Abstract
Academic faculty in a two-year post-baccalaureate teacher education program at a small research university in British Columbia explored the extended use of e-Portfolios into final practicum over a three-year period. The education technology course offered in Term Three asked teacher candidates to create and design an e-Portfolio as part of the coursework. In this program evaluation, the author investigated the continued use of e-Portfolios into Term Four during final practicum. Faculty in this teacher education program sought ways to improve the program, particularly the practicum experience for teacher candidates. Extending the use of e-Portfolios into Term Four was one of three initiatives that were adopted. The e-Portfolio served as a digital platform for teachercandidates to archive, reflect, and sense-make; italso functioned as a means to develop theirprofessional identities and understanding of theprofessional standards. The final practicumconcluded with a Celebration of Learning and thecapstone presentations referenced e-Portfolios.This paper focuses on how e-Portfolios wereintroduced and implemented with six cohorts, whatwas observed by the faculty member, and whatwas learned from the implementation to inform thefuture use of e-Portfolios in the program andprogram redesign. The extended use of e-Portfolios during the final practicum was found tobe a viable initiative and revealed professionalqualities of teacher candidates that may not havebeen visible otherwise.
Highlights
InformationIn 2018, a teacher education program (TEP) at a small research university in British Columbia (BC) was at the cusp of educational reform with a vision to redesign the program and align to BC’s Curriculum
The initiative to extend the use of e-Portfolios into the final practicum at this teacher education program (TEP) was considered a worthwhile endeavour because teacher candidates (TCs) were able to maintain an e-Portfolio with artefacts that demonstrated their understanding of the professional standards and e-Portfolios were personalized to reflect who they were as learners and educators
TCs found appropriate artefacts from practicum and coursework and composed additional webpages that introduced themselves, highlighted their understanding of BC’s Curriculum, and articulated any additional skills, values, competencies, or work experience to create a digital narrative of their professional identity
Summary
In 2018, a teacher education program (TEP) at a small research university in British Columbia (BC) was at the cusp of educational reform with a vision to redesign the program and align to BC’s Curriculum. There is one secondary and one elementary cohort in this TEP The focus of this program evaluation was to explore TC use of ePortfolios in Term Four during their final practicum with a focus on its viability, support for professional identity development, and application of the professional standards. Extending the use of e-Portfolios into Term Four allowed TCs to include artefacts from their final practicum and enabled them to reflect on their teaching and learning experiences as a digital narrative at the end of the TEP. The program evaluation, which drew upon processes often used in action research, sought to determine if extending the use of e-Portfolios into final practicum was viable and if e-Portfolios helped deepen one’s understanding of the professional standards to develop of one’s professional identity as a teacher. TCs can use personal knowledge to construct meaning (Earl, 2003) and e-Portfolios can help TCs to monitor, reflect, self-assess, sense-make, adjust, and choose artefacts that reflect who they are as teachers and learners
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