E-portfolios for demonstrating and extending technology skills

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Session Description

In this presentation, we share how we designed and implemented an e-portfolio assessment in five sections of a technology course for pre-service teachers. The impetus for using portfolios began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The course had several in-class activities, some graded, that felt potentially overwhelming when incorporated into a remote class. Whereas on campus students simply showed up and participated, remote learning complicated the process. Getting students to show up, interact, and succeed with the learning activities on their personal (rather than lab) computers, was a little less predictable. The instructional team worried that the class as previously taught had too many moving parts for smooth remote delivery and management, but still wanted to retain and assess many of those activities. By shifting to portfolios and providing students with a list of competencies to demonstrate, students could master competencies during synchronous sessions or on their own. Competency lists included both required elements and choice, and varied levels that corresponded with different grades. Proof of mastery could be demonstrated via screen shots or videos and comments, all of which were collected on cluster.co. A post-course survey found that overall students deemed the activity worthwhile in multiple ways (learning skills, demonstrating skills, career preparation), and felt they had sufficient support to succeed.

Presenter(s)

Vanessa Dennen
Florida State University

Vanessa Dennen is a Professor of Instructional Systems & Learning Technologies at Florida State University. Her research is situated in both formal and informal learning environments and focuses on identity development, knowledge management, and knowledge brokering within online networks and communities of practice. Vanessa currently serves as Editor in Chief of The Internet and Higher Education. More information can be found at http://vanessadennen.com

Lauren Bagdy
Florida State University

Lauren Bagdy is a doctoral candidate in the Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies program at Florida State University. Her research focuses on informal and networked learning, specifically the affordances of social media platforms as learning and community spaces. Her dissertation research is exploring how teenagers use social media platforms for informal learning purposes.

Ömer Arslan
Florida State University

Ömer Arslan is a third-year doctoral student in Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies program at Florida State University. He is interested in online course design and facilitation, particularly how instructors design and facilitate course activities in online classrooms. Currently, he engages in activities that contribute to his personal and professional development including but not limited with enrolling in graduate courses, teaching Introduction to Educational Technology, participating in research projects, and research group meetings.

Hajeen Choi
Florida State University

Hajeen Choi is a doctoral candidate in Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies program at Florida State University. Her research interests include motivation and engagement in online learning, lurking, othering, networked learning, and social media in education. Currently, she is working on the projects such as the feeling of othering in online learning, lurking in online learning, Twitter Conference Backchannel for building PLN and online presence, and network analysis in education. In regards to teaching, she teaches an educational technology course to pre-service teachers and had been working as a teaching assistant for various online courses.

Daeun Jung
Florida State University

Daeun Jung is a second-year doctoral student in the Instructional Systems & Learning Technologies program at Florida State University. Her current research examines how teenagers use social media, examining topics such as how they use it to engage in informal learning and career exploration, and how it affects their happiness. She is a member of the Students, Social Media & Schools Research Group at FSU, and teaches an undergraduate educational technology course.

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