Portfolios as Records of Personal Learning

1
Portfolios asRecords of Personal Learning

• Janice A. Smith, Ph.D.
  Paul Treuer
• Three Canoes LLC
  University of Minnesota Duluth
• AAEEBL 2011

janice.smith_at_threecanoes.com http//threecanoes.co
m
ptreuer_at_d.umn.edu http//www.d.umn.edu/kmc/eportfo
lio/
2
PLR Definition

• Personal Learning Record (PLR)
• An interactive, online record used to
• Guide learners through an educational process
• Document learner accomplishments and aspirations
• Assist in career development and the job search
• Prepare students for lifelong learning

3
Moving from Paper Records
4
To Digital Records
University of Minnesota ePortfolio
5
In Support of Learning
Narragansett School System, Rhode Island, USA
6
PLR Requirements

• Abstracted from Open Source Portfolio (OSP)
  MiniSpecs in preparation for portfolios in the
  Sakai Open Educational Environment
• OSP MiniSpecs are
• Written in the first person
• Describe desired user activities
• Grouped into illustrative categories
• Useful for understanding PLR requirements

7
Assembling Learner Artifacts

• Collect I want to collect, organize, retrieve
  and preserve examples of my work over time.
• Access I want to be able to access some or all
  of the records my institution keeps about me on a
  read-only basis.
• Document I want to provide evidence of and a
  rationale for my learning.
• Reflect I want to reflect spontaneously and/or
  in response to formal prompts.
• Select I want to select examples from my
  collected work for purposes such as
  self-presentation, self-analysis, or
  demonstrating achievement.

8
Managing Learning Artifacts

• Tag I want label and organize artifacts so that
  they are searchable.
• Associate I want to associate artifacts with
  each other, with learning outcomes in my courses,
  programs, with personal learning goals, and with
  external resources.
• Assess I want to use rubrics for myself, my
  advisor, and my instructors to assess my
  learning.
• Repurpose I want to use existing or revised
  examples of my work in new contexts.

9
Communicating about Learning

• Receive Guidance I want to receive guidance in
  the form of templates, assignments, informational
  files, rubrics, and prompts.
• Communicate I want to communicate about my
  learning with my advisor and instructors.
• Receive Feedback I want to receive formative
  feedback and summative evaluation on my learning.

10
Taking Responsibility

• Own I want to own my data and learn to manage my
  virtual identity.
• Empower I want to take responsibility for my
  learning and development by making choices about
  how my data is developed and used.

11
Sharing

• Present I want to present evidence of my
  learning to different audiences in different
  ways.
• Express I want to express my own individuality
  in the ways I present my information to others.
• Share I want to allow others inside and outside
  of my institution to view evidence of my learning.

12
Managing Data

• Preserve I want to be able to access and edit my
  data for an indefinite length of time.
• Snapshot I want to be able to freeze and save
  versions or collections of my artifacts at any
  point in time.
• Download I want to copy or transfer some or all
  of my data to my computer or to other devices or
  media.
• Migrate I want to be able to move my portfolio
  data from one system to another.

13
Personal Learning Records

• Must
• Allow learners to access evidence of their
  learning
• Encourage learners to take an active role in
  their learning
• Serve as a tool to monitor and encourage learning

14
Personal Learning Records

• May Also
• Allow learners to
• Create and add their own evidence of learning
• View their institutional records
• Interact and share documents with advisors
• Integrate with other systems, e.g., CMS, LMS
• Play a role in
• Educational planning
• Career development
• Search for employment
• Professional documentation
• Follow learners after graduation

15
Evidence of Learning

• PLRs allow learners
• to create and access evidence of their learning
• Learning Artifacts
• Reflections
• Relevant Links
• Educational Records provided by
• Student Information System
• Individual
• Associated Learning Outcomes
• Formative Feedback
• Summative Evaluation

16
Active Role in Learning

• RLRs encourage learners
• to take an active role in their learning
• Moving from
• grades to evidence of learning
• instructor-centered tolearner-centered education
• Allowing /encouraging control over
• ones own actions
• the results of those actions
• Constructive interaction withadvisors and
  teachers

