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Teacher education programs are under increasing pressure to ensure their graduates meet certain standards. The electronic portfolio project implemented at the University of Florida was designed to help our students document their mastery of state and national standards while simultaneously facilitating the development of reflective practitioners. A history of and rationale for the electronic portfolio process at the University of Florida can be found on the Electronic Teaching Portfolios page. (http://www.coe.ufl.edu/school/portfolio/index.htm). The templates used by the students, examples of student work and access to the support services students receive can also be found on this site. During the first year of the Teaching & Technology Initiative, work was put into action to support the use of electronic portfolios in the College of Education. The Electronic Portfolio Initiative continued to gain strength and momentum. This exciting project was helping create a culture of using educational technologies among students and faculty. A workshop on electronic portfolios was held on February 22, 2002, and attended by 24 faculty and instructors. During this workshop five (5) students discussed their experiences developing and maintaining an e-portfolio. All participants (100%) felt the workshop was helpful and informative. The student presentations, portfolio demonstrations and time for discussion and brainstorming were the most commonly listed strengths of this workshop. More faculty involvement and incentives for participation were listed as possible improvements to the workshop. Regular checkpoints for students were suggested to improve the portfolio process in general. There was also an electronic portfolio open house for students in the Unified Elementary ProTeach program on April 19, 2002. This allowed students to showcase their electronic portfolio as well as describe their growth as a professional educator to faculty and other students. Secondary ProTeach students took CDs and computers to the University of Florida Job Fair on April 16, 2002 to provide potential employers with a richer source of information about their growth as an education. During year two of the initiative, we continued to support students in creating and enhancing their electronic portfolios. During the academic year, 40 portfolio consultations hours per week were available to students. In addition over 23 electronic portfolio workshops were provided along with 14 guest presentations about the electronic portfolios in teacher education courses. The spring electronic portfolio showcase was an exciting event that allowed seniors to show their growth as teacher educators! Faculty, adjunct, and teaching assistants participated in one of two retreats dealing with how we can be best evaluate our students' electronic portfolios. The retreats along with numerous consultations with faculty resulted in over 60% of faculty integrating the use of electronic portfolios into their courses. Faculty were starting to reflect upon how to make the electronic portfolios an integral aspect of their courses. Numerous faculty and instructors participated in workshops or individual sessions about the UF electronic portfolio system. This included not only "how to" ideas but ways to seamlessly integrate electronic portfolios into each course. The director of the electronic portfolio project, Gail Ring, visited nearly all teacher education courses to discuss the portfolio process. The University of Florida Teaching and Technology Initiative continued to work toward improving faculty buy-in to the Electronic Portfolio Initiative along with helping to coordinate various evaluation efforts with the portfolios. This work continued throughout the summer and following academic year. In the third year of the Teaching & Technology Initiative continued to provide support to faculty and students in a variety of formats. Student support took place with group workshops, one-on-one consultation hours (minimum of 40 hours available per week), and online tutorials and support materials. Dr. Gail Ring continued to work diligently with the teacher education students and faculty. As with the previous years of the initiative, she provided approximately 25 electronic workshops and 15 class presentations per academic year. Again, as in past years, there was an electronic portfolio showcase where seniors present their electronic portfolios to other students, faculty, and administrators. What was very exciting was faculty working more with students on their electronic portfolios as part of their courses. Faculty and administrators commented on the overall improvements in the students' electronic portfolios. View images from our most recent Electronic Portfolio Showcase. So much progress was made that Dr. Gail Ring and students spoke at different conferences to highlight their exciting growth as reflective educators. You can get an idea of just one of the presentations by looking at the presentation Electronic Portfolio Project: Student Perspectives given at the 14th Annual International Teaching & Learning Conference in Jacksonville, FL. During the 4th year of the Teaching and Technology Initiative, the administration ended the Electronic Portfolio Project in favor of the Unit Assessment System.
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Copyright 2002, College of Education, 2403 Norman Hall,
PO BOX 117048, Gainesville, FL 32611
Phone: (352) 392-9191, Contact: Dr. Colleen Swain -
cswain@coe.ufl.edu
