Monday, October 31, 2011

Intro to Electronic Portfolios in K-12

The first self-paced course of the REAL ePortfolio Academy has been completed and is posted online:
https://sites.google.com/site/k12eportfolios/
By January, there will be supplemental modules available for Implementing ePortfolios with GoogleApps Education Edition, WordPress/Edublogs, or iOS/Android Mobile Devices.

Any non-profit/educational institution is free to use this open courseware content with colleagues in a school and and teachers are encouraged to become a member of the free Google Group for open/free discussion:
http://groups.google.com/group/eportfolioacademy

I am starting the first facilitated version of this class in January 2012. If you want to be part of this first facilitated class, register on this website in December:
http://electronicportfolios.org/academy/register/intro.html
I am in the process of getting approval for professional development college credit through Seattle Pacific University for those who need it, and registration information will be available upon receipt of the facilitated course enrollment.

Rather than using a highly structured course management system, we are going to use social networking strategies to facilitate interaction in the facilitated class: email through a private Google Group and collaboration in the Edmodo or Google+ social networks.
https://sites.google.com/site/k12eportfolios/syllabus/facilitated-course-communication

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Review of Commercial Tools...and my response

Trent Batson just published an article in Campus Technology entitled, "A Survey of the Electronic Portfolio Market Sector: Analysis and Surprising Trends." He discusses the variety of commercial and open source eportfolio tools; many of the commercial providers are members of AAEEBL. My response:  
You reviewed the commercial and open source market here. However, in my experience, the largest growing category of student-centered ePortfolio tools are so-called Web 2.0 tools: blogs (such as WordPress and Blogger), wikis (such as Wikispaces and Google Sites), and web site authoring tools (such as Weebly and Yola). Next month, Seattle Pacific University will receive one of four 2011 Sloan-C Effective Practice Awards for its use of Wordpress.com as bPortfolios: Blogging for Reflective Practice --http://bit.ly/pamT5d 
Worthy of special mention is the GoogleApps Education ecosystem, providing a variety of tools for authoring, storage and data transferability. When looking at portfolios across the lifespan, it is important that portfolio data not be locked into silos, but exportable into open formats. I have also spoken about how the boundaries are blurring between social networking and ePortfolio development. The new Facebook Timeline is an interesting platform for lifelong and life-wide learning, reflection, storytelling, & meaning-making. As asked in a comment on my blog, "How will those of us using ePortfolios in higher education compete with a social network that already dominates (and in some cases defines) our students' lives?" http://blog.helenbarrett.org/

Monday, October 10, 2011

SPU bPortfolio process wins award

Sloan-C will formally recognize SPU's work as an effective practice award winner for 2011 at a featured session at the 17th Annual Sloan-C International Conference in Orlando on November 11, 2011. The award acknowledges SPU for advancing learning, access, scale and student and faculty satisfaction.
The project description that won one of four 2011 Sloan-C Effective Practice Awards: bPortfolios: Blogging for Reflective Practice - Seattle Pacific University    http://bit.ly/pamT5d
It is so great that these efforts have been recognized by such a prestigious organization. It is important to gain more recognition for the benefits and outcomes of supporting student reflection and ownership of documenting their own learning, whether in teacher education, or in K-12 classrooms. SPU's Teacher Education Program should be proud of creating an environment that balances learner-centered reflection with institutional assessment. Students are also experiencing a model of electronic portfolio development that can be adapted to K-12 students using widely-available and free online tools.

I appreciate the opportunity to add my very small contribution (and my name) to the application. Since my ideas were credited as part of their initial decision to adopt a blogging platform and move from their previous commercial system, I am very proud that these efforts have been recognized.

UPDATE: Blog responses to this award:
‘ePortfolios’ are out, ‘bPortfolios’ are in (apparently) 
At Last – Recognition for Blog-based Portfolios

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Samsung Chromebook 3G

After my experience in South Carolina last week, I found this Samsung Chromebook on Craigslist and decided to buy it! (I know, I can't return it to Costco, but it seems like a good research tool...and my granddaughters would use it when I am through with it!) I am getting used to only having a web browser, and only using specific apps available through the Chrome Web Store. I am getting it set up with the tools I use on a regular basis, including Blogger (I'm writing this entry on it), and all of the Google Apps. I am teaching an online class this fall at Seattle Pacific University on "Issues and Advances in Educational Technology" and I am going to try to do the entire course with this device (or one of my other mobile devices). My primary research purpose is to see how this device works with normal classroom activities.

