In response to a
Center for Teaching-sponsored workshop on portfolio-based assessment held in January 2007, ITS-Instructional Services partnered with a number of departments to weigh the viability of commercial electronic portfolio options. The commercial products did not meet the functionality needs of the various end users, so Instructional Services developed a modular electronic portfolio system,
branded as ifolio, that can be easily customized to UI colleges and departments.
The ifolio service provides educators with a solution to four commonly asked questions:
- How do I encourage student reflection?
- How do I fulfill my department’s programmatic goals?
- How do I shape students’ academic paths?
- How do I prepare students for their future?
With the ifolio service:
- Students can post artifacts in any digital form (written, audio, video) to highlight their academic work
- Students reflect on each artifact to demonstrate their awareness of learning objectives and ensure their success within the discipline
- Academic advisors can use ifolio’s academic planning tool to guide students through their learning endeavors
- Students are able to showcase their portfolios for future employment, education or other pursuits
- Each ifolio is dedicated to a department’s programmatic goals, such as benchmarks, outcomes or standards
- Portfolios are ongoing learning records of students’ academic progress
The first application of the ifolio service was piloted in the School of Art and Art History in fall 2008 and received positive feedback. A second pilot was conducted in International Programs in spring 2009, and other departments are considering adopting this system as a tool for assessment, learning, effective academic advising and career planning. ITS-Instructional Services is currently working with the Carver College of Medicine to design an ifolio pilot project for fall 2009. The ifolio service allows students to collaborate electronically by linking carefully chosen academic coursework to prescribed academic unit outcomes or standards, and it allows students to play an active part in seeking, constructing, organizing and synthesizing their learning. For more information – or to inquire about an ifolio demo – please contact Annette Beck in ITS-Instructional Services (annette-beck@uiowa.edu or 319-335-6043).
The TILE Teaching and Learning Portal contains helpful information for instructors at The University of Iowa. Recently, sample course modules designed for the humanities have been added. These modules were developed by staff at The University of Iowa Center for Teaching to address the lack of available resources for teaching the humanities in TILE spaces.
Information Technology Services (ITS) is offering faculty a new way to increase student engagement in the classroom.
Over the winter break, ITS will be upgrading to Elluminate Live! version 9. Elluminate Live! is a virtual-meeting product that allows moderator-led, Internet-based e-learning and real-time collaboration. The product offers options for full duplex audio; sharing PowerPoint presentations; instant messaging; application sharing; breakout rooms; recording sessions for later playback; and more.