Reports

Wednesday May 31 2006 | 000 Multidisciplinary

The Electronic Portfolio - A Useful Tool to Support Technological Integration in the Classroom

Ginette Bousquet Teacher, Cégep de Sherbrooke

The Issue
Practical Applications
Useful References
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The Issue

At the end of the 1980s, the research done in cognitive psychology provoked a change of paradigm. A switch was made from adopting a paradigm that focused on teaching to one that focused on the students’ process of learning. This change echoed the new realities and trends in education; namely, the recognition of the importance of: existing knowledge in the process of learning new material, the interaction with peers, significant learning, self-awareness as a learner, and being involved and engaging in one’s own course of progression (UQTR, 2005).

From this point onward, learning was considered to be an active process where the student is the master of his/her own learning and sees his/her responsibilities increased. In such a situation where the student actively participates in his/her learning process, the teacher adopts a role of a guide in order to support the student throughout the learning process. Evaluation is an integral part of that process. The main task of the teachers is therefore to help the student throughout his/her learning process and to allow for adjustments to be made to his/her pedagogical intervention (MEQ, 2002).

How can the teacher help the students? How can the teacher make the students be more responsible, reflect on their learning process, increase their self-awareness? How can the teacher encourage the students to integrate the notions, abilities and behaviour learned, and to succeed in their studies? Within the context of this new paradigm, the electronic portfolio is one of the proposed tools that can be used to meet these new educational needs.

Definition

The learner’s portfolio is defined as a collection of the student’s achievements which demonstrates the efforts, progress, and the knowledge that the student has acquired; and it develops over time(Goupil, 1998).

A portfolio is a dynamic tool which tracks the student’s progress in his/her learning. The student is the key player in the construction of his/her portfolio. The assignments which the student must complete are accompanied by his/her comments relating to his/her perceived achievements and progress. This metacognitive activity allows the student to develop skills relating to self-awareness and self-assessment, and to get more involved in his/her own studies. A portfolio may also contain comments and thoughts from teachers or other education professionals.

A portfolio is not only an end-of-semester project. It is a learning tool which facilitates the evaluation process since it allows for the teacher to have a global overview of the student’s progress (Amblard, 2004; Eyssautier-Bavay, 2004).

A History of Portfolio Usage

At the beginning of the 1990s, the American and English-speaking teachers in Quebec started using the portfolio in their educational curriculum. The French teaching staff in Quebec will closely follow this example. In 2000, the school reform at the elementary and high-school levels in Quebec introduced the portfolio as one of the tools of record-keeping that maintains track of a student’s progress on his/her way to achieving academic success (MEQ, 2002, p.5). More recently, this interest in the portfolio extended to European countries like France, Switzerland, and Belgium. More and more teachers are integrating the portfolio into their teaching practices.

Types of Portfolios for the Student

There are three types of portfolios for the student: the learning portfolio, the presentation portfolio, and the evaluation portfolio.

The learning portfolio tracks various achievements that are significant to the student. It maintains a record of the student’s progress, helps the student become aware of his/her learning progress, and teaches the student to make a self-assessment. The student must comment on the steps that are taken to complete his/her assignments.

The presentation portfolio requires the student to select his/her best achievements and justify his/her choice. The student learns to be critical of his/her work, adopting an approach of self-awareness. He/she is therefore able to identify his/her strengths and weaknesses, motivations, as well as his/her interest in the learning objectives he/she is pursuing in the development of his/her competencies.

The evaluation portfolio serves to illustrate the competencies that have been attained by a student in a program or those required by a student to be admitted into a program. The student knows from the beginning who will evaluate his/her work and what the evaluation criteria is (MEQ, 2002).

The three portfolios can be combined. They are generally used for different purposes and include characteristics of each of the above-mentioned portfolios (Van Tartijik et Driessen, 2005).

The objectives of a student portfolio are numerous:

to develop the metacognitive abilities of the student;
to increase the student’s motivation by being involved in his/her training;
to allow for a evaluation not only of one work at one given instant, but of a collection of assignments done throughout the learning process (Eyssautier-Bavay, 2004).

Types of Support

The student portfolio may appear in one of three formats: on paper, electronically, or in a combination of the two.

The paper portfolio (also called the traditional portfolio) can contain different documents such as texts written by the student, photographs/pictures, audiotapes, or videos. These documents may be included in a binder or a folder, for example.

The electronic portfolio (also called ePortfolio) can contain different electronic documents (Word, Excel, etc.), pictures/photographs, videos, sound recordings, or multimedia presentations. These documents can be stored on a CD, a removable disk, a server, a Web site, an I-Pod, and so on.

The hybrid portfolio, a combination of the paper and electronic portfolios, consists of the student’s achievements on paper, as well as his/her comments (or the teacher’s comments) on an electronic device, for example.

Of the three types of support, the electronic portfolio offers the most advantages. It is:

Economical given the space it requires;
Easy to review and edit;
Possible for the student to add or delete files, or reorganize its content by adding links from one document to another;
Possible to be posted on-line as a whole or in part, making it more accessible.

