PART A - Description of Need or Opportunity

In my case, I see my WPP as a need and an opportunity. My problem involves e-portfolios. My school had tried to use e-portfolios a few years ago, but it never got off the ground due to lack of teacher support. I think now is the time for us to check these out further for the following reasons.

· First, each child in each class has two portfolios. There is a lot of work involved in keeping these up-to-date.

· One of these portfolios goes with them from JK through 5^th grade. We are finding that they are not big enough, even though we have specific agreements on how many pieces of work can go into each grade’s section. So we are looking at buying bigger binders to house these. That means more bookcase space will be needed in each classroom. Another problem with them being so full is that many times the papers fall out because a child drops it or doesn’t close it properly. It takes awhile to put back work over a number of school years.

· Another reason that e-portfolios are looking better involves the work the children are doing with technology. Right now I am making sure each of the projects the children have done throughout the year in their computer file are printed so they can go into their portfolios. This is not always easy and is a lot of work! The more I think about it, the more it doesn’t make sense to me. It would be so much easier, I believe, to have an e-portfolio.

· The last reason, but certainly not the least, is all the use of paper and ink. We are an Emerald Green School, so we are very concerned about the environment and our carbon footprints. Our school works hard to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Along with this we really try to use the least amount of paper possible. Printing each child’s computer work to put into their portfolios does not go along with our green efforts. Also, using all that ink can be expensive.

I believe if we were to use e-portfolios it would solve many of our issues. First, it would certainly be more earth friendly. Next, we wouldn’t have the issues of storage for all the binders, papers falling out, and the binder size becoming too small. Lastly, we wouldn’t have the work of printing things out and making sure there was a copy of all their work in their binders. As the children have more and more of their work on the computer, it seems like it would be easier to move their work around electronically. I believe this would also be a great way for parents to see and get copies of their child’s work, too.

I’ve discussed this with my technology coordinator and he definitely sees the need. We could put the e-portfolios somewhere on our school website. When the children finish a piece of work on the computer they could save a copy of it into their e-portfolio. It would be nice if we could have parents log on and be able to see their child’s work on a regular basis.

I think we may need to start out slowly with this, but I think eventually we could have just e-portfolios and no longer have binder portfolios. I know how teachers get overwhelmed with changes and more work. However, if we introduce this to use for computer work the children have done, it could be expanded later on to include all of their work. Photos or videos of big projects could be included easily. Other work could be scanned and put in. I believe if this is introduced to the teachers with more being added to the e-portfolios over time, it will be successful. I will also be looking at the different kinds of portfolios, i.e. the working portfolio, the assessment portfolio, and the showcase portfolio.

I will be getting my information from different internet sites including the following:

http://electronicportfolios.com/portfolios/ePortCanadaBarrett.pdf this is a published paper by Helen C. Barrett, Ph.D. about e-portfolios in K-12 - By my reading I have learned that Helen Barrett is the "mother" of e-portfolios. One of my favorite questions she asks is, "How can we use our collection experiences to help learners as they develop their portfolios?" I think this is a very important question to think about, and I believe more modeling needs to be done in this area. From this particular site I have learned e-portfolios can be set up in many different ways, with the best way being student-centered. This is where the learner collects the artifacts from their learning experiences and reflects on them. She says a portfolio collection must include:

• student participation in selecting content
• the criteria for selection
• the criteria for judging merit
• evidence of student self-reflection

I have not made rubrics for the children to use for their selection of work. This is a new idea for me. Another interesting thought I received from this site is being able to use the learner's authentic voice in an e-portfolio. This gives reflections uniqueness and creates a story. It also gives voice to the work both literally and rhetorically.

http://sites.google.com/site/eportfolioapps/overview/levels which has information about the different levels of e-Portfolio Development in K-12 Schools - This site states e-portfolios are still used mostly in High School. It breaks them down into three levels.

Level 1 is ePortfolio storage, which we already do at our school. On our school server each child has a folder with all of his/her work in it.

