ePIC Conference Keynote

Eifel2011 keynote

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Tweets from people attending the presentation:

• @shojikajita "When cloud computing meets with Semantic Web: A new design for e-portfolio systems in the social media era" http://bit.ly/rtAbps #epic11
• @isabellegonon #epic11 Helen Barrett : the future (of #eportfolio) is in the #cloud and in #mobile
• @ljanegray #epic11 Helen Barretts philosophy for e-portfolios = authenticity, choice and voice.
• @inicot #epic11 I'll certainly remember this piece of advice from Helen Barrett "Rewire, don't retire!"
• @John_Pallister the #ePortfolio challenge is to make it the 'e'asy portfolio; the 'e'ssential portfolio and then go for learner 'e'ngagement #epic11
• @isabellegonon #epic11 now I know what a #shoebox story is ! Thanks to Helen Barrett
• @kirstie_C Great presentation from helen barratt. Epf as digital document of development. it's everywhere #epic11
• @shojikajita Peter Drucker "Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves" in "Managing Oneself" #epic11
• @donpresant #epic11 Helen Barrett: family photos, videos often start building digital identity before birth...ultrasound as #eportfolio artefact
• @donpresant #epic11 Helen Barrett: 4 pillars are: self awareness, planning to learn, knowing how to learn, monitoring your learning
• @shojikajita Isaac Asimov "The day you stop learning is the day you begin decayin." #epic11
• @inicot #epic11 Helen Barrettt, "the matriarch of ePortfolios": Lifelong learning shouldn't be confused with lifelong schooling 

It was an interesting session. First there was Donald Clark, talking about his skeptical blog post about ePortfolios: 7 reasons why I don’t want my life in a shoebox. In some ways I agreed with him when he railed against the commercial ePortfolio tools and extolled the use of social software. But he made some generalized statements that did not match my experience or beliefs, especially about lifelong learners. I think this blog entry simplified a very complex process, and didn't recognize the importance of metacognition. Before my talk, Shane Sutherland talked about the design of Personal Learning Spaces, which was an interesting look at systems design.

simondseconoart.png 1987×1639 pixels

http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/diagrams/social/simondseconoart.png

This picture was shown in a presentation today. I found it and sent the link by email to my blog, but had to go back to the website to upload the image.

Sent from my iPad

ePortfolios and Identity Conference 2011

I am in London, providing two workshops at EIFEL's ePIC Conference. Here are my slides:

Eifel2011 monam web2

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Eifel2011 monpm ds

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Here are a few tweets from the sessions:

• @inicot Dr Barrett : "Upload your videos onto youtube, vimeo... They will make sure that they are still accessible in a 100 years from now" #epic11
• @shojikajita Instant screencast http://www.screenr.com/ #epic11
• @inicot At #epic11, attending Helen Barrett's workshop,'Adding voice to ePortfolios'-"Write lousy first drafts!"- @eportfolios
• @shojikajita Tools for Digital Storytelling http://electronicportfolios.org/digistory/tools.html #epic11
• @isabellegonon #epic11 #evernote pour sauvegarder ses notes, ses enregistrements audio ou video depuis son mobile et se souvenir de tout, je vais essayer !
• @isabellegonon #epic11 Helen Barrett parle de twitter comme outil reflexif pour échanger sur ce qu'on est entrain d'apprendre
• @CnamSDTICE leonardo da vinci's folio is the first portfolio in history says Helen Barnett in #epic11 electronic portfolios since 1991 only !
• @inicot @batier Merci Christophe ! On diffuse à l'interne. A Londres pour la conference ePortfolio #epic11 can't wait i meet Helen barrett;-)

It is nice to reconnect with colleagues in the ePortfolio field. Besides a wide representation from across Europe, there is a large group from Singapore. I will be doing a short keynote in two days.

Audio and Video Diaries

Thanks to a Twitter post, I found this article in The Guardian:
Next generation learning: the gift of sound and vision
"David Stinson has pioneered the use of video and audio diaries to improve students' learning." Excerpts from the article:

"By using video and audio diaries and much more besides, the kids can reflect on trials and tribulations they've encountered during the learning process..."

"The real benefit of using e-portfolios is that every student, regardless of ability, can adapt to the dynamic nature of recording their thoughts and emotions in video and audio, removing some of the anxiety involved in pen and paper communication. For students with special needs this can be especially constructive, as the unique nature of expression in e-portfolios takes away the need to endlessly compare to their classmates."

I am going to start using the term online diary instead of blog or reflective journal for the type of working portfolio that involves documenting the learning process over time. The word diary has a more universal meaning, regardless of media. This article demonstrates the powerful impact of reflection on learning, even though the word reflect is used only once. Now, with mobile technologies, it is much easier for learners to capture audio and video reflections. We know that students have figured out how to use the cameras on their mobile phones... for good or for ill; here is an opportunity to teach about appropriate uses of these tools (digital citizenship) while using a tool that is intrinsically motivating and always in most students' pockets.

We need to document strategies to capture these multimedia diary entries in easy-to-use websites that can be overseen by teachers when used in K-12 schools. I started with my mPortfolios Google site, and my workshop at ISTE last week. I have two upcoming workshops on using Web 2.0 tools (at EIFEL in London on July 11, and at AAEEBL in Boston on July 25). Once those workshops are over, I will focus on how to incorporate these ideas into the online courses to be offered by the new ePortfolio Academy for K-12 teachers.

ISTE 2011 Reflections

I just finished my presentation, Student-Centered Interactive E-Portfolios with Google Apps.

Iste google apps2011

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Here are the tweets I just captured about my presentation. I thought it was one of my better presentations. I really feel like the elements are aligning to make student-centered portfolios a reality: tools, philosophy, pedagogy.

