Mirrors to Remind Ourselves: Developing Archiving Habits of Mind for ePortfolios & Integrative Learning

Much of the scholarship about eportfolios collects data from students upon completion of an eportfolio assignment (for example: Fink, 2001; Corbett, LaFrance, Giacomini, and Fournier, 2013). Such scholarship often focuses on the final, presentation portfolio. Before there is a final portfolio, portfolio producers require a larger collection, or archive, of multimodal materials from which to pull when they present and reflect. Helping students to systematically archive materials so that they might later reflect and engage helps foster various habits of mind: persistence, curiosity, and openness (Framework, 2011), as well as problem solving, data collection, and continuous learning (Costa, 2008). Our various faculty professional development activities help faculty to develop their own archival habits of mind; helping to change faculty attention and archival “patterns and values that [they] have come to see as so natural that [they] really don’t even see them anymore” (Davidson, 2011, p. 29).

    As with any pedagogy, incorporating archival habits into classes includes some roadblocks:

• connecting to course outcomes and assignments,

• digitizing physical materials,

• incorporating related materials, as well as

• utilizing digital tools that may be new to faculty and students alike.

In this innovation lab, the facilitators will lead a discussion of the value of archival habits, as well as consider how such habits are best fostered in correlation with emerging ePortfolio practices, drawing on integrative learning as the critical framework. Then, participants will engage in multiple, brief archival exercises, in which they explore various strategies for incorporating low-stakes archival assignments. Upon completion of this innovation lab, participants will produce two of the following items:

• a list of readily available archiving platforms;

• strategies for saving physical material digitally;

• an initial concept map for aligning course outcomes with archival materials;

• reasons and strategies for archiving early, often, and in a well organized manner; and/or

• a model assignment for harnessing social media to produce multimodal archival content.

AGENDA

Discussion (5 minutes): We will use a freely editable Google Document to brainstorm two lists:

1. examples/evidence of learning, and

2. difficulties with archiving learning.  

Demonstration (20 minutes): Participants break into groups and participate in one of the following activities; after 10 minutes they will switch to another activity:

• Round Robin of Existing Archives: Participants create a list of existing archives where both faculty and students already have “work” saved. Depending on the size of the overall group, sub-groups might compete for the longest list of original ideas. The activity prompts participants to realize they already archive so that they build upon already existing habits and processes.

• Thinking Digitally about Physical Materials: Participants will complete a Google Form and then interact with one another in the resulting spreadsheet. They will share lists of “tough to digitally archive” learning objects and/or artifacts and solutions for doing so. Participants will realize that digitally archiving only takes a bit of creativity and most individuals are already carrying digital archiving devices (mobiles phones and tablets).     

• Mapping Course/Program Outcomes: Participants will create a map of one of their courses to outline what, when, and where might and/or should be archived in given course. Specifically participants will be prompted to think in terms of the artifacts resulting from students working with content delivery, content learning, and learning assessment activities. Participants will be prompted to think beyond just saving “major” projects and to start archiving work from the entire learning process and experience.

• Archiving Your Job: Using their professional experience as an example, participants will emulate the ways in which we call upon our students to demonstrate learning through evidence, highlighting the ways in which conscious archiving eases and improves such demonstrations. Specifically participants will prompted to explore the importance of digitally archiving everything in a well organized manner.

• Mobile Multimedia Scavenger Hunt: Participants practice using social media platforms to create audio/visual material that reflects the abstract concepts of integrative learning, while also considering the potential social aspect of the individual archive. This activity reminds participants that reflective acts can be both quick and in multimedia environments.

Innovation (20 minutes): Participants complete a Write/Pair/Share to reflect on their learning and share with the larger group:

• Write (3-5 minutes): What did you learn from this activity? How and/or why might you use it this information (or suggest its use) in a course?

• Pair (5-7 minutes): Discuss written reflection with someone NOT from one of their demonstration groups.

• Share (10 minutes): Individuals share one idea they plan on following up with after the conference.  

Innovation Lab Goals/Learning Objectives

After participating in this Innovation Lab, participants will be able to:

• explain the importance of archiving materials to help with integrative learning and ePortfolio production;

• categorize types of artifacts and methods of archiving; and

• plan archival activities and processes for a particular course.

Innovation Lab Takeaways

An integrated digital environment will archive the following takeaways for participants:

• digitized and archived results from Innovation Lab activities;

• ideas for incorporating archiving habits into courses;

• instructions for Innovation Lab jigsaw activities (if participants want to use them as professional development activities with their own faculty); and

• annotated Resource & Reference List.