Developing an Institutional ePortfolio Project at Memorial University

Joan Butler, Senior Instructional DesignerGerona McGrath, Project Manager

Distance Education and Learning TechnologiesMemorial University of Newfoundland

October 2009

Scenes from Newfoundland

Agenda

• Introduction to Memorial University• Description of DELT • Description of ePortfolio project pilots• Lessons learned• Questions

Memorial University

• Located in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada (population 550,000)

• Largest university in Atlantic Canada• 17,500 full time students • 100 plus degree programs• 4 Campuses

• St. John’s (main)• Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Corner Brook• Marine Institute, St. John’s • Harlow Campus, England

DELT- Distance Education and Learning Technologies• 40 years of distance education experience• 350 plus online courses • 21 degree and diploma programs• 17,000 annual course registrations• 34% increase in 2009 • Institution-wide blending learning initiative• 90 employees involved in

• course design and development • multi-media production• multimedia classroom management • faculty development• student support • marketing

LMS/ePortfolio Platform• Province adopted Desire2Learn as our LMS in

2007• All three public educators use D2L

• K-12 • College of the North Atlantic (provincial college with 17

campuses)• Memorial University

• D2L’s ePortfolio provides consistency for all levels

e-Portfolios – Working Definition

• A collection or aggregation of digital resources that captures and stores online the experiences, progress and achievement of individuals throughout a series of activities such as academic programs, experiential learning or career development that is presented or shared with a specifically selected audience

• Often have a reflective component

Our Institutional Model

© J. Browne, P. Phillips, L. Russell

Initial Steps

• Initiated and led by Memorial’s Career Development and Experiential Learning (CDEL) in partnership with DELT

• Wanted pan-university input for pilots and implementation

• Established steering committee

Initial Steps

• Purchased Desire2Learn’s ePortfolio tool in late 2008

• Identified need for responses to • Leadership issues• Technical infrastructure• Training and support for faculty and students• Selection of pilots for winter 2009

ePortfolio Leadership• Steering committee established in September

2008• Chaired by the Director of Career Development

and Experiential Learning• Members include:

• Director, Distance Education and Learning Technologies

• Manager, Health Ed and Technology, Faculty of Medicine

• Manager, Centre for Career Development• Manager, Co-operative Education Services• Senior Instructional Designer (DELT) • Project Manager (DELT)

Leadership Issues

• Consistency of approach• Need for an institutional perspective• Development of standards of use• Sharing resources across units

Leadership Issues

• Privacy• Involved the privacy office for input• Helped us develop guidelines for students on what

to share and what not to!• Ownership

• Student owns their material• Require third party permission for pictures, etc.

Technical Issues

• Access and load on the system was our first consideration in this area• eP is a universal tool in D2L so we needed

to determine whether everyone would have access or only those in the pilot

• Only those in pilots have access• Monitoring usage to determine whether

any extra servers, etc., will be required

Training and Support

• D2L provided training to selected staff in December 2008

• DELT’s training officer developed MUN training

• Training piloted in Spring 09• Training will include Captivate tutorials

and an online course in eP use• “How to use” versus “why to use” training

Pilot Selection Criteria

• Goal – to have eP used in different kinds of settings to:• Test its potential for teaching and

learning• Evaluate the effectiveness of the tool• Help determine our own best practices• Build support and knowledge for the

institutional rollout

ePortfolio Pilots

1. Staff Development• Staff at CDEL are creating their own

ePs to track their professional development

• ePortfolio components include: • Learning plan• Professional accomplishments• Tracking progress• Capturing reflections on their work

ePortfolio Pilots

2. Student Work Program• Students in Office of Career Development and

Experiential Learning• Students track their work progress and reflect

on their experiences to• Facilitate student employment• Promote career-based learning• Promote use and value of reflections

• Focus group held at end of term to discuss their experience

ePortfolio Pilots

3. Faculty of Education • Online graduate course

• Used for discussion and reflection• Provided place for work that is

transferable after course ends• Provided training using Elluminate Live • Surveyed students twice during the

course

ePortfolio Pilots 4. Faculty of Education

• Bachelor of Education • First pilot at program level• Led by Faculty of Education• 20 students enrolled in three-semester degree

program• Bi-weekly meetings to discuss project • Training and support to be provided by DELT’s

project manager and senior instructional designer

Lessons Learned• ePortfolio should be used in a program over time• Start with units that already have a ‘portfolio

culture’ such as professional schools• Identify some key faculty supporters • Provide rationale for why eP is used• Provide guidance on assessment and rubrics • Ensure employers are willing to view ePs

Questions?Comments?

Thank you

jmbutler@mun.ca

geronam@mun.ca