Session 8

Using E-Portfolios to Collect Evidence of Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum

Session Description:

As K-8 students in Manitoba develop their literacy with ICT, many use the research-based electronic portfolio software, ePEARL, to collect and develop evidence of their growth and progress. Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum (LwICT) http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/index.html is in the second year of a 3-year phased-in implementation across the province. Divisional LwICT implementation teams are mentoring their teachers in assessment practices for LwICT that encourage a gradual release of responsibility for self-directed learning by explict instruction in the processes of goal-setting, criteria building, giving and receiving descriptive feedback, and reflecting. Using a web-based electronic portfolio accessible by students, parents, and teachers, anywhere with online access, changes the face of teaching and learning as it opens the doors of the classroom to the real world. This session will review the competencies for LwICT, critical and creative thinking, and ethics and responsibility, and will demonstrate how ePEARL is being used by early learners (K-2) and middle learners (grades 3-8) to collect, select, reflect on, and celebrate evidence of their learning.

Presenter: Cheryl Prokopanko

Cheryl Prokopanko is Acting Coordinator of the Learning Support and Technology Unit of Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth, and Project Leader for Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum. Cheryl is interested in how emerging technologies are changing the face of teaching and learning in the 21st century.