I attended a half dozen sessions on ePortfolios and a Special Interest Group (SIG) discussion on the topic. The big issue from kindergarten all the way through the masters level? Reflection. It seems that while designing a good looking portfolio can initially be difficult, the real work comes when students are asked to reflect. Everyone just wants the grade and seems to see reflection as an extra hoop to jump through to get it. This hasn’t been my experience with little children so I had some good conversations with my adult education colleagues about why this is the case. We agreed that the way schools have traditionally evaluated students is, at least, partly responsible.

About 50 people attended my presentation. There were lots of laughs and questions. The sample portfolio was well received and throughout the day I had an opportunity to touch base with many of the participants. It seems that many of them see the benefits of mPortfolio development using mobile devices and a platform like Pathbrite; it goes a long way to addressing access issues so student can get to reflecting.

I also had a great conversation with Derek Gordon at Pathbrite. They have agreed to help with my pilot project next year and had some great ideas for improving my students’ access while maintaining their privacy. I am feeling really optimistic about successfully implementing my project.

All in all it has been a great week. I’d like to thank Franc Feng at MET, Mike Phelan at the Greater Victoria School District, and Lucy Adams at home for their support and encouragement in attending and presenting at SITE. I highly recommend the experience!