Student ePortfolios for National Standards Using WebCT’s Student Presentation Tool
Emi Ochiai Ahn 
Mesa Community College, Foreign Language Department
emi.ahn@mcmail.maricopa.edu
http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~emiahn
SenseiOnline
Thursday, August 19, 2004 1pm (Arizona Time)

Abstract

This paper will first address the importance of an explicit presentation of the National Standards for Foreign Languages (5 C’s) to students. Teachers should discuss the 5 C’s with students, instead of just quietly implementing the 5 C’s into their teaching. To assess student performance on the 5 C’s, ePortfolios are ideal, so in the second part of the paper, the benefits of ePortfolios will be discussed. The portfolios include compositions, graphics, video clips, and sound files. WebCT’s Student Presentation tool works well for students to create their ePortfolios. The conclusion will include a discussion of student reactions to the project.

Introduction

The National Standards for Foreign Languages, commonly known as the 5 C’s, have been the backbone of foreign language education in the United States. This paper will address the importance of an explicit presentation of the standards to students. Teachers should discuss the 5 C’s with students, instead of just quietly implementing the 5 C’s into their teaching. This approach makes students’ learning more goal-oriented.  Student portfolios are ideal to assess student performance on the 5 C’s because of the consistency between the philosophies of the National Standards and the characteristics of portfolio assessments. Recent technologies have made it possible for students to create portfolios in an electronic format, that is, ePortfolios, instead of traditional, paper portfolios. The benefits of ePortfolios include accessibility, convenience, and inclusion of graphics, video clips, and sound files. WebCT’s Student Presentation tool works well for students to create their ePortfolios.  EPortfolios require cyber space. The use of the cyber space in the WebCT’s Student Presentation tool widens both students’ and teachers’ accessibility and convenience. The feedback from the second semester Japanese students at Mesa Community College will be reported. According to the feedback, the ePortfolios seem to work well when they are planned to closely align with the course curriculum and effectively assess students’ skills described in the National Standards.  In other words, the feedback shows that the ePortfolios are worth implementing in language courses.

Tell Your Students about the 5 C’s

The National Standards for Foreign Languages identify five different competencies; Communication, Cultures, Comparisons, Connections, and Communities (the 5 C’s). Since the standards were first established, they have been gradually and ubiquitously disseminated among language teachers, many of whom have recognized the importance of the standards, reflecting the 5 C’s in their curriculums and incorporating the 5 C’s into their teaching to make sure that students become skillful in all five areas.  My proposal is to go further and view students as team members in the project of improving their learning. Why not have students be more responsible for their own learning? A very effective way to encourage student responsibility is to tell students directly what the 5 C’s are to the students.

Portfolios as Assessment for the National Standards

Student portfolio assessments are an ideal tool to measure student performance in the 5 C’s because the benefits of student portfolio assessment and the philosophy behind the National Standards have many aspects in common. A side-by-side comparison of quotes from Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21^st Century (1999) with Weber’s highlights of portfolio assessments (1999) shows commonalities:
 

The National Standards for Foreign Languages	Weber’s highlights of portfolio assessments
“…communicate…in a variety of settings.”	Student’s deep involvement in their own learning
“…look beyond (students’) customary borders…”	Students’ freedom to challenge, to go beyond
“…benefit from the development and maintenance of proficiency…”	Emphasizes development and progress
“…learn in a variety of ways and settings…”	Students’ uniqueness, diversity and specialty (multiple intelligences)
“…is tied to program models that incorporate effective strategies, assessment procedures, and technologies..”	Goal-oriented
“…develops and enhances basic communication skills and higher order thinking skills….”	Higher thinking skills

The Standards and the portfolios both emphasize 1) students’ main motivation to communicate, 2) students’ desire to learn more, 3) student skill, 4) students’ individuality, 5) the power of goals, and 6) critical thinking. Consequently, portfolio assessments effectively put the National Standards into the center of teaching. Why ePortfolio?

