The teaching circle follow-up meeting brought some constructive feedback and introduced faculty to some of the new and exciting features of Mahara 1.5.

Nine teaching circle alums attended the follow-up meeting on October 16. The videoconference session between New York and Pleasantville allowed the ePortfolio team to obtain some constructive feedback. Faculty expressed their challenges and successes with implementing ePortfolio in the classroom.

Some of the challenges included technical difficulties and “information overload.” Some faculty explained that they had trouble with the technology, especially with navigation and loading delays. They also explained that there are disparities in technical competences between students. A few felt they needed clearer rubrics for grading.

Despite the challenges, there were also many successes. Many of the faculty noted how happy they were with the support from the e-Terns, both in New York and in Pleasantville. Andrew Weir said he had success when placing his students in groups. When some students had problems, others in the group were able to provide support. Most of the faculty agreed that ePortfolio is a great platform to showcase student learning and professional achievement. Especially on graduate levels, students are starting to use ePortfolios more. Certain programs are even requiring them.

Sam was able to showcase some of the new features of Mahara 1.5. The navigability is easier and the flexibility enables more creativity for students and faculty in building their ePortfolios and customizing them for specific courses. We hope that some of the challenges mentioned will be alleviated with this new version. Beth stated that the ITS programmers are hoping to get ePortfolio on a once-per-year upgrade cycle at the end of each academic year. 

Over 70 faculty have completed the teaching circle. Participants from each school have completed the program and used ePortfolios in at least one of their courses. This fall marks the second semester that Hillary Knepper (Public Administration) and Michelle Pulaski Behling (Media, Communication and the Visual Arts), both veterans of the program, have led the teaching circles. Coming from departments that have embraced ePortfolio, Knepper and Pulaski Behling draw on their own experiences to guide and encourage participants.

With upgrades to solve the technical issues and added support from our growing ePortfolio team, we hope teaching circle alum will be able to more easily incorporate ePortfolio in the classroom and reap the benefits.

At the Pleasantville career fair on October 10, ten out of ten employers said that they would ultimately look at a candidate’s ePortfolio. Michelle Birch and Megan Burke talked to recruiters from various fields about ePortfolio. They started out by showing them a sample resume with an ePortfolio link embedded. Seven of them said they would be inclined to click the link, while three said they would wait to look at it later on in the hiring process, perhaps before interviewing a candidate.

Next they showed the recruiters a sample ePortfolio on the iPad. Most employers had never seen an ePortfolio and agreed that it would differentiate the applicant from other candidates. After seeing ePortfolio for the first time, one employer said she might even search for ePortfolios going forward. This is just more proof of the ePortfolio impact! Please help us pass along this important research.

Many of you are aware of our work with Connect to Learn, a national FIPSE grant focused on studying the effect of ePortfolios on student learning. As part of this project, Pace receives funding for attending workshops, and participating in a series of activities that help us measure and improve Pace’s ePortfolio progress. This fall we’ve been asked to administer a course survey targeted toward courses which use ePortfolio. There are two components:  a student survey and a data sheet to be filled out by the instructor to collect information about the course. To complete this task we are reaching out to the faculty who asked our team for ePortfolio assistance (beyond requesting a one-time demonstration). Our eTerns are leading the charge by distributing and collecting the surveys from each course that volunteers to participate. If you know any course that would be a good fit, please let us know. It should only take ten minutes of class time. Our goal is to administer all surveys in November. Thanks in advance for your help with this initiative.

We are continuing our outreach to UNV101 sections with the help and support from
First Year Programs and the Center for Academic Excellence.

This year, we have utilized the theme of “justice” from this year’s Convocation to serve as a catalyst for ePortfolio implementation. We have created a contest as an incentive specifically for first year students to encourage ePortfolio use. Students, who exemplify the theme of “justice” via their ePortfolios and follow the guidelines, will receive a certificate and $50 gift card to Barnes & Noble.

We encourage faculty to get their first year students involved and enrolled in the contest. Students should visit the ePortfolio dashboard (home) page to follow the guidelines and to submit their ePortfolios.

Deadline for submission is December 1.