Your Electronic Showcase
E MPOWER Y OUR I NSTITUTION E MPOWER I NDIVIDUALS
The industry-leading online portfolio management system comes to the UK. eFolio empowers students of any age, ‘5-95’, educators and institutions to organise, manage and display their academic and career information and ’work in progress’ in order to reflect, collaborate with peers, enhance education, promote achievement and advance careers.
The Child’s First Portfolio is a ‘Home-School notebook’ designed to manage and display all those things that youngsters may forget like special events, remembering the PE kit, training days, and clubs but so much more. Unlike plain, flat paper documents, an eFolio can “come alive” through an appropriate interface for youngsters that children want to own and re-visit, providing links to the display of documents, images, audio, video, and thus the celebration all the good things that pass so quickly in a child’s life.
Empowering Children
C HILDREN ’ S P ORTFOLIOS Children can display real-life and up-to-date examples of their work throughout their own eFolio: 1.
Initially just for access by parents and family at home. 2. With the help of their teacher, each child can post the work that they are proud of 3. They can learn to ‘showcase’ a video-clip from a music class, choir, school play or sports event. 4. Soon they will learn how to evaluate, compare and collaborate, even at this young age. 5. Handy links can be set up for ‘approve’ sites and even on-line homework activities. 6. Parents can allow other remote viewers to access selected sections.
The eFolio Student Portfolio includes several features specially designed to assist even the youngest child in developing their own working environment. These include simple fonts and template pages for:
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My Timetable My Best Work My School ‘Enrichment’ activities and school clubs etc.
The ‘pupil’ becomes a ‘student’ with a much broader range of subjects and a steadily increasing variety of ‘options’. Some children, feeling keen to get on in the ‘new school’, will soon discover a new range of ‘skins’ or colour schemes and images within the range of templates for KS3. Again, this will allow for some further development of the child’s own personalized e-dentity.
Darren Morgan of Southampton LA writes: 1. At age 4, a child does some painting online using a simple graphical package. Their teachers and parents comment on the work. Over the following two years the student draws more pictures and uses an online writing tool to write a story. Once again, comments are made and recorded. At the end of that school year, the student and their teacher sit down to choose their favourite work (and associated comments) which they drag and drop into the eFolio page for that student. 2. At age 7, the student begins to use the school’s VLE to undertake simple elearning assignments (wordsearches, sorting and matching). Their teacher and parents comment on the work and all of this is stored safely. Near the end of the year, the student and their teacher sit down to choose their best work (and associated comments), which they drag into their eFolio. This time the student is asked to comment on their body of work and set some targets for the following year. All of this ‘reflection’ is recorded within the eFolio. 3. At age 8 or 9 (depending on the student), the student continues to engage in e-learning via the VLE. But this time, the eFolio is used more frequently to help them reflect on their learning. The teacher works with the student once a term to help them set their own targets (recorded in the eFolio). As students complete work, they relate it to their own targets as evidence and identify how they would do better next time.
eFolio is a communication tool designed to manage and display all those things that teenagers want to say, to whom and when and where. This is the time in their lives when students begin to establish good academic disciplines. Reflection and collaboration are skills that are so easily facilitated through a good e-folio. Unlike plain, flat paper documents, an eFolio can “come alive” through all the rich media and on-line resources that have become so popular over the last few years. eFolio enables students to explore the benefits of Web 2.0 tools in a controlled environment.
Empowering Young Adults
T EEN P ORTFOLIOS At ‘Key Stage 5’ - or more commonly, ‘the 6th-form’ further specialisation takes place and, as young adults, although still ‘in school’, they have much more ownership of their eFolio. Others may choose to leave the traditional ‘school’ environment and continue their studies within a separate 6th-form or Further Education or ‘College’ environment where more vocationally focussed studies may be followed. Again, note that some of the menu items appear only slightly modified from Sophie’s previous Key Stage 4 version. Perhaps now, for the first time, some discover the advantages of having a showcase, a well honed CV and numerous other resources with which they are familiar.
