EpCoP: are you sitting comfortably; let us begin our stories

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Coach Carole

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Aug 23, 2010, 9:21:03 PM8/23/10
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Hi everyone, today our membership numbers reached 50 - a milestone
worthy of note.
We have members from Australia (most states), New Zealand, Germany,
UK, USA; we have members from Higher Ed, TAFE colleges, Community
centres and schools; we have teachers, leaders, learners and project
team members and our membership spans a wide range of 'ages and
stages'.

Now is the time to ramp up and invite more members and encourage the
sharing of eportfolio stories.

Today's story is my own about my journey into creating a professional
online presence - including some dabbling in eportfolios - and how
that presence is used for reflecting my lifelong learning. The
scenario spans a few years so I'll just cut to the chase - my online
presence is now made up of several 'collections' on the web; these are
contained in my blog pages, and my Mahara Eportfolio Views. Each one
has a specific purpose and each one can be shared, at my discretion,
with whom I choose. Each are branded with my digital identity - coach
carole.

My blog contains my professional pages and reflections (like a
personal website) - when I add a post to this Wordpress Blog, it
automatically sends a Tweet with a link to that article. (an important
aspect of share-ability)

My Eportfolios contain my credentials, artefacts, and think pieces -
when I update these (parts are scattered in different Mahara
locations) I can 'export' from one to the other. (an important aspect
of portability)

The drivers behind the maintenance of both of these depends on
circumstances, needs, and purpose; and the 'online presence'
fluctuates from time to time. During the development of this EpCoP
group the use of my blog became a much bigger driver and my
eportfolios have been sadly neglected - a task I will now address.

I am mindful of the need for us to share, clear examples and models
for people who wish to explore and consolidate their online presence
through an eportfolio approach. To explore through conversations, what
it means to create an online presence and to display our digital
identity through eportfolios - a major driver for this epcop.

So what's your story?

alexanderhayes

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Aug 24, 2010, 5:12:58 AM8/24/10
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On train - accessing Mahara view and sharing with colleague - updated
Confluence space - sending photos to Flickr - organizing Mahoodle SSO
for client tommorow - pixelpiped, Posteroused, and Tittered.
Looking forward to finishing the Jiffly schematic for Clients
portfolio developments by dinner time.

Bed ;)

alexanderhayes

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Aug 24, 2010, 5:14:04 AM8/24/10
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Twittered.

On 24 Aug, 11:21, Coach Carole <coachcarole2...@gmail.com> wrote:

Bronwyn Hegarty

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Aug 25, 2010, 12:27:21 AM8/25/10
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Hello all
I am a bit slow to join the conversation but here I am now. It is an honour to join you. Like Carole I have a mix of portfolio components. I decided the easiest way to explain it was to show you by describing it on a blog post. I keep a ePortfolio composed of the blog and a wiki user page and prefer a more open portfolio. As you will see on the blog post, my online presence is composed of a variety of web-based tools and social networking sites, and I regard this Personal Learning Environment (PLE) or space as my portfolio.
Off now to get more organised.....
Bron


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alexanderhayes

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Aug 25, 2010, 4:34:41 AM8/25/10
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Thanks Bronwyn. That is a good insight into what works for you
functioning as a website. I recall Leigh Blackall handing me a bus
ticket with the words google : leighblackall on it. When I asked what
it was he said " my business card" ..... so I pocketed it and that
night I went to Google and typed in leighblackall find 44 pages of
links to hundreds of we entries .

Ever since he and I have been embroiled in discussions about the need
to distribute content across a variety of " free-ranging" spaces to
effectively protect our portfolio legacy.

Likened my involvement in many COPS , networks and social spaces has
taught me that when the conversation stops so to does access at times
to what you said.So for me my portfolio is 'alexanderhayes'
distributed across multiple platforms , authored in an array of
applications, in paid and free spaces, controlled and uncontrolled
constantly evolving and revolving.

Organizing this into one application and calling that space alone my
portfolio seems like a dangerous and futile thing to do. Whilst I
understand the philosophy I try to avoid the rhetoric.

A distributed, networked identity provides for me disaster relief and
relative autonomy. The Internet is my portfolio and yet I suspect it
will be something greater that my children will call their digital
home when they reach my age.

This is the logest thing I have ever authored on an iPhone !!









