Abstract
The Chapter presents strategies for training Masters of Еducation students for the development of digital ecosystems in the open educational environment of Yenisei Siberia with the use of e-portfolio and Open Badges technologies through a special electronic course for students of blended learning model. The preliminary results obtained by the authors based on a Google-survey showed that students demonstrated a high level of satisfaction with learning using e-portfolio and Open Badges technologies in the multicultural digital environment of the Siberian region. This Chapter describes the experience of the School of Education, Psychology, and Sociology in use of e-portfolio technology in the evaluation of educational outcomes, reflection, professional development in the lifelong learning process of future teachers, and the introduction of Open Badges integrated with e-portfolio in the teachers' training course for Bachelor and Master's students.
TopIntroduction
Nowadays e-portfolio is a powerful pedagogical technology for formal and informal education system in the concept of lifelong learning.
There are three key ideas of the strategy of contributing to the open ecosystems. The first is engaging students in the modern digital environment by using e-learning and MOOCs. The second is expansion and opening borders by the methodology of open recognition of the learning outcomes. It involves building trust and digital identity to empower and support students’ engagement. The third is introducing the e-portfolio and Open Badges technologies to students through the special course in Master’s curriculum.
Siberian Federal University is a modern Centre of Excellence in innovation and technology. Development of digital learning environment is a priority for the University. E-portfolio is a vital component of it. It is represented by the resources:
The scheme presents the current e-learning model of SibFU. It includes the actors of teaching-learning process, supported by e-services and connected by various strategies of online communication, assessment and feedback. Professors, implementing the e-courses, get financial bonus from the University administration (Figure 1).
E-portfolio is a powerful pedagogical technology for formal and informal education in the concept of lifelong learning. It is particularly important in the training of our students - future teachers, since the teaching profession requires permanent reflection, personal and professional development.
TopBackground
Electronic portfolio allows students to demonstrate competency as well as academic and professional achievements in an open educational space. The relevance of the e-portfolio technology use is associated with implementation of the principles of competence approach reflected in the academic standards of higher education. The possibility of formative evaluation of educational outcomes of students, with the transformation of the educational process, the transition from control by the organization to self-control by the student, the development of electronic information educational environment are applied (Barrett, 2005; Sweet, 1993, Smolyaninova 2014; 2016).
Individual e-portfolio helps not only to increase the internal motivation of students, fixing deficiencies and problems in their educational program mastering, but also allows to fix personal educational interests, to reflect on educational activities, to analyze their results. The e-portfolio provides multi-dimensional evidence of individual experiences and achievements in lifelong learning, as well as their subsequent integration outside the academic space.
Approaches to the definition of the concept of “e-portfolio” and its main models are described in the works of Barrett (2007), Polat (2007), Siemens (2007), Zubizarreta (2004), Smolyaninova (2011, 2016), etc.
Key Terms in this Chapter
ICT Competence of Future Teachers: An integrative, dynamic personal quality that determines their ability to consciously integrate ICT technologies into professional and social activities for the productive completion of professional tasks.
Digital Framework of Education: A process of providing the sphere of education with methodology and practice of development and optimal use of modern ICT tools in the educational process, focused on the implementation of their didactic advantages in health-saving conditions.
Electronic Educational Environment: A set of electronic information resources, electronic educational resources, information technologies, telecommunications technologies, appropriate technological means to ensure the development of educational programs or modules, as well as students’ communication with faculty and administrative staff and among themselves.
Multimedia e-Portfolio: A multifunctional learning tool that ensures functioning of the appropriate learning environment, personality-oriented and practice-oriented approaches. Electronic portfolio can include animation, audio and video clips published on the Internet and created by students themselves, presentations, images, photos, links to profiles and pages in social networks, author blogs, Internet forums, cloud services.
Blended Learning: A technology based on pedagogical expedient integration of traditional (classroom) and innovative (e-learning) based on the use of didactic ICT capabilities and specially selected pedagogical technologies.
Information Society: A society characterized by a high level of information and telecommunication technologies and their intensive use by citizens, businesses and public authorities.
E-Learning: Organization of educational activities with the use of information contained in databases and used in the implementation of educational programs and ensuring processing of information technologies, technical means, as well as information and telecommunication networks that provide transmission of this information through communication lines, interaction of students and teachers.
Electronic Portfolio (e-Portfolio) of a Future Teacher: A set of educational and cognitive activity outcomes of a student, designed for subsequent analysis and comprehensive assessment of personal and professional development, created using ICT tools, digital resources and services. E-portfolio artifacts (supporting materials: projects, reports, documents, reviews, evidences, products of educational and scientific activities, etc.) are created, modified and presented by the future teacher to support reflection and ensure interaction with the participants of education process.