My innovation project as a whole has been going extremely well. This is something that I want to execute next year and the years to come. I have really enjoyed exploring technology and ePortfolios for the past year. I have gotten a lot better at creating and maintaining my own personal ePortfolio. I have added interesting articles and discussed topics that appeal to educators. I have also added all of the content on my twitter, which I have been using as a Professional Learning Network.
I have actually already rolled out my innovation project to my students. We are using our ePortfolios to measure our writing growth. I want them to see their gains in English. We have been using Weebly for our ePortfolios because it is free and the easiest to navigate. My personal ePortfolio is located on WordPress, but WordPress is costly for some of my students.
There are several more steps involved in my innovation plan. Eventually, I want the students to have different examples of their essays in their ePortfolio, this will help them in their future English classes and even in their higher education career. So far they have posted two of their narratives, after they were taken through the entire writing process. After the essays were revised and edited. This is also helpful for the students to reference in order to prepare for the English EOC and college admission essays.
There was a study done by Zeigner and Andrade on how ePortfolios can assist with increasing management, planning and organization.
“The objective of this study was to examine the extent to which team ePortfolios helped students develop skills related to the major managerial functions—planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. While research exists regarding the value of ePortfolios and also the value of teamwork generally, it has not focused on how team ePortfolios involving collaboration on artifact creation and reflection on team processes can help students develop employer-valued skills.”(Andrade & Zeigner).
My innovation project has forced me to think outside of the box and increased my critical thinking skills. What worked was me not being afraid of failure. Staying true to my ideas and being organized was one of the biggest things that helped in my success.
While it is currently ongoing and not all the way completed. I think it has been a learning experience. It has taught me patience and perseverance because it was not a project that could be done overnight, it took time. I also had to walk my students through the process. Although they are good with technology, this was a new concept for them.
Now that I can reflect on my innovation plan, a few of my improvements include adding more professional edited videos to my presentations. I would like to learn more about iMovie and Adobe, so I can increase my knowledge and navigate through them easier. I want to eventually be able to make sophisticated and professional videos.
Some of the lessons I have learned are the importance of understanding trial and error. Sometimes when we try new things our plans will not always work out how we want it. This is actually okay because it teaches us lessons for the next time. I have realized that my innovation plan process has improved entirely since I began working on it the first semester. My thoughts are now more clear and organized. I am also not afraid of failure.
I am promoting my innovation plan through my professional learning networks, through my colleagues and also my district. I will also showcase my students’ ePortfolios in professional development, so other colleagues can see the positive effects of ePortfolios. I will also project my personal ePortfolio to them as well. I personally think ePortfolios are good for everyone to have.
Next time I am going to execute my innovation plan a lot sooner, because it’s a timely project. My innovation plan involved very thorough planning and some of my executions did not go as planned. I need more time. I am currently still working on the innovation plan and Graduate School is coming to an end. But it is fine, because I know how to create an innovation plan that works!
Cited Sources
Andrade, M., & Zeigner, S. (2021). Team ePortfolios in Management Education: Insights into Students’ Skill Development. E-Journal of Business Education and Scholarship of Teaching, 15(1), 40–54.
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