A












So for

On 25 Aug, 14:27, Bronwyn Hegarty <bronwyn.hega...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all
> I am a bit slow to join the conversation but here I am now. It is an honour
> to join you. Like Carole I have a mix of portfolio components. I decided the
> easiest way to explain it was to show you by describing it on a blog
> post<http://bahtings.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-online-presence.html>.
> I keep a ePortfolio composed of the blog and a wiki user
> page<http://wikieducator.org/User:Bronwynh>and prefer a more open
> portfolio. As you will see on the blog post, my
> online presence is composed of a variety of web-based tools and social
> networking sites, and I regard this Personal Learning Environment (PLE) or
> space as my portfolio.
> Off now to get more organised.....
> Bron
>
> > eportfolio_convers...@googlegroups.com<eportfolio_conversati ons%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>
> > .

alexanderhayes

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Aug 25, 2010, 4:45:29 AM8/25/10
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Lol ...... Just read the grammar errors my automated companion is
making via my iPhone......oh and I forgot to mention just how
important the mobile phone is in the construction of my portfolio
construction also.

I now sleep with it.....under my pillow.

Sad I know:)

On 25 Aug, 14:27, Bronwyn Hegarty <bronwyn.hega...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all
> I am a bit slow to join the conversation but here I am now. It is an honour
> to join you. Like Carole I have a mix of portfolio components. I decided the
> easiest way to explain it was to show you by describing it on a blog
> post<http://bahtings.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-online-presence.html>.
> I keep a ePortfolio composed of the blog and a wiki user
> page<http://wikieducator.org/User:Bronwynh>and prefer a more open
> portfolio. As you will see on the blog post, my
> online presence is composed of a variety of web-based tools and social
> networking sites, and I regard this Personal Learning Environment (PLE) or
> space as my portfolio.
> Off now to get more organised.....
> Bron
>
> > eportfolio_convers...@googlegroups.com<eportfolio_conversati ons%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>
> > .

Ray Tolley

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Aug 25, 2010, 5:31:59 AM8/25/10
to eportfolio_c...@googlegroups.com
Yes, Alexander, anyone can Google 'A. Name' and find a surprising number of
artefacts - particularly with adults. But that is getting off the point of
what an ePortfolio is supposed to be.

An ePortfolio is a purposeful collection of selected artefacts for an
identified audience. In a better product that might enable the concurrent
presentation of different 'personas' to different audiences. You cannot say
to an employer or the admin officer in an educational institution "Oh, just
Google my name!" As much as a traditional letter of application and CV, the
ePortfolio is an artform, crafted for a particular audience, succinct and
yet simply linking to further evidences if the reader is so inclined to
follow up certain aspects. If the reader is then in any doubt then perhaps
they *might* choose to Google further.

As I discovered some five years ago, there are very different reasons for
using ePortfolios. Even within the mainstream schools sector people have
very different ideas about how an ePortfolio might be used. But certainly,
adding an adult mindset to the schools scenario can only confuse the issue.
By the time the young student is getting towards adulthood (or at least 18+)
we can start helping them to understand how their personally owned
ePortfolio can 'evolve' into a more mature product. But perhaps we should
be limiting our considerations to the K-12 scenarios?

Ray Tolley  FEIDCT, NAACE Fellow, ACQI, MBILD
ICT Education Consultant
Maximise ICT Ltd
P:  http://raytolley.v2efolioworld.mnscu.edu/
B:  http://www.efoliointheuk.blogspot.com/
W:  http://www.maximise-ict.co.uk/eFolio-01.htm
S:  http://www.slideshare.net/maximise
T: http://twitter.com/efolio
Winner of the IMS 'Leadership Regional Award 2009'

A


So for

eportfolio_convers...@googlegroups.com.

mrschippy

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Aug 25, 2010, 7:32:23 AM8/25/10
to Eportfolio_conversations
Hello all again,

On Aug 25, 7:31 pm, "Ray Tolley" <r...@maximise-ict.co.uk> wrote:
> Yes, Alexander, anyone can Google 'A. Name' and find a surprising number of
> artefacts - particularly with adults.  But that is getting off the point of
> what an ePortfolio is supposed to be.

I'm not sure that this is 'getting off the point'...

I can create a feed that taps into the Google API and use that feed as
my eportfolio... it's a bit informal, but perhaps my intended audience
would prefer to have the information delivered to them in that format.

The intended audiences are extremely varied... as are their skills...

I don't think that we need to limit ourselves, or the people whom we
serve to software products that have self-identified as 'eportfolio'
products... there are many many strategies and options that are
available, certainly enough to service the needs of every
individual...

> An ePortfolio is a purposeful collection of selected artefacts for an
> identified audience. In a better product that might enable the concurrent
> presentation of different 'personas' to different audiences. You cannot say
> to an employer or the admin officer in an educational institution "Oh, just

I kind of expect the type of person who would employ me, or people of
my ilk, will indeed Google me, even before they make an initial
appointment to discuss the role further... that's the first thing that
I do.. and it's certainly the first thing that both the young people
and the adults I serve do as a first port of call...

> Google my name!"  As much as a traditional letter of application and CV, the
> ePortfolio is an artform, crafted for a particular audience, succinct and
> yet simply linking to further evidences if the reader is so inclined to
> follow up certain aspects.  If the reader is then in any doubt then perhaps
> they *might* choose to Google further.