I can easily edit all of my Google Apps (Docs, Sites, Mail, etc.) with this device. I can't edit Sites with my iOS devices, and that is a very important tool for me, because my online course outlines are all in Google Sites. The keyboard is very comfortable to use, although I keep right-clicking (with two fingers). I am also testing the battery life, which should far exceed my Mac laptops. I haven't tried the 3G Verizon Wireless yet, but I am looking forward to being able to use the device during the rare times that I do not have wifi access with 100 MB free every month for two years (not a lot, but works in a pinch).

The man who sold it to me said that he added a 32 GB SD card for additional storage (it only has 16 GB--same as my iPad); but he said he rarely used it. With so many cloud-based options for document storage, I don't think that will be a problem for me. I was able to add a Dropbox extension and I hear rumors that Google might be resurrecting its GDrive, although Google Docs is nearly a universal document storage system.  

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Mobile Devices for Student Use

Last week I facilitated a two-day workshop on implementing electronic portfolios using Google Apps for the Richland Two School District in Columbia, SC. The participants were teachers, building-level technology specialists, and district-level curriculum supervisors. We explored how they could use their new Google Apps adoption to support their emerging 1TWO1 computing program. They have been very proactive in implementing technology in their schools, along with other educational initiatives, such as Schlechty's Working on the Work model of student engagement. We also worked on building a district-wide and school-based implementation plan for integrating electronic portfolios to support student learning.

One of the most interesting activities that I observed on my last morning, before flying home, was a meeting with high school and middle school administrators, to look at a variety of Mobile Device Options. They had the following devices on display: Apple iPad, Lenovo Android Tablet (with keyboard), Samsung and Asus Chromebooks, and Lenovo Laptop Thin Client (Windows Thin PC). A group of teachers identified the priorities for these devices (on a scale 1-5):
  • Internet research/browsing [4.8]
  • Long battery life [4.8]
  • Easy to set up (teacher) [4.7]
  • USB port and/or card reader [4.3]
  • Flash sites (videos, games, etc.) [4.2]
  • Google Docs collaboration [4.2]
  • Google Sites (e-portfolios) [4.2]
  • Web 2.0 sites (Glogster, Wordle, Prezi, Wall Wisher, Voice Thread...) [4.2]
  • Content management and creation (Blackboard, Edmodo, etc.) [4.2]
  • Apps [3.8]
  • Games/simulation [3.4]
  • Notetaking (word processing) [3.3]
  • Video editing [3.3]
  • Video conferencing (Skype, etc.) [3.3]
  • Podcasting [3.2]
  • Reading e-textbooks and e-books [2.8]
There were other requirements that they assessed, without ratings: Multimedia (video, audio, files); Notetaking (handwriting recognition); MAP testing possible using VDI;  Presentation design (Google Docs or free resources); Office productivity; Photo editing. As they looked at each of the four devices, and how well each one could meet those required features, the scores were very interesting: Chromebooks and Lenovo Laptop Thin Client were virtually tied in the lead, with Android tablet next and Apple iPad last. I borrowed an Asus Chromebook for an evening, and I was able to do everything I wanted to do on GoogleApps, or any Internet-based activity. I'm now trying to find a Chromebook to push to its limits! It was obvious that the iPad scored lower because of its challenges with both Flash and Google Sites.

(Written while watching MSNBC's Education Nation...very different from last year. We heard from teachers this year! Great dialogue about the issues, and a great story from a 4th grade teacher including a homebound student in his classroom using Skype...and his students blog!)

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Facebook Timeline - a life portfolio?