• @TheHomeworkDog RT @jessievaz12: More on #eportfolios http://bit.ly/iioGvf #ISTE11
• @erinbarrett Lots of "ooohs and aaahs" when @eportfolios shows #teacherdashboard! Great tool! #ISTE11 #eportfolios
• @jessievaz12 An 'ooooo' overtook the crowd as the teacher dashboard plug in was showed from the google marketplace! #eportfolios #ISTE11
• @rgriffithjr Agreed! - RT @jessievaz12: Portfolios should be a conversation about learning, not a presentation on learning #eportfolios #ISTE11
• @cbuchanan_dasd RT @millpub: Taxonomy of Reflection http://bit.ly/5PpwuF #iste11 #eportfolios #iste11dasd 
• @RSOldring #eportfolios Lvl 1 - collection of Artifacts/ Lvl 2 - collection with reflection/ Lvl 3 - selection and presentation #ISTE11
• @RSOldring #eportfolios being built in social media tools can be a great motivator for students #ISTE11
• @Sharvey85 The power in the portfolio is the process/journey not the destination #eportfolios #iste11
• @erinbarrett My mom, @eportfolios is rocking her presentation...of course! #eportfolios #iste11
• @jessievaz12 A dad uses twitter as portfolio showing growth and experiences of his child. Started the minute she was born! Amazing! #eportfolios #ISTE11
• @Sharvey85 Give students ownership of their learning with #eportfolios
• @Tim_Yocum Social media makes portfolios easy. RT @jessievaz12: The line between eportfolios and social media is blurring #eportfolios #ISTE11
• @divatechie12 @Student Centered #eportfolios with Google Apps. Website for presentation is electronicportfolios.org/ slidesshare.net/eportfolios
• @jessievaz12 Slidehare.net/eportfolios check out all those resources! #eportfolios #ISTE11

The themes I found repeated at this conference were mobile devices (everyone has an iPad or iPhone!) and Google Apps really took off this year. I also found a lot more teachers interested in portfolios through our Birds of a Feather sessions on Electronic Portfolios and Google Apps in Education. It has been an exhilirating conference!

mPortfolios Workshop

Iste mobile2011

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These are the slides from my workshop on Saturday at the ISTE conference in Philadelphia. I am finding that mobile devices are ubiquitous at this conference!

Google Apps update alerts: Embed your Google Docs videos

Google Apps update alerts: Embed your Google Docs videos: "You can now embed your Google Docs videos in Google Sites. Release track: Rapid Release* Editions included: Google Apps, Google Apps..."

Hooray! That solves a lot of problems for schools.

A new tool - Motorola Xoom

I'm playing with a new tool, courtesy of Costco's 90 day return policy (for the same price as my original iPad)! If I like it, I'll keep it. I was able to download some of the major apps I use on my iPad: Dropbox, Twitter, Facebook, Edmodo, Evernote, Kindle, as well as the Google apps, Docs, Gmail, Maps, Earth. I started this post in the Blogger app, but when I went back to the app, after it quit, I couldn't see the draft. So I am editing in the browser, something I cannot do on the iPad. (Blogger also lost my last edits, so I'm posting it again!)

The Xoom was fairly easy to set up, once I was able to manually type in my hidden wifi ID and password. The latest update to Honeycomb, Android 3.0 for tablets, downloaded automatically when the Internet connection was made. It took a few minutes to synch with my Google account, but now I can see all my Docs, and I can do basic editing on my Sites, another task I cannot do on my iPad.  I am trying to figure out the Android version of iPod/iTunes, to download my favorite podcasts. I am preparing for an mPortfolio workshop next Saturday at the ISTE conference, where I am focusing on iOS  apps on iPad/iPod Touch/iPhone, and so we really won't be doing a lot with Google Apps. However, I will be doing a presentation on Student-Centered Interactive Portfolios with Google Apps on Wednesday, so I want to really assess how well it works on an Android tablet.

Editing typos on this screen is frustrating, to get the cursor in the right place (I am making the final edits with my Mac). I took this picture with the camera on the Xoom (has a flash...nice!), which uploaded it automatically to my Picasa Blogger album. It was easy to insert it from there with my Mac. Still trying to insert it with the Xoom.

Update: I returned it to Costco. Compared to other Android tablets it was bigger and slower! I didn't like it well enough to keep it. 

Links to recent E-Portfolio articles and blog posts

I've come across some recent articles and blog posts that provide interesting reading about e-portfolios.

• E-Portfolios Evolve Thanks to Web 2.0 Tools in EdWeek, June 15, 2011.  I am quoted in the article and I previously blogged about my visit to Rob Van Nood's classroom, the first example (I made the connection between him and the author). Here is my comment on the EdWeek article:
  

  Thanks for the examples, including Rob's classroom, which was a fun place to visit. The need for teacher professional development is important to meet the potential of e-portfolios to engage students in managing their own learning. That is why next week at the ISTE Conference, I am launching the REAL* ePortfolio Academy for K-12 Teachers (*REAL = Reflection, Engagement, Assessment for Learning).  Primarily through online courses which establish grade-alike Communities of Practice, K-12 teachers from across the world will learn portfolio development principles, share strategies, and support each other in implementing e-portfolios using free Web 2.0 tools.
  Dr. Helen Barrett http://electronicportfolios.org/academy/

• Nick Rate's recent blog post, ePortfolios in the News,  has links to some new websites. Two I particularly like:
  

  Eportfolios - J'accuse where the author discusses the benefits of using a blog as an e-portfolio over specialized e-portfolio systems: Over-complication; Institutional, not user focus; Focus on the tool, not the skills; Lack of social element; Educational arrogance.
  
  E-portfolios – 7 reasons why I don’t want my life in a shoebox:  Uninteroperable; Institutionalised; Human nature; People are not learners [I disagree!]; Boundary problems; Plus ca change [the only constant is change]; Recruitment myth. I agree with some of his comments, but I think he misses the potential in others. The author, Donald Clark will be a presenter at the EIFEL Conference in July in London. I think I will be leading the panel.
  
  The comments on both of these blogs are great reading!

• Blogs as Showcase Portfolio by Kim Cofino, June 12, 2011. This is a GREAT resource (she uses WordPressMU with her 6th grade students... see examples). I love Clint Hamada's comment on this post, partially copied here:
  

  Kim, thanks for highlighting the ease of using blogs as a portfolio tool. The key, I believe, is to create a culture of blogging (and sharing and reflecting) as part of the day-to-day workings of the school. Then the showcase is truly that: a showcase of things students have already done that do not require any huge amounts of work to prepare!

  My response: I love this post and Clint's follow-up comment. The first level of building an electronic portfolio is to capture and save work in digital form (integrate technology into the teaching/learning process); the second level is to set goals and reflect frequently (a blog is the perfect environment for connecting artifacts and reflection); the third level is building a showcase portfolio at specific times during the school year (parent conferences? formal presentations of learning?). I discuss this process in more detail in my online article, Balancing the Two Faces of ePortfolios (2011, British Columbia Ministry of Education, Innovations in Education, 2nd Edition). I’ll be sharing your links! Thanks!