I agree that the eportfolio can be an artform... it can also be
utilitarian...

> As I discovered some five years ago, there are very different reasons for
> using ePortfolios.  Even within the mainstream schools sector people have
> very different ideas about how an ePortfolio might be used.  But certainly,
> adding an adult mindset to the schools scenario can only confuse the issue.

You've identified one of the problems with an overarching group such
as the one Carole has established... the needs of K-12 are very
different to the needs of Higher Ed., ACE, TAFE and the rest of them.
Needs also vary according to age, time of life, technical skills,
yada, yada, yada,

> By the time the young student is getting towards adulthood (or at least 18+)
> we can start helping them to understand how their personally owned
> ePortfolio can 'evolve' into a more mature product.  But perhaps we should
> be limiting our considerations to the K-12 scenarios?

We may need at some stage to split into birds of a feather groups.
However, I think there will be fundamentals that apply to us all..
thanks for raising some of these issues Ray... best..janet

A. Robinson Neal

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Aug 25, 2010, 9:58:32 AM8/25/10
to Eportfolio_conversations
Hello all!

I have been enjoying the conversations thus far for sure and am hoping
to borrow from many of you as I grow my online presence.

I think one of the key points for me is making the distinction between
our personal selves and our professional selves. I have a few blog
spaces and as I grow my ePortfolio realize that most of them are
personal in nature: one blog is exclusively for updates on our family,
one is for the Teaching in the Virtual Classroom course I am taking as
a post-doc, one serves as a space for accountability related to my
writing, and the last is more of a professional space dealing with
online/virtual education. This last one I just created recently when I
took a good look at my virtual presence and noticed that nothing
(outside the actual ePortfolio platform) was particularly
professional, as in related to my desired work practice. And that
takes me to a quick tangent: is the idea that people use ePortolios
just for professional endeavors? Is the hope that young people will
learn about ePortfolios and participate in eCoPs early on in order to
get a head start on professional presentation?

But back to our topic: blog spaces which auto-post to Twitter and
Facebook, Twitter and Facebook on their own (again, the Facebook
connection has been more personal, even though I am connected to
professional colleagues there), ePortfolio on Epsilen, and an early
presence on rCampus. I too have incorporated the use of my smart phone
quite a bit...

Helen Barrett

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Aug 25, 2010, 12:00:03 PM8/25/10
to eportfolio_c...@googlegroups.com
I've been following these discussions since the group started, but have been in Internet limbo for the last three weeks (vacationing in Amsterdam and on a cruise in the Baltic with my 85-year-old mother), so I am only now getting a chance to respond.

I believe ePortfolios are CONCEPT, PROCESS, and PRODUCT.

I have lately been presenting about the CONCEPT of "Balancing the Two Faces of ePortfolios": http://electronicportfolios.org/balance/ (process vs. product, workspace vs. showcase, learning/improvement vs. accountability). The international community is recognizing this perspective, since my concept map/diagram has been translated into Spanish, Catalan, Japanese and Mandarin! Unless we recognize the importance of both approaches to ePortfolios, I believe it will be more difficult to realize the practical contribution of ePortfolios for supporting reflection and lifelong learning. As an ePortfolio community of practice, we need to be clear about the multiple purposes for developing portfolios, and the multiple strategies that can be used... and not constrain our thinking by specific tools or products or narrow purposes. The development of ePortfolios can help build lifelong habits of reflective practice, but I fear that the process is in danger of being hijacked for accountability purposes (see The Accountability/Improvement Paradox: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/04/30/borden --a higher education perspective, but there are comparable viewpoints in K-12).

I agree with Bronwyn and Alexander: my working portfolio, that documents the PROCESS of my learning/growth over time, is my digital footprint through my website, my blog (http://blog.helenbarrett.org/ ), my Facebook account (mostly "friending" my family members), my Twitter posts (@eportfolios), etc.: my personal learning environment (PLE) that I contribute to and learn from on a regular basis. This "portfolio-as-PROCESS" is a powerful environment for lifelong learning and reflection, with digital media adding a contemporary boost to an ages-old process. I also agree that smart phones and other mobile technologies (i.e., iPad, tablets) are going to be an important direction for more widespread adoption. This aggregation of my online presence is how I construct my digital identity, using tools across the Internet, where I store videos in YouTube or blip.tv, images in Picasa or Flickr, presentations in slideshare.com, documents in scribd.com or googledocs, etc. (What I am missing is some type of database or tool where I can keep a record of links to all of these resources with meta-tags -- right now, I use a googledocs spreadsheet.) It is this process paradigm that constitutes the "everyday-ness" of ePortfolios in a highly interactive environment.

