Walden Claims Graduate Students Don't Have Different Learning Styles

After many emails I finally got an answer to my question regarding how Walden can go against everything they teach us in our classes.  Now, I got an answer, I didn't say I got a good answer.

Here was the response I received today (apparently as adults we no longer have learning preferences or needs-although research would prove this wrong in a heartbeat, and we no longer need to have meaningful authentic tasks-and we can be assessed on things the university has not addressed and that STILL qualifies them to be accredited)  I will admit, they attempted to answer this question to cover their behinds..but I ask you, how does this reply sit with you?  After all, I can see how she may agree with this, she has NEVER taught in the elementary or high school setting (and yet claims to understand what teachers are faced with on a day to day basis).  

Ms. Hart,

I encourage you to read (or re-read) the entire section on assessments in the M.S. in Education Candidate Handbook.  As mentioned in my initial email below, Dr. Thurmond, the Dean, and I have provided you with the answer to your question around assessments in the program.

Also, I really want to caution you against comparing the teaching and learning methodologies faculty utilize with our M.S. in Education candidates (adult learners in a graduate program) to how one would teach students in a P-12 system (children).    There are distinct differences in teaching and learning methodologies for children and adults, which is why you will find we have numerous programs that focus on teaching children and programs that focus on teaching  adults.   

So, in my final response to your question,  “...how Walden can justify its practices (the portfolio specifically) going against the very principles they teach us in class (differentiated assignments and assessments to meet the diverse needs of students)”.  My answer is this,  we are teaching adult candidates in a graduate program, and the learning and teaching theories for teaching children in a P-12 setting should not apply to teaching adults in a graduate program. 

Lastly, I have to disagree with you that social change was not addressed, or explained, in any of your courses.   It is covered throughout the program, from beginning to end.  I am confident that it is covered in EDUC 6610, the Walden Catalog and Student Handbook, the M.S. in Education Candidate Handbook, every syllabus in the program, and the WaldenU.edu website-- http://www.waldenu.edu/about/social-change 

----------------------------------------------------------

Thank you,
Kelley Costner, Ed.D.
Associate Dean, Undergraduate & Master's Programs

Walden University

The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership

Walden's Portfolio Goes Against Every Principle They Have Taught Us

After getting replies from the Walden employees trying to answer some of my questions (while I feel they are totally avoiding answering others-specifically how they can go against the very principles they teach us in class by assessing us ALL the same way (papers) and only providing one form of assessment-they truly aren't meeting the needs of diverse learners like they expect us to do.) I have to question whether or not I'm the only one that feels Walden's Portfolio is meaningless busywork.  Although I have had numerous emails regarding this, and  a number of people respond to my initial post about this, it is safe to say that I am not alone in feeling this way.

This week one of my classmate's posted a question regarding what is due for the third transition point and another classmate responded. I must say, the response really sums up how the students feel about this portfolio process.  I have removed their names for privacy sake.

I would love to know how simply assessing us on standards that are not covered in our classes meets accreditation criteria.  Simply stating whether or not their students can meet the INTASC standards and NCATE standards does not in any way show that Walden is responsible for our learning......where is your pre-assessment Walden (you teach us this is best practice), where is your formative assessment along the way?  Where is your proof that you are responsible for our knowledge??

Walden-Do they value their own writing center??

As I was reading the numerous pages for this Field Experience 2 and the 13 page rubric that goes with it I found it interesting that the links Walden provides in the rubric are to the Purdue University writing center, not Walden's.  I agree, the Purdue Owl site is much more user friendly and helpful than Walden's but I was surprised to see a University so openly admitting that their writing resources are lacking when compared to others.

I do appreciate Walden providing us with the best links....I just found it interesting that they must promote another writing center, leaving one to believe they feel Walden's is inadequate.

