Teacher Candidates ePortfolios: How Can Teacher Educators Make Them More Valuable in the Hiring Process?
Abstract
This SoTL case study examined how two teacher educators enhanced their practice and the work of pre-service student teachers by researching and improving the structure of the required capstone portfolio assignment. Presently, administrators report to rarely use paper based or electronic portfolios when selecting future teachers. Pre-service teachers in a special course offered during student teaching, created an ePortfolio that included an introductory 3-5 minute web-streamed video highlighting their beliefs about education. Semi-structured interviews with participating principals, who represented a variety of school types, addressed the potential use of ePortfolios and introductory reflective videos in the hiring process. In contrast to the extremely minimal use of binder based and traditional electronic portfolios, 93% of participating principals reported they would use the introductory video and 83% reported they would use other parts of the ePortfolio when making hiring decisions. Moreover, the course instructor reported that students appeared to take the e-portfolio assignment more seriously, work harder, and reflect more deeply then previous students. This session will present a number of additional findings supported by rich qualitative data, and offer practical suggestions for designing ePortfolios that include introductory videos. Examples of ePortfolios with introductory videos will be shared in the conference presentation.
Location
Room 1220 B
Recommended Citation
Hartwick, James M. M., "Teacher Candidates ePortfolios: How Can Teacher Educators Make Them More Valuable in the Hiring Process?" (2015). SoTL Commons Conference. 161.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2015/161
Teacher Candidates ePortfolios: How Can Teacher Educators Make Them More Valuable in the Hiring Process?
Room 1220 B
This SoTL case study examined how two teacher educators enhanced their practice and the work of pre-service student teachers by researching and improving the structure of the required capstone portfolio assignment. Presently, administrators report to rarely use paper based or electronic portfolios when selecting future teachers. Pre-service teachers in a special course offered during student teaching, created an ePortfolio that included an introductory 3-5 minute web-streamed video highlighting their beliefs about education. Semi-structured interviews with participating principals, who represented a variety of school types, addressed the potential use of ePortfolios and introductory reflective videos in the hiring process. In contrast to the extremely minimal use of binder based and traditional electronic portfolios, 93% of participating principals reported they would use the introductory video and 83% reported they would use other parts of the ePortfolio when making hiring decisions. Moreover, the course instructor reported that students appeared to take the e-portfolio assignment more seriously, work harder, and reflect more deeply then previous students. This session will present a number of additional findings supported by rich qualitative data, and offer practical suggestions for designing ePortfolios that include introductory videos. Examples of ePortfolios with introductory videos will be shared in the conference presentation.