Every once in a while, I add an entry to one of my presentation portfolios (organized in one of many tools that I have explored) which represents a significant accomplishment in my professional life. This "portfolio-as-PRODUCT" is the type of document that Ray keeps referring to, with a specific purpose and audience, organized thematically using a specific authoring tool, such as Mahara, Google Sites, eFolio, or any one of the commercial tools. I spent years studying many of these tools for creating presentation portfolios, and I came to the conclusion that many of these systems are often institution-based, created within a finite time frame (i.e., a school or university program). Once a learner leaves the institution, with a few exceptions, the presentation portfolio remains behind or unchanged in an HTML archive: frozen in time as an artifact of that institutional experience (much like my tenure portfolio in PDF on a CD-ROM from 2002). I wish I could find data on the percentage of students who continue to pay subscription fees on commercial systems; my assumption is that it is fairly low. That is why I am an advocate for learners to own their own online spaces to publish their own presentation portfolios (i.e., Google Sites, WordPress, Weebly), or for the commercial providers to adhere to one of the standards, such as LEAP2A to allow portfolio content to be migrated between compatible systems... another argument for open Web 2.0 systems.

I am trying to finish my book over the next two months, so these ideas are front and center in my consciousness. I am looking for more stories of using Web 2.0 tools to create ePortfolios across the lifespan, in and out of formal education.

Thanks for including me in this conversation, Carole. I also maintain a couple of Google Groups that focus on Researching Web2.0 Portfolios and Using Google Apps for ePortfolios in K-12 Education.

Sincerely,

Helen

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Helen Barrett, Researcher and Consultant
Electronic Portfolios and Digital Storytelling
to Support Lifelong and Life Wide Learning
253-229-5235 (cell phone) * Skype & Twitter ID: eportfolios
Home page: http://electronicportfolios.org
Calendar: http://ical.me.com/hbarrett/Work-Travel
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ray Tolley

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Aug 25, 2010, 1:18:16 PM8/25/10
to Eportfolio_conversations
Helen, You are so right about the 'Assessment Dilema'.

I originally attempted to explore this problem some three years ago,
see: http://www.maximise-ict.co.uk/Hijacking.pdf

But since that time I have become even more convinced that the reason
for wanting to use an ePortfolio for the institutional purposes of
assessment is that their MLEs or VLEs were not up to the job. I would
like to know more of how this reflects in other countries. Certainly
in the UK all schools within the K-12 sector are required to have a
VLE and that, I believe is the best place for MIS-connected assessment
tools - and leave the ePortfolio to be personally owned!

May I dare to comment on your statement: "many of these systems are
often institution-based, created within a finite time frame (i.e., a
school or university program). Once a learner leaves the institution,
with a few exceptions, the presentation portfolio remains behind or
unchanged in an HTML archive: frozen in time as an artifact of that
institutional experience"

That is just the scenario that I am attempting to oppose. I put
portability first on my list of 'Prime Directives' - I have heard far
too many students ask "What's the point if I can't take it with me?"
I don't see the ePortfolio as being REQUIRED as any part of a course
of study but rather that every student should be encouraged to use
their ePortfolio as an expression of themselves, 'This is ME!'

A nice example came recently from one of my clients in the Orkneys.
It's only a half completed demo for his students but it is
encouraging: http://briandiack.efolioworld.com/ . This is, if you
like, the 'starter' from which students will begin to add additional
pages and sub-pages as time goes on.

Ray Tolley FEIDCT, NAACE Fellow, ACQI, MBILD
ICT Education Consultant
Maximise ICT Ltd
P: http://raytolley.v2efolioworld.mnscu.edu/
B: http://www.efoliointheuk.blogspot.com/
W: http://www.maximise-ict.co.uk/eFolio-01.htm
S: http://www.slideshare.net/maximise
T: http://twitter.com/efolio
Winner of the IMS 'Leadership Regional Award 2009'


