1. • Catherine Paul, Community of Practice
Facilitator – Office of Learning
Technology
• Emily Renoe, Office of Learning
Technology, UBC
University of British
Columbia (UBC) -
Introduction to
ePortfolios

2. Agenda
• Welcome & Introductions
• History, Definitions and Hopes
• Current UBC Portfolio project examples and
others
• Discussion
• Hands-on activites
• Closing, feedback and follow-up

3. Objectives
• Give examples of how ePortfolios are being
used at UTT, UBC, and around the world
• Create an ePortfolio space using a blogging
platform
• Identify ways that portfolios can contribute to
deeper learning and teaching

4. Brief History of UBC Portfolio
Community of Practice
• Communities of practice are groups of people who share a
concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it
better as they interact regularly. ~ Etienne Wenger
• A 3-year campus-wide initiative 2003-2006
• TLEF funded (Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund)
• investigated the pedagogical benefits & resource implications
of implementing e-portfolios for multiple purposes & contexts
(course, program, personal)
• 13 projects from multiple disciplines - 2000 students, 91
instructors and 37 staff
• strong community of practice (CoP) in parallel

5. Successes
• cross-faculty collaboration
• research component
• engaged different areas of academic
environment
• encouraged informal learning spaces for
students
• deep learning

6. ePortfolio Pilot @ UBC

8. Challenges during pilot
• technology (no one size fits all!)
• sustained support
• add-on rather than integration
• increased workload for instructors and students

9. New directions
• currently reviving the Portfolio Community
of Practice, a collaborative coordination
effort (Centre for Teaching and Academic
Growth & Office of Learning Technology)
• regular meetings; highlighting work
members are doing
• collecting stories
• collaborating on workshops
• developing resources and a new online
space

10. Tools
• Social Networking Software (Facebook, Ning, Prezi)
• Weblogs
• Wikis
• Carnegie's KEEP Toolkit
• Google Sites

11. ePortfolio examples
Using WordPress:
http://blogs.ubc.ca/egan/
http://efolio.educ.ubc.ca/maribeth/
WordPress is an open source blog publishing application; it lets
you create your own web space.
Keep Toolkit UBC examples:
http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org/gallery_of_tl/effectively_re
presenting_educational_experience.html
Keep Tool Kit:
• http://www.cfkeep.org/html/stitch.php?
s=2814408673732&id=94404660812025
The KEEP Toolkit is a set of web-based tools that help
teachers, students and institutions quickly create compact and
engaging knowledge representations on the Web

12. More examples
Use of a wiki:
http://cis.apsc.ubc.ca/wiki/index.php/Jim_Sibley_Portfolio
LaGuardia Community College gallery of examples:
http://www.eportfolio.lagcc.cuny.edu/advanced_gallery.html
San Francisco State University gallery: http://eportfolio.sfsu.edu
• http://rachelpoulain.sfsu.efolioworld.com/
• http://pedroarista.sfsu1.efolioworld.com/
• http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~wwong21/
Google Sites:
http://sites.google.com/site/eportfolios/
Prezi:
http://prezi.com/3835

13. Examples from UBC community
o Faculty of Education
o slides to follow
o Faculty of Nursing
o slides to follow

14. Examples from UBC community
o
Faculty of Dentistry:
At the University of British Columbia, we introduced an ePortfolio assignment in the operative
dentistry clinical simulation module and conducted a pilot study to explore the usefulness of
ePortfolios as a learning tool for dental students. Qualitative assessments included student self-
reflections on the ePortfolio experience. In the quantitative evaluation, ePortfolio learning was
hypothesized as a multidimensional experience with four dimensions:
o 1) an ePortfolio experience is valuable for learning operative dentistry
o 2) an ePortfolio is time-consuming, but overall a useful experience
o 3) ePortfolio learning requires technical skills that are manageable
o 4) ePortfolio experience may be beneficial for lifelong learning. Overall, both quantitative and
qualitative assessments demonstrated that students valued ePortfolio learning as a positive
experience. In multivariate analyses (confirmatory factor analysis), the four-dimensional model
of ePortfolio learning was confirmed.
o Future studies are needed to validate or revise the four-factor model of ePortfolio learning in
different student cohorts.