There is a theme in these blog posts, and in my recent research for my book: blogs are a great tool for developing e-portfolios, from Kindergarten through adulthood. People have been keeping written journals for centuries; blogs provide a similar space for reflection and deep learning, with a significant difference in storage and permanence. (I once blogged about the loss of physical memories through natural disasters, such as floods or fire: Digital Archive for Life, 2005) As long as Blogger keeps it stored digitally, it should last my lifetime and beyond (I've misplaced a lot of paper journals over the years). But every so often, I back it up... JUST IN CASE!

I've created many versions of my thematically-organized presentation portfolio, but I rarely visit or update these showcase portfolios (the only one I keep updated is my GoogleSites URL-branded version, first developed in 2008). My reflections are posted in this blog, which I consider my learning portfolio... and the easiest and most natural to maintain as a learning journal. The structure of a blog also lends itself well to comments and conversation.

Evernote for Intermediate Portfolios

This blog attracts a lot of silent readers. Last November, one of my readers wrote to me with his story of how he was starting to use Evernote for ePortfolios in his grade 3-5 classroom. I am adding a version of the story about this school's experience into my book. Students in the intermediate classrooms (grades 3-5) in the Trillium Charter School (Portland, OR) are documenting their learning using Evernote on desktop computers, iPod Touch 4 (with the built-in camera), the teacher's iPhone and soon an iPad, with the addition of a wireless printer/scanner that can email scanned student work directly into their Evernote accounts. (They use a LexMark Pinnacle Pro 901 All-in-One that will scan paper on both sides... the biggest technical challenge was getting these printers set up, and adding all student Evernote email addresses). The Intermediate teachers have all adopted this process since the first of this calendar year, each adding one-to-three iPod Touch devices to supplement the three or four Free Geek donated Linux desktop computers in each classroom. I saw students choose the device they wanted to use to document their projects, with reflection scaffolded by a Portfolio Artifact and Reflection form that they could complete by hand and scan along with other paper or media.

The teachers assign time to work on Evernote every day, as a way for students to set goals and document their progress toward achieving their goals. On the day I visited, students were able to go to the only lab in the school, to work on their reflections. They preferred doing most of their writing with a regular keyboard, not the tiny keyboard on the iPod Touch, but they used its camera extensively to document their projects. This picture was taken with my iPhone directly into the Evernote app which uploaded to my account on the Evernote website. I was able to download the image from Evernote to my laptop to insert into this blog entry (I didn't figure out whether I could link to the image directly). What I found to be innovative about this process was the seamless way that the students could take a picture of a project with the iPod Touch, which automatically saved it to their Evernote accounts. They could add reflections and tags with either the iPod Touch or with one of the classroom  computers.

The students led parent conferences, and shared their Evernote accounts with their parents. Attached is their Conference Checklist. I also have permission to share part of a letter that was sent home to parents, to explain the use of Evernote. The students tag their work (with required tags plus their own) so that the teacher can easily review categories/collections of work; unfortunately, Evernote cannot be used to provide feedback... the teacher needs to send an email with feedback. The students are being encouraged to use Evernote over the summer if they see something cool (what I call "capturing the moment)!" The real advantage is the simplicity: students write directly into Evernote, and don't have to open a word processor on their home computers, and then copy/paste into a portfolio program. The students are developing "Working ePortfolios" to document learning anytime, anywhere. Imagine what would happen if every student had a mobile device...although having three or four in a classroom with classroom computers and occasional visits to a lab, seemed to work just fine! The students are not developing public presentation portfolios, although they could be shared with their teachers and families; they are documenting their learning and progress toward achieving their goals... and they were engaged and seemed to own the process!

Using ePortfolios as a reflective teaching tool - Case study

This video, "starring" Julie Hughes and two of her graduate students from the University of Wolverhampton in the U.K., was published by COFAonline at the University of South Wales in Australia. I love Julie's quote about blogging as: "thinking through your fingers."

REAL E-Portfolio Academy for K-12 Teachers

I found a name and developed a logo for my latest project. Every portfolio needs an adjective to describe its purpose.  REAL stands for Reflection, Engagement, and Assessment for Learning.

I blogged this title in 2005, and haven't had an opportunity to put it into practice until now. So, when I introduce a series on online courses this summer, they will be under the umbrella on an online academy -- more like a learning community, although there will be more structure than the average online community of practice.

I have received over 129 responses to my online form, so far. I am surprised with the number of inquiries from outside the U.S. To date, 60% of the respondents have already set up a GoogleApps for Education account, and 75% indicated interest in students using mobile devices to support e-portfolio development! Tomorrow I am visiting a school where 3rd-5th graders are using a few mobile devices and Evernote to capture their learning and share with their parents. Stay tuned!

Why isn't there more E-Portfolio Development in K-12 schools?

I received an email today from a graduate student who wants to study the implementation of e-portfolios in the transition of special education students from high school to college or to work. She attended the Council for Exceptional Children International Conference this Spring in Washington, D.C., and learned in a pre-session class that currently there are few school districts who are actually using the ePortfolio process. In the limited research she located only 2 school districts who are actually using this, and 3 states/coalitions who are in the process of initiating the process within their states. Through her contacts with CEC's Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT), they indicated that no one is using this process. Why? My response to her:

I could articulate my "hunches" based on my prior REFLECT Initiative research in high schools. Several years ago, I did a Google Scholar literature review on K-12 portfolios (paper or electronic) most of it from the 90s. My observations: since No Child Left Behind passed in 2001, the use of portfolios--paper or electronic--has declined dramatically in K-12 schools in the U.S., based on the research that has NOT been published. Here are some of my educated guesses for the many reasons:

