Documenting Learning With Eportfolios

Documenting Learning with ePortfolios Documenting Learning with ePortfolios provides higher education instructors with a theory-to-practice approach to understanding the pedagogy behind ePortfolios and to helping students use them to record and reflect on their learning in multiple contexts. The authors outline a framework of six critical iterative tasks to undertake when implementing ePortfolios for student success. Filled with real-life models of successful ePortfolio projects, the book also includes guidance for faculty development to support the use of ePortfolios and covers the place of ePortfolios in institutional assessment efforts. Finally, the authors offer considerations for deciding on which technological tools to deploy in implementing a successful ePortfolio initiative. "These authors achieve the very rare accomplishment of combining their years of practical experience, broad conceptual and research underpinnings, and incredibly useful examples and applications into a single, concise volume for enhancing student learning through an ePortfolio approach to our shared educational purpose." —TERREL L. RHODES, vice president, Office of Quality, Curriculum, and Assessment, Association of American Colleges and Universities "Educators keep asking for more information about how to use electronic portfolios. This book provides answers, guidelines, examples, and scholarly insights about learning based in the wisdom of the ePortfolio community of practice—what a powerful addition to our collective knowledge! I am thankful to the authors for this boost to our field and for providing a blueprint for implementers to follow." —TRENT BATSON, executive director, The Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning

The fruit of the authors’ more than 15 years of using and writing about ePortfolios in general education and disciplinary programs and courses, this book is a comprehensive and practical guide to the use of the ePortfolio as a pedagogy that facilitates the integrative learning that is a central goal of higher education.Faculty and administrators of programs using ePortfolios can use this guide to help their students work individually on an ePortfolio or as part of a class or program requirement. Readers will discover through examples of student portfolios and targeted exercises how to assist students in making their learning visible to themselves, their peers, their instructors and their future employersWhile interest in ePortfolios has exploded—because they provide an easier and more comprehensive ways to assess student learning than traditional portfolios, and because they have the potential to transformatively develop students’ ability to connect and apply their knowledge—faculty and administrators all too often are disappointed by the lackluster ePortfolios that students submit. Reynolds and Patton demonstrate how systematically embedding practices in the classroom that engage students in integrative learning practices dramatically improves outcomes. The authors describe easy to use and practical strategies for faculty to incorporate integrative ePortfolios in their courses and curricula, and create the scaffolding to develop students’ skills and metacognition.The book opens by outlining the underlying learning theory and the key concepts of integrative learning and by describing the purpose, structure and implementation of ePortfolios. Subsequent sections cover classroom practices and assignments to help students understand themselves as learners; make connections between course content, their personal lives, and to the curriculum; bridge theory to practice; and consider issues of audience and communication and presentation in developing their portfolios. The book goes on to cover technological issues and assessment, with a particular emphasis on the use of rubrics; and concludes with explicated examples of ePortfolios created in a first-year program, ePortfolios created by graduating students, career-oriented ePortfolios, and lifelong ePortfolios.For both experienced faculty and administrators, and readers just beginning to use ePortfolios, this book provides a framework and guidance to implement them to their fullest potential.

A new approach to contemporary documentation and learning What is learning? How do we look for, capture, reflect on, and share learning to foster meaningful and active engagement? A Guide to Documenting Learning helps educators answer these questions. Documenting learning is a process that makes thinking about learning processes visible, meaningful, shareable, and amplified. It facilitates student-driven learning, helping students reflect on and articulate their own learning processes. It also helps teachers reflect on their own learning and classroom practice. When teachers are co-creators with their students, both gain valuable insights that inform future learning and empower students as engaged learners. This unique how-to book Explains the purposes and different types of documentation Teaches different "LearningFlow" systems to help educators integrate documentation throughout the curriculum Provides authentic examples of documentation in real classrooms Is accompanied by a robust companion website where readers can find even more documentation examples and video tutorials Written for educators of any grade level, this book provides insights into contemporary learning and professional learning environments, and emphasizes the power of technology to amplify teaching and learning beyond school walls. "This book touches upon information that would be useful to any school system because it scaffolds ways that educators can help students make their thinking known, which will only improve their future reasoning skills." LaQuita Outlaw, Principal Bay Shore Middle School, Bay Shore, NY "This book will become an important guide for schools and educators to have on their shelves. The content is original, highly organized and presents many new ideas on documenting learning. It takes what is happening in the world of teaching right now and elevates it to a coherent pedagogical process. The graphics are a fantastic resource." Andrea Hernandez, Educational Consultant amplifiEDucation and edtechworkshop.blogspot.com, Jacksonville, FL

