WebCT - Portfolio

Wednesday after lunch

See www.webct.com/portfolio for more info.

Internal goals:
Increase learning
Improve student recruitment and retention
Improve faculty development and collaboration
Improve alumni participation and relations

External goals:
Community building (business and other schools)
Promote Institution identity
Be seen as an innovator

Can:
Collecting (“save to portfolio” options, easy upload
Presenting – folders, binders, and gallery views
Collaborating – discussions, message center
Reflecting – blogs, goals, guest activity reports
Planning – goals – advisor support
\control over views/access/guests

Available on Vista 4 and CE6 – it’s in the Plus application pack – but you need the license.
Course artifacts can be saved to portfolio (option click, name file, and save – without leaving WebCT. NOTE: artifacts (such as tests) can be tagged within the system so they can’t be saved.

Career Materials – transcripts, resumes (in resume builder or upload), best work.
Binders
Gallery collections – media based
Manage goals (“goals” is on the nav bar)
Blog tool – for example, you can open up volunteer work so you can have a blog allowing outside access.

You can have a build area, a publish and share area, a guest area (who has access and what they have access to. After you add guest you can control what they see – edit by list of people.
You can browse by course, add potential employer, mom and dad, new guest. Roles are defined as Reviewer or Designer. Portfolio item usage – see where guests spend time. Students can be creative in look and feel.

My thoughts: interesting, seems easy to use. Questions remain: What happens after the student leaves? (Are you prepared to keep ePortfolios available to alumni?) How can this information be used for accreditation? (Currently there is no report writing or data aggregator available.) Still convinced this is multidimensional – there is the technology (which can be a vendor), the pedagogy, and the philosophy (goals/vision).