Last week, Facebook announced changes to the Profile, to include a Timeline that is a "friction-free" process for documenting our lives:


"Timeline is your collection of all the top photos, posts and apps that help tell your story. Learn more at http://www.facebook.com/about/timeline."

How soon before Facebook has all of the tools necessary to document our learning as well as our social graph?

Monday, August 22, 2011

Teacher Action Research on ePortfolio Implementation

Last week, I was the external examiner on a Masters Thesis entitled, ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIOS: TOOLS FOR SUPPORTING THE TEACHER’S NEED FOR ASSESSMENT AND THE STUDENT’S NEED FOR DEEP LEARNING. I was given permission to post his final thesis. "The intent of this study was to examine how qualitative assessment in the form of electronic portfolios could be conducted to engage students in their learning." This action research focused on a small (N=12) group of mostly First Nations students in northern British Columbia, and was conducted by their teacher in his grade 11/12 Comparative Civilizations course over the 2009-2010 school year.

I found this study to be enjoyable to read, although a little repetitive. Chapter 6-Conclusions gives a concise overview of the case study plus his conclusions. This is a good case study of what a dedicated teacher can do on his own with almost no technological support. He literally bought flash drives for each student where they could keep their work stored in the classroom and create their Powerpoint-based presentation portfolios. In response to my questions to this researcher, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the process, and thought that in the future he would have students using a wiki to achieve the same goals. He kept a reflective (albeit, paper-based) journal throughout the process, and quoted from it throughout the thesis. Despite the technical issues, students gained a lot of technology skills, and he identifies these benefits:
...electronic portfolios support formative assessment by encouraging dialogue between the student and teacher that focuses on improving student work and is not emotionally threatening.    Electronic portfolios support deep learning by allowing students to demonstrate their strengths, set personal learning goals, identify areas needing improvement, and use feedback to improve their learning.
As part of his definitions, he further defined deep learning for his work:
Deep learning occurs in two ways. One way is when students learn how to manage their learning.    They develop the metacognitive skills that support self regulation of their learning. Students learn how to plan, monitor, and evaluate the success of strategies they used to complete learning tasks. The second way deep learning occurs is when students are able to take what has been learned and apply it to new situations.
Nicely done! This case study is a good example for teachers to use to conduct similar classroom-based action research on electronic portfolios, especially using more Web 2.0-based tools.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Google+ or Edmodo for online course support?

I am starting to develop the online courses for the REAL ePortfolio Academy for K-12 teachers, and I want to use tools that model strategies that K-12 teachers can use with their own students. While some are using Moodle, few are using Blackboard or many of the course management systems used in higher education. I found an interesting blog post on Selecting Appropriate Technology for Online Learning. The author used Bates and Poole’s SECTIONS model: Students, Ease of use, Costs, Teaching and learning, Interaction and interactivity, Organizational support, Novelty (newness), Speed. These are interesting factors to consider as I develop an environment to support collaboration in these online courses.

Last week, there was a very interesting Edmodocon, with educators from around the world presenting about the use of Edmodo in K-12 classrooms (recording now online). I used the tool several times this summer in workshops, and it has the look and feel of Facebook. I like the ability to set up private groups and sub-groups. From the online conference, I saw how teachers are using this environment for collaboration. The most interesting presentation was on Game-Based Learning and how to set up and award badges in Edmodo. The system keeps track of Students, Teacher Connections, Library Items and produces a Sharing Score. It would be easy to see the level of participation by individuals in a course.

I received my Google+ invitation in the first few days, but there wasn't a lot of activity for me to follow. I recently listened to a whole series of podcasts called, Google+ Today and I've also been following This Week in Google podcasts. I have set up my Circles (Friends, Family, Following, ADE, Ed Tech, ePortfolio Colleagues) and Sparks (android tablet, iOS, educational technology, reflection in learning, digital storytelling, electronic portfolios). I posted a question (about using Google+ as a tool to facilitate communication in an online class), and received some very interesting responses (notice the length and depth of the last response). I haven't tried Hangouts yet, but it looks like a really interesting alternative to Skype and Google Voice, especially with groups of 10. (I could care less about Games right now in Google+; I have enough games on my various devices to keep up my procrastination level!)

