DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Learning From the ePortfolio Field: Using the Catalyst Site

Group 5: Scaling Up ePortfolio – The Big Picture

 

 

Set-up:   Scaling and sustaining broad, institutional use of ePortfolio requires a systems thinking approach -- connecting ePortfolio to a network of initiatives, building cross-boundary relationships and nurturing the development of a learning culture.  C2L campuses have developed an analysis of what it takes to build a successful ePortfolio initiative.  In this activity, we invite you to consider ways to advance Guttman’s ePortfolio work and support student, faculty, and institutional learning.

 

Task & Guiding Questions:  Randy Bass writes that ePortfolio initiatives serve as connectors, requiring cross-campus collaboration and engaging diverse groups in conversation about student learning.  This process helps institutions develop as learning organizations.  Your task is to review the C2L essays on Scaling Up and use your expertise to identify connections and strategies to grow Guttman’s ePortfolio-based learning culture.  Keep these questions in mind as you complete this afternoon’s activity:

 

  • How can ePortfolio help Guttman develop as a learning organization?  What groups need to be brought into conversation to advance Guttman’s ePortfolio initiative?
  • What are some strategies for scaling up that will be most useful at Guttman?  What types of support can the administration provide in this work?

Activity:

Step 1 (5 min):  Working individually, please think about what you already know in relation to the guiding questions.  Your expertise is important.  You might use the back of this paper to make some notes to yourself about key points, based on what you already know.

 

Step 2 (40 min):  Still working as individuals, review Guttman’s ePortfolio vision and philosophy statements (see below). Then explore these resources from the Catalyst site.

 

According to C2L, what different kinds of benefits can an ePortfolio initiative offer?  How can these benefits help Guttman realize its promise?

 

 

Think about what C2L suggests it takes to make a difference with ePortfolio.  In what sectors are we at Guttman doing well?  Where do we need to strengthen our work? How do we realize our ePortfolio vision and philosophy? 

 

What role can the administration play in supporting faculty learning with ePortfolio?  Student learning?  The development of Guttman as a learning organization?

 

As you read, take notes that help you answer the questions.  After you finish these tasks, feel free to explore other areas of the Catalyst site.

 

 

Step 3 (45 min):  Convene with your small group to share what you’ve learned and your answers to the questions. Take turns going around the group to share your thoughts.  What have you learned from the Catalyst site? How could we strengthen our ePortfolio initiative? What can the administration do? Please keep track of time and make sure that everyone has a chance to share

 

Step 4 (30 min):  Prepare your presentation, in which you recommend key next steps for your work in developing an ePortfolio-based learning culture, paying specific attention to the strategies to support learning across the various groups at the college.  Please keep the guiding questions in mind, identifying specific themes, sample practices, and other resources.  Please be prepared to share your draft presentation with the group as a whole, tomorrow morning.  Your designated representative (we recommend 1 or 2 presenters) will have 5-8 minutes to present to the group.

 

 

 

Stella and Guttman Community College

ePortfolio Vision and Philosophy

 

 

Vision:

As an institution focused on learning and improvement, ePortfolio is an integral and integrating component at the center of Guttman Community College. The use of ePortfolio spans the breadth of our work and organization from students, faculty and staff, to programs, from academic and curricula to administrative and institutional functions.  ePortfolio is a space to showcase our work, articulate and reflect on our learning, assess our outcomes, document improvements and change, and communicate to each other and the larger communities we are a part of. 

 

 

Philosophy:

At Guttman Community College, we believe ePortfolio can serve as the conversational centerpiece and clearinghouse for institutional learning and change. ePortfolio catalyzes learning, assessment and communication in proportion to its use.  The more we participate deliberately, thoughtfully and reflectively, the more we connect our limited contexts across the organization and act on behalf of the greater institutional context.  As a community of learners, we use ePortfolio to define and shape integrated curricula, advising programs and career preparation through asynchronous exchanges of knowledge, culture, and experience. Within the curriculum and co-curriculum, ePortfolio helps us enlarge conventional learning with real world practice and lived experience and discover connections that enhance and reorganize what can occur in the classroom. Through assessment, ePortfolio engages everyone—students, faculty, staff and administrators—in a deeper understanding of our mission and its achievement through careful parsing of our Guttman Learning Outcomes. 

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.