Day of Dialogue February 2009 Lynette Olson, Ed.D. Assessment & Effectiveness Director Office of the Chancellor Minnesota State Colleges and Universities

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Electronic Portfolio Content what you post is what will others will see …each electronic portfolio (site) displays selected items & reflections based on the owner’s choices. Items that you might select (often called artifacts or evidence of learning) can be… wiki

xFolio screen overview site controls Manage Sites & Pages eFolio Page Workspace xFolio screen overview Manage Content Panels Context Sensitive Help Common Icons Create To-do Properties Add Trash Restore Date Picker Collector Build Remove Edit Delete

eFolioWorld New Strategies learning organization Accreditation Stakeholders Digital Storytelling knowledge bank Artifacts of Learning, Processes, Data & Analysis Program Review learning IMS Tools, Web 2.0 Social Networking Competency Tools Outcomes & Assessment planning GPS LifePlan, 1st Year Student Advising, Grad Planner Program Planning me High School, College, Work Tools about me (eFolio, Facebook, etc.) eFolioMinnesota Team

Electronic Portfolios: Answering the Call for Transparency

Chancellor’s Initiatives (2006 – 2009) FY07 awarded $75,000.00 to create a system-wide and national model for standards & competency principles and practices for institutional accreditation. FY08 awarded $120,000 for program accreditation. FY09 awarded $50,000 focuses primarily on grant awards to promote best practices in demonstrating student learning outcomes throughout the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.

Chancellor’s Initiatives

Partnering Projects NCEPR – Cohort III Research Question Asks: “Does the use of eFolio Minnesota to document accomplishment of learning and other outcomes also enhance learning and influence decision-making for individuals and organizations?” AAC&U’s Value Partner - Study of Metarubrics Higher Learning Commission/AQIP Model – Research Study The purpose of the study was to discover how institutional electronic portfolios contribute to the learning organization by demonstrating accountability to stakeholders and serving as a vehicle for institution-wide reflection, learning, and improvement of higher education institutions through the implementation of an institutional electronic portfolio tool being used in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System.

Research Findings (Attached white paper) The outcomes of the study included recommendations for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system academic leadership and to the Higher Learning Commission, Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) regarding the use of institutional electronic portfolios to improve public accountability and transparency of data.

Recommendations to strengthen institutional electronic portfolio use, applicability, validity, and institutional process efficiencies for accreditation: Investigate additional technology and tools that might help facilitate accrediting agencies reviewer’s knowledge of the new formats for documentation of institutional processes. Technology, such as web enhanced meeting rooms, consensus software for decision making, and electronically assisted tools for communication could generate an environment that would cultivate a means to valid and reliable materials in an electronic format.

Recommendations (Cont.) 2. Institutions look at the “holistic” approach to assessment. As illustrated in the perceptions reflected in the research study (Olson 2008), there was limited awareness of the potential use to document organizational learning. While many studies have proven that student electronic portfolios can be used for reflection of learning, similar avenues exist for an organization to reflect on their accomplishments and the knowledge that they have gained over time. Artifacts of student learning, as well as artifacts of an institution’s continuous improvement processes would foster a culture of change.

Recommendations (Cont.) 3. The research suggests that future studies examine the impact of digital storytelling and how it would affect accreditation writing and documentation. As the literature suggests, the interesting software will be software that is connected to the web. Batson (2008) emphasized the affordability of Web 2.0 tools such as wikis, blogs, and social networking environments identified how these technologies are creating new pathways for how next generation electronic portfolios, and described how they can be designed, accessed, shared, and presented.

Public Transparency Further research will help strengthen the belief that institutional electronic portfolios fused with multi media tools to enhance documentation are effective for meeting public transparency.

Contact Information Lynette Olson, Ed.D. Assessment & Effectiveness Director Office of the Chancellor Minnesota State Colleges and Universities e-Mail: lynette.olson@csu.mnscu.edu Phone: 651-649-5957