New Online Course: Introduction to E-Portfolios in K-12 Schools

Introduction to E-Portfolios in K-12 Schools

The course content of the first course of the E-Portfolio Academy is online as both a self-paced and facilitated course. Facilitated by Dr. Helen Barrett.

Update! The first cohort of the Introduction to K-12 ePortfolios facilitated class has begun. Deadline for registration in this cohort is January 16, 2012. The next facilitated course begins April 2, 2012.

The facilitated course is open for registration through Paypal or school purchase order.  (Send Dr. Barrett an email for the mailing address to send a school purchase order for group registrations... or attach PDF version to email.)

For more information, please contact Dr. Helen Barrett, Researcher and Consultant and Founder, REAL* ePortfolio Academy for K-12 Teachers
*Reflection, Engagement, Assessment for Learning * 253-693-8801 (Google Voice) * Skype & Twitter IDs: eportfolios
Home page: http://electronicportfolios.org
Calendar: http://electronicportfolios.org/calendar/

The content of the two versions of the class is the same. There are three differences between the self-paced and facilitated classes:

1. The facilitated class has a cohort of students who go through the content together and carry on a facilitated asynchronous discussion.
2. I will be directly involved in the private discussions and will lead the cohort through the content, including live events.
3. The self-paced class is free; there is a charge for the facilitated class.

The discussion schedule will be provided only to members of the facilitated class through the Edmodo group. The discussion will be asynchronous, so there are no specific times to be online, but there will be some Google+ hangouts which will be synchronous (live), but not during the first couple of weeks.

The course interaction will be facilitated through an Edmodo group (private educational social network), Google+ Hangouts, and email group. Be sure to sign up for Google + and an Edmodo (teacher) account. The first facilitated course cohort will begin between January 2 and January 16. The next cohort is scheduled to begin in early April.

There are six lessons in the course. In the facilitated course. The first lesson will last two weeks (January 2-16) to give everyone a chance to get used to the course tools and the course process. This facilitated course is not your traditional academic course measured by "seat time." You will get out of the course what you put into it...within the schedule with the other course participants.

In each lesson, there are four process elements:

• Inputs: Readings and videos
• Outputs: Discussions/Group Reflections
• Implementation Plan Component(s)
• Personal Reflections (your blog entry)

How much time each person takes will be highly personal... some people will skim the readings, some will read them thoroughly plus all of the supplemental readings. Some will write extensive discussion posts and responses, some will write brief entries, and no responses. Some will write extensive blog entries, others won't write much each week. The weekly discussions and blog posts are only "required" for those taking the course for college credit (and there is a rubric in the course content that outlines the credit course requirements). If you are not taking the facilitated class for credit, you can get caught up on readings and reflections once your other class is over.

Self-paced and Collaborative: a website with course content and readings, which will be free, plus a collaborative group for informal dialogue throughout the year.

Facilitated course: take a structured course, facilitated by Dr. Helen Barrett (requires a course fee). Credit available: participants in the facilitated course may earn university credit with full participation in the course requirements, for an additional credit fee.
Webinars: distance-delivered workshops and planning committee meetings are also available to be delivered via the Internet to schools for a fee (One hour included with Google Apps facilitated course registration)

Face-to-face workshops: one- or two-day face-to-face workshop with Dr. Barrett for school or district. (for daily fee + travel expenses -- includes facilitated course fees for planning committee)

The website for a second course, Implement Electronic Portfolios with K-12 Students using Google Apps, will be available within the next month. That course includes all of the content of the Introduction course, but with additional strategies on using Google Apps for Education (Docs, Sites, Picasaweb, Blogger, Teacher Dashboard).
For informal course discussion, we will use the already established Google Group, Using Google Apps for ePortfolios in K-12 Education: http://groups.google.com/group/k12eportfolios

(The GoogleApps facilitated course includes a private one-hour web-based conference with Dr. Barrett to go over the Implementation Plan and discuss management strategies.)

Both courses include a strategy for creating a plan to implement ePortfolios in a K-12 classroom, school, or district. Teachers are encouraged to participate in class activities with a partner (there is a discount on registration for the facilitated course). In addition to weekly blog entries, the major product of the course is a team project to develop the implementation plan.

Facilitated course interaction:

The normal process in facilitating distance classes is usually through a structured course management system, such as Blackboard or Moodle... systems that are very instructor-centered. It would be more appropriate to use more learner-centered tools. So why not use a social network? There are many available, including Facebook and Ning. Since these courses are for K-12 teachers, tools that can be used in K-12 classrooms would be preferable. Therefore, the primary social network will be Edmodo.com, with limited use of Google Groups and the new Google+ social network. The Edmodo group sign-in to the Facilitated Course will be provided upon payment of the course fee. Graduate-level credit is also being approved through Seattle Pacific University. Registration information can be found online:
http://electronicportfolios.org/academy/register/ (Online registration links will be available after October 1.)

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