Disruptive Innovation in Technology (EDLD 5305) gave me the opportunity really dig into the topic of ePortfolios much more. In this course, I had to develop an innovation plan, write a proposal, create a call-to-action video, and gather research in the form of a literature review. Probably the most useful part of this course was also the most challenging — the Lit Review. Having never written a literature review AND having never written anything formal in APA format, I was initially concerned about completing this project successfully. However, writing this literature review has been the single most helpful thing that I have done in the program so far.
The purpose of my literature review was to examine research related to the implementation of electronic portfolios (ePortfolios) in higher education environments. This review examined three aspects of ePortfolio usage related to improving digital fluency, measuring learning, and supporting faculty teaching in blended learning formats. The research showed that providing students an electronic platform in which they can share their work can allow them to express themselves, reflect upon their work, and share their accomplishments with others. The topic of my review was prompted from the 2018 Horizon Report (Becker et al., 2018) which states the following:
Of the 55 million jobs that must be filled by 2020, 5 million requiring postsecondary credential are estimated to go unfilled due to new job creation and Baby Boomers leaving the workforce. Although this may suggest a gap between qualified graduates and workplace needs, some instead posit a communications gap in learners’ abilities to articulate what they have learned and connect it to workforce needs (p. 18)
Beyond just writing the literature review itself, doing the research that went into the literature review has helped me tremendously so far. I tapped into those same sources numerous times in the remaining portion of EDLD 5305 and even a few times in EDLD 5302. I used Zotero to save and manage all of my primary sources all of my courses, and I would imagine that this existing research and additional research will continue to be helpful to me in other courses as I continue moving forward in the DLL program.
The following posts are part of EDLD 5305 – Disruptive Innovation in Technology.
References
Becker, S. A., Brown, M., Dahlstrom, E., Davis, A., DePaul, K., Diaz, V., & Pomerantz, J. (2018). NMC horizon report: 2018 higher education edition. Retrieved from https://library.educause.edu/~/media/files/library/2018/8/2018horizonreport.pdf