Vendulka Kubalkova | ePortfolios

ePortfolios  INS 101 – Global Perspectives

This case study examines how using ePortfolios in the classroom provides opportunities to design, create, and deliver student coursework in a way which utilizes active learning, reflection  and engagement in a higher educational environment.

Case Study in Brief

Course: INS 101 – Global Perspectives

Instructor: Vendulka Kubalkova

Number of Students: 22

Semester: Spring 2014

Duration: Spring Semester

Instructional Designer: Cheyne Murray

Purpose

The purpose of this online ePortfolio component is to provide students with access to a digital archive which will serve as an electronic collection of evidence assembled by the user. Traditional portfolios are transformed to accommodate active learning strategies which demonstrate reflection and learning over time.

Student Gallery

Key Benefits

  • Support multimodal learning and multimedia expression
  • Value process, uncertainty, and creative inquiry
  • Situate abstract tasks into authentic contexts
  • Promote digital literacy
  • Facilitate social pedagogy
  • Increase student engagement
  • Make learning visible
  • Catalyze institutional change

Drawback

The initial construction of the ePortfolio template requires time and effort. However, once the template is complete, it can be used again in future courses with minimal alterations. Additionally, incorporating the ePortfolio into the course may require further thought, as adjustments to the traditional curriculum and activities to include an online component may be necessary.

Technology

  • BlackBoard LMS
  • Google Forms – Exit Survey
  • Google Sheets – Exit Survey Results

Skills Utilized

  • Organization
  • Conceptualization
  • Proofreading/editing
  • Design
  • Visualization
  • Synthesize ideas and information
  • Technology integration

Target Skills

  • Communication
  • Student responsibility
  • Organization
  • Reflection
  • Learning ownership

Application to Other Courses

This ePortfolio case study can be utilized as a resource for any course here at the University of Miami. This e-learning approach will be most beneficial incorporated into courses which rely heavily on the integration of digital resources and electronic assignments.

Survey Format

The survey created used a likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The questions focused on the ePortfolios and used Bloom’s taxonomy terminology to obtain understanding in each of the levels of learning. For example, “My ability to infer, understand how components relate to each other and to the process as a whole, and compare and contrast information has improved.”

Survey Results

As indicated from the distributed exit survey below, students strongly agreed that the ePortfolio increased their ability to track and document educational progress. Additionally, students also agreed that the ePortfolio helped in their ability to apply synthesis to developed artifacts and gained a new found inspiration to the availability of digital tools to enhance their learning productivity. 

Exit Survey

Student Perspectives

Instructor Perspective

As a user of the ePortfolio platform in Blackboard, Professor Kubalkova believed that the online format “was done in a highly personalized style” thus enabling her students to be more “creative” and allowing the course to take on “a different dynamic.” The ePortfolio became a place for students to upload course material, “visit each other’s ePortfolio and in fact post comments on the ePortfolio” stated Professor Kubalkova.  Students not only commented on the content, “but the visual presentation” as well. Such comments were possible because the ePortfolio enabled students the opportunity to choose from embedding hyperlinks of current events to uploading “ illustrations, movies, design [elements] and color scheme.” “Thus, I think they had to study each other’s work more closely.” Professor Kubalkova explained that when it comes to faculty implementing an ePortfolio system into their course, “it is well worth the extra time.” It is important as Faculty that we “all have to be prepared to focus on the students’ future.”

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