More Thoughts on ePortfolios...

After looking at a variety of ePortfolios examples provided by my college professor, it was clear that each learner was allowed some measure of autonomy and encouraged to put their own spin on them. It's evident by how each one had a unique look, different writing styles, variety of topics, etc. Yet, as a participant in this course, I see the guidelines (navigation, pages, links, etc.) and items (blog posts, innovation projects, etc.) are consistent.

By viewing other's ePortfolio examples, I am gaining insight and it's igniting my creativity! In addition to learning from others' (blog posts, projects, etc.), I also love seeing all the different writing styles, organizational styles, items included (videos, images, links, etc.)

Isn't it amazing how everyone's brain takes in the same rubric and same guidelines, and not one product is the same?! I love that the evidence from the ePortfolio course I'm in clearly illustrates the need for Choice, Ownership, and Voice through Authentic Learning (COVA) and Creating Significant Learning Environments (CSLE) in our current educational system (Harapnuik, January 2018).

Our students are being limited by the structures of our national educational system. What is the worst case scenario of harnessing the power of creativity in learning and actually following constructivism vs. referring to it's ideals? While Thorndike's model of instruction was beneficial for the time during Industrialism, our society has progressed and moved beyond. Instead of the educational system evolving and moving forward, it seems to be fighting against the progression. Is it comfort? Is it fear? What is the hold back? Personally, I'm learning far more naturally and where I should be overwhelmed by the requirements the courses demand, I'm actually not. Why is that? It's simply because the teacher is truly facilitating the growth of ideas in a learning environment that is structured for that purpose. There are requirements and structure without the expectation of regurgitation of ideas. Our instructor already knows his ideas. He's helping us learn how to shape and articulate ours. For more information about COVA and CSLE, check out Dr. Harapnuik's blog post here.

Participating in and learning about ePortfolios made me realize that I should not stop this part of my professional life, but start carving some dedicated, regular time to keep contributing to my ePortfolio beyond the requirements of this degree. In one of my previous blog posts, I reflected that I had been in the habit of this as a practitioner for a short time and dabbled in other areas, but failed to put all the pieces together prior to this class.

Through this ePortfolio class I realized I loved returning to a space that was "mine" to create and share thoughts and ideas. I am really enjoying this opportunity to try a reliable idea (portfolios as evidence of learning or experience have been used for many years in many industries) in a digital way. The digital way makes it simpler to keep up with than my previous traditional "paper" way, and provides "in the moment" opportunities to show or discuss ideas and projects with others because it's as simple as bringing it up on any device connected to the internet. I'm also more grateful for the current and previous practitioners who took the time to share their thoughts in speaking, write down their thoughts with pen and ink, to typing, to publishing, to video recording, to blogging, etc. and share with the rest of us. There is power in writing down thoughts and sharing them with others.

This ePortfolio is truly going to be in a constant state of becoming... because it's always going to be a reflection of learning, growing, and evolving. This is a place for authenticity in a current state of being and a place to mark progress along a continuous journey. For me, I'm going to learn to let go of a perfectionist tendency of "complete", and embrace that a place of beginnings is becoming a place of progressions. Funny, is that I'm actually not anxious, but excited to let that go! Excited at the possibilities of where this road is taking me and the insights I know I will gain along the way.