Level 2 is Collection & Reflection. I learned at this level a learner keeps a learning journal and reflects on their learning in the samples of their work. They can keep these reflections organized using a blog. This was new to me, and I must say I really like the concept. They can do all kinds of reflections from open-ended writing, to answering questions, or filling in blanks. Their work can also be linked or attached to this reflection. It also stated that the students' work should be from many curricular areas, and this is something I totally agree with. The role of primary teachers is to provide feedback on the students' work so they can have the opportunity to show improvement in the future. For younger students the teacher can help the children collect and select appropriate work to showcase.

Level 3 is ePortfolio as Showcase. This area had some good questions for students, i.e.

• Why did I choose these pieces? What am I most proud to show about my work?
• What does this work show about my learning?
• What more can I learn? (goals for the future)

Levels 1 & 2 should occur on a regular basis, maybe at the end of a lesson.
Level 3 should occur less often, at the end of a term or class. I'm thinking maybe at the end of a unit.

http://www.digication.com/featured/k12 has portfolios from different schools. This is a site to use to actually create e-portfolios. It seems very easy to use. There were some examples on the site, mostly showing art portfolios. Although there was one High School who showed other work. I'm still trying to figure out if this is free. I also want to look at some others, i.e. Google.

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech111.shtml has lots of good information about the different kinds of portfolios and has resources. This site states e-portfolios are well-established in Higher Education, and just starting to enter K-12. This site also had information from Helen Barrett. It listed her 5 steps needed for the development of electronic portfolios:

1. Selection
2. Collection
3. Reflection
4. Direction
5. Connection

There was a part on this site I know I can definitely use in my presentation. It asks the question, Why E-Portfolios?

• Paper portfolios are static. Using e-Portfolios the students can connect their different work to show different goals in their learning. You can also have more than 1 copy - it can be duplicated and transported.
• e-Portfolios take up less physical space but can hold a lot of information, i.e. pictures, art work, writing samples can be scanned, projects, even reading samples can be recorded. Also, collaborative student work could be included into each child's e-portfolio.
• Something I didn't even think about is once their work is organized it can be enhanced with the addition of sound, music, pictures, graphics, and video.
• e-Portfolios would authentically enhance computer and technology skills because the children would be creating, editing, selecting, organizing their work, and reflecting on it.
• Younger children (K, 1st grade) can use e-portfolios with a set template and older students as tutors.

I also learned rubrics are used to assess the quality of student work with e-portfolios. This is something I have not done with my own students. I have them use a checklist.

MACUL also has a group blogging about e-portfolios and Dr. Barrett has a blog about it, too at http://blog.helenbarrett.org/2010/09/k-12-and-higher-education-eportfolio.html. Dr. Barrett's blog is full of resources! Included on here she has digital storytelling for reflection. I definitely want to check that out. She also has a connection to using Google Apps for e-portfolios in K-12. This is of interest to me as Google is already used by the children so much. I will be spending more time on this site as it has a wealth of information!

When I talked with our technology coordinator, we decided the best way to introduce this to the faculty would be using a Power Point presentation. My goal for this class it to research e-portfolios, check out how other schools are using them and if they are successful, work with my technology coordinator to set up an example of how it could work, find examples of permission forms we could use, and put this information into a presentation.

My indicators of a successful project will be the response of my faculty and administration. I feel I will have been successful if I have increased their knowledge about e-Portfolios, given them ideas of how to use them successfully, and to hopefully get them open-minded enough to at least think about using them next year to some extent. I have checked into SurveyMonkey and am planning to make a survey for the faculty and administration to fill out after my presentation. This will tell their interest in this, thoughts, and willingness to participate. This will help lead the technology coordinator and I to the next step of how to proceed.

My goal for this course is to finish my Power Point presentation, hopefully showing examples of some rubrics, give the presentation to the faculty, and get their input from the survey using SurveyMonkey. The indication of my success will be from the feedback I get from the faculty and my technology coordinator. My goal is to have the faculty members willing, ready, and/or excited to implement e-portfolios next year.