Update: The podcast audio file was borked (thanks for the heads up, Brian!) so if you downloaded a 6 minute version, it's truncated. The whole thing should be 18 minutes long, and is available here. Sorry about that...

So, I'm still not using the computer when I'm "off duty", but that doesn't mean I can't stretch out on the couch with my iPod and TuneTalk microphone and think out loud about stuff after Evan's gone to bed...

I actually started this podcast as an offline notebook page, on the bus ride home on Friday. Then, I did more thinking about it, and read some of Nona Lyons' With Portfolio in Hand, and wound up rambling into my iPod...

In this episode, I talk about two topics. First "How do you find time to blog?", and second "Thoughts on ePortfolios"

Here's the download, or if you're listening along in iTunes, you've already got it.

Since both started out as offline notebook pages, here are the pages in raw form, as well as cleaned up versions for searchability.

How do you find time to blog?ePortfolioThoughts

How do you find time to blog?

  • Sparked by a conversation with Patti while waiting for a meeting (ironically, about ePortfolios, hence part 2)
  • Short answer: "I don't (find time to blog). It's an interstitial activity."
    • in the time-between-time
    • a minute here, a minute there...
    • slowly build up a body of work that acts simultaneously as
      • outboard brain
      • framework for collaboration and dissemination
      • a fluid, practical eportfolio
      • scaffolding for personal and professional reflection
      • indispensable tool for structuring info + knowledge
    • and, if it's shared, so others can build on what I write
      • value added by each user (comments, trackbacks/links, emails
      • contribute to, and help build/sustain a community of practice
      • reputation building/management - personal, and professional
  • semi-formal thinking
    • because it's "public" it helps to direct streams of thought, to produce tighter, more coherent writing
  • it's become part of what I do - not an additional task
  • now, it's just a part of my thinking process

Thoughts on ePortfolio

  • ePortfolio as a slice across all of a person's online works
    • blog
    • Flickr
    • del.icio.us
    • ...
  • use an "eportfolio" tag in all of these tools, and use something like SuprGlu to gather pieces together - Small Pieces Loosely Joined
  • foster collaboration/review/reflection
  • professional development vs. compliance
    • ePortflio as a tool/process - a verb, not a noun. journey, not destination. process, not product
    • should be an optional activitiy - force people to do it, and it becomes meaningless
    • must be flexible - structure, content, design
    • able to opt-out, but you would then lose benefits of community/culture of professional development (but that should be a decision made by the individual)
  • ePortfolio as theoretical process
    • critical thinking about what best represents you
    • pedagogical design/showcase
    • can't be represented by a simple fill-in-the-blanks "template" ePortfolio
  • ePortfolio review
    • by peers
    • to foster discussion/reflection
    • how about an "ePortfolio club" where students get together to critique ePortfolios (what goes into them, design, etc...)
  • "Mass Amateurization" - where an amateur is able to easily reach ~80% of the quality of a professional, due to increased effectiveness of tools.