Walden Providing False Information (Again)

As I was reviewing my course announcements I noticed that Walden has provided us with false information.  In my 8th course, 6713, I found an announcement that states assignments are weighted and that we only would have THREE applications/assignments in the course.  However, this has not been the case.  Curiosity got the best of me and I checked my previous class since we still have access to that, and it also has the same announcement!  Technically, I would think that if we would have argued this, we could have had a leg to stand on, and maybe only would have had to complete three assignments instead of 7+.  I contacted my current professor and immediately the announcement was removed from my current course (it was not posted by my current prof, it says it was posted by the course administrator).  I did copy this before it was deleted however.  Also, I have a screen shot of the same message posted in my previous course.

Come on Walden, get it together......

·       Posted by:Course Administrator 045

Posted to: EDUC-6713I-2,Intgr Tech Across Cntent Areas.2012 Fall Sem 09/04-12/23-PT4

·       Information on Grading

Posted on: Monday, July 16, 2012

Weighted Grading

Please note that this course contains weighted grading. Within the Syllabus, you will see that assignments are weighted differently depending on their type. The total points achieved for each assignment will be weighted based on the percentage values noted. The following table gives an example of the type of weighted grading that you might see throughout your program. In this example, you will notice that the total point value of the Discussion assignments is 32 points; however, the Discussions are worth 40% instead of 32% because weighted grading is being used. Your Syllabus will always provide the specific grading information for each course.

Example

Assignment Type	Points	Weighted Percentage	What This Means
Discussion 8 Discussions	4 points each x 8 = 32 points	5% each x 8 = 40%	Each of the 8 eight Discussions is worth 4 points and 5% of your total grade. Therefore, the maximum possible points for the Discussions are 32 points and they are weighted at 40% of your total grade.
Application Assignment 3 Application Assignments	4 points each x 3 = 12 points	20% each x 3 = 60%	Each of the 3 three Application Assignments is worth 4 points and 20% of your total grade. Therefore, the maximum possible points for the Assignments are 12 points and they are weighted at 60% of your total grade.
Total		100%

Posted by:Course Administrator 048

Posted to: EDUC-6713I-2,Intgr Tech Across Cntent Areas.2012 Fall Sem 09/04-12/23-PT4

Same Message in 6712

If I remember correctly, we were told this very same information in previous classes (I have all of my papers somewhere I just don't have time to look through them at this point)....interesting how they preach the importance of providing accurate information in their student requirements, yet do not do the same.  But, all Education majors attending Walden know that if there is one thing Walden has perfected it is going against the very principles and standards that they hold their students accountable.

EDUC 6713 Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas-Course Reflection

As my eighth Walden course, Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas (EDUC 6713), comes to a close, it is time to reflect over everything I have learned.  In the early weeks of the course, the main focus was on how to be a self-directed learner.  Our world is constantly changing and in order to meet our students’ needs, educators must continually seek out new strategies and ideas to ensure we are meeting our students’ needs and preparing them for their futures.  As Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer say, “learning to teach generally, and to teach with technology specifically, are lifelong journeys” (2009, p. 1). 

To help us stay focused on being a self-directed learner, our text introduced us to the GAME plan.  This plan involves setting goals, taking action, and monitoring and evaluating professional growth (Cennamo et al., 2009).  We established our own GAME plan based on the NETS standards for teachers identified by the International Society for Technology in Education.  The standards I chose to focus on were:

Standard Two-Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS-S (ISTE, 2012)

Standard Five- Teachers continually improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources (ISTE, 2012)

Have I learned everything I need to in these two areas?  Absolutely not.  However, I have learned a great deal through this process.  I have learned that the timeline I set up was crucial to helping me stay on task.  As teachers, we all know how it is easy to push things aside as new challenges or situations with students evolve daily.  Our schedules are so hectic that if something is not penciled in and have time set-aside specifically for it, there is a good chance it will not happen.  The timeline helped me to force myself to work on these goals while juggling the great demands of teaching on top of my Walden graduate work. 

