Running head: E-PORTFOLIO TRAINING

E-Portfolio Training at John Read Middle School Nicole Graham EDU627 Dr. Kathy Milhauser

E-PORTFOLIO TRAINING e-Portfolio Training at John Read Middle School Introduction E-Portfolios are an up and coming aspect of the educational world. Not only do e-

portfolios allow technology to be integrated into the classroom setting, they imply a process of planning, keeping track of, making sense of, and sharing evidence of learning and performance (Wozniak, 2013). In addition, e-portfolios help students reflect about their own learning. This reflection is a necessary mental process for developing critical thinking. Students no longer are just passive learners but rather actively participate in the improvement of their learning (Kharbach, 2012). The following training will focus on training the staff at John Read Middle School (JRMS) on e-portfolios. Teachers will learn the philosophy behind utilizing e-portfolios in the classroom as well as several different programs which offer e-portfolios platforms for classroom settings. In addition, teachers will learn how to implement, facilitate, organize, and assess eportfolios with their students. The training will be take place strictly in an online format. Stakeholders This training will involve several stakeholders. Among these include: the project manager, teachers in the training, students at JRMS, school specialists, administrators, the ER9 school district, Board of Education, parents, the Redding, CT community as a whole, and the eportfolio companies. Some stakeholders will be directly affected by this training, while others will be indirectly affected. Project Proposal Scope and Requirements In an effort to utilize authentic assessment in the classroom by providing a way for

E-PORTFOLIO TRAINING teachers to comprehensive[ly] assess their students knowledge and skills, to have students

actively participate in the evaluation process, and to simultaneously develop students skills of reflective thinking, this project will revolve around e-portfolios (Ali, 2005). This project will train teachers on how to implement e-portfolios in their classrooms. The training will focus on the benefit of e-portfolios and provide a variety of e-portfolios for teachers to explore and trial. Teachers will learn how to set up their own e-portfolio, as well as learn how to organize and manage e-portfolios in their classrooms. Lastly, teachers will learn how to assess student eportfolios. This project will not train teachers on every type of e-portfolio available; rather, general components of e-portfolios will be discussed. In addition, this project will not train teachers on how to set up any technical requirements; however, the necessary hardware and software will be listed. Milestones There are seven high level milestones associated with this training. Although they are described in more detail in the Work Breakdown Structure, below are the forecasted completion dates for each milestone. Develop initial teacher training Teachers learn background Teachers trial software Develop student training on SmartBoard Prepare teacher accounts Train students Manage and assess student e-portfolios June August August October October November December December January February March

E-PORTFOLIO TRAINING Although the development of this training will begin during the summer, teachers will begin their training during the professional development days before the student school year

begins the entire training is anticipated to be completed by March. It is expected that teachers will successfully be able to implement and manage e-portfolios in their classrooms by this date. Budget The cost of this training will be approximately fifty hours, which includes roughly thirty hours to create the internet-based training and twenty hours for the teachers to participate in the training and fully implement e-portfolios in the classroom. Teachers will need to have desktop computers, laptops or tablets available for them and their students, each which has network and internet capabilities. In addition, teachers will need to have a Smart Board available to train their students in their classroom. Work Breakdown Structure The following tasks represent the work-breakdown structure (WBS) for this training: 1. Develop initial teacher training 1.1 Create wiki as platform for teacher training 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 Create wiki account Assign accessibility options to wiki Create layout of wiki for resources, e-portfolio options and blog

1.2 Find and upload research regarding e-portfolio theory 1.3 Find and upload resources on e-portfolio uses and ways to implement in the classroom 1.4 Find e-portfolio software options 1.4.1 Trial software

E-PORTFOLIO TRAINING 1.4.2 1.4.3 Upload links to training wiki Create pro/con list for each software

1.5 Review basic components of e-portfolios 1.6 Find and upload sample rubrics for technology and e-portfolios 1.7 Make training accessible to staff 1.7.1 1.7.2 1.7.3 Create instructional overview of training E-mail overview and wiki link to staff Troubleshoot with any teachers who have questions or who cannot access wiki 2. Teachers learn background 2.1 Sign in to training wiki 2.2 Read, watch, and listen to theory research 2.3 Read, watch, and listen to e-portfolio implementation 2.4 Post reflection and questions in blog section of training wiki 3. Teachers trial software 3.1 Access and explore e-portfolios from list on training wiki 3.2 Trial each e-portfolio 3.3 Choose e-portfolio to implement 4. Develop student training on SmartBoard 4.1 Explain purpose of e-portfolios 4.2 Upload link/images of exemplar e-portfolio 4.3 Create how to guide on e-portfolio software 5. Prepare teacher accounts

E-PORTFOLIO TRAINING 5.1 Create e-portfolio site 5.1.1 Create account 5.1.2 Choose layout 5.1.3 Add e-portfolio elements (home page, title pages, blog, etc.) 5.2 Upload student usernames and passwords to teacher account 6. Train students 6.1 Review e-portfolio purpose 6.2 Review components of exemplar portfolio 6.3 Go over how to guide 6.4 Students sign on to computers/laptops/iPads and create e-portfolio 6.4.1 Sign in using given username and password 6.4.2 Create layout 6.4.3 Add e-portfolio elements (home page, title pages, blog, etc.) 6.4.4 Add sample (or real) content 7. Manage and assess student e-portfolios 7.1 Teacher access student portfolios through teacher account 7.2 Utilize rubrics to assess e-portfolios Project Components