The electronic support also has its disadvantages. The first disadvantage relates to the very nature of the electronic support, which revolves around the computer. The access to a computer, the reliability of the network, the availability of human and technical resources, the disk space (if the portfolio is on a server), and the compatibility between documents are a few examples of factors that must be taken into account when dealing with work electronically. Another concern relates to the privacy of the information when it is stored/posted electronically. The portfolio naturally contains personal information written by the student or teachers (eg. personal thoughts, teachers’ assessments, students’ strengths and weaknesses). Therefore, to limit the number of people who have access to student portfolios, the use of a mandatory access code to view or modify the portfolio is an example of a safety measure that should be considered (Amblard, 2004; Eyssautier-Bavay, 2004; MEQ, 2002). Ginette Bousquet

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Comments by readersReact to this text

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réponse à un questionnement

Merci aux commentaires de Yves R. Morin et de Jacques Lecavalier. Je suis contente d'avoir des témoignages de l'utilisation du portfolio d'apprentissage à l'intérieur d'un cours et non d'un programme. J'étais à m'interroger sur son utilisation pour le cours que je donnerai à l'automne soit Méthodes quantitatives en Sciences humaines. Vos témoignages m'ont convaincue à son utilisation. À suivre en décembre ou janvier prochain.

Ginette Bousquet, enseignante, Cégep de Sherbrooke [2007-5-21]

Bilan de DecClic en Français 101

J'ai utilisé le carnet de bord de DecClic I à l'automne 2006 et à l'hiver 2007 dans un groupe de français 101 (Écriture et littérature). Les étudiants y inscrivaient des notes sur les oeuvres littéraires en lecture. Je suivais la progression de chacun en indiquant, pour chaque poème ou scène, les éléments incompris. Au lieu d'un questionnaire de compréhension, qui arrête trop complètement la lecture de l'étudiant et qui lui fait perdre de vue la signification globale de l'oeuvre, les étudiants doivent exécuter toujours les mêmes stratégies. D'abord, indiquer qui fait quoi où et quand (mais pas pourquoi), puis relier le poème ou la scène à un thème. Au début de chaque cours (deux rencontres par semaines), j'arrive en sachant qui a fait quoi, avec quelles difficultés. En équipes, les étudiants comparent leurs notes et approfondissent avec mon aide leur compréhension de l'oeuvre. Les étudiants qui n'ont pas fait leur travail, après un avertissement, sont mutés dans une équipe de retardataires, au lieu de pouvoir rester avec leurs amis. Après deux semaines, tout le monde est à jour dans ses lectures, sans qu'il soit nécessaire d'imposer un contrôle de lecture. Les étudiants (de première session) qui ne sont pas habitués à faire leurs devoirs de lecture et de prise de notes acquièrent vite une discipline de travail (ou, plus rarement, quittent le cours). Ils parviennent peu à peu à interpréter l'oeuvre par eux-mêmes. Au moment de l'évaluation écrite, plus personne ne me demande "Qu'est-ce que tu veux que j'écrive?"

Jacques Lecavalier, Enseignant, Collège de Valleyfield [2007-5-20]

Portfolio en commercialisation

J'utilise déjà le portfolio d’apprentissage dans mes cours et ce, depuis 3 ans. Après quelques tentatives, le format que j'utilise actuellement comprend des questions cognitives sur la matières et métacognitives sur le processus de travail et d'apprentissage. Ces questions précises me permettent de mieux guider l'apprenant dans la rédaction du cahier. J'utilise aussi ce cahier de façon sommative et il remplace l'évaluation traditionnelle de ''par coeur''. C'est un outil très efficace pour augmenter la motivation intrinsèque de l'apprenant et pour éliminer l'effet négatif de stress d'un examen de ''par coeur'', examen d'ailleurs que les étudiants trouvent inefficace puisque 7 jours après l'examen, l'apprenant moyen ne se souvient plus de ce qu'il a appris. Pour consulter un de mes cahiers pré-formaté ... allez sur le lien suivant : http://www.profweb.qc.ca/ymorin/cahier_apprentisage_version_2006_chapitre_2_en_str-35.doc

Yves R. Morin, Enseignant, Cégep Marie-Victorin [2007-4-13]

Portfolio en Écriture et littérature

Je mettrai à l'essai la méthode du portfolio numérique (avec Dec-Clic) dans un cours de français Écriture et littérature à l'automne 2006. À suivre...

Jacques Lecavalier, Enseignant, Collège de Valleyfield [2006-7-02]

portfolio de l'enseignant de fle

Merci beaucoup pour ce dossier qui me sera très utile: j'entreprends une recherche sur l'élaboration d'un portfolio pour les enseignants de français langue étrangère en formation continue dans un contexte culturel "européen".

anne-marie johnson, enseignante-formatrice, Institut Touraine [2006-6-18]

Un véritable outil d'intégration

Bravo ! Voici enfin un véritable outil d'intrégration. J'ai trouvé votre dossier très intéressant et stimulant. J'ai l'intention de convaincre mes collègues de mettre en place un projet similaire à celui du Collège de Sherbrooke. Nous avons besoin d'un outil pour mettre en place un processus d'intégration qui commence avec la première session. Quelle belle idée stimulante que la vôtre.

Jean Poirier, Enseignant en histoire, Collège Shawinigan [2006-4-28]

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