I recently retired from the faculty of the College of Education at
the University of Alaska Anchorage and have been researching electronic
portfolios since 1991, publishing a web site on Technology and
Alternative Assessment since 1995 and an Apple Learning Interchange
Exhibit (linked below). I was involved in Educational Technology and
Staff Development in Alaska between 1983 and 2001, first as Staff
Development Coordinator with the Fairbanks School District and then
with the University of Alaska Anchorage. I was in charge of Educational
Technology programs for the School of Education and initiated the
development of UAA's New Media Center for campus-wide faculty
development.
As the Assessment Coordinator for the International Society for
Technology in Education's National Educational Technology Standards for
teachers (ISTE NETS-T) Project (2000-2005), I developing strategies and
resources to assess teacher technology competence. I also served as
Vice President for Assessment and E-Folios for the Society for
Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE). Through the
Educause/NLII/AAHE Community of Practice, I provided early leadership
to define pedagogical specifications for online portfolio systems.
Between 1999 and 2001, I wrote several successful federal technology
grants, the most recent through ISTE to support technology and
assessment in teacher education programs throughout the United States,
providing training and technical assistance on using electronic
portfolios to assess achievement of teaching standards. I was on loan
to ISTE on a full time basis for the duration of this PT3 Catalyst
Grant (2001-2005).
My presentations at numerous regional and national conferences have
explored the emerging field of technology and alternative assessment
and my authoritative articles have appeared in books, journals and
proceedings published by ISTE, AACE, AAHE, and WCCE. I recently
produced a multimedia CD-ROM-based Electronic Portfolio Handbook. My
research about electronic portfolios began with a study of K-12 student
portfolios for the Alaska Department of Education in the early 90s. In
the mid-90s, my research focus changed to electronic teacher
portfolios, and I am currently exploring both high school graduation
portfolios and family involvement in e-portfolio development in early
childhood education. This newest research focuses on how schools can
meet the Parent Involvement goal of NCLB through the collaborative
development of electronic portfolios to communicate authentic student
learning related to standards, goals or outcomes.
In 2005, I became the Research Project Director for The REFLECT
Initiative, an international research project, underwritten by
TaskStream, to assess the impact of electronic portfolios on student
learning, motivation and engagement in secondary schools.