In addition to the project proposal and project work breakdown schedule, this e-portfolio project will also include a communication plan, quality management plan and change management plan. These components are included in the project as opposed to a project schedule, project budget, stakeholder assessment and risk assessment because of their higher priority with respect to this project. The communication plan is paramount to ensuring that the

E-PORTFOLIO TRAINING project runs smoothly throughout the process and any diversions to this plan can be discussed

prior to the projects end. The quality management plan ensures that the e-portfolio training not only delivers what it set out to do, but that the training met its objectives to a high standard and lessons were learned for future trainings (Post, Unit 4, 2013). Lastly, a change management plan is included in this project because change tends to be resisted for a variety of reasons (Post, Unit 7, 2013). In order for the stakeholders to be open and willing to change how things have been done in the past, a clear change management plan must be established. Communication Plan Stakeholder Project manager Information Needs Frequency Information Daily Medium 1. Meetings 2. E-mail 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 1. 2. 1. E-mail Phone calls Meetings Presentations Presentations Website updates E-mail Phone calls Meetings Presentations E-mail Meetings Presentations Phone calls Presentations Website updates Presentations Website updates Newsletters Response Updates from other stakeholders Updates regarding progress Possible technical questions Updates regarding progress Confirmation of information

Teachers

Influence Information Instruction Instruction

Bi-weekly

Students

Weekly

Specialists

Influence Information Instruction Influence Information

Bi-weekly

Administrators

Bi-monthly

School District

Influence Information Influence Information Influence Information Influence

Every two months Every two months Monthly

None expected

Board of Education Parents

None expected

Redding, CT community

Semi-annually

1. Newsletters

Possible clarifying questions None expected

E-PORTFOLIO TRAINING e-Portfolio companies Influence Information Initially, then on an as needed basis 1. E-mail

8 Response to questions asked (Post, Unit 5, 2013) Quality Management Plan

Overview

Name Nicole Graham Kyle Evans Teachers

Role Project Manager Technology Coordinator Training Participants

Quality Responsibility Teacher training review, other stakeholders satisfaction review Review of e-portfolio sites and resources Review of comfort level moving forward

Tools Tool Google Forms Description Survey of teacher training, e-portfolio sites and resources, comfort level, other stakeholders satisfaction

Quality Planning

1. Define Project Quality 2. Measure Project Quality

3. Analyze Project Quality 4. Improve Project Quality

Expected survey results include no less than a mean score of on all questions Surveys will ask related questions on a scale of 14. Surveys will be sent out to related stakeholders at three points during the training and will be given 1 week to complete the survey [TBD based on survey results] Possible follow up questions will be asked for less than satisfactory results Possible re-training or revisiting training methods [Other items TBD based on survey results] (CDC, 2008)

Change Management Plan 1. Establish a sense of urgency Summarize e-portfolio rationale from

E-PORTFOLIO TRAINING

9 teacher training to include in presentations and newsletter Teachers in training will report status updates of the project to report to other stakeholders Teachers in training will decide steps moving forward for further implementation Presentations and newsletters via communication plan Include booth on e-portfolios at Back to School Night Hold Q&A/info session at school to promote training and provide awareness Accomplishments will be e-mailed out to training participants as weekly status updates Weekly status updates will be sent out Participants will be featured in newsletters and presentations for their exemplary efforts (Post, Unit 7, 2013)

2. Create a guiding coalition

3. Develop a vision and strategy 4. Communicate change vision through every possible vehicle

5. Empower broad based action and get rid of obstacles 6. Generate short term wins

7. Consolidate gains 8. Anchor new approaches in the culture

Conclusion Although this e-portfolio training consists of voluntary participants, it is expected that future trainings will include the remainder of the staff members. E-portfolios will most likely not become a mandatory aspect of the school curriculum; however, more teachers may enjoy collaborating with students on projects using this mode of work display and reflection.

E-PORTFOLIO TRAINING References

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Ali, S. Y. (2005). An introduction to electronic portfolios in the language classroom. The Internet TESL Journal, 11(8). Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Ali-Portfolios.html CDC. (2008). Project quality management plan template. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/search.do?q=project+quality+management+template&btnG.x=721&btnG.y=-211&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&ud=1&site=default_collection Kharbach, M. (2012). Teachers guide on the use of eportfolios in education. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Retrieved from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/ 2012/10/teachers-guide-use-eportfolios.html Post University. (2013). Unit 4 Planning the project. Retrieved from http://www.coursematerials.net/edu/edu627/unit4/index.htm Post University. (2013). Unit 5 Project communications. Retrieved from http://www.coursematerials.net/edu/edu627/unit5/index.htm Post University. (2013). Unit 7 Monitoring and controlling the project. Retrieved from http://www.coursematerials.net/edu/edu627/unit7/index.htm Wozniak, N. (2013). Enhancing inquiry, evidence-based reflection, and integrative learning with the lifelong eportfolio process: The implementation of integrative eportfolios at Stony Brook University. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 41(3), 209-230. doi: 10.2190/ET.41.3.b