On 25 Aug, 17:00, Helen Barrett <eportfol...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've been following these discussions since the group started, but have been in Internet limbo for the last three weeks (vacationing in Amsterdam and on a cruise in the Baltic with my 85-year-old mother), so I am only now getting a chance to respond.
>
> I believe ePortfolios are CONCEPT, PROCESS, and PRODUCT.
>
> I have lately been presenting about the CONCEPT of "Balancing the Two Faces of ePortfolios":http://electronicportfolios.org/balance/(process vs. product, workspace vs. showcase, learning/improvement vs. accountability). The international community is recognizing this perspective, since my concept map/diagram has been translated into Spanish, Catalan, Japanese and Mandarin!  Unless we recognize the importance of both approaches to ePortfolios, I believe it will be more difficult to realize the practical contribution of ePortfolios for supporting reflection and lifelong learning. As an ePortfolio community of practice, we need to be clear about the multiple purposes for developing portfolios, and the multiple strategies that can be used... and not constrain our thinking by specific tools or products or narrow purposes. The development of ePortfolios can help build lifelong habits of reflective practice, but I fear that the process is in danger of being hijacked for accountability purposes (see The Accountability/Improvement Paradox:http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/04/30/borden--a higher education perspective, but there are comparable viewpoints in K-12).
>
> I agree with Bronwyn and Alexander: my working portfolio, that documents the PROCESS of my learning/growth over time, is my digital footprint through my website, my blog (http://blog.helenbarrett.org/), my Facebook account (mostly "friending" my family members), my Twitter posts (@eportfolios), etc.: my personal learning environment (PLE) that I contribute to and learn from on a regular basis. This "portfolio-as-PROCESS" is a powerful environment for lifelong learning and reflection, with digital media adding a contemporary boost to an ages-old process. I also agree that smart phones and other mobile technologies (i.e., iPad, tablets) are going to be an important direction for more widespread adoption. This aggregation of my online presence is how I construct my digital identity, using tools across the Internet, where I store videos in YouTube or blip.tv, images in Picasa or Flickr, presentations in slideshare.com, documents in scribd.com or googledocs, etc. (What I am missing is some type of database or tool where I can keep a record of links to all of these resources with meta-tags -- right now, I use a googledocs spreadsheet.) It is this process paradigm that constitutes the "everyday-ness" of ePortfolios in a highly interactive environment.
>
> Every once in a while, I add an entry to one of my presentation portfolios (organized in one of many tools that I have explored) which represents a significant accomplishment in my professional life. This "portfolio-as-PRODUCT" is the type of document that Ray keeps referring to, with a specific purpose and audience, organized thematically using a specific authoring tool, such as Mahara, Google Sites, eFolio, or any one of the commercial tools. I spent years studying many of these tools for creating presentation portfolios, and I came to the conclusion that many of these systems are often institution-based, created within a finite time frame (i.e., a school or university program). Once a learner leaves the institution, with a few exceptions, the presentation portfolio remains behind or unchanged in an HTML archive: frozen in time as an artifact of that institutional experience (much like my tenure portfolio in PDF on a CD-ROM from 2002). I wish I could find data on the percentage of students who continue to pay subscription fees on commercial systems; my assumption is that it is fairly low. That is why I am an advocate for learners to own their own online spaces to publish their own presentation portfolios (i.e., Google Sites, WordPress, Weebly), or for the commercial providers to adhere to one of the standards, such as LEAP2A to allow portfolio content to be migrated between compatible systems... another argument for open Web 2.0 systems.
>
> I am trying to finish my book over the next two months, so these ideas are front and center in my consciousness. I am looking for more stories of using Web 2.0 tools to create ePortfolios across the lifespan, in and out of formal education.
>
> Thanks for including me in this conversation, Carole. I also maintain a couple of Google Groups that focus on Researching Web2.0 Portfolios and Using Google Apps for ePortfolios in K-12 Education.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Helen
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dr. Helen Barrett, Researcher and Consultant
> Electronic Portfolios and Digital Storytelling
>      to Support Lifelong and Life Wide Learning253-229-5235begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              253-229-5235      end_of_the_skype_highlighting(cell phone)  * Skype & Twitter ID: eportfolios

Alexander Hayes

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Aug 25, 2010, 5:20:51 PM8/25/10
to eportfolio_c...@googlegroups.com
I have really enjoyed reading your post this morning Helen.

Over the years I have come to appreciate your presence in the
portfolio space, your cross-community dialogues and your own active
participation as a web wide citizen.

I am currently engaged in consultation with a training organization
here in Sydney who are introducing the use of Mahoodle as it appears
as a compliance measure. Over the last few days our animated
conversations reveal that someone sold them the product however failed
to engage them deeply in the concept of EPs

My job I see is to lead the INTEROPERABLE discussions where by stealth
an organization can honor an individuals existing web presence ,
providing an opt-in range of applications that pipe nominated content
in for recognized prior and review possible accreditation.

The dichotomy of the learning experience which posits learner
generated and learner oriented creation as opposable is in my mind
something that learning institutions are yet to solve.

I totally agree that standards would help.......provided that they
don't also filter. How amazing to think that my three year old prefers
to interact online building his own ABC space rather than digesting
Mickey Mouse in front of the LED like a vegetable.

I wonder as a parent if my process of interaction mirrors that of
others where the Internet is treated as a personable cultural memory
rather than a plethora of loosely connected copyright protected
digital repositories.

Thank you for sparking a few reflections for me to ponder on.

Sent from my iPhone

Alexander Hayes

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Aug 25, 2010, 6:10:10 PM8/25/10
to eportfolio_c...@googlegroups.com
Thanks for the response Ray.

I'm taken with the fact that there is still an academic perspective
that an ePortfolio "is supposed to be" this or that.

Likewise it astounds me how many product providers create silos and
manage to persuade organizations to bury the learner experience in
them.