Published in association with At a moment when over half of US colleges are employing ePortfolios, the time is ripe to develop their full potential to advance integrative learning and broad institutional change. The authors outline how to deploy the ePortfolio as a high-impact practice and describe widely-applicable models of effective ePortfolio pedagogy and implementation that demonstrably improve student learning across multiple settings.Drawing on the campus ePortfolio projects developed by a constellation of institutions that participated in the Connect to Learning network, Eynon and Gambino present a wealth of data and revealing case studies. Their broad-based evidence demonstrates that, implemented with a purposeful framework, ePortfolios correlate strongly with increased retention and graduation rates, broadened student engagement in deep learning processes, and advanced faculty and institutional learning. The core of the book presents a comprehensive research-based framework, along with practical examples and strategies for implementation, and identifies the key considerations that need to be addressed in the areas of Pedagogy, Professional Development, Outcomes Assessment, Technology and Scaling Up. The authors identify how the ePortfolio experience enhances other high-impact practices (HIPs) by creating unique opportunities for connection and synthesis across courses, semesters and co-curricular experiences. Using ePortfolio to integrate learning across multiple HIPs enables students reflect and construct a cohesive signature learning experience.This is an invaluable resource for classroom faculty and educational leaders interested in transformative education for 21st century learners.

The fruit of the authors’ more than 15 years of using and writing about ePortfolios in general education and disciplinary programs and courses, this book is a comprehensive and practical guide to the use of the ePortfolio as a pedagogy that facilitates the integrative learning that is a central goal of higher education.Faculty and administrators of programs using ePortfolios can use this guide to help their students work individually on an ePortfolio or as part of a class or program requirement. Readers will discover through examples of student portfolios and targeted exercises how to assist students in making their learning visible to themselves, their peers, their instructors and their future employersWhile interest in ePortfolios has exploded—because they provide an easier and more comprehensive ways to assess student learning than traditional portfolios, and because they have the potential to transformatively develop students’ ability to connect and apply their knowledge—faculty and administrators all too often are disappointed by the lackluster ePortfolios that students submit. Reynolds and Patton demonstrate how systematically embedding practices in the classroom that engage students in integrative learning practices dramatically improves outcomes. The authors describe easy to use and practical strategies for faculty to incorporate integrative ePortfolios in their courses and curricula, and create the scaffolding to develop students’ skills and metacognition.The book opens by outlining the underlying learning theory and the key concepts of integrative learning and by describing the purpose, structure and implementation of ePortfolios. Subsequent sections cover classroom practices and assignments to help students understand themselves as learners; make connections between course content, their personal lives, and to the curriculum; bridge theory to practice; and consider issues of audience and communication and presentation in developing their portfolios. The book goes on to cover technological issues and assessment, with a particular emphasis on the use of rubrics; and concludes with explicated examples of ePortfolios created in a first-year program, ePortfolios created by graduating students, career-oriented ePortfolios, and lifelong ePortfolios.For both experienced faculty and administrators, and readers just beginning to use ePortfolios, this book provides a framework and guidance to implement them to their fullest potential.

This book focuses on essential findings concerning emerging practices of student learning through the teaching and learning benefits of the electronic portfolio (ePortfolio) in a range of disciplines at Australian universities. It explores the latest research on ePortfolios, teaching quality, future research directions for tertiary learning and teaching, institutional agendas in higher education, and the role that the ePortfolios can play in supporting improvements in pedagogic practice and student outcomes. Included in these agendas is research into the development of higher education through the technologising of pedagogy, learner identities in discrete disciplines, and the praxis of individual university teachers. The book covers accounts of academic learning success and challenges across current higher education subject areas. By presenting case study accounts of ePortfolio use, it reveals the importance of defining and documenting how we can meaningfully develop learner portfolios in research, teaching and learning at Australian universities. With an intentional research base, the book draws on work conducted inside and outside Australia and highlights how the ePortfolio can help tertiary staff prepare for the impact of a student-created portfolio on teaching, learning, and subsequent academic scholarship.

ePortfolio Performance Support Systems: Constructing, Presenting, and Assessing Portfolios addresses theories and practices advanced by some of the most innovative and active proponents of ePortfolios.