The launch of my professional site coincides with the pilot launch of UfoliO, a WordPress Multiuser/Buddy Press publishing and social networking platform. A group of faculty (see project site here) has been working together on eportfolios for the past couple of years and this site is our first testable platform. My part of the project is focused on the use of web-based tools by students to create personal learning environments (PLE) for the purposes of learning and demonstrating competency in “professional skills” (collaboration, business communication, ethics, leadership). The central question is can a web-based system, coupled with clear competencies and rubrics and eportfolio processes, drive student learning and college assessment of these skills?
I assume that these skills are important for students professional growth and success and that they are desired by employers (see 21st Century Skills model). I also assume that these skills can be learned. At present, in the college of business, we place emphasis on using these skills but the teaching of them falls to one class early in the curriculum. As such, students do not get much feedback or guidance in the development of these skills. I also assume that we cannot expect our faculty to take on much more to incorporate eportfolio processes into their classes. So, how do we set up systems and processes to drive student learning of these skills and allow for aggregate assessment across the curriculum? Stay tuned as we explore this question.
