University of Auckland http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/

e-Portfolio tool: Mahara (using the national web service under the name of MyPortfolio)

What is unique about this implementation case study The University of Auckland was involved in the early development of Mahara and the case study focusses on the ways the e-portfolio has been integrated into the assessment requirements for the 14 week teaching practicum of student teachers. Assessment involves a peer review process followed by an oral presentation at the end of the practicum using one artefacts collected within My Portfolio to demonstrate achievement of teaching standards. Other localised use of MyPortfolio exists across the University.

PURPOSE:  Personal Development Planning, Showcasing work, Continuing Professsional Development of Staff, Transition to/from the institution, Assessment,

PROCESSES:  Information capture, Information retrieval, Planning, Feedback, Reflection, Collaboration, Presentation

DRIVERS:

The key drivers were:

1. A visit by members of the university academic staff in 2007 to the USA to see what they were doing with e-portfolios over there concluded that e-portfolios would be an excellent mechanism for documenting the teaching practicum
2. The new Graduating Students standards published by the New Zealand Teachers Council which require evidence of practice from the teaching practicum
3. The Teachers Council document "Towards Full Registration" explicitly mentions creating a portfolio of evidence around a graduate teacher's practice over the first two years
4. That an e-portfolio was available to be used

So several strands came together simultaneously, all of which suggested this would be an effective way to go.

Key words: University of Auckland, New Zealand, HE, Mahara, Lifelong Learning, Lifewide Learning, Faculty of Education, Intitial Teacher Education, Practicum, compulsory course requirement, assessment, peer review, within course use.

Brief overview of the organisation and its current e-portfolio use:

The University of Auckland was formally opened on 23 May 1883 as Auckland University College, part of the University of New Zealand. A disused courthouse and jail served as premises for the 95 students and 4 teaching staff. Today, The University of Auckland is the largest university in New Zealand, hosting over 40,000 students on five Auckland campuses, with a School of Theology, and eight faculties representing each of its main disciplines: Arts, Business and Economics, Creative Arts and Industries, Education, Engineering, Law, Medical and Health Sciences, and Science. Almost all teaching staff engage in research which attempts to advance the frontiers of knowledge and understanding, and around 5000 students are enrolled for postgraduate studies, 1200 of whom are undertaking doctorates.

In 2007 the University of Auckland became involved in a collaborative project to develop a new e-portfolio tool http://wiki.mahara.org/History. This open source Mahara e-portolio tool, MyPortfolio, is hosted by the Ministry of Education, New Zealand and was used within the Faculty of Education from 2009.

The Faculty of Education is The University of Auckland’s fourth largest faculty. It was created in 2004 through the amalgamation of the former Auckland College of Education and the University’s School of Education. The Faculty offers research-informed undergraduate programmes in education, teacher education, social work and human services (youth work and disability studies), including specialist qualifications in the areas of te reo Māori primary teaching and Pasifika early childhood education.

The Faculty of Education runs a variety of teacher education programmes. All student teachers are required to complete a 14 week period of supervised observation and teaching in a variety of schools (referred to as the teaching practicum). The main aims of practicum are for student teachers to:

• gain an understanding of the depth, complexity and constraints of school environments

• contextualise and integrate the Faculty of Education learning in a school environment

• bring insights from their experiences in school settings to their Faculty of Education studies

• practise and receive feedback regarding their teaching performance

• consider and reflect on their own professional practice (teaching)

The five aims are linked. Whilst many student teachers are keen to teach as much as they can, this may be to the detriment of their practice if doing so deprives them of the time to reflect upon what they are achieving or time to actively observe and analyse the practice of others. They should strive for a balance of personal teaching, observation and reflection. Specific learning outcomes, designed to reflect the developmental nature of teacher education, have been set for each practicum.

The e-portfolio has been integrated into the requirements for assessment of the teaching practicum. The following information is taken from the Practicum Handbook and indicates the requirement for maintaining an e-portfolio using MyPortfolio which will be used for assessment:

Student teacher learning outcomes for Practicum 1B

1. Collect, analyse and critically engage with information from educational settings to inform, evaluate and enhance the effectiveness of their professional practice
2. Demonstrate effective teaching practices known to enhance learning. These include planning, assessment, organization, communication, and management of and within the learning environment
3. Implement personal goals that enhance professional development
4. Establish and demonstrate professional, ethical relationships in educational settings

Minimum Expectations for Practicum 1B

Student teachers are expected to:

• Be at school for the duration of the school day [8.15am – 3.30pm approx]

• Work collegially with 2 or 3 associate teachers (some for more than one class)

• Work collegially with one associate teacher in a form teacher role and duty roster role

• Attend at least one full staff meeting and one departmental meeting

• Complete a timetabled observation/teaching load of approx 12-15 hours/periods a week (3 classes)

• Build up from part-lessons and single lessons to teach at least 1 and preferably 2 or 3 sequences of 2-3 lessons with each class during practicum

• Have an organised practicum portfolio of documentation that is accessible and professionally maintained

• Use an account on the tertiary ‘My Portfolio’ site @ http://myportfolio.ac.nz/ for storing files and resources, and keeping a reflective journal of the practicum experience

• Provide associate teacher with full lesson planning before a class is taught

• Seek oral and written feedback from associate teachers on lessons taught

• Engage with advice and guidance on a weekly basis (approximately 1 hour)