutions, not individuals. This is a real contrast with the European ePortfolio and Identity Conference (EPIC) that was held two weeks earlier in London, where there was more interest in community portfolios, individual identity development, and lifelong portfolios. The draft Proceedings of the EPIC 2011 conference are online.