I have also learned that sometimes the web is more reliable than working with people in person.  Just as I mentioned before, our schedules are hectic and things come up.  I have found searching the web for resources to be more successful than contacting individuals regarding ideas for authentic tasks in my classroom.  The web is always available, I can access it in the middle of the night, or whenever works best for me.  It also allows me to save or store the data that I find, increasing the likelihood that I will remember these great ideas and will utilize them in my classroom.  I have also found that searching the web with a specific topic in mind is key to finding relevant lessons, and to help me use my time more efficiently.  Simply searching for “authentic tasks+5^th grade” provides too many results and sorting through them can easily become overwhelming.  I have found many great resources (check out my previous posts for a list of math lessons I found), now I just need to create a system to store and organize it all (this is still an area I’m working on).   

My two goals for my GAME plan go hand in hand.  Through professional development, as well as independent research, I am learning new ways to create authentic learning experiences in my classroom.  Then, I am sharing what I have learned through informal discussions with my colleagues and administration, sharing emails with tips of how to use a new piece of technology, and through presentations.  This process has introduced me to a wealth of resources, it has helped me to help my students make the connection between what we are learning in class and how it compares to real-life, and it has helped me rekindle my spark and excitement for teaching once again.

My GAME plan was set up to allow me to juggle my busy schedule right now, as it allowed me to work on developing these skills gradually.   I feel that it was successful and needs few to no adjustments.  My GAME plan was manageable, yet resulted in numerous ways for me to integrate technology into my lessons and to create authentic tasks for my students to develop their math skills.  This was such a beneficial experience that I would like to continue with the same plan in the future to continue to add to my teaching repertoire. 

 During the process, I sometimes lost sight of my goals for the GAME plan.  If it had not been for the timeline I created (and the course assignments) I would have forgotten about it and pushed it aside.  It is not that the goals were not important to me; it was simply due to the fact that I had more pressing concerns at the time.  This made me reflect on how our students must feel when they are given assignment after assignment, with little to no choice or personal interest.  Also, it made me realize that giving students choice does not ensure they will become engaged or find the material meaningful in any way.  I had a choice on which standards to focus on, yet I was not driven to pursue these goals simply because something else was taking precedence in my life. 

Although it is impossible to create learning experiences that cover the standards and engage ALL students ALL the time, I do feel that the GAME plan can be a beneficial tool in the classroom.  By teaching students how to set goals, create a plan, and monitor and evaluate their progress, we are teaching them the skills to be lifelong learners.  Once they have learned the steps necessary to acquire new knowledge they will apply this to the content in which they find most interesting and will seek out new knowledge throughout their life.  This day in age information is at our fingertips; there is no longer the mindset that everything needs to be memorized.  The GAME plan is a tool teachers can use to help students learn how to learn, a skill that will help them in every area of their life. 

Thanks to my Walden courses I have been making numerous adjustments to my instructional practice regarding technology integration.  With every week that has passed I have learned many new ways to integrate technology.  My classes all use Edmodo to organize assignments and to communicate with others outside of class, they have created wikis, Prezis, digital graphs, and more.  I have the reputation of being THE technology user in the elementary, and many turn to me for ideas or advice.  Technology is a great way to give students the power to take charge of their learning.  I have also found that simply giving students a new technology tool can grasp their interest in such a way that they become so engrossed in the task that they often forget that they are learning. 

This course has been one of my favorites.  I loved learning about project-based learning (PBL) and how to incorporate the many new technologies into my classroom.  By following the GAME plan, I have been able to focus directly on my goals and to strengthen my abilities to create authentic learning experiences for students while integrating the 21^st Century skills they will need to be successful in their technology-filled future. 

References

Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer.  (2009).  Technology integration for meaningful classroom use:  A standards-based approach.  (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.).  Belmont, CA:  Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

International Society for Technology in Education.  (2008).  National education standards for teachers (NETS-T).  Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers

Walden Portfolio Process-Opinions Please

Hi there! I'm hoping to hear from a number of Walden students who are currently working towards their Masters in Education.  My question for you is, "What do you think of the portfolio process?
Do you think this is truly a valuable learning experience or is it better identified as excessive busy work?"

