The league of champions: ePortfolio initiatives supporting excellence at KPU

“The electronic or digital portfolio is an ideal format for collecting evidence of student learning, especially for those outcomes not amenable or appropriate for standardized measurement. Additionally, ePortfolios can facilitate student reflection upon and engagement with their own learning across multiyear degree programs, across different, and across diverse learning styles while helping students set and achieve personal learning goals. ePortfolios provide a transparent and portable medium for showcasing the broad range of complex ways students are asked to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and abilities for purposes such as graduate school and job applications and for benchmarking achievement among peer institutions.” 

– American Institute of Colleges and Universities 

In 2016, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) recognized using ePortfolios as a high-impact post-secondary practice (Watson et al., 2016). The KPU TL Commons has long recognized this value and the ability of ePortfolios to support reflective practices, teaching excellence, authentic assessment approaches, student success, and Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Recognizing the value is easy, but communicating the value across KPU’s diverse teaching contexts is more challenging. Enter the League of Champions, experts in their respective fields, and advocates for colleagues and students.  

In the Spring of 2023, the TL Commons launched a pilot initiative granting single course time releases to six ePortfolio Champions across KPU. These faculty members have accomplished so much in a remarkably short time, so in this blog, we would like to share some of their key reflections about their experiences; there is much to celebrate! 

Faculty are constantly learning about new strategies and best practices to engage learners, but rarely have the time and space to implement them in any meaningful way, never mind outside of their own classrooms. One consistent theme we heard from our inaugural cohort of Champions was how the program gave them that time and space to explore and implement eportfolio pedagogy with intention and meaning that supported both faculty and students in their own contexts: 

I was fortunate to be awarded a time release in the Spring 2023 semester to immerse myself in the world of ePortfolios. It allowed me to invest energy and dedicated time to support the ongoing work of our HRMT faculty group in developing a program approach to ePortfolios.” – Monica Affleck, HRMT  

This was an excellent experience. It provided me with the time and flexibility to learn and create new resources, assignment templates, and a series of workshops for students. – Jovita Vytasek, The KPU Learning Centres

Along with time, another rarity in many faculty members’ schedule is the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues, both inside and outside of their respective disciplines. The Champions program allowed them to break free of their professional silos and connect with colleagues to share ideas, learn from one another and broaden their perspectives of eportfolio pedagogy: 

It was so valuable to connect with like-minded individuals across the University to brainstorm, share our experiences, and learn from each other. – Monica Affleck, HRMT 

I am grateful for the pd release to be able to create a signature assignment workbook in collaboration with my colleagues toward the goal of integrating the workbook assignment in our Fall 2023 classes. – Ann-Marie McLellan, EDST 

The Champion role provided space for all faculty to gather and find ways to answer questions like, How can faculty support each other learning to use Pebble Pad? How can students access campus life more meaningfully? How can EACS develop collaborative partnerships with other KPU departments?  – Teresa Swan, EACS 

The Pebble Pad Champion role played a huge role in building a sense of community and belonging within the newly revised Employment and Community Studies student body. The role facilitated intercampus connections through the co-facilitation of an online Digital Learning Community (DLC). The DLC became a hub for virtual learners and cross-campus teaching and learning. – Simon Driver, EACS 

Through this group, I gained valuable feedback from colleagues, and I was connected with other faculty who were eager to use these resources. – Jovita Vytasek, The Learning Centres 

Engaging more intentionally with eportfolio pedagogy allowed our Champions to see alignment with, and meet important personal, program, and institutional goals. 

It is a valuable opportunity to continue my professional growth and support KPU’s commitment to SDG#4, Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education for All.   – Monica Affleck, HRMT 

ePortfolios and reflective thinking fit well with Co-op, as that has always been our focus. – Khairunnisa Ali, Co-op. 

… key impacts of this project include the integration of pebblepad resources and eportfolio practice in EDUC transition courses which are designed to enhance students’ first year experiences (e.g., through eassignments that emphasize development of 21st century competencies and reflective practice) – Ann-Marie McLellan, EDST 

The support provided by Teaching and Learning Commons was instrumental in encouraging faculty-buy-in and encouraging students to participate more actively on campus, scaffold their learning, and challenge institutional ableism.  – Teresa Swan, EACS 

Through Pebblepad, students increased opportunities to share and teach their peers, other students, and faculty. This was particularly important to me; as an instructor the Champion Role put me in a position to learn from my students, and to broaden my pedagogy! – Simon Driver, EACS 

 
The ‘e’ (electronic) in eportfolios can sometimes present a challenge for faculty. Because eportfolios are by nature digital, some faculty lack confidence in the technical competency; however, this League of Champions dove right into the digital fray armed with support from the Commons, PebblePad implementation specialists, each other, and on occasion, their students. 

We received great support from members of the KPU Teaching and Learning team as well as knowledge from PebblePad experts who shared best practices and future trends with us. – Monica Affleck, HRMT 

TL provided training, great collaboration, feedback, and support along the way – Jovita Vytasek, The Learning Centres. 

It takes courage to be a Champion, and this first cohort had plenty. They all bravely ventured into the unknown, willing to fail and get messy, yet still determined to learn more, reflect, and share with their students and colleagues.  

Being a Pebblepad Champion, though daunting at first, became more natural as I grew more accustomed to folio thinking and the power of structured self-reflection.  – Simon Driver, EACS 

Some offered words of wisdom for those who would come after them: 

Learn by doing and getting help from the T & L team, start sooner on the technical side. … Best tip I got and didn’t fully follow: Best to start small and keep developing – Khairunissa Ali, Co-op. 

And after them they will come … 

The incredible success of the Spring 2023 pilot inspired additional time releases to be added for Fall 2023. The new group of champions has hit the ground running and has planned various exciting projects and initiatives that you can read about HERE.  

Stay tuned for updates on the current group of champions and the new champions entering stage right in the Spring of 2024.

References 

Watson, C. E., Kuh, G. D., Rhodes, T., Light, T. P., & Chen, H. L. (2016). Editorial: EPortfolios – The eleventh high impact practice. International Journal of EPortfolio, 6(2), 65–69. http://www.theijep.com/pdf/IJEP254.pdf