U of G Hosts ePortfolio Week
March 04, 2011 - News Release
A majority of people have email and Facebook accounts, but what about ePortfolio accounts?
The University of Guelph will discuss the benefits of these online digital storage sites during ePortfolio week March 7 to 11.
The event is intended to show the University community and the public how U of G uses electronic portfolios in learning and development for students, staff and faculty.
“It’s a useful tool that we offer on campus and are hoping more people will start to take advantage of,” said Kyle Mackie, manager of courseware services in Teaching Support Services (TSS). “EPortfolios provide a place to store essays, assignments and photos as well as reflections and feedback on assignments. Having all this information in a private space online then makes it easy to build web-based presentations or share certain information within the ePortfolio.”
Students can use online digital storage sites through the University’s online learning management system, Courselink (Desire2Learn).
“A growing number of faculty are incorporating ePortfolio assignments into their courses,” said Mackie. “Some programs are embedding the use of the ePortfolio into the design of their curriculum. Students can put their assignments in an ePortfolio each semester and then go back and reflect on how their thinking has changed and their skills have improved. It can be a great tool to track how a student progresses through their courses.”
In co-op education, students can use ePortfolios to create online resumés, added Mackie.
“They are also a place to store artifacts from extracurricular activities such as letters of reference, pictures from volunteer work or thoughts on your goals and aspirations. It’s your own digital space that you can use to showcase what you’ve learned and to promote yourself.”
Highlights of the week are:
- ePortfolio Week kickoff, March 7, 1:30 p.m., McLaughlin Library’s Florence Partridge Room: Brenda Whiteside, associate vice-president (student affairs); Peter Wolf, director of TSS; Anne Milne, Rachel Carson Centre for Environment and Society in Munich; and Prof. Warren Stiver, School of Engineering
- keynote talk, March 8, 10 a.m., Rozanski Hall, Room 106: “Managing Learning: The LMS, ePortfolios and Personal Learning,” Dave Cormier, University of Prince Edward Island
- public lecture, March 10, 7 p.m., 10 Carden St., downtown Guelph: “Social Life in the Age of Facebook,” Prof. Serge Desmarais, associate vice-president (academic).
- Desire2Learn workshops, March 11, McLaughlin Library, Room 384.
For more information and to register for an event, visit http://bit.ly/ePweek_uog or contact Mackie at kmackie@uoguelph.ca.
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt, 519-824-4120, Ext. 53338, or lhunt@uoguelph.ca, or Deirdre Healey, Ext. 56982 or dhealey@uoguelph.ca.