On reading back I am positing that as Helen suggests, an eportfolio as
a function of living - a wholistic collective of digital economy and
creation, using multiple points of interaction...... yes well and
truly beyond a K-12 paradigm.

Google itself has a lot to answer to in this space and hence my
limited succinct use of it's services. Perhaps we could be speaking
more to portfolio services that provide audience access filters, in
essence negating where things are created rather where they can
repeatedly be accessed with ease rendering currency as king.

It's, as I well know, as much a matter of purism, a space in which we
wish to explore what's possible, where we want to define, inform and
build the best quality measures to get the best outcomes for our
learners.

All well and good I think provided our should's and assumptions
osmotically embrace that EPs are eclectically engendered across
multitudes of systems and sectors - beyond the thinking mind of
educators alone.

More importantly, do eportfolios in an academic paradigm signal a well
welcomed shift to where the LMS serves for it was intended to do - to
sit in the background and let learning and teaching spider through the
multitudes of learner controlled EPs whilst maintaing some semblance
of order in a dynamic VLE?

Much like looking at light for years forgetting that it's made up of a
multitude of hues. So many portfolio discussions are filled with
telling.....not conscious to their own breathing.

In the bowels of industry it feels good to know that this discourse
here is cutting across sectors, so important for EPs as a whole.


Sent from my iPhone

Coach Carole

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Aug 25, 2010, 7:23:49 PM8/25/10
to eportfolio_c...@googlegroups.com
... this conversation is getting interesting ...

I find that some of us who've been creating our online presence for some years now use our 'purposeful collections' in different ways to suit our own preferences. To me the choice lies in being knowledgeable about what the collection is for and knowing how to choose an online tool that resonates for us and effectively gets our message to our networks.

If we are already employed (by an organisation or self) then we may use an eportfolio tool to display a 'collection' to validate our ability to move up to a new position or to apply for a new project or client. That is how I use my Mahara eportfolio views - of which I have many.

So as I listen to Alex, Bronwyn and Ray, I'm persuaded to lean towards the use of an eportfolio for employment purposes. However, there are other uses of 'collections' that we could discuss to explore where eportfolios fit in to the picture.

Some young students who are transitioning from school to TAFE in Victoria are currently using their eportfolios to display their achievements in sports, clubs and out-of-school activities. They are learning to value their achievements and share them with their peers - not for employment purposes - but to celebrate their achievements. They are learning how to use an eportfolio tool to aggregate their online artefacts to present themselves.

In another group I am associated with, a group of managers, are using an eportfolio system to display their competencies for recognition of prior learning and enable them to be accredited in certificate and diploma courses that are relevant to their management roles. They too are learning to use an eportfolio tool to aggregate their online artefacts to present themselves.

Do you have other 'stories' like this to share?

PS Ray I wonder if you could check your efolio links to the Notes - I'm really keen to view those PDF documents you are sharing. They won't open for me.

PPS Ray you'll be pleased to know that we're getting some headway in the production of a couple of logos for our selection - thanks for your contribution.

CC
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http://coachcarole.wordpress.com  
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Ray Tolley

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Aug 26, 2010, 3:38:25 AM8/26/10
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Hi, Carole,

 

Apologies about some of the links.  eFolio has just gone through a major upgrade moving to shorter urls.  And that has caused some problems for internal links.  I’ll try and get them sorted this next week.  Meanwhile, many of my .pdfs can be found by using the search facility (bottom of the contents list) at:

www.maximise-ict.co.uk

 

BW

 

Ray Tolley  FEIDCT, NAACE Fellow, ACQI, MBILD

ICT Education Consultant

Maximise ICT Ltd

P:  http://raytolley.v2efolioworld.mnscu.edu/

B:  http://www.efoliointheuk.blogspot.com/

W:  http://www.maximise-ict.co.uk/eFolio-01.htm

S:  http://www.slideshare.net/maximise

T:    http://twitter.com/efolio

Winner of the IMS 'Leadership Regional Award 2009'

 

Bronwyn Hegarty

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Aug 26, 2010, 5:38:42 AM8/26/10
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You describe your portfolio space so well Alex. However, you may not be able to leave a legacy for your children if Apple has its way. I was just reading Tom Chatfield's article - about how we are in danger of losing our freedom on the world wide web due to the specific applications that  idevices require. Doesn't it bother you that Apple is steadily compartmentalizing the web using smartphones? Not only that there are now what Chatfield refers to as gated social communities, e.g. Facebook, Twitter etc, which keep us from roaming too far.  All these organised social spaces and web tools may well rob us of the freedom you describe - to be anywhere and everywhere. What is the solution I wonder? Not get hooked into one particular service and to keep our options open?
Bron

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Don Presant

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Aug 26, 2010, 7:21:13 AM8/26/10
to Eportfolio_conversations
Hi all:
I'm slipping briefly into the conversation in the midst of a video
shoot to make a case for adult education and employability. I think
ePortfolio can be a powerful tool of/for learning in schools and post-
secondary, but I'm working with adults outside of academic
institutions.

