RAPPORT
Volume 3 Issue 1 (2018)
in 2017 and another in 2018 1 , I gave
workshops on that relationship. Using a
set of questions as a guide or heuristic,
I’ve asked participants to identify
curricular elements in their ePortfolio
models, and I’ve also asked what
elements might be added to the list. In
that process, we all learned.
For one thing, I hadn’t realized how
important digital literacy is to many
ePortfolio practitioners. Although people
define digital literacy diversely, many see
the ePortfolio as a useful vehicle not only
to raise issues related to digital literacy,
but also to address them, precisely
because students in composing
ePortfolios can be engaging in digital
literacy practices, often in a real-world
context. Accordingly, I added digital
literacy to my list. For another, tagging
artifacts is a fairly new practice, but one
that several participants identified as
important to them, so again, I added it to
the list. Creating this list, in other words,
has been an iterative process, much like
ePortfolios themselves.
Given this experience, I thought that
perhaps opening the Dublin conference
with the current list could accomplish two
aims, at least. The list itself would
provide a vocabulary for all of us to
consider, and it could help set the stage
for this conference as it helped us identify
a number of potentially important and
meaningful ePortfolio issues. Further, it
occurred to me that at the conclusion of
the conference, I could share results and
1
For conference themes and programs, see
https://www.aacu.org/meetings/annualmeeting/am
17> and https://www.aacu.org/AM18
attempt to make some meaning from
them, again somewhat like an ePortfolio
composer. In other words, between the
opening and the closing sessions, I could
compile all the participant results in order
to share them in the last session.
Although such a data collection and
analysis isn’t a formal research study of
course, it would provide one portrait of
the ePortfolio values these conference
attendees held.
In this short essay, then, I share the
opening activity before detailing
participant responses. Those responses,
of course, take two forms, responses to
the given list but also open responses.
And last but not least, I’ll interpret those
responses, attempting to do justice to the
smart thinking of our smart colleagues
attending the conference.
Defining a Curriculum
The opening session inviting participants
to identify their sense of an ePortfolio
curriculum was divided into two parts: (1)
a reflection on, and discussion of, their
own ePortfolio model; and (2) an
identification and discussion of more
generalized ePortfolio curricular
elements.
Figure 1: Instructions for first task
Briefly list the outcomes for your
ePortfolio? (know and do)
Identify any outcomes that are ePortfolio
specific.
Identify the practices students need to
engage in successfully for their ePortfolios
to be successful.
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