• Time - There is a perception that it takes a lot of time to implement e-portfolios. Teachers are overwhelmed with teaching, "test prep" and other school reform issues, and portfolios don't have as high a priority as other learning strategies.
• Access to the Internet - There aren't enough computers or other digital devices (and a high speed LAN/WAN) required to access the Internet for web-based portfolios. I worked with one rural school district with limited Internet access, but had a 1:1 laptop program in their secondary schools. They had problems with consistent software, and strategies for storing portfolios on local servers. A lot of these problems could be solved with a cloud-based solution, if they had good high speed Internet access. I think these problems will be solved soon, especially with a "Bring Your Own Devices" approach. You might check out my last blog entry.
• Knowledge of and experience with portfolio learning - A lot of teachers do not have experience with using portfolios, or have their own e-portfolios (developed using tools appropriate for K-12 students), so there is not a knowledge base or personal experience to draw upon.
• Teacher Technology Competency - Even with enough access to technology, unless teachers are willing to learn along with their students, there is often a reluctance to teach with unfamiliar tools. And the average teacher won't let students use technologies they don't know how to manage... and a lot of schools block many of the social networks that I think students use on a daily basis in portfolio-like ways (collecting digital evidence in image, audio, video, text; sharing accomplishments, etc.)
• Fear of CIPA and COPPA and concerns about student privacy. Perhaps that is because most of the students are under 18.
• Confusing/Conflicting Purposes - There are a variety of purposes for implementing e-portfolios: learning/reflection/process, employment/showcase/career development, assessment/accountability, transition. Sometimes there is a confusion in WHY e-portfolios are being implemented. See this cartoon.
• Underlying philosophy of learning - While portfolios initially came out of a constructivist model of learning,  there are some educational institutions that do not endorse that theoretical approach,  emphasizing a more behaviorist paradigm (my evidence: our national obsession with standardized testing, especially when used for high stakes accountability)
• Lack of trust in teacher judgement of students' self-assessment.
• Vocabulary (a portfolio by any other name is...) - students are creating websites that resemble showcase portfolios, or are regularly writing in blogs that resemble reflective journals... but these activities are not recognized as components of portfolio learning.
• Too much emphasis on product (presentation/showcase of learning outcomes) and not enough on process (facilitating conversations about learning).

I find that, for the most part, learning e-portfolios are a classroom-by-classroom phenomenon; assessment e-portfolios are a district or state implementation, but often lack student engagement; employment/showcase e-portfolios are often created by tech-savvy students, often using social networks. One exception is the Navigation 101 program in Washington state: "a life skills and planning program for students in grades 6 through 12. It aims to help students make clear, careful, and creative plans for life beyond high school." The program includes a portfolio, but it is usually a 3-ring binder.

All that being said, I believe a portfolio can be a powerful tool for metacognition, building a positive digital footprint, establishing a conversation about learning, as well as showcasing achievements, planning for a preferred future, exploring purpose and passions. As I said in a recent blog entry, "If we want student engagement, I believe e-portfolios should be stories of deep learning, not checklists of competencies."

Are there other barriers to the implementation of e-portfolios in K-12 schools? Are there strategies that we can use to overcome these barriers?

A Device for Every Learner!

On Wednesday, Google announced Chromebook, a laptop computer that will be available to order on June 15, 2011; Price: $28-$33/month for businesses, $20-$23/month for education. I think the price is a little high for education, when looking at a device for every child, but very affordable for mobile labs or for individual families for a 3-year lease that includes all upgrades, maintenance, hardware refresh, and 100 MB 3G access per month. ReadWriteWeb provided an interesting cost analysis of the Chromebook in education. Combine the use of the Chromebook hardware with all of the Google Apps, and the barriers to e-portfolios are coming down. I wonder if my next purchase is a Chromebook ($20x36 months = $720) or one of the Android tablets coming out this summer (for around $500)?

But there are other options for giving each student internet access 24/7, at school and home. In addition to 1:1 laptop programs, there are other mobile devices that are being used in schools. For example, Canby (OR) and Escondido (CA) School Districts provide iPod/iPod Touch devices and/or iPads for student learning.  More schools are starting to explore student owned devices; according to eSchool News, 'Bring Your Own Device' is Catching on in schools.

Ed-tech access is an issue, but students' personal devices are an attractive option to a growing number of districts.

I am doing e-portfolio research this year on the variety of student-owned-or-loaned mobile devices that increase access to creative tools and the web, both from home and school. In addition to "capturing the moment" in image, video, audio and text formats, creating a digital story can be a powerful way to add reflection to a portfolio. The tools are becoming very creative and inexpensive on an iOS device (per my own experience last Christmas break with my iPod Touch); last weekend, the Center of Digital Storytelling sponsored the Blink Mobile Media Challenge:

The idea is to choose a moment to capture images/events, and then write and record a narration, and edit the movie on your mobile device.

Editing Google Apps from iOS devices is still not as easy as with Google's own ChromeOS, but there are many apps that can be used to support various components of e-portfolio development. I will be exploring specific iOS apps for supporting certain aspects of e-portfolio development at a preconference workshop at this summer's ISTE Conference. Maybe by the end of June, there will be more information about  emerging Google Chrome and Android devices.

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Tweets from @dorothyjburt in NZ:
- We are trialling 6 - without the Telco plan - using our own wifi. Lotsa fun
- Weekend story from an @ptengland 6yr old "In the weekend I went to the park and played on the Firefox" Thx SallyV for sharing :)

Generic Tools Requirement for E-Portfolio Development

What are the best tools for e-portfolio development? My answer is always, "It depends!" But I have some requirements. Here is my recent response to a university about the generic tools I think are needed to address the portfolio development process:

• online space for students to store their work that is either initially owned by the student, accessible after graduation or can be easily transferred to a student-owned space any time (individual documents must be accessible by URL) - Digital Archive
• online reflective journal (blog) where students can keep a contemporaneous learning record, with the ability to contribute evidence in audio, video, images and text from mobile devices or computers (individual blog entries need to be "tagged" or assigned classifications for ease of retrieval) - Electronic Documentation of Learning
• an online system to aggregate and present evidence (artifacts and rationale) of achieving "gen-ed" student outcomes plus requirements of specific majors - Showcase/Presentation Portfolio
• a data management system to collect and aggregate faculty evaluation data of students' summative portfolios - Assessment Management System

I also have other requirements: whatever tools are used should allow students' "Choice and Voice" in portfolio development with an emphasis on expression rather than structure. I prefer systems that students can maintain for a lifetime (either by adopting an open Web 2.0 system, or initial learner ownership of their own online personal web space).

The issue of ownership is critical. Of the four items above, only the last one needs to belong to the higher education institution. If we are committed to student lifelong learning, e-portfolio development strategies can be powerful tools for self-directed learning, self-knowledge and self-management, but only if we introduce the process appropriately, and support student ownership, both technically and psychologically. I guess that is why many students are engaged in their social networks,  where the technological activities are similar to e-portfolio development, but are not the purpose or motivation. Learner-centered web-based tools exist to support the portfolio process... and many undergraduates are tech-savvy, at least in social networking skills. How can institutions build on these skills and intrinsic motivation as e-portfolios are implemented?

