One wonderful perk to working at UBC is the calibre of guest speakers the University is able to bring on for talks and workshops. This Friday is yet another humdinger, as Helen Chen from Stanford pays a visit:
Opportunities for Reflection and Community-Building Using Emerging Technologies
How can we identify and build opportunities for students to effectively reflect upon and integrate formal and informal learning experiences in a language and format that is relevant to how today’s students understand and live their lives? Drawing from examples from Stanford’s Folio Thinking research program and the work of the National Coalition on Electronic Portfolio Research, this session will engage participants in an interactive discussion about theoretical models for framing ePortfolio design and research, the potential contributions of the ePortfolio model to assessment and scholarship of teaching and learning efforts, and scaffolding and facilitating reflective thinking using wikis, blogs, and other social software technologies.
I’ve had the pleasure of talking with Helen at a couple of conferences, and I really like the way she approaches these issues. Yet another great session I will miss due to my scary supersecret mission, on which I embark tomorrow.
G’day Brian, I can’t work it out… is this something outsiders can tune in on? The registration form looks very local UBC… I’d love to catch it myself. any advice?
A super secret mission to central Canada?
a secret mission w/ a plumber?
Leigh — this is an in-person event. But visitors are welcome.
I’ll see if we can make an audio recording or something available for people who can’t be in Vancouver. I’ll be away this week, so can’t see to it myself.
Jeff — I suspect you know part of the mystery — but there is more that I am as yet too terrified to reveal.
J – we are free of the plumber, but not free of the plumbing work, if you catch my drift. I leave town with the bath in working order (had my first proper bath in two weeks just now), but it is what may best be described as an unrefined state.
Sounds like an exciting presentation. Count me in for the audiotrack.
Count me in for the audiotrack.
Thanks Blamb!
I hope the presenter doesn’t mine, perhaps put it to here that with audiences waiting in NZ, she might find herself down this way some day 😉
Eagerly awaiting the numbers broadcast!
I’ve forwarded a request back to the mothership asking them to make an audio recording of Helen’s talk. I guess we’ll see how much pull I have.
Gardner — nothing so mysterious as the Conet Project, indeed, you happen to understand the terrifying dimensions of what I’m doing this week better than I do. I wish you were here in Toronto with me. (In a way, you are — which is why this is hard.)
Everyone else — I’m not being cryptic to be perverse, but I am in over my head and trying to keep the profile low for now. I promise to blog all this stuff once things get a bit clearer.
Echo Hector
Brian – you’re not in over your head. You know as much or more about what you’re going to be talking about that anyone else… Be sure to stir the pot a little while you’re at it, though 🙂
Apparently Helen’s talk was videotaped, with a separate audio track.
I’ll update on the other stuff soon.
Great Blamb, I hope it was a good talk, and I hope the vid and audio is out there somewhere. If they need a place to through it, http://www.ourmedia.org is pretty good.
It seems you guys are way ahead of what’s happening in the UK. I have recently done some consultancy work on eportfolio’s and I’m really keen on discovering ways to genetate ePortfolio’s that are sticky amongst secondary school users – 12-18 years old. Eportfolios are going to be mandatory in UK schools by the end of 2008 so we need to get it right.
Hi Brian — Sorry to have missed you during my visit but thanks much for sharing the news of my talk. I was quite impressed by the quality and range of work that is going on at UBC involving ePortfolios and emerging technologies. For anyone out there who might have follow-up questions about our ongoing research at Stanford, the work of the National Coalition on ePortfolio Research or the ePortfolio Community of Practice (EPAC) please feel free to contact me!