What about other social networking tools? A lot of schools block Facebook, and I am finding I prefer using that tool for personal networking with close friends and family. I also don't think Facebook has the tools for online courses (although they are adding Skype for one-to-one voice chats). My other favorite social tool is Twitter, but the 140 character limit, and the public nature of tweets, contributes to short conversations, but not to the rich dialogue that I experienced in my recent Google+ post. I find that Twitter is good for announcements and what Chris Betcher calls, "tiny bursts of learning." Until I started following Sparks in Google+, I was using Twitter instead of RSS feeds, to read what other people are reading and posting.

What are the differences between these tools? Edmodo is called "Safe Social Networking" that can be used in schools. Google+ restricts membership to those over 18. For that reason alone, I should focus my efforts on Edmodo... but I am intrigued by Hangouts: could they be used for collaborative discussions? It seems like a great way to create small, like-minded groups to support each other through the process of implementing ePortfolios. I want to be able to record these Hangouts, though, so I have more research to do.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Resources on Reflection

I recently found the following resources on reflection in the learning process:
There are other great resources on this wiki, worth a few hours of exploration.

Sunday, August 07, 2011

ePortfolio Workshop in a Montessori School

I just led a workshop at the Montessori Hale O Keiki school in Kihei, Maui. My slides for this workshop are below. The website to support the workshop: https://sites.google.com/site/montessorihaleokeiki/

The school has a Schools of the Future foundation grant, and will be focusing on the integration of individual ePortfolios in grades 4-8, with class or group portfolios in the primary years. On the first day of the workshop, we started using the Edmodo social networking tool and then we focused on collaborative writing using GoogleDocs; on the second morning, we set up individual teacher Google Sites. The school has purchased iPads and iPod Touch devices to use in the classrooms, so we explored using the cameras and StoryRobe to create short digital stories, which these teachers embedded in their Google Sites. According to feedback (PDF) from one of the participants:
I especially liked the “MyStory” activity with StoryRobe. What a simple tool, but so much fun! As I was walking around the Montessori Hale O Keiki campus snapping my shots, I thought that this activity could really lend itself well to students who struggle with language... I thought of the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, and it is so true. What a fun way to share a little something about “who I am” with the world. I think that activities like this one can really help a struggling student with self-esteem and pride in their school work.
The participants left the workshop with a brief plan to implement this ePortfolio/storytelling process with their students. I am very interested to follow their progress. This is the first time that I have worked with a Montessori school, but I was told that my presentation very much matched their philosophy of learner-centered education. 

Friday, July 29, 2011

AAEEBL Conference Reflections

The second AAEEBL Conference was held in Boston on July 25-28, 2011. Below are the slides from my two pre-conference workshops. The first workshop was led with Eileen Brennan from Mercy College.

The second workshop was lead with Cynthia Lucena from the University of Puerto Rico.
Her story about the commercial and open source tools that they tried at UPR, followed by their current adoption of GoogleApps and Moodle to collect evaluation data, is an interesting journey through a variety of different ePortfolio tools, both commercial and open source. Their decision to adopt Google Sites reinforces the message of this workshop: adopt student-centered tools that can be maintained across the lifespan, not tools that require a lot of technical support or fees to maintain beyond graduation. 


I received some interesting feedback from one of the participants in the afternoon workshop. She told me that my presentation, which tends to take a more student-centered, personal development viewpoint, was a marked contrast with the majority of the institution-centered sessions that tended to focus on accountability and program assessment. I tend to agree; my perception is that the people who attend AAEEBL are more focused on the use of electronic portfolios in institutional contexts... perhaps that is because the membership of AAEEBL is primarily higher education institutions, not individuals. This is a real contrast with the European ePortfolio and Identity Conference (EPIC) that was held two weeks earlier in London, where there was more interest in community portfolios, individual identity development, and lifelong portfolios. The draft Proceedings of the EPIC 2011 conference are online.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Education Gazette

http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/Articles/Article.aspx?ArticleId=8389
E-Portfolios in New Zealand:
Digital portfolios grow with the learner
Education Gazette reviews the growing use of digital portfolios by students, teachers and schools.
Sent from my iPhone