Darren Morgan continues: 4. By age 10 or 11, students are regularly using the eFolio to reflect on their own learning. They begin to set granular targets more frequently, with or without the teacher’s help. Periodically, they choose their best work to be showcased in a (semi)-public forum. Peer assessment and collaboration have now become a normal feature of online activity. 5. At age 11 or so, students move from their Primary school to Secondary phase and their eFolio moves with them. The use of a remote repository allows a seamless transfer. From time to time students continue to add evidence to their eFolio, reflect on their progress, set targets, showcase work, etc. Now students begin to use increasingly sophisticated eFolio features such as online CVs, extra-curricular activities, and tools to help them choose options at KS3 and KS4. 6. As the students enter KS4, they begin to draw links to external organizations which will eventually hold information on the qualifications they achieve. This may include courses such as DIDA or traditional examinations. By this time, students will be able to link to the secure MIAP/Minerva repository to display their qualifications. The eFolio becomes even more necessary where students are working on 14-19 split-site courses. 7. The public-facing eFolio will draw together disparate qualifications into a single list, based on student preferences. Students who undertake A-levels or vocational courses will again regularly access their eFolio and so on through FE or HE organizations. 8. Once the learner enters the world of work, CPD and Lifelong Learning will fund the continued access to the mature eFolio. This is the platform on which learners/workers will continue to showcase their skills, interests and qualifications. Obviously, users have the ability to filter this more public portfolio in sensible ways. 9. Other adults, not following formal courses of study may choose to retain their access to their eFolio through a low-cost annual subscription.
The Student Portfolio is a multimedia web site designed to manage and display education and career data, including coursework, work experience, extracurricular and volunteer activities, personal reflection and assessments and career planning. Unlike plain, flat paper documents, an eFolio can “come alive” and through the ‘personalization’ of the interface and provide a “rich” display of documents, images, audio, video, using simple links and Web 2.0 tools, and thus enabling the reflection, collaboration and eventual showcasing of samples of accomplishments and achievements.
Empowering Students
S TUDENT P ORTFOLIOS Students can display real-life and up-to-date examples of your work throughout your own eFolio: 1. to whom you want, when you want, 2. helping to demonstrate your abilities, interests and lifestyle. 3. You can use your eFolio to highlight and reflect upon your latest school assignments, or to showcase a video-clip from a piano recital, debate, school play or athletic event. 4. You can link to web sites that help illustrate your experience within school, the community and the workplace. 5. All your ‘favourites’, links to various blogs and repositories are all located on user-designed pages. 6. Students can allow mentors to view selected sections. 7. A comprehensive eFolio is an ideal tool for supporting college. The eFolio Student Portfolio includes several features specially designed to assist students in developing electronic portfolios. These include online “wizards” and help for entering information about:
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Coursework Exhibits, artifacts, & work samples Assessments Learning projects Apprenticeships, and Work Experience ‘Enrichment’ activities and school clubs etc. Volunteer involvement and community service UCAS applications, job applications and transfer to other schools
The Student Portfolio was built with students as a focus. Initial user groups helped design the system and identify the needs of students at both High School and higher education levels, ensuring the end product offers flexibility for all types of academic experiences. eFolio can be customized to meet the unique needs of any educational institution and its students. Recently, due to popular demand, the interface has been extended to meet the needs of even the youngest students with simpler fonts and colour schemes.
Above all, your eFolio is available to you, wherever you are, so long as you have an internet connection. Wherever you want, whenever you want, day or night.
The Educator Portfolio is a multimedia web site designed to manage and display to appropriate viewers an educator’s curriculum vitae, academic and scholarly work, course descriptions and outlines, publications, achievements and honors, and membership of professional associations, and other meaningful information. An eFolio can “come alive” and provide a “rich” display reflecting the image you want to project, including documents, images, audio, video, links, and detailed examples of the type of work done. The system can also help educators communicate with students by posting information and providing online forms and surveys.
Empowering Educators
E DUCATOR P ORTFOLIOS In addition to all of the standard eFolio features. The educator version includes specific features to assist educators in developing electronic portfolios. These include online wizards and help-tips for displaying information about:
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Classes, curriculum outlines and syllabi Departmental team meetings & projects Pastoral & counseling responsibilities Educational & professional development activities Presentations & publications Grants & projects Involvement in school or professional associations Events, such as upcoming lectures and activities
C ASE S TUDY Both teachers and higher education staff were extensively involved in designing specifications for the eFolio Educator Portfolio. The result is a powerful tool that is flexible enough to use effectively in a variety of approaches to classroom education and also allows remote access, wherever the owner might be.
Educators can use eFolio to highlight current responsibilities as well as professional interests, developments and achievements. The flexible system can be used to facilitate NQT progress, to document CPD requirements, and can be adapted for use as a classroom management system. In addition, it enables educators to connect with students as they develop their own eFolios.