15. ePortfolios…..
• address graduates’ relationship to the Standards of the
profession
• establish a collection of artifacts & reflections as evidence of
professional growth
• provide a digital record of one’s evolving identity as a
teacher

16. • Technological: WordPress was recommended by
the Office of Learning Technology and e-coaches
(who are also teacher candidates). We have
provided several resources e.g. a support blog
• Conceptual: [e]portfolios as assessment tools for
teaching/learning in schools also apply to teacher
education. We try to model this and clarify the
practice and process of demonstrating teacher
identity/development with a “why & how” blog.

17. • Coordinator, Special Projects
o Anne Scholefield
anne.scholefield@ubc.ca

18. A Practice E-portfolio (PeP) for Nursing:
What is the PeP?
• The PeP is an electronic replacement for the existing
paper-based clinical evaluation system.
• The Practice e-Portfolio will provide a one stop resource to
support and record clinical learning. The application will
provide an environment to support clinical learning
incorporating a Web-based interface to a Practice e-
Portfolio.
• It is designed to be used by students and instructors
throughout the program, and give a record clinical
progress

19. What does it contain?
• 21 Overall Thematic Competencies - incorporating all of the
relevant (i.e. clinically focused) CRNBC, and CNA
competencies, and CRNBC Standards
• Specific levelled Clinical Competencies for each level of the
program and evaluations
• Clinical Journaling (reflective journals)
• Clinical Skills logging (specific skills, e.g. catheterization)
• Clinical Experience record (placement/instructor history)
• Learning Plans/contracts
• 128bit encryption of all data stored/transferred

20. PeP Components

21. Faculty Design Contacts
Undergraduate Nursing (BSN)
• Dr Bernie Garrett bernie.garrett@nursing.ubc.ca
• Cathryn Jackson cathryn.jackson@nursing.ubc.ca
• Dr Maura Macphee
Nurse Practitioner (MSN-NP)
• Gloria Joachim
• Barbara Boyle

22. Questions for roundtable discussion
• Introduce yourself: name & university campus
• What is a challenge/hurdle you are facing in your Institution/Department
using portfolios?
• How do we encourage leadership within a community of practice?
• How do we embrace diversity within a community and engage people at
different levels of expertise?
• How can we encourage interaction and learning around portfolios in an
online environment?

23. Sustaining community
• Figure: Cambridge, et al • foster collaborative projects;
(2005) components that make • send people to events; builds
up the iterative ‘rhythm’ of a prestige and encourages these
community members to give back to
community
• don’t forget the important role
of coordinator

24. Hands-on Activities
• Go to wordpress.com
• Create an account – use an email
account you can access during this
session.

25. Resources
• Online tutorials
http://blogs.ubc.ca/eportfolio02
More are here:
http://tv.wordpress.com

26. Resources
**New online presence currently under construction!
• General UBC ePortfolio info
o https://www.elearning.ubc.ca - click on ePortfolio
• WordPress support:
o http://blogs.ubc.ca/eportfolio02/
• Examples in this session:
o Education Portfolio site:
http://efolio.educ.ubc.ca/cpaul/efolio-support/
o General Context: http://efolio.educ.ubc.ca/whyandhow/
• Teaching Portfolios:
o http://www.tag.ubc.ca/resources/teachingportfolios/

27. Objectives
• Give examples of how ePortfolios are being
used at UTT, UBC, and around the world
• Create an ePortfolio space using a blogging
platform
• Identify ways that portfolios can contribute to
deeper learning and teaching

28. Contact information
Catherine Paul, UBC
catherine.paul@ubc.ca
Twitter catherinepaul
Facebook: catherine.paul@gmail.com
Emily Renoe, UBC emily.renoe@ubc.ca
Twitter: emilyr
Facebook: emily renoe
http://wiki.ubc.ca/EmergingTech

29. Contact information
Twitter: emilyr catherinepaul
Facebook: erenoe catherine.paul