What I'm interested in is:
- helping adults realize that they have useful knowledge and skills,
using an Essential Skills framework [http://bit.ly/aVP8B4] as a
starting point
- helping them reflect on where they're at and where they want to go
- helping them make their case for employment, or advanced academic
standing (or other goals, but these are the big ones for my context)
- helping them develop lifelong learning habits using the ePortfolio
as a tool for "performance support", which would include ongoing
reflection

For me, an ePortfolio can be both an aggregate (a working portfolio a
la Helen and others, or a groomed public one, such as zoominfo) and a
discrete integrated solution, such as Mahara, eFolio, etc....or
mashups of the same.

The ePortfolio program I'm working on now will be using Mahara as the
focus, with Moodle as an embedded learning tool and Web 2.0 tools such
as YouTube, Jing and Slidecast. The vision will ideally expand to
accommodate elements of community of practice, involving peer to peer
collaborative learning, coaching and mentoring (yes they're
different). Other solutions can do the same, including eFolio. Helen
is a great advocate for pure Web 2.0, such as Google Apps.

Open standards and portability are huge for me, one of the reasons I'm
going with Mahara and LEAP2A. I think companies like D2L and Avenet
could use a little more encouragement in that direction from their
clients. EIfEL has also done very useful work with Europortflio and
Mahara, using LEAP2A with HR-XML as a go between.

Some of this very stimulating conversation reminds me of the lumper/
splitter debates in the 19th century around the classification of
elements, planets, plants, animals, etc. I'm a happy lumper...it's all
ePortfolio! Whether for or of learning, whether integrated or
aggregated, whether working or presenting. As long as information is
not locked up inappropriately...(OK, even then - just an imperfect
ePortfolio) Increasingly, I'm getting interested in the convergence of
ePortfolio, community of practice and performance support. Maybe this
is me lumping again,this time with social learning and dashboards.

On the splitting side, I'll echo Janet in her "birds of a feather"
comment; I am most interested in adult learning issues outside
academic institutions. However, I do see lots of crossover for me in
VET, graduate professional programs and other "school to work" areas,
and try to keep a watching brief on the whole picture.

Yikes, time to split and go back on location!

don

alexanderhayes

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Aug 26, 2010, 9:31:10 AM8/26/10
to Eportfolio_conversations
Hi Bronwyn,

Yes....brand banishment is almost impossible but small pieces loosley
joined even lead the most savvy of operators these days. As Google
attests, there is method in the madness of not centralising brand
around a simple application rather offer a suite of freebies, chop the
heads of the problematic ones and drill the heck out of the lot of
them.

So identity is at the core of EPs....and the products that govern and
contain information are nothing more than an extension of this human
authentication process.

Compartmentalisation I see as not a current concern rather an overlap
with commercial intent ie. sell them them the brand...loyalty will
follow not out of choice rather what the consumer is told to do. The
ePortfolio discussion is threatening to go the same way .....although
I'm heartened to see leaders here admitting that their own sense of
the VLE / EPs is more on an eclectic decentralised and unpolished
personification with the odd glimmer of polish amongst spit and the
gnashing of teeth.

Likwise many eportfolio product developers build business in the same
manner it seems. Bury it in the academic concious, pedal furiously in
circles until enough people are caught in the eddy and then ensure
interoperability is built on standards with lock-in and opt-out
meaning content is rendered inanimate. The Al Queda model of knowledge
network will ensure that certain players survive and others like Apple
and Twitter will find that the market has moved where they had least
suspected it to go.

Community grows somewhat slower and appears more clunky and garish but
overall if you look at where Gahoodle is making it's mark into openSim
it wont much matter that the iPad is a content consumption device
because it's not the functionality we are buying its more the access
to our true e-portfolio that we are "buying". After all, who now
doesnt just type into the machine........arent we all operators of one
form or another all updating one big EP testament to the human race :)

The biggest and most profound discovery is that we are all now borgs
with a few human traits thrown in for good measure.

Internet as e-portfolio.

