ePortfolio Platform Selection Dr. Mercedes del RosarioePortfolio Project Director – LAGCC, CUNY

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Decide what you need eP for

presentations purposes? assessment? transfer to other schools? employment? track academic performance?

Decide what you need

Features/Specs list

Decide what you need/have a. how much tech support do you anticipate

(you really need IT to help you run the program, especially if you won't be using any of the commercial/proprietary outfits)

b. how many students and/or faculty would be using ePs

c. how much you're willing to pay for each account

d. how much institutional and administrative support do you anticipate (it helps a lot if it's supported by the College

Collect, Select, Evaluate

Collect: (see what’s out there)

1.surveyed CUNY and Metropolitan New York colleges and universities which are part of the Making Connections seminar;

2. participated in audio and video conferences with other universities (Penn State and Minnesota State);

Collect:(see what’s out there)

3. attended ePortfolio conferences (CUNY Graduate Center Blackboard and Learning Object Conference; WordPress Conference; session of LAGCC Making Connections Mini-Conference on ePortfolio Systems);

4. invited vendors to do a demo of their products (Serensoft and Digication, Epsilen, Sakai, Concord);

Collect:(see what’s out there)

6. researched on ePortfolio usage by other universities

7. kept abreast with latest eP community development through ePac and using the information gathered especially about eP tools (http://epac.pbworks.com/Evolving+List%C2%A0of%C2%A0ePortfolio-related%C2%A0Tools);

‘Collected’ Platforms Chalk & Wire: 

http://www.chalkandwire.com/ Digication: http://www.digication.com/ eFolio Minnesota : 

http://www.efoliominnesota.com/ Epsilen:

http://www.epsilen.com/LandingSite/Home.aspx

Learning Objects, Inc.: ExpoLX and CampusPack - http://www.learningobjects.com/

‘Collected’ Platforms Mahara: http://mahara.org/ Open Source Portfolio (OSP)  

http://osportfolio.org/ TaskStream (1): 

https://www.taskstream.com/pub/ Penn State University :

http://portfolio.psu.edu/ http://www.movabletype.com/).

WordPress

Select: Trim List

Digication Epsilen Mahara Sakai/OSP 3.0 WordPress

Why and Why not

WHY

Digication – cited for its ease of use, excellent tech support, low cost, very low learning curve; willingness to develop assessment and presentation componentsEpsilen – cited for its ease of use and low cost, superb tech support

Why and Why not

Mahara - system is modular in design to maximize flexibility and extensibility; has file repository, blogs, social networking features

OSP Sakai – LAGCC’s investment in exploring Sakai

WordPress –cited for ease of use, ability for students to customize design and navigation, ability to create wikis and logs, ability to create social network through its multi-user function, ability to group and categorize ePortfolios

Why and Why not

WHY NOT Chalk and Wire – cited for

technical errors and difficulties, very steep learning curve

Learning Objects – cited for being too-template driven and difficult to customize

TaskStream – reported to be very expensive ($49.00/year/account); too education major focused

Why and Why not eFolio Minnesota – cited as being too

busy and too complex for LAGCC needs

PennState/Movable type - personal use is free, but commercial, educational, non-profit use requires buying of license ranging from $50-$1,000, depending on how many users

Evaluate

Digication Epsilen WordPress

Evaluate Methodologies: ePortfolio

Consultants platform testing questionnaire

Vendor presentation Faculty –survey Non- faculty survey Classroom evaluation

Digication Epsilen WordPress

Evaluate