In the short time I was at Hostos Community College in New York City, after my presentation to faculty, I met with a small group of students. Rather than doing a formal presentation about e-portfolios, I led an informal discussion about their current uses of technology, the differences between social networking and e-portfolio development, and the potential for building an online digital identity that they could use to explore their passions and create their preferred futures. When I left, a lot of the students were intrigued and excited. If we want student engagement, I believe e-portfolios should be stories of deep learning, not checklists of competencies.

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My older blog entries about selecting e-portfolio tools:
2010: Another question about "best" portfolio tools in higher ed
2010: Which Portfolio Tool?
2009: Motivation and Selecting an ePortfolio System

Presentations in Bothell & New York

Last week, I make a presentation at the first University of Washington Bothell Teaching/Learning Symposium. Presentation in Slideshare: UW Bothell Apr2011 - Slidecast version in Vimeo.

That afternoon, I flew to New York City, and the next day I made a presentation at Hostos Community College, for their EdTech 2011 Showcase. After the presentation, I had a great informal meeting with students, a more formal discussion with faculty, and a meeting with administrators, all about their implementation of ePortfolios. It was a very stimulating day! Presentation in Slideshare: Hostos Apr11

Online Courses under Development

I am working on the following course outlines to be available in the Fall Quarter 2011:

1. Overview of Student-Centered Electronic Portfolios  (generic, no specific tools, an overview of the different purposes/tools, with an emphasis on collection, reflection, and direction/goal-setting) - 1 credit - 3 weeks with six lessons or 6 weeks with six lessons (20 hours) - 3-week version of course offered twice a quarter
2. Implementing Electronic Portfolios in K-12 Education with Google Apps (Docs, Sites, Blogger, YouTube, Picasa, Digication, Teacher Dashboard) - 3 credits - 10 weeks, 20 lessons (60 hours) Prerequisite: Overview class
3. 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: Implementing class - This class is meant to support teachers the rest of the school year.
4. Adding Voice to E-Portfolios with Digital Narratives - 1 credit - 3 weeks, six lessons or 6 weeks, six lessons (20 hours) (with a focus on reflection in e-portfolios through multimedia)

I want to pilot the Overview course (#1) before the ISTE conference in June, and offer it officially by September 1. At the same time, I want to get started on designing the Implementation class (#2). I will work on the other two in the fall. As of tonight, 100 people have filled out my online form indicating interest in the course... in 8 days. I guess there is some interest!

Evolution of Electronic Portfolios

I was recently asked for information on the evolution of electronic  portfolios. My response:
There are several levels that could be addressed: the context, the technology and the pedagogy. In the 90s, much of the development and implementation of e-portfolios was in K-12 schools. That stopped in 2001 (thanks to NCLB?), and the emphasis was in higher education. I am hoping to bring e-portfolios back to K-12 through an online community of practice. In Europe, there is an emphasis on health care, workplace and community portfolios, documented at EIFEL's conferences since 2003. With the emergence of social networking, which one could argue involves portfolio-like activities, the electronic portfolio has become more personal and universal.

The technology began on desktop computers in the early 90s, published on CD-Recordable discs in the late 90s, on the Web with customized systems (or web authoring tools) in early 2000s, Web 2.0 in the late 2000s, and now mobile devices combined with Web 2.0.

The pedagogy began as formative assessment in the 90s, summative assessment in higher ed in the 2000s, and individual learning/digital identity development in 2010s (at least that is what I am focusing on). The current wisdom (thanks to Julie Hughes) is for e-portfolios to be more of a conversation than a presentation.

The evolution depends on which lens you are using to view electronic portfolios. Anyone write up a more formal history of this evolution?

Google Apps announcement

I just received this message from one of my GoogleApps domains:

Google Apps accounts are undergoing an improvement, allowing you to give users access to over 60 additional applications from Google. We encourage you to transition your organization’s accounts on your own schedule now.

There are several advantages to transitioning on your own schedule:
Make the change on your own timeline
Have time to try the new infrastructure with a subset of your accounts first
Use automated mailing lists and email templates to pre-notify your users
Get access to over 60 additional applications from Google right away

Finally! I am excited to try out the new improvements. It's been a year since they announced these changes were coming. "This change will let users access many new services such as Blogger, Reader, Google Voice and calling-in-Gmail (US only), Picasa Web Albums, AdWords and iGoogle from their Google Apps accounts."

A Worldwide E-Portfolios-in-K-12 Community of Practice?

I am working on a plan to develop a worldwide community of practice to support the design and implementation of electronic portfolio processes in K-12 schools. The primary audience for this Community of Practice (COP) will be K-12 teachers and Technology Coordinators, providing the following professional development through online course content. The initial courses would focus on  GoogleApps/Digication/Teacher Dashboard and a few other Web 2.0-based tools and mobile devices. The COP will be formally announced at ISTE 2011 and the first online course will begin in August 2011. Here is a preliminary outline of the activities that could be supported by this Community of Practice.

• Clarify a Vision for implementing electronic portfolios with students in your classroom
• Using GoogleApps for Education domain with support from local school or district ITS
• 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
• Provide professional development in electronic portfolio development knowledge and skills, using either face-to-face or online strategies, to be able to:

• 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
• Develop a long range plan for implementing electronic portfolios in classroom/school/district
• Determine success criteria for electronic portfolio implementation
• 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
• Provide a Certificate of Excellence in E-Portfolio Practice to teachers upon publication of classroom-based research after two years of implementation
• Graduate-level credit available at an additional fee. Professional Development Clock Hours also available with nominal assessment fee (based on individual district/state requirements).

These are the initial ideas. This COP could provide a great opportunity for collaboration among graduate students who want to study K-12 Electronic Portfolio Development for a Masters or Doctoral degree through their selected graduate programs. I have served as an external examiner on multiple dissertations and theses that are focused on electronic portfolios, with another one planned for July in the U.K.

There would be three levels of support in this Community of Practice:

• Self-paced: a website with course content and readings, which will be free, but no communication with instructor or other participants
• Collaborative: a collaborative space for dialogue and feedback throughout the year, which will require a one-time membership fee
• Credit: participants in the collaborative space may earn university credit for full participation in the courses, for an additional credit fee (I am working on finding the right university to offer graduate credit for these online courses)

I posted a form online to collect indications of interest, and have received more than 70 responses in five days, although some of the respondents are from higher education. I plan to keep the form up until the ISTE Conference in June.  In a later post, I will elaborate on the online courses that will be offered and a tentative schedule. Feedback is welcome.

