STEP ePortfolio Workspace

A Web-Based Learning Environment Supporting Pre-Service Teachers with

Electronic Portfolio Creation, Reflection and Online Collaboration

my.STEP.stanford

“…powerful education requires that teachers and principals be able to analyze and reflect on their practice. Individually and with others, they need to assess the effects of their work and to refine and improve their practice…”

Rachel Lotan, STEP Program Director

“…powerful education requires that teachers and principals be able to analyze and reflect on their practice. Individually and with others, they need to assess the effects of their work and to refine and improve their practice…”

Rachel Lotan, STEP Program Director

“…powerful education requires that teachers and principals be able to analyze and reflect on their practice. Individually and with others, they need to assess the effects of their work and to refine and improve their practice…”

Rachel Lotan, STEP Program Director

What is an ePortfolio Workspace?

What is an ePortfolio Workspace?

• Assessment Portfolio – evidence of proficiency relative to the Teaching Standards

• Formative Portfolios – work-in-progress, available for invited conversation and private reflection

• Employment Portfolio – viewable by potential employers• Course Binders – Faculty-created, student appended• Private Diary – index of reflections• Project Binders – personal or collaborative

one of many electronic binders:

What is an ePortfolio Workspace?

• Community Discourse – asynchronous threaded and synchronous chat-based online discussions

• Community News – personalized

• Document Management – organize and archive

• Course Workflow – Faculty to student; student to student

• Web Publishing – drag and drop simplicity

• …supporting a Community of Learners

a personalized web-based learning environment that supports:

Learning Cycle

Reflect

Experience

CaptureSharevideo

audionotes

photos

docs

selectcatalogorganize

annotate

peersC&I

supervisordirector

CT

prepare

friends

mentors

Learning Cycle

Reflect

Experience

CaptureSharevideo

audionotes

photos

docs

selectcatalogorganize

annotate

peersC&I

supervisordirector

CT

prepare

friends

mentors

Learning Benefits

• Scaffolding for Deeper Reflections Related to Teaching Standards

• Facilitates Collaboration, Sharing and Feedback

• Increased Learning Productivity and Organization

Save Time ~ Learn More

Design Method

• Informant and Learner Centric Design

• Scenario Based Design

• Research Review and Key Learning Principles

• Reviewing Existing Tools & Alternatives

Design Informants and Advisors

Rachel Lotan (STEP Director) Katie Miller (STEP alum)

Margaret Krebs (PT3 & Tech) Kara Mitchell (STEP ‘02)

Teresa Cameron (STEP Tech) Cory Maley (STEP alum)

Alan Marcus (Social Studies C&I instructor; STEP supervisor)

Treena Joi (STEP ‘02)

Toru Iiyoshi (Senior Scholar, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching)

Anthony Gallego (STEP alum)

Jo Boaler (Math C&I instructor) Gloria Miller (STEP RA)

Cindy Mazow (Stanford Learning Lab and LDT alum)

Existing Portfolio Practices in STEP

• Face-to-Face community, with subgroups sorted by subject and supervisor

• Docushare and web-server storage repositories

• CD and Web deliverables• Intense program with no “spare” time• Assorted applications for processing

multimedia (PowerPoint, Word, iMovie…)

Issues and Challenges

Informant Design: Engaging current STEP students and alumni from the beginning of the design process …

Issues and Challenges

TJ (current STEP student):

“Organizing my video clips is the most difficult challenge…I would like to be able to look at my teaching from various perspectives (activities, behaviors, by student, over time…)”

Issues and Challenges

TJ (current STEP student):

“Organizing my video clips is the most difficult challenge…I would like to be able to look at my teaching from various perspectives (activities, behaviors, by student, over time…)”

Issues and Challenges

KM (STEP alum):

“Time is the biggest obstacle…and we would benefit from more frequent sharing of our work in progress…”

Issues and Challenges

KM (STEP alum):

“Time is the biggest obstacle…and we would benefit from more frequent sharing of our work in progress…”

Issues and Challenges

KrM (Current STEP student):

“I use a paper journal to write my thoughts as I go, but I wonder how I’ll find things later…”

Issues and Challenges

KrM (Current STEP student):

“I use a paper journal to write my thoughts as I go, but I wonder how I’ll find things later…”

Issues and Challenges

CM (STEP alum):

