Kimberly Purvis

Dear Administrators of the Global Platform:

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As we transition to the global education platform, an urgency to pinpoint and retain our most qualified and experienced educators has arisen. Various areas of expansion are currently in the pilot stage as potential opportunities, which makes a catalog of educators’ areas of expertise necessary. In the interim, educators are in limbo. They are transferring their profiles to the new platform without much direction, wondering what is to come for future contracts. There is a need to fuel their passion and dedication to the organization while helping them to understand their value. In this state of transition, providing an area of focus and a sense of purpose is critical.

 

What if I could share with you a solution that will benefit both educators and the organization? A simple planting of a seed that would continue to grow into a well-tended garden of future sustainability and fruitful harvest. I am proposing a plan to plant that seed by incorporating the use of ePortfolios for our educators. 

 

Many studies are proving ePortfolios highly desirable over traditional resumes in the workplace. One study from the Interactive Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies shows that “...four out of five (83%) employers, including executives of private sector and nonprofit organizations such as owners, CEOs, presidents, C-suite level executives, and vice presidents, find ePortfolios to be a useful tool for candidate screening and hiring” (Ciesielkiewicz et al., 2020). Replacing our existing teacher profiles with ePortfolios, we will no longer be limited to only educators’ degrees, certifications, and experience within our organization. ePortfolios will showcase every educator’s identity with an organized collection of evidence and serve as a tool for both the educator and the organization to make informed decisions for their career path. 

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ePortfolios will provide the following:

 

For Learners/Educators:

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• An opportunity to connect, reflect, and catalog past achievements and current growth

• A path of communication to market themselves for future opportunities or promotion

• Creation and Ownership of their professional identity 

• Authentic learning experiences shared within the global community 

• Ongoing assessment and exploration of their abilities, talents, and areas of expertise

 

For the Organization:

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• The ability to source the most qualified educators for new contracts

• Confident educators with a commitment to continued learning

• Increase of educator morale and dedication due to interest and excitement

• Creation of a supportive community through sharing of effective practices and ideas

 

I am asking for the opportunity to implement a pilot program for ePortfolio creation with a small sampling of educators over the next year.

 

Using our existing online workshop system and message boards, along with free ePortfolio building websites such as Wix and WordPress, educators will learn the why, what, who, and how of ePortfolio creation. I will share my findings throughout the pilot to show the benefits of using ePortfolios for all educators organization-wide, providing a stepping stone on which we will find success in all future endeavors of the global platform. I look forward to planting this seed and guiding our educators to build and cultivate their garden of growth in which the organization will share in the harvest. 

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Respectfully,

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Kimberly Purvis 

 

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References

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        Ciesielkiewicz, M., Bonilla, C. F., & Lopez de Ayala, C. O. (2020). The Potential of the ePortfolio as a Recruitment Tool: From the Perspective of HR Directors. Interactive Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies. Retrieved 11 05, 2021, from https://online-journals.org/index.php/i-jim/article/view/11557/6585

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       Kilroy, J. (2017). From a CV to an ePortfolio an Exploration of Adult Learner's Perception of the ePortfolio as a Job Seeking Tool (ED579369). ERIC. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED579369.pdf

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