Online Course in 2011-12 School Year for K-12 schools

I am thinking of offering an online class on E-Portfolios in K-12 Schools throughout the next school year. It would provide an opportunity to guide schools through a year-long process of implementation with GoogleApps/Digication/Teacher Dashboard and maybe also with mobile devices. The plan is to primarily use a private Google Group and Google Site to facilitate the course, with live events available through Skype, Elluminate, or Adobe Connect. I am gathering information now with a form:
http://electronicportfolios.org/web2class.html

The "Hook" at Pt. England School

I'm in New Zealand visiting Pt. England School in Auckland, where they are implementing Google Apps and Blogger and where they worked with hapara.com to develop a brand new Google add-on called Teacher Dashboard, a tool that provides a lot of support for a teacher managing a classroom full of student GoogleDocs accounts (and soon Google Sites and Blogger). On Tuesday night after school, I participated in a meeting of the school's "hackers": a group from the larger Auckland community who have gathered together (over food and beer) almost weekly over the last 18 months to support a systemic approach to implementing technology in the school cluster: http://www.manaiakalani.org/

This group began when the principal, Russell Burt, sent out an email: "Hackers wanted!" They have been working through all of the issues of implementation. On Tuesday night, they reworked their Design Principles: http://www.manaiakalani.org/home/design-guidelines. I was impressed with their vision for the project, and the "open source" nature of their development. This group of creative people came together to solve a problem...to take on a challenge, and the results are stunning!

There are plans to share the school's wifi throughout the entire school community, mostly on light poles (keep in mind, this is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Auckland, where there are few computers and little or no Internet access in homes). Observing the systemic approach as well as the implementation of netbooks for students beginning in Year 5 (9-10 year-olds) is also impressive; their parents will be paying NZ$15 a month for these netbooks which eventually will be going home with the students. The program plans to support these netbooks for only three years... they realize that the technology will be changing a lot, and the devices will need to be replaced!

I am observing classrooms where students are blogging using Blogger on a regular basis (http://www.ptengland.school.nz/index.php?family=1,451), even the Year 1 students (5 years old) have blog entries dictated to teachers in a class blog: http://pesyear1.blogspot.com/ (the students were so pleased when we commented on their posts).

If there is one thing I have learned in this school is that if you want the impressive gains that they have made in the poorest schools in Auckland (see their research report linked below), you need visionary leadership, a group of teachers that is willing to take on the challenges, but who are also well-supported with PD and equipment, and a "can-do" attitude. Every teacher has a Macbook and a netbook; in addition to the student netbooks, every classroom has at least five iMacs (of various vintages...I even saw some 10-year-old "jelly bean" iMacs in Year 1 classrooms). As you can see, this school cluster is a great example of what can be done with imagination, some extra funding, and leadership (can't emphasize it enough)! Thanks to fellow ADE Dorothy Burt and everyone at Pt. England School for making us feel so welcome!

Here is a link to their research reports: http://www.manaiakalani.org/research-1/2008---2010-report

Summary: The Project definitely provided a motivation for writing, an improvement in audience awareness and purpose and in presentation skills. Other school interventions also had an impact on literacy achievement; however the Project has provided a purpose and enthusiasm for literacy.
The students of Manaiakalani were provided with a “hook” (e-learning outcomes published in on-line spaces) which gave these decile 1 students a voice to be heard globally. Subsequently, participating in the Manaiakalani Project enhanced their literacy, engagement, oral language and presentation.
With the advent of netbooks in 2011, schools are starting on a new and innovative initiative that, with careful planning and implementation and adequate support and funding, could be the key to 21st century education in New Zealand.

EdWeek Article on Technology & Testing

Several months ago, I was interviewed by a writer for EdWeek about the role of Technology in Assessment, and the potential for using e-portfolios. Her article was published in the Technology Counts 2011 publication, which can be downloaded as PDF. Here is what she said about e-portfolios:

Examining E-Portfolios
In the meantime, some teachers are using technology tools to create performance-based student assessments, such as e-portfolios.

Helen Barrett, a former professor at the college of education at the University of Alaska Anchorage, has spent the past 20 years researching strategies and technologies for e-portfolios. Such portfolios provide a collection of student work and require students to reflect on their work and progress.

"What we want to do is help learners not only be much more aware of their own skills and competencies as they relate to standards or a rubric, but also to be able to reflect and write on that," Barrett says. "An e-portfolio should be more of a conversation about learning than a one-way presentation about learning."

Having students take ownership of their portfolios is essential to maximizing the potential of the evaluation, says Barrett.

"We need to get students intrinsically motivated about developing the portfolios," she says. "It's not the kind of routine assignment where teachers tell them what to put into it and what to write."

E-portfolios provide students an opportunity to beef up their self-assessment skills and become more familiar with different types of technology, Barrett adds. Students can embed videos and images in their e-portfolios, and they can use blogs or podcasts to reflect on their work.

Mobile devices add another dimension to e-portfolios, allowing students to reflect "at the moment the learning takes place," Barrett says.

Embracing e-portfolios brings a level of authenticity to the assessment that students typically do not experience, says G. Alex Ambrose, an academic adviser at the University of Notre Dame and the founder of EdVibes, an ed-tech consulting firm.

Students can go on to use what they've gathered in e-portfolios to apply to college or use in a job interview, says Ambrose, making the portfolio meaningful beyond the school walls.

Most K-12 schools, however, have not used e-portfolios to evaluate student performance, he says, partly because of "the culture of the school from the administration to the parents. They're just not ready for the technology."

I met Alex last October when I made a presentation at a conference at Notre Dame. I disagree partly with his last statement; in my opinion, it is not just the technology that the school culture is not ready for (many students and their parents use the technologies I mentioned)... it is the portfolio pedagogy as well as the current emphasis on high-stakes testing for student (and teacher!) evaluation. I also have concerns about using e-portfolios for high-stakes evaluation... it would create an Opportunity Cost in the way we implement portfolios for accountability vs. portfolios for learning/improvement that I talked about at the 2009 Assessment Conference. I propose a balanced approach with student ownership of both the process and the product.

I talked to the author of this article again this week, where she is preparing another article just on e-portfolios.

Yola as free online portfolio tool

As part of the online course I am teaching for New England College, I am experimenting with free online web development tools. Yola is another one of the tools supported by Salt Lake City Community College. This is the 39th tool that I have used to re-create my electronic portfolio. The process moved fairly smoothly. The tool allowed me to reconstruct my portfolio in less than two hours, copying the information from my Weebly portfolio where I had the URLs on the page (and the links). All of my other artifacts are web links.