The Challenge: Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, a system of 32 public colleges and universities, is one of the largest higher education systems in the U.S., serving more than 235,000 enrolled students. MnSCU sought a powerful, portable technology platform to manage and display online education and career portfolios for students, educators and staff to advance educational, employment and training related objectives. The Solution: Using the eFolio platform, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system launched the nation’s first state‐wide online portfolio system for students, faculty and staff. Powerful, portable and scalable, the system is also flexible enough to meet the diverse needs and requirements of one of the nation’s higher education systems. Through intensive research eFolio has now been adapted to meet the ‘lifelong’ need of students of all ages (‘5 to 95’) within the UK.
The eFolio Institutional Portfolio is a multimedia web site designed to help document and organise an institutions ‘story’, goals, and standards. It can provide a depth and breadth of connections among other schools and departments as well as within the institution itself, its programs, and its constituents to reinforce shared visions and commitments to its mission. As institutional portfolio users begin to develop their sites, collaboration and key activities occur that both bridge gaps and accelerate progress between agreed proposals and strategic decision-making.
Empowering Institutions
I NSTITUTIONAL P ORTFOLIOS Empower your school development plan with an online system to document, manage, and display resources for inspection purposes. Begin documenting your campus outcomes:
• Inspection Criteria • Staff Competencies • Curriculum and Student Learning Competencies • Mirror & Map Lifelong and Life-wide Learning
The institution electronic portfolio is endorsed by the Higher Learning Commission/AQIP as a valid vehicle to display an institution’s accreditation materials. By the end of 2007, using an Electronic Portfolio template developed by eFolio Minnesota, five Minnesota State College and Universities institutions will have submitted to the Higher Learning Commission/AQIP their accreditation materials, analysis, documents, and reflections. In addition, six Minnesota State Colleges and Universities institutions are using eFolio to update their systems portfolios in preparation for their quality check-ups. Visit the Institutional Electronic Portfolio Resource Center for more information or to see how institutions have successfully adapted the software for other accreditation purposes: www.portfolio.project.mnscu.edu For further information or to arrange a demonstration of the industry-leading online electronic portfolio system, contact us at efolioworld@custhelp.com, visit us at http://www.efolioworld.com/, or call us toll-free at 1.800.456.8519 (+1.651.556.0596 for international calls).
W HAT U SERS S AY ABOUT eFolio “The navigation is good, even for a complex framework such as the Systems Portfolio, and the Document Repository makes it possible to have a complete, entirely self‐contained, web‐based document (the traditional “Resource Room” is now obsolete). One of the best parts of our first experience with the Systems Portfolio was the opportunity to become familiar with a genuinely‐new approach to preparing accreditation‐type reports and making them readily available to the University community. It is difficult to imagine going back to a hard‐copy approach.”
William Lowe, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Metropolitan State University
The industry-leading online electronic portfolio solution. The industry-leading online portfolio management system empowers students, educators, and institutions to organise, manage, and display their academic and career information to enhance education, promote achievement, and advance careers using the tools of the 21st century.
Your Electronic Showcase
Empower even the youngest pupils to celebrate and reflect upon their achievements and to enjoy their own private learning space. Empower students to collaborate and manage personal, academic and career information in a rich, dynamic online portfolio using the latest Web 2.0 tools where appropriate. Empower educators to manage professional development, enhance academic achievement and facilitate student outreach using a powerful online portfolio. Empower individuals of all ages to reflect, organise and manage educational, career and lifelong learning information in a dynamic, portable online portfolio. Empower your institution with an online system to document, manage, and display resources for accreditation purposes.
Your Electronic Showcase
UK marketing of eFolioWorld facilitated by Maximise ICT website: <http://www.maximise-ict.co.uk/> e-mail: support@maximise-ict.co.uk Tel: 0191 414 6320
Visit e-Folio World at http://efolioworld.com/ Ray Tolley ICT Education Consultant Maximise-ICT www.maximise-ict.co.uk Tel: 0191 414 6320 Mob: 07709 7709 45 Skype: ray.tolley
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Office of the Chancellor 30 East 7th Street, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 Contact us at efolioworld@custhelp.com Visit us at http://efoliominnesota.com/ Call us toll-free at 1.800.456.8519 (USA) +1.651.556.0596 (International) Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system is an affirmative action, equal opportunity educator/employer.