“It’s all about TIME…we were so busy, we’d become isolated. Building the portfolio over time so it is easily finalized in Spring would be a great benefit…”

Issues and Challenges

CM (STEP alum):

“It’s all about TIME…we were so busy, we’d become isolated. Building the portfolio over time so it is easily finalized in Spring would be a great benefit…”

STEP Student Needs

• Save time

• Help with being organized

• Scaffolding for reflection

• More opportunities to share & learn from others in the STEP community

• On demand (just-in-time) technology training for novices

Proposed ePortfolio Workspace

• Web Accessible Anywhere, Anytime• Dynamic, Database Backend• Accepts a Variety of Multimedia Objects• Supports Interactive Asynchronous Review

and Discussion; Supports Synchronous Chat• For Work-in-Progress Portfolios and

Culmination Portfolios of Exemplars

Key Learning “Active Ingredients”

• Metacognition Scaffolding

• Community of Learners

Key Learning “Active Ingredients”

Metacognition Scaffolding

“…learning is most effective when people engage in ‘deliberate practice’ that includes active monitoring of one’s learning experiences”.

John Bransford, Ann Brown, Rodnye Cocking(2000) p 59 How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School; quoting Ericsson (1993)

Key Learning “Active Ingredients”

Community of Learners

“…based on the premise that learning occurs as people participate in shared endeavors with others…”

Barbara Rogoff (1994) p 209, 214 “Developing Understanding of the Idea of Communities of Learners”.

Mind, Culture and Activity Vol. 1 No.4

Key Learning “Active Ingredients”

Community of Learners

“If we want portfolios to be more than an accidental sharing of experiences, if we want the portfolio owners to get involved in each other’s work we have to design for that. Peer assessment is one approach…”

Håkon Tolsby “Digital Portfolios: A Tool for Learning, Self-Reflection, Sharing and Collaboration”

The Efficacy of Portfolios

“… a portfolio without goals (or standards) and reflections is just a multimedia presentation, or a fancy electronic resume, or a digital scrapbook. By …including reflection, direction (goal-setting), and connection (dialog with others about the portfolio), a teacher creates a foundation for powerful professional development.”

Helen Barrett, University of Alaska Anchorage (2000) “Electronic Teaching Portfolios: Multimedia Skills + Portfolio Development = Powerful Professional Development”, SITE2000 Conference http://www.electronicportfolios.com/portfolios/3107Barrett.pdf

The Efficacy of Portfolios

“… a portfolio without goals (or standards) and reflections is just a multimedia presentation, or a fancy electronic resume, or a digital scrapbook. By …including reflection, direction (goal-setting), and connection (dialog with others about the portfolio), a teacher creates a foundation for powerful professional development.”

Helen Barrett, University of Alaska Anchorage (2000) “Electronic Teaching Portfolios: Multimedia Skills + Portfolio Development = Powerful Professional Development”, SITE2000 Conference http://www.electronicportfolios.com/portfolios/3107Barrett.pdf

my.STEP.stanford

• Thinking about teaching

• Discussing teaching plans & questions

• Being a Community of Learners

A personalized web-space for:

Community of Learners

Insert Research Quote

“… a;lf a f;a a fa;lkjf a afja; f a;f af.”

“a;f adf;lkj f;l a;lfj a;laf a;f; fa;lj fa;laf af.”

Resesarchername (2000) p. 59 & 67, citation of article

Community of Learners

Personalized STEP news and calendar

Community of Learners

CommunityDiscourse andPeer Review

Community of Learners

CommunitySupport and Interaction

Community of Learners

CommunityShowcase of Best Practices(and public recognition)

Discussion and My eBinders

Organize Your Learning Artifacts with Drag&DropSimplicity

Discussion and My eBinders

Discussion by Invitation

Insert InvitationGraphics

Online Discussions

Insert Research Quote

“… a;lf a f;a a fa;lkjf a afja; f a;f af.”

“a;f adf;lkj f;l a;lfj a;laf a;f; fa;lj fa;laf af.”

Resesarchername (2000) p. 59 & 67, citation of article

Designing for Reflection

“… learning is most effective when people engage in ‘deliberate practice’ that includes active monitoring of one’s learning experiences.”

