Taking the First Step:

A garden does not flourish without hard work, dedication, and preparation. To be successful, a gardener must take the time to develop a plan. Many things must be done before one can reap the harvest. Choosing a location that provides the right amount of sunlight and the best soil is critical. The gardener must invest in tools and supplies to best tend to the area. The soil needs preparation, and the seeds need specific selection for the growing region. The garden does not mature overnight, but after a season of careful tending, the harvest is bountiful.

 

The same goes for the implementation of new projects in an organization. A significant amount of time, and strategic planning, is needed to ensure that a project will be successful in the long run. The following plan will take you through the next year of the ePortfolio implementation project for our educators. 

 

Phase 1 (one month):

Phase one will include steps to build the foundation of our project. It is crucial that we take time to introduce the plan fully and choose a team that will lead the way to success. Four areas of focus for ePortfolio design are aligning learning goals, reflecting and social interaction, providing scaffolding beyond technology, and providing facilities that take into account each learner’s developmental needs and identity (Chau & Cheng, 2010). 

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Goals for Phase 1:

• Meet with stakeholders to introduce the fundamentals of the ePortfolio program ​

  • Educate on the benefits to learners and organization​

• Ask for support and present needs

  • Funding: No additional funding needed 

  • Current workshops to be transitioned from teacher profile to ePortfolio training 

  • Educators fully equipped with technology needed for implementation

• Work together to choose a diverse team of leaders

  • Designate project leads for integration, planning, training, consultation

• Define needs of educators and specific goals for the overall project

Ask/Answer the following questions: 

• How will this meet and relate to the needs of our organization/educators?

• What do we see as the main outcomes of ePortfolio implementation?

• What are the challenges or barriers we may face?

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Phase 2 (three months):

In phase two we will train our selected leads to understand the technology and creation of the ePortfolio. There are still learners that lack the skill and ability to be comfortable with ePortfolio creation. Huang et al. (2012) recommended addressing this by making sure that learners had the appropriate technical skills before creating ePortfolios. To effectively train educators, the training of our leaders is necessary. This phase will be the education and preparation stage for our team leaders.

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Goals for Phase 2:

• Introduce technology to be used: Wix/WordPress/Google Sites

• Set up test accounts, schedule demos 

• Share a variety of sample ePortfolios with team

• Discuss and train team leads on necessary components of an ePortfolio

• Support team leads in the creation of their own ePortfolios

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Phase 3 (three months):

In phase three we will develop the foundation for our pilot stage with educators. Now that we have trained leaders that understand ePortfolio creation, we will set the stage for our pilot to begin. Focusing on the needs of educators is key, and developing an engaging program to motivate is essential. In this phase, it is important that we remember that in a past survey, 85.3% of learners that interacted with peers during the creation of their e-portfolio gave positive reviews in all areas (Eynon et al., 2014). With this in mind, preparing not only effective training but an environment conducive to collaboration will be the focus. 

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 Goals for Phase 3:

• Plan and transition workshops for ePortfolio tech and development

• Schedule sessions on the current platform for workshops and assign hosts

• Train workshop hosts on appropriate methods 

• Create an information page on the organization’s website with resources

• Create a message board on the current platform for collaboration

• Peer Review team leads ePortfolios

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Phase 4 (three months):

Moving into phase four, we begin our pilot with a small percentage of our educators. Harapnuik et al. (2017) state that “Learner choice in the development of ePortfolios is essential to the learner experience” (p.2). As our educators are developing their ePortfolios, COVA (Choice, Ownership, Voice, Authentic Learning) will be first and foremost.  

 

Goals for Phase 4:

• Small Pilot with a select group of educators

• Schedule and hold workshops to train educators on ePortfolio creation and COVA

• Motivate teachers to collaborate and share through leading by example

• Create and use prompts to promote collaboration on message boards

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Phase 5 (two months):

Now that we have implemented a successful small pilot stage of ePortfolio creation, it is time to assess for the future. This phase will include collecting feedback from participants and planning for the success of an organization-wide rollout of ePortfolios.  

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Goals for Phase 5:

• Assess ePortfolios of participants using earlier criteria for set outcomes/goals

• Provide educator prompts for reflection and continued collaboration

• Survey participants to collect feedback

• Meet to discuss changes needed with team leaders and stakeholders

• Develop an Action Research Plan

• Create a full organizational implementation plan with needed changes

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Result:

A cultivated garden ready for growth!

Next Steps (one year):

Full implementation with all educators

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References:

     Chau, J., & Cheng, G. (2010). Towards understanding the potential of e-portfolios for independent learning: A qualitative study. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(7), 932–950. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.1026

     Eynon, B., Gambino, L. M., & Török, J. (2014). What difference can ePortfolio make? A field report from the connect to learning project. International Journal of EPortfolio, 4(1), 95–114.

     Harapnuik, D. K., Cummings, C. D., & Thibodeaux, T. (2017). Factors that contribute to ePortfolio persistence. International Journal of EPortfolio, 7(1), 1–12.

     Huang, J. J. S., Yang, S. J. H., Chiang, P. Y. F., & Tzeng, L. S. Y. (2012). Building an e-portfolio learning model: Goal orientation and metacognitive strategies. Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, 4(1).