The real advantage of Yola is the many different tools, gadgets and widgets available: Flickr Gallery, Flickr Search, SmugMug Gallery, YouTube Video, File, MP3 Player as well as custom HTML and password-protected pages. A custom domain name can be purchased for $29.95 a year. The Pro (paid) version includes a custom domain name and other design features (for $99/year... a little pricey). I created a Table of Contents on the upper left side of the page (the Navigation, with links to each section on the site, which automatically shows on each page. I am impressed with this tool). I was able to create this hyperlinked set of web pages, with no knowledge of HTML.

This program would work well for a presentation portfolio, and Yola would work well if the goal is a learning portfolio, with interactivity and feedback through the blog. Each blog entry can have comments added (using a 3rd party program) and can have categories in addition to tags (like WordPress), and any page can be hidden in navigation menu.  The whole site can be password-protected. Of the two tools, I like the free version of Yola better. I don't know how the premium versions compare.

Weebly as free online portfolio tool

I will be teaching an online course for New England College on Portfolios in Professional Writing, and I revisited my Online Portfolio Adventure, recreating my portfolio in Weebly. This is one of the tools recommended and supported by Salt Lake Community College. Weebly is the 38th tool that I have used to re-create my electronic portfolio. The process moved fairly smoothly; I lost new pages several times, and there wasn't an obvious "save" button (the tool saves automatically). Weebly allowed me to reconstruct my portfolio in less than two hours, copying the information from my Google Sites portfolio where I had the URLs on the page (and the links). All of my other artifacts are web links. Placing images wherever I wanted on a page was more complex, compared to Google Sites.

The real advantage of Weebly is the many different tools, gadgets and widgets available: Photo Gallery, Slideshow, File, Flash, Google Maps and YouTube Video as well as custom HTML. The Pro (paid) version has an Audio Player, Video upload, embedded documents, and password-protected pages. I created a Table of Contents on the upper left side of the page (the Navigation, with links to each section on the site, which automatically shows on each page), although there were no sub-pages for site organization. I am impressed with this tool. I was able to create this hyperlinked set of web pages, with no knowledge of HTML, although it helped when I had to use Custom HTML to add Embed codes for videos from my YouTube, Blip.tv, and Google Video accounts.

This program would work very well for a presentation portfolio, and would also work well if the goal is a learning portfolio, with interactivity and feedback through the blog. Each blog entry can have comments added with moderation, and any page can be hidden in navigation menu for privacy purposes. Weebly has an Education version, where a teacher can manage a group of student accounts. The Premium account cost ($39.95) plus the cost of a domain name ($33.95/year for two years) makes it much more expensive than GoogleApps.

Through the process of recreating this portfolio, I also updated my Google Sites portfolio, which is really my favorite version to date. I think my 2006 Apple iWeb portfolio is the most attractive, but very difficult to update, so it is frozen in time, with lots of broken links!

NCCE Workshop and Presentation

Here are my slides for my hands-on workshop this morning (Creating ePortfolios using GoogleApps) and presentation this afternoon (GoogleApps ePortfolios) held in Portland at the Northwest Council for Computer Education (NCCE). I was disappointed that they scheduled my workshop during the same time as the keynote address by Dr. Yong Zhao, which took place during the latter part of my workshop time. I noticed that about half of the participants left my workshop after the break... I hope it wasn't a reflection on the workshop, but the last half was mostly hands-on time)! If I had not been leading the workshop, I probably would have left as well! I heard the keynote was very good.

NCCE workshop11

View more presentations from Helen Barrett

NCCE mar11

View more presentations from Helen Barrett

Selected tweets with #NCCE2011 hash tag:

• Creating another Google Site with Dr. Helen Barrett at the NCCE Conference 
• PORTFOLIO: ePortfolios with GoogleApps, http://sites.google.com/site/eportfolioapps/
• PORTFOLIO: GoogleDocs - Create a Document to describe our own portfolio
• PORTFOLIO: Level 1 Workspace: Collection of Artifacts in the Cloud
• PORTFOLIO: 3 steps in setting up an efolio: 1. Storage in GoogleDocs, 2. Reflect in Google Blogger, 3. Presentation GoogleSites
• 10 Ways Technology Supports 21st Century Learners in Being Self Directed, http://tinyurl.com/6dldns8
• PORTFOLIOS: GoogleApps for Education is awesome. It's free. Can take up to 6 weeks to get it set up, though
• PORTFOLIOS: Great Article! Keeping it real. Ideas for Schools, Educators, and Students, http://tinyurl.com/68x95cc
• PORTFOLIO: Balancing the two faces of ePortfolios, http://electronicportfolios.org/balance/index.html <-- VERY COOL GRAPHIC :)
• PORTFOLIO is both process and product
• PORTFOLIOS: students need to reflect in multiple formats, not just print.
• Helen Barrett shared two stories: 1. Students burned upon graduation 2. Student offered a $50 reward for her lost portfolio Hmmm
• Power and Portfolios: Best Practices for High School Classrooms, http://tinyurl.com/4eyloe6 GREAT BOOK!
• The more structured the portfolio the less ownership students have
• ePortfolios help the learner find their voice
• ePortolios should be more about talking not telling. A CONVERSATION OR DIALOG!
• Helen Barrett at TED Talks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckcSegrwjkA
• Dr. Barrett... hyperlinking leads students to a deeper understanding 
• Using The Renzulli Learning System to Support Differentiated Instruction, http://tinyurl.com/4wjpfh4
• KNOW THYSELF this was carved at the temple at Delphi
• PORTFOLIO: Is it a structured assessment portfolio? a learning portfolio? etc. Decisions need to be made FIRST!
• Ask the question what the purpose of the portfolio. There are many purposes. Ask, 'who owns the portfolio?' Who keeps it?
• Portfolio 3.0: http://www.scribd.com/doc/34463843/ePortfolio-3-0
• ePortfolio in 21st Century: Introduction to e-Portfolios from JISC's Lis... http://slidesha.re/bvkzBz
• ePortfolio Definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_portfolio
• Is this the first Portfolio? Leonardo da Vinci: http://www.foliosociety.com/book/NOL/notebooks-leonardo-da-vinci
• Portfolio: One Word, Many Meanings - definition depends context
• Simon Sinek Profile: http://www.ted.com/speakers/simon_sinek.html
• Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action, http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html
• Helen Barrett quote: "Reflection is the heart and soul of ePortfolios not the technology"
• Another good eportfolio resource http://goo.gl/kxuu 
• Check out this SlideShare presentation : Aaeebl slc feb11 http://slidesha.re/hEUf8Z
• Oregon is the first state to adopt GoogleApps for all k-12 schools.
• Dr. Barrett is THE expert of portfolios - so lucky to have her presenting at #ncce2011
• Helen Barrett's slideshow: http://www.slideshare.net/eportfolios
• Morning Session: HA73 - Create ePortfolios using Google Apps, http://tinyurl.com/4p6svuo

I am impressed with some tweeters who add value to my presentation, adding additional links and information! Thanks!