Omg.....how sacrilegious :)

On Aug 26, 7:38 pm, Bronwyn Hegarty <bronwyn.hega...@gmail.com> wrote:
> You describe your portfolio space so well Alex. However, you may not be able
> to leave a legacy for your children if Apple has its way. I was just reading
> Tom Chatfield's
> article<http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/aug/22/smartphones-threaten...>-
> > > > eportfolio_convers...@googlegroups.com<eportfolio_conversati ons%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com><eportfolio_conversati
> > ons%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com <ons%252Buns...@googlegroups.com>>
> > > > .
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Coach Carole

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Aug 26, 2010, 9:19:02 PM8/26/10
to Eportfolio_conversations
Just today I noticed that Dr Helen Barrett had actually joined our
conversations here but I didn't know it. Thanks Helen for posting this
'story' on August 25 about your personal view of eportfolios in your
blog:

http://blog.helenbarrett.org/2010/08/eportfolios-concept-process-and-product.html

Helen talks about 'concept, process and product' as essential
descriptors of eportfolios and I really like these 'think pieces' from
this blog entry:

concept : As an ePortfolio community of practice, we need to be clear
about the multiple purposes for developing portfolios, and the
multiple strategies that can be used

process: 'everydayness of portfolios' working portfolio, digital
footprint as part of the 'process',

product: "portfolio-as-PRODUCT" has a specific purpose and audience,
organized thematically using a specific authoring tool, such as
Mahara, Google Sites, eFolio, or any one of the commercial tools.

What are your thoughts on the concept, process, product ? Do you have
your 'think pieces' somewhere on your blogs? Are you willing to share?

Here's one of mine from some time back:
http://coachcarole.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/aep-symposium-2-reflections-from-the-netherlands/

CC

On Aug 26, 11:31 pm, alexanderhayes <alexanderhayes1...@gmail.com>
wrote:

mrschippy

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Aug 30, 2010, 7:50:53 AM8/30/10
to Eportfolio_conversations
Hi Andree,

On Aug 25, 11:58 pm, "A. Robinson Neal" <arobinson.n...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Hello all!

> I think one of the key points for me is making the distinction between
> our personal selves and our professional selves.

I think this is really important, especially when thinking of students
between 05 and 18... there are too many stories in the media of young
people posting things that they really wished they hadn't. There are
also stories about young people in various stages of undress, who
trusted the photographer, and found that they shouldn't have.

Getting the software right will be the easy bit. Helping kids (young
people) to discriminate between private, public and professional is
much harder.

I realise that this is 'off topic', so apologies to those who already
have to much noise and not enough signal... best..janet

mrschippy

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Aug 30, 2010, 7:59:59 AM8/30/10
to Eportfolio_conversations
Hi Bronwyn,

On Aug 26, 7:38 pm, Bronwyn Hegarty <bronwyn.hega...@gmail.com> wrote:

> to the specific applications that  idevices require. Doesn't it bother you
> that Apple is steadily compartmentalizing the web using smartphones? Not
> only that there are now what Chatfield refers to as gated social
> communities, e.g. Facebook, Twitter etc, which keep us from roaming too
> far.  All these organised social spaces and web tools may well rob us of the
> freedom you describe - to be anywhere and everywhere. What is the solution I
> wonder? Not get hooked into one particular service and to keep our options
> open?

You ask some very important questions, that are being asked by many
others across the web.

The choices each of us has depends on our skill base. Alex has his own
domain, which I think is by far the best way to 'control' our online
selves. However, it's important to acknowledge that Alex is in the
minority, even here where people are very switched on.

You note that 'keeping our options open' is a possibility. I agree.
From my perspective, this is about being informed. If you are a
teacher, it is about helping students to be informed.. what do you
think?...best..janet

Ray Tolley

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Aug 30, 2010, 8:41:33 AM8/30/10
to eportfolio_c...@googlegroups.com
Hi, Andree,

Yes, you are right about " the distinction between our personal selves and
our professional selves" - and this applies equally to our 'educational
selves' where younger students are involved.

In the UK ICT and English syllabuses (and I suppose the same in other
countries) we teach about writing for a particular audience. As children in
school steadily mature (one hopes!) writing styles within an ePortfolio will
increasingly vary according to audience. The patois of peer-review would be
so very different to that of applying for a job for instance. The beauty of
the ePortfolio in school is that teaching about audience can include
references not only to 'writing' but also to the appropriateness of
graphical images, FaceBook accounts etc, etc.

I am sure that many of these issues are equally in need of address within
VET.

But, as I have argued elsewhere, the presentation of sometimes very
differing 'personas' CAN be handled within an ePortfolio.

BW

Ray Tolley  FEIDCT, NAACE Fellow, ACQI, MBILD
ICT Education Consultant
Maximise ICT Ltd
P:  http://raytolley.v2efolioworld.mnscu.edu/
B:  http://www.efoliointheuk.blogspot.com/
W:  http://www.maximise-ict.co.uk/eFolio-01.htm
S:  http://www.slideshare.net/maximise
T: http://twitter.com/efolio
Winner of the IMS 'Leadership Regional Award 2009'


-----Original Message-----
From: eportfolio_c...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:eportfolio_c...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of mrschippy
Sent: 30 August 2010 12:51
To: Eportfolio_conversations
Subject: Re: {Eportfolio_conversations} EpCoP: are you sitting comfortably;
let us begin our stories

Hi Andree,

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