17
Monitoring and Encouraging

• PLRs serve
• as tools to monitor and encourage learning
• Students, advisors, and instructors
• Develop a more comprehensive view of learning
• Begin to move from
• Credit-based education
• to
• Outcome-based education

18
Accessing Institutional Records

• PLRs may allow learners
• to view their institutional records, including
• Transcripts
• Progress toward degrees
• Course and program registration
• Integration with student information systems
• Allows students to access read-only views of
  their own data
• Provides advisors and students with views of the
  same data in the same format

19
Advisement

• PLRs may serve
• as interactive tools for advisement
• Advisors and students
• Benefit from more accurate and frequent
  communication
• Access all relevant records in one location
• Students add personal information to present a
  full picture of themselves

20
Connection

• PLRs may connect to
• Course management systems
• Learning management systems
• Portfolio systems
• In addition to
• Portals
• Authentication systems
• Student information systems
• Registration systems
• Degree audit Systems

21
Educational and Career Development

• PLRs may play a role in
• Educational planning
• Undergraduate transfer
• Application to graduate school
• Career development
• Search for employment
• Professional documentation

22
Lifelong Learning

• PLRs may follow learners
• after they leave an institution
• PLR use forlifelong learning implies
• Continued accessafter graduation
• and/or
• Transfer of dataacross systems

23
Open Source ePortfolio (OSeP)
at University of Minnesota Duluth

• Secure web resource at the University of
  Minnesota available to all students, faculty,
  staff, and alumni for efficiently managing their
  own digital information and records.
• Efficient Enter information once in ePortfolio,
  use it many times
• Safe Access your institutional and self-reported
  information and documents from any networked
  computer in the world
• Secure Free storage of up to 5 GB of files on
  secure institutional servers
• Free Free lifetime access upon graduation from U
  of Mn
• Available worldwide. In the past year, users
  viewed 1,009,376 pages and 33,000 distinct users
  logged in from 104 countries.

24
OSeP
25
OSeP User Features

• Enter elements, upload files, or join one or more
  ePortfolio communities and use their tools that
  provide guidance to enter information. All
  information entered by you is stored in your
  secure ePortfolio collection.
• Share information in your ePortfolio collection
  with others in publications, called portfolios.
  Each portfolio consists of one or more elements
  and/or files that is shared with one or more
  individuals. Community tools provide guidance for
  building, documenting and sharing knowledge.
• View portfolios that others have shared with you.
  These portfolios may also be commented on and/or
  evaluated against rubrics.

26
OSeP SIS Records

• Read-only views shared by students and their
  advisors
• Institutional Photo
• Transcripts
• Graduation Planner (Academic Plan)
• APAS (Degree Audit)
• Contact Information
• Demographic Information
• Tracking Flags
• College and Major
• Graduation Records (of Degrees)
• Residency Information
• Registration Records by Term
• University Training Record
• University Identification Number

27
ePortfolio Communities (of Practice)
28
ePortfolio Community Writing
29
Learning Objectives

• Learning objectives are
• Developed by each community of practice
• Mapped to general elements for ease of reporting
• Allow flexibility for disciplines and
  accountability for the institution

30
Portfolios (Presentations)

• University Profile for use by advisors and
  advisees
• Portfolios to share with anyone
• Portfolios within communities for formative or
  summative purposes

31
OSeP Process

• Manage your collection
• Create new elements
• Manage existing elements
• Access your university records
• Communities of Practice
• Join open communities or invited to join private
  communities
• Participate in your communities (option of
  multiple roles)
• Portfolios
• Create portfolios
• Using a community of practice template
• Creating your own template
• Make your portfolio public or private
• Manage your portfolios
• View shared portfolios
• Create and view comments on portfolios

32
Additional OSeP Features

• QR code
• Unique code for every portfolio you create
• Scan it an put it on your business card
• Point an iPhone at the code and open up the
  portfolio
• iPhone App
• Take a picture on your IPhone and send it to your
  portfolio.
• Facebook Connectivity
• You can Like a portfolio made available to you
• Advisor Views
• Portfolio lists all advisees along with their
  information
• Everything is automatically updated
• Section for private advisor notes on each
  advisees (sharable with student)

33
Exemplary OSeP Portfolios
https//portfolio.umn.edu/portfolio/215172