Keynote at AAEEBL Western Regional Conference

AAEEBL SLC Feb11

View more presentations from Helen Barrett

Here are the slides for my presentation on Monday, February 28, at the AAEEBL Western Regional Conference, held at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. I really liked their theme: A Life of Learning: EPortfolios for Education and Beyond. Of course, I captured some of the #11waaeebl tweets (these are less than half of the tweets... a prolific group of tweeters!):

• #eportfolios How can we use the tools students have in their pockets to capture the moment? - Helen Barrett
• Barrett capture and storing evidence: mobile phones to capture
• Barrett Balancing two faces diagram is here: http://bit.ly/hZYuo4
• Barrett video on mobile technology http://youtu.be/6mCkbrYKQyI
• Barrett suggests Pink's "Drive" to identify intrinsic motivations for reflective learning in ePortfolios. http://is.gd/XBMux3
• Barrett advantage of mobile is ability to capture the moment with technology-blog, mobile phone, etc.
• Barrett create environment that allows people to find their voice, explore their purpose through choice
• Barrett Pink's studies on intrinsic motivation choice and voice makes difference on dev. his website: http://bit.ly/R5gzD
• Barrett-eportfolios should be less about talking; should be more about conversation rather than presentation
• Digital Dossier project [video] illustrates centrality to our identity. http://is.gd/0jURHD
• Barrett "we don't learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience." quote of Dewey
• #eportfolios -- Helen Barrett says that it is reflection that makes all the difference -- A dialog about learning is key!
• portfolios are tied closely to the ideas of Kolb's experiential learning model (expanded by other theorists).
• Barrett referred to JISC model http://bit.ly/BJYKz
• Barrett social networking is a significant part of upcoming generations' lives
• #eportfolios Listening to Helen Barrett talk about "Is there a portfolio in your pocket?" Great conference!
• Barrett Social networking: connect (friending), listen (reading), respond, commenting) share (linking)
• digital dossier video http://www.teach42.com/2009/02/19/your-digital-dossier/ (here it is with comments from @teach42)
• Digital Dossier -for more go to harvard center that compiles a lot of information http://bit.ly/gdsE9f
• RT @idaj: Barrett's reference to 5 reasons your online life has replaced your resume is at http://bit.ly/gQq3Gh
• Digital Dossier: photos of kids which are uploaded to flickr, FB, email, multimedia messages, with info
• Barrett noted that there's a high school in Canada ? who are developing their Digital Dossier
• Barrett says a signficant number of toddlers already have a presence on the internet--wow!
• Barret's reference to 5 reasons article-the article is at http://bit.ly/gQq3Gh
• Barrett article from Forbes: 5 reasons why your online presence will replace your resume in 10 years
• Barrett quotes drucker: success in knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves-"
• Barrett: in sum, eportfolios as a way for all to get better sense of who they are
• Slides for Helen Barrett's keynote, "Is the future of ePortfolios in your pocket"? http://is.gd/DSYarL
• Barrett-summarizing b. Cambridge ePortf: support deep learning, reflection development, integrative, self directive and lifelong
• 4 pilars-- portfolio as mirror (self-awareness) portfolio as map (self-direction), meta cognition, and self-monitoring.
• Barrett self-monitoring-responsibility to construct meaning; be reflective and think critically, reflective journals in eport.
• #11waaeebl Barrett- meta learning-awareness of learning and different approach, deep vs. surface learning; help learners recognize success
• Barrett-self-management as goal of eportfolio provide a map, e.g. set goals for future learning
• Barrett self-awareness focuses on understanding prior knowledge; eportfolio can be a mirror
• portfolios can provide a sense of ownership, but also support reflection for lifelong learning
• Barrett discussed diagram of lifelong learning with 4 pillars, self awareness, self monitoring, self management, meta learning
• Barrett because ownership engenders feelings of pride & sense of accomplishment
• Barrett-purpose for portfolios: overarching purpose is to create a sense of personal ownership over one's accomplishments...
• Barrett-eportfolio support many diff processes; celebrate learning, personal planning, transition to courses, emplym, assessment
• Barrett social networking (e.g.FB & Twitter), used to collaborate, facilitate employment, etc.
• Barrett ePortfolios have been used almost 2 decades now for variety of purposes
• Barrett: portfolio: concept, philosophy, process, etc. DiVinci was one of the first keepers of a portfolio
• Barrett said the DaVinci was the first keep of the portfolio historically
• Barrett- when we use the word portfolio, be sure to use an adjective in front, e.g. learning portfolio
• Barrett prtfolio has differnet meanings-some as concept, philosophy, process, pedagogy, product, tool
• Barrett today's theme, among other things, is mobile technology and some social networks

I was impressed with the breakout sessions that I attended during the day. I found out that Salt Lake Community College provided support for students to create their portfolios in one of three different online tools: weebly.com, wordpress.com, yola.com.  They created tutorials for students in each of the sites: Weebly, WordPress, Yola. Very impressive! I also heard from University of Washington Bothell Campus who are using Google Sites.

In a panel on Transitions from K-12 to Higher Education:Eportfolios and Admissions, one of the college admissions director mentioned that an electronic portfolio could show that a student could perform the 3 C's: Create, Collaborate, Communicate.

In the panel on Transitions from Higher Education to Work: Eportfolios and Employment, there are employers present who had interesting comments about using eportfolios in job applications and hiring:

• the differences between academic portfolios and showcase/career portfolios... and differences between disciplines; 
• the importance of professional/career portfolios; 
• involve career services in convincing students of the value of building a portfolio; 
• helping students learn how to present themselves; 
• helping students make the connection between academics and careers; 
• smart kids bringing iPads into interviews to showcase specific achievements!

This was a very interactive conference (especially the panels and table discussions on the second day). Westminster College did a great job of putting together this conference.