The electronic version of portfolios, widely known as ePortfolios, maintains all the benefits of regular paper portfolios and exceeds them in convenience. Figure 1 shows the comparison between regular portfolios and ePortfolios (Ahn & Foard, 2003). First, ePortfolios are more accessible. As long as the Internet is available, they can be seen by anyone, anytime, and anywhere. This convenience allows students to edit their work, teachers to monitor their students’ work (and often edit it), and other people, including students’ families, classmates and teachers’ colleagues, to evaluate the work and enjoy exploring the project. Since ePortfolios do not physically exist, we can save the space and weight of bulky binders.  EPortfolios also have conveniences particularly beneficial to language learners: the foremost is that sound and video files, which are essential for language learning, can be easily attached. 

Feedback from Students Survey Questions

To measure the degree of the success of the student ePortfolio project, a survey was conducted in Spring 2003 at a Mesa Community College elementary Japanese II course. There were fifteen subjects. The following questions were asked:

• Please state if you would implement the ePortfolio project if you were a teacher.   
• Please write what the objectives of the ePortfolio project were, to your knowledge.
• Please state what you liked about the ePortfolio project.
• Please state what you did not like about the ePortfolio project.

Summary of the Survey Results

As for Question 1, eleven students answered, yes. The following are examples answers for Question 2 with positive reactions:

• To show that you were using Japanese outside the classroom and understood Japanese culture.
• To meet foreign language standards and to get us to use our knowledge of the Japanese language and culture.
• To show that you can use and recognize the five parts of a language.
• To be able to share what you have learned about Japanese outside of the classroom.
• To show you have an understanding of Japanese/Japan’s culture beyond the textbook.
• To display a working knowledge of Japanese by showing applications of knowledge in both school and personal manners.
• To convey what cultural knowledge was gained over the semester, promoting cultural awareness andlanguage comprehension.
• To be able to associate it with everyday life.
• To show what you learned about the Japanese language and culture this semester.
• To display knowledge of Japanese language and culture in a computer format.

The students with negative reactions also said:

• To represent what we have learned throughout the semester.
• Improving our cultural awareness.
• To show a visual representation of the students knowledge of the Japanese language and culture.
• I was really confused.  I think I did okay by showing lots of information from different online sources.

These comments indicate that generally the students understood the main objectives of this project. For Question 3: Please state what you liked about the ePortfolio project, students with positive reactions made comments like the following:

• I liked researching information and typing it out.  I also liked using Japanese outside of class.
• I learned more about Japanese culture.
• Good way to incorporate technology.  Also good for making students widen their knowledge of Japan.
• I like the freedom of what students can do for the ePortfolio…they are all unique to each student’s experience.
• Comparison between two cultures.
• Chance to do something creative and “think outside of the box” somewhat.

Students appreciated that this project allowed them freedom, creativity, and individuality. However, in response to Question 4, students also said:

• Confusing.
• The idea was shaky….I think it might need to be explained better.
• I did not like the computer lab hours.  I don’t have a computer...Not everyone is good at computer (like me).
• …It was mostly time consuming.
• …people who are not good with computer have a disadvantage. 

Implications of the Survey Results

The results of the survey show that students generally understand the importance of the objectives of the project and enjoy creating their ePortfolios. They realize that ePortfolios give them freedom and allow them to express their own creativity and uniqueness.

Recommendation to Colleagues

Based on the results of student surveys on the project and my experiences, the following points are recommended to colleagues: 1) give students clear instructions and ample time to do their work within their class time; 2) provide resources for those who need extra technical help; and 3) align the course curriculum with the ePortfolio project to reduce students’ work load.

Conclusion

Overall, by seeing students as team members in their learning and explicitly telling them what the National Standards are, the teacher can make language learning more goal-oriented. To achieve the goals, that is, the 5 C’s, ePortfolios, which students enjoy making, are an ideal tool. The WebCT’s Student Presentation tool will help both the students and teacher, thus making the ePortfolio project more successful. Student folders are easily accessed, so the teacher can monitor and edit students work anytime and anywhere. The teacher can also assist students with copyright issues with little trouble. When the 5 C’s and the skills to produce ePortfolios are explained carefully, WebCT ePortfolios provide an excellent tool for language learning and assessment. 

References

Ahn, Emi O. & Foard, M. (2003). PowerPoint Presentation. ePortfolios for National Standards for Foreign Languages. Rocky Mountain Regional Japan Seminar.

Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21^st Century. (1999). National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project.

Weber, Ellen. (1999). Student Assessment That Works: A Practice Approach. Needham Heights, MA: Pearson Allyn & Bacon.