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Using Electronic Portfolios to Foster and Assess Intercultural Growth during a Global Field Experience in Jamaicaa presentation by Dr. David Stoloff, Eastern Connecticut State University, email: stoloffd@easternct.edufor an invited panel in International Experiences in Teacher Education at the Northeast Educational Research Association meeting, October 23-25, 2013also found at http://writingsdls.wordpress.com/NERA2013/ ABSTRACT: Undergraduate students at Eastern Connecticut State University produce electronic portfolios to support their trip preparations and follow-up reflections upon global field experiences in Jamaican schools. This presentation will discuss the benefits and challenges of encouraging university students to document these high impact experiences in a readily accessible wordpress website.
Global Field Courses at Eastern Connecticut State University • “More than 250 students and 25 Eastern faculty have participated in these programs, which range in length from 1-5 weeks, and have focused on countries or regions on five continents. The GFC programs serve a growing population of students--those not able to spend an entire semester or academic year abroad. Such international experiences serve to reinforce a global and liberal arts focus to a student's professional preparation.” http://www.easternct.edu/ce/GlobalFieldCourses-home.htm
Why wordpress? • Celebrating its 10th anniversary, with over 60 million users • Basic functionality is FREE • Blog and webpage development • Flexibility of design • Recommended for users of Microsoft Outlook • Eastern Connecticut State University is moving to use wordpress for its web presence Google documents is a strong alternative also.
Establishing a wordpress.com presence • http://interconescu.wordpress.com
Embedding music • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaGUr6wzyT8
A 5-phase developmental model • Phase I – Introduction • Phase II – Research • Phase III – Capacity building – methods • Phase IV – Results of the experience • Phase V – Preparation for further study and experience
Phase I - Introductions • Pre-travel self-assessments
Phase II – Research • General studies into the statistics of Jamaica
Phase III – Capacity Building • Studies into ethnography and project planning
Phase IV – Results of the Experience • Three forms of reflection: • Image collections, preliminary reactions • Description of change in others • Description of change in self
Phase IV A – Travel ePortfolio • Images, preliminary observations
Phase IV B – People • Description of Change in Others
Phase IV C – Changes in self • Self-assessments, critical incidents
Phase V+ – Next Steps • Planning global field course to study schools and social agencies in northern Jamaica in March 2014 and cross-cultural experiences in Thailand in December 2014-January 2015 • Moving to formalize the community-engaged learning of these global field courses • Continuing to make use of electronic portfolios in other courses • Studying the role of electronic portfolios in pre-collegiate education and blended learning
Webliography • Eastern Connecticut State University (2013). Global Field Courses. Retrieved from http://www.easternct.edu/ce/GlobalFieldCourses-home.htm. • Stoloff, D.L. (2013). International Connections in Education. Retrieved from http://interconescu.wordpress.com/. • WordPress.com (2013). Get Started. Retrieved from http://wordpress.com/. • WordPress.org (2013). Getting Started with WordPress. Retrieved from http://codex.wordpress.org/Getting_Started_with_WordPress.