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

ePIC Conference Keynote

Tweets from people attending the presentation:
  • @shojikajita "When cloud computing meets with Semantic Web: A new design for e-portfolio systems in the social media era" http://bit.ly/rtAbps #epic11
  • @isabellegonon #epic11 Helen Barrett : the future (of #eportfolio) is in the #cloud and in #mobile
  • @ljanegray #epic11 Helen Barretts philosophy for e-portfolios = authenticity, choice and voice.
  • @inicot #epic11 I'll certainly remember this piece of advice from Helen Barrett "Rewire, don't retire!"
  • @John_Pallister the #ePortfolio challenge is to make it the 'e'asy portfolio; the 'e'ssential portfolio and then go for learner 'e'ngagement #epic11
  • @isabellegonon #epic11 now I know what a #shoebox story is ! Thanks to Helen Barrett
  • @kirstie_C Great presentation from helen barratt. Epf as digital document of development. it's everywhere #epic11
  • @shojikajita Peter Drucker "Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves" in "Managing Oneself" #epic11
  • @donpresant #epic11 Helen Barrett: family photos, videos often start building digital identity before birth...ultrasound as #eportfolio artefact
  • @donpresant #epic11 Helen Barrett: 4 pillars are: self awareness, planning to learn, knowing how to learn, monitoring your learning
  • @shojikajita Isaac Asimov "The day you stop learning is the day you begin decayin." #epic11
  • @inicot #epic11 Helen Barrettt, "the matriarch of ePortfolios": Lifelong learning shouldn't be confused with lifelong schooling 
It was an interesting session. First there was Donald Clark, talking about his skeptical blog post about ePortfolios: 7 reasons why I don’t want my life in a shoebox. In some ways I agreed with him when he railed against the commercial ePortfolio tools and extolled the use of social software. But he made some generalized statements that did not match my experience or beliefs, especially about lifelong learners. I think this blog entry simplified a very complex process, and didn't recognize the importance of metacognition. Before my talk, Shane Sutherland talked about the design of Personal Learning Spaces, which was an interesting look at systems design.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

simondseconoart.png 1987×1639 pixels

http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/diagrams/social/simondseconoart.png
This picture was shown in a presentation today. I found it and sent the link by email to my blog, but had to go back to the website to upload the image.

Sent from my iPad

Monday, July 11, 2011

ePortfolios and Identity Conference 2011

I am in London, providing two workshops at EIFEL's ePIC Conference. Here are my slides:


Here are a few tweets from the sessions:
  • @inicot Dr Barrett : "Upload your videos onto youtube, vimeo... They will make sure that they are still accessible in a 100 years from now" #epic11
  • @shojikajita Instant screencast http://www.screenr.com/ #epic11
  • @inicot At #epic11, attending Helen Barrett's workshop,'Adding voice to ePortfolios'-"Write lousy first drafts!"- @eportfolios
  • @shojikajita Tools for Digital Storytelling http://electronicportfolios.org/digistory/tools.html #epic11
  • @isabellegonon #epic11 #evernote pour sauvegarder ses notes, ses enregistrements audio ou video depuis son mobile et se souvenir de tout, je vais essayer !
  • @isabellegonon #epic11 Helen Barrett parle de twitter comme outil reflexif pour échanger sur ce qu'on est entrain d'apprendre
  • @CnamSDTICE leonardo da vinci's folio is the first portfolio in history says Helen Barnett in #epic11 electronic portfolios since 1991 only !
  • @inicot @batier Merci Christophe ! On diffuse à l'interne. A Londres pour la conference ePortfolio #epic11 can't wait i meet Helen barrett;-)
It is nice to reconnect with colleagues in the ePortfolio field. Besides a wide representation from across Europe, there is a large group from Singapore. I will be doing a short keynote in two days.

Monday, July 04, 2011

Audio and Video Diaries

Thanks to a Twitter post, I found this article in The Guardian:
Next generation learning: the gift of sound and vision
"David Stinson has pioneered the use of video and audio diaries to improve students' learning." Excerpts from the article:
"By using video and audio diaries and much more besides, the kids can reflect on trials and tribulations they've encountered during the learning process..."

