Supporting educators to use ePortfolios

Jochen Schlenker / Robert Harding World Imagery / Universal Images GroupRights Managed / For Education Use Only

Marie FisherAndrew Hill

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Introduction and roles

Marie (Bernie) FisherAcademic DeveloperBernie’s role as part of the Senior Leadership Team of the Learning and Teaching Centre allows her to advise on Faculty initiatives and advocate on their behalf during planning meetings

Andrew HilleLearning AdvisorAndrew’s role within the eLearning team allows him to investigate tools and advise on their pedagogic affordances, developing and testing processes with educators

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Aim

• We would like to share our experiences, challenges and opportunities with the ePortfolio network.

• Explain the model of support provided to the Faculty of Education staff at the Australian Catholic University in developing and supporting an ePortfolio Community of Practice (CoP).

• Show how we document issues arising in our practice which we turn into opportunities for improving learning and teaching at ACU through published material.

Advocating

• Listen, listen, listen • Provide drivers• Facilitate discussions• Build on ideas• Test for robustness• Chase feedback

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Patrick McDonnell / Photo Researchers / Universal Images GroupRights Managed / For Education Use Only

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Repository to reflection

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Eportfolio Model 2 – Process to Product at ACUFigure 2: Eportfolio Model 2 - Process to Product, Source: Fisher & Hill, 2015.

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CoP model we used

• Move from Project team to sanctioned CoP• Identified and invited thought leaders distributed

across schools and campuses• Set clear and achievable goals

Community building

• Moving from legitimate peripheral participation through to self-determination;

• Stewarding knowledge assets• Providing examples of Professional Teachers (AITSL)

standards in different Page templates• Providing templates for teachers career development

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Summary• Over the last three years we have worked with the Executive and faculties

at ACU to help academic staff with uptake, adoption and integration of the ePortfolio tool Mahara with learning and teaching activities.

• Integration of eLearning with pedagogy has been an important part of the journey towards a community of practice;

• We learned that this journey can be slow, reveal unexpected opportunities that emerge from challenges;

• Documentation of our experiences to help others here in Australia and globally has been important for the sector and our own professional development

• Thank you for the opportunity to share these experiences with the sector.

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Additional Reading

Fisher, Marie, B. & Hill, Andrew, J. ”Eportfolio Implementation in a Multiple Campus Environment 4 – Disruptive Change and Innovation”, International Journal for Infonomics (IJI), Volume 8, Issue 4, December 2015.Full paper located at: http://infonomics-society.org/wp-content/uploads/iji/published-papers/volume-8-2015/Eportfolio-Implementation-in-a-Multiple-Campus-Environment-4-Disruptive-change-and-Innovation.pdfCraven, G., Beswick, K., Fleming, J., Fletcher, T., Green, M., Jensen, B., Leinonen, E., & Rickards, F. (2014). Action Now, Classroom Ready Teachers Report. Department of Education and Training. Retrieved from https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/action-now-classroom-ready-teachers-report-0 Wenger, Etienne; McDermott, Richard; Snyder, William M. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice. Harvard Business Press