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.
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.
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.”