I am of the opinion that the portfolio is not designed to do what it is supposed to do.  I feel like its greatest accomplishments are simply stressing out students and causing hours upon hours of writing while taking precious time away from our own students.

Here are some of my opinions-I'm sure I'll add more as we go....

1.  The portfolio does not accurately demonstrate our teaching abilities, merely our ability to write papers.
However-our class assignments show that we are now capable of creating wikis, blogs (I had never really heard much about blogs until Walden, and look at me now!), VoiceThreads, Podcasts, electronic concept maps, participating in online discussions and collaborating globally-skills that we demonstrate we now have, an also demonstrate our understanding of how such items can positively impact our students' learning through the already created reflections.

2.  The portfolio does not meet the needs of diverse learners.
(I for one, struggle to write papers, however I am assessed time and again on my ability to write and to use APA formatting despite the numerous resources Walden has had us view regarding ways to use technology to demonstrate understanding in other ways.)

3.  I value our coursework and feel that I have learned amazing things about how to integrate technology into my classroom.  I have put in countless hours every week (30-40hrs each week) on weekly coursework, and I value the assignments.  If the assignments are truly quality in nature (which I think they are even though they don't meet the various needs of Walden's students) then they should be sufficient for our portfolio artifacts.

4.  Research shows that portfolios are most effective when teachers are knowledgable about the requirements and able to offer advice for students.  However, very few Walden professors have any access to this process at all.   I have contacted the portfolio support and often get vague answers that don't answer anything until I express my dissatisfaction with their response.

5.  Portfolio scoring is subjective in nature-not offering an accurate evaluation process.

6.  I thought our resources stated that assessments should be part of the learning process, not separate.  If we were able to just upload artifacts from our courses then I feel this would be the case.  However, since we are to do so much stuff aside from coursework to meet the requirements for the portfolio I do not feel Walden is "practicing what it preaches".

7.  Walden claims to be student centered...with the immense amount of anxiety and stress shared about these portfolios, it is evident that the process needs to be reconsidered.

8.  Research also shows that in order for portfolios to be successful, students must clearly understand the requirements.  The steps in taskstream are sometimes difficult to follow and I feel the descriptions of portfolio artifacts are so wordy (some are 40-75 pages), and the terminology used is such that it makes it very difficult to clearly understand what we are being asked to do.

9.  The time commitment required to complete the portfolio artifacts is not manageable.  (I personally have to take time off work-away from my students just to complete these at a very basic level-this goes against Walden's Student-Centered Motto "With close to 85% of our students pursuing their degrees while working full time or self-employed, Walden is dedicated to supporting busy adult learners, just like you, every step of the way....Our flexible online format offers an engaging online learning model that is designed to fit your busy schedule, which means you can participate in classes on a weekly basis whenever it's convenient for you.")

**I feel that most of us are really feeling the pressure of these transition points.  I don't know that anything will change, but I feel I must do something to at least let our voices be heard.  Nothing will change if we don't speak up.

I am currently working on a letter to send to the Dean of Education.  If you have any other ideas or comments, or quotes to back up these opinions, please share them.  I also encourage you to contact the Dean (kate.steffens@waldenu.edu) stating any concerns you may have.
I am asking for your input on the current portfolio process. I am also asking for you to post a sentence or two regarding your stance, whether you value it as a valuable learning experience or simply excessive busy work.

If you agree with these comments, but don't know what else to say, you may also just reply with a brief, "I agree".
I also encourage you to let others know about this posting, I want feedback from as many Walden students as possible.  Please let me know if you have any ideas of other actions we should take.