"The real benefit of using e-portfolios is that every student, regardless of ability, can adapt to the dynamic nature of recording their thoughts and emotions in video and audio, removing some of the anxiety involved in pen and paper communication. For students with special needs this can be especially constructive, as the unique nature of expression in e-portfolios takes away the need to endlessly compare to their classmates."
I am going to start using the term online diary instead of blog or reflective journal for the type of working portfolio that involves documenting the learning process over time. The word diary has a more universal meaning, regardless of media. This article demonstrates the powerful impact of reflection on learning, even though the word reflect is used only once. Now, with mobile technologies, it is much easier for learners to capture audio and video reflections. We know that students have figured out how to use the cameras on their mobile phones... for good or for ill; here is an opportunity to teach about appropriate uses of these tools (digital citizenship) while using a tool that is intrinsically motivating and always in most students' pockets.

We need to document strategies to capture these multimedia diary entries in easy-to-use websites that can be overseen by teachers when used in K-12 schools. I started with my mPortfolios Google site, and my workshop at ISTE last week. I have two upcoming workshops on using Web 2.0 tools (at EIFEL in London on July 11, and at AAEEBL in Boston on July 25). Once those workshops are over, I will focus on how to incorporate these ideas into the online courses to be offered by the new ePortfolio Academy for K-12 teachers.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

ISTE 2011 Reflections

I just finished my presentation, Student-Centered Interactive E-Portfolios with Google Apps.
Here are the tweets I just captured about my presentation. I thought it was one of my better presentations. I really feel like the elements are aligning to make student-centered portfolios a reality: tools, philosophy, pedagogy.
  • @TheHomeworkDog RT @jessievaz12: More on #eportfolios http://bit.ly/iioGvf #ISTE11
  • @erinbarrett Lots of "ooohs and aaahs" when @eportfolios shows #teacherdashboard! Great tool! #ISTE11 #eportfolios
  • @jessievaz12 An 'ooooo' overtook the crowd as the teacher dashboard plug in was showed from the google marketplace! #eportfolios #ISTE11
  • @rgriffithjr Agreed! - RT @jessievaz12: Portfolios should be a conversation about learning, not a presentation on learning #eportfolios #ISTE11
  • @cbuchanan_dasd RT @millpub: Taxonomy of Reflection http://bit.ly/5PpwuF #iste11 #eportfolios #iste11dasd 
  • @RSOldring #eportfolios Lvl 1 - collection of Artifacts/ Lvl 2 - collection with reflection/ Lvl 3 - selection and presentation #ISTE11
  • @RSOldring #eportfolios being built in social media tools can be a great motivator for students #ISTE11
  • @Sharvey85 The power in the portfolio is the process/journey not the destination #eportfolios #iste11
  • @erinbarrett My mom, @eportfolios is rocking her presentation...of course! #eportfolios #iste11
  • @jessievaz12 A dad uses twitter as portfolio showing growth and experiences of his child. Started the minute she was born! Amazing! #eportfolios #ISTE11
  • @Sharvey85 Give students ownership of their learning with #eportfolios
  • @Tim_Yocum Social media makes portfolios easy. RT @jessievaz12: The line between eportfolios and social media is blurring #eportfolios #ISTE11
  • @divatechie12 @Student Centered #eportfolios with Google Apps. Website for presentation is electronicportfolios.org/ slidesshare.net/eportfolios
  • @jessievaz12 Slidehare.net/eportfolios check out all those resources! #eportfolios #ISTE11
The themes I found repeated at this conference were mobile devices (everyone has an iPad or iPhone!) and Google Apps really took off this year. I also found a lot more teachers interested in portfolios through our Birds of a Feather sessions on Electronic Portfolios and Google Apps in Education. It has been an exhilirating conference!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

mPortfolios Workshop

These are the slides from my workshop on Saturday at the ISTE conference in Philadelphia. I am finding that mobile devices are ubiquitous at this conference!