“Transfer can be improved by helping students become more aware of themselves as learners who actively monitor their learning strategies and resources and assess their readiness… Metacognitive approaches to instruction have been shown to increase the degree to which students will transfer to new situations without the need for explicit prompting.”

John D. Bransford, et al (2000) p. 59 & 67, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School

Designing for Reflection

“… learning is most effective when people engage in ‘deliberate practice’ that includes active monitoring of one’s learning experiences.”

“Transfer can be improved by helping students become more aware of themselves as learners who actively monitor their learning strategies and resources and assess their readiness… Metacognitive approaches to instruction have been shown to increase the degree to which students will transfer to new situations without the need for explicit prompting.”

John D. Bransford, et al (2000) p. 59 & 67, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School

Reflection and My eBinders

Organize Your Learning Artifacts with Drag&DropSimplicity

Reflection and My eBinders

Organize Your Learning Artifacts with Drag&DropSimplicity

Reflection and My eBinders

Reflect while you organize…

Reflection

“… portfolios [at UNCG] emphasize reflection that requires descriptive, analytical, and transformative writing about the evidence presented in these portfolios.”

“…the quality of portfolios has improved…commensurate with the focus we have placed on integrating the reflective cycle into our professional courses.”

Barbara Levin, University of North Carolina Greensboro (2002) “Reflection as the Foundation for E-Portfolios”, SITE2002 Conference

Reflection

“… portfolios [at UNCG] emphasize reflection that requires descriptive, analytical, and transformative writing about the evidence presented in these portfolios.”

“…the quality of portfolios has improved…commensurate with the focus we have placed on integrating the reflective cycle into our professional courses.”

Barbara Levin, University of North Carolina Greensboro (2002) “Reflection as the Foundation for E-Portfolios”, SITE2002 Conference

UNCG “Reflection Cycle”

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/pbl/pblreflect.htm

Reflect as you Build

Scaffolded Reflection, when the learning is fresh and meaningful

EDIT

My eBinders

Reflection Focused on Teaching Standards

Teaching Standards and Reflection

Self Assessment Framework for Reflecting on Teaching Standards

My eBinders

Privacy for Open Reflections

Private Reflection

“… [preservice portfolio authors] avoid the kind of critical self-exposure necessary for truly engaging with problems of practice. If portfolios do not provide a place for such reflective thinking, it doesn’t seem likely that they will result in the kind of improvements in teaching practice or continuing teacher knowledge development that advocates hope for.”

Joanne Carney, Mercyhurst College (2002) “The Intimacies of Electronic Portfolios: Confronting Preservice Teachers’ Personal Revelation Dilemma”, SITE2002 Conference

Private Reflection

“… [preservice portfolio authors] avoid the kind of critical self-exposure necessary for truly engaging with problems of practice. If portfolios do not provide a place for such reflective thinking, it doesn’t seem likely that they will result in the kind of improvements in teaching practice or continuing teacher knowledge development that advocates hope for.”

Joanne Carney, Mercyhurst College (2002) “The Intimacies of Electronic Portfolios: Confronting Preservice Teachers’ Personal Revelation Dilemma”, SITE2002 Conference

Private Reflection

Personal Reflections, including audio notes and transcription

My ePortfolio

Scaffolding forReflection and Organization

My ePortfolio

Scaffolding forReflection and Organization

Guiding HCI Principles

• Direct Manipulation (drag and drop)

• Visible Affordances (roll-overs)

• Familiar Metaphor (binders)

• Saliency (“you’ve got invitations…”)

My ePortfolio

Drag and Drop orClick and Send

Initial Feedback

• (add quotes from informants…)

• (add results from user assessment study)

Next Steps

• Additional User Feedback and Testing

• Build Live prototype

Backup Slides

Existing Alternatives / Tools

• Anchored, threaded discussion of video content.– Could be used for discussion by community of an

example of teaching.

– Conversant Media www.krdl.org.sg/AboutUs/commercialisation/pdf-files/Conversant%20Media.pdf

Existing Alternatives / Tools

• Image Annotation– Would allow for mark up and reference of more

complex examples of student work.– GIS tool at MIT http://web.media.mit.edu/~jimbiz/ImageMap

Existing Alternatives / Tools

• Review Manager– Tool currently used for managing multiple people

reviewing artifacts in a variety of media.– Review Manager http://www.reviewmanager.com/home.asp