To the Walden administrators, I know that Walden's motto is that they are student centered.  I encourage you to demonstrate this by creating and sharing a survey that allows us to share our honest opinions regarding the portfolio process in regards to our learning experiences here at Walden and then sharing the responses with us.  Please select the questions carefully as to give an accurate picture of our perceptions, and not to skew the results in one way or another.

Mindy Hart


Here is my final letter to the Dean:  (It is not perfect, but I don't have time to make it perfect at this point.)

November 24, 2012

Dear Dean of Education,

Walden University is proud to offer higher education while being student-centered.  They proudly boast on the website, that “We understand how important it is to provide you with the resources and services you need to meet the needs of both your professional and personal lives”.  It is in regards to this claim that I find myself contacting you with my concerns about the current portfolio process, questioning why our coursework is not sufficient for portfolio artifacts, and asking you to reconsider the requirements for portfolio artifacts.    

Although I do value portfolios as an effective way to demonstrate growth, I do not feel that the current portfolio requirements are accomplishing what it was designed to accomplish.  As our Walden courses have taught us, “Making an educational experience relevant and meaningful should include making the method of assessment relevant and meaningful” (as cited in Lambert, DePaepe, Lambert & Anderson, 2008, p. 77).  At this point it seems the portfolio’s greatest accomplishments are stressing out students and causing hours upon hours of writing papers while taking precious time away from the students in our classrooms.  

I would like you to consider the use of our Walden coursework to meet the requirements for the portfolio for these reasons:

1. The current portfolio doesn’t accurately demonstrate our teaching abilities-merely our writing abilities.

“Student assessments that are limited to a single medium immediately impose barriers that prevent some students from accurately demonstrating their skills and knowledge” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 125). The current portfolio process and rubric more accurately assess our abilities to write papers, and follow APA guidelines instead of our ability to create meaningful learning experiences for our students.  I, for one, am not a strong writer, so the fact that the portfolio is comprised of extensive papers, limits my ability to demonstrate mastery of the content to the fullest extent.  Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer state that, “You should use a variety of assessment formats and tools that are matched to your students’ learning goals and that provide an adequate picture of student understanding” (2009, p. 143).  They go on to say that, “Assessments are useless unless you score them to evaluate students’ progress and determine whether your students learned what they set out to learn”  (2009, p. 153).  I ask you to reflect, is the portfolio really assessing what we have learned or is it just assessing our ability to understand murky directions and the ability to regurgitate what we think they want us to say? 

“Assessments should be woven throughout instruction to serve many purposes and can take many forms.  Just as you should vary your instruction and select multiple methods for presenting your instruction, you will draw upon multiple assessment formats and tools to support them” (Cennamo, 163).  Our assignments through our Walden courses have provided a variety of assessment and varying ways for us to demonstrate our newly acquired knowledge.  Our courses have introduced us to many new forms of technology and have required us to partake in authentic experiences by engaging with the technology and gaining a solid understanding of 21^st century skills.  Our weekly assignments have demonstrated our ability to create wikis, blogs, podcasts, VoiceThreads and our ability to collaborate with a global network.  The reflection component of these assignments demonstrates our ability to apply our newly acquired skills to design meaningful experiences for our students, which directly aligns with NCATE standard 1 that “requires teacher candidates to demonstrate that they are able to facilitate student learning of the subject matter…through the integration of technology” (NCATE, 2012). 

It is amazing to me how many of my colleagues and I have worked hard to earn and maintain a 4.0 in our classes but still risk not getting our degree due to the portfolio process.  If we have demonstrated that we are able to utilize these various technologies and that we are able to create learning experiences for our students using the technology, then why is this not sufficient for our portfolio? As students, we greatly value the education we have obtained through our courses; it is unfortunate that Walden does not value these course assignments. 

2. It does not meet the diverse needs of Walden students.

“Culturally responsive pedagogy suggests you have to know and understand the learning styles, preferences, and abilities of your students in order to provide successful learning experiences”  (Cennamo, p. 166).  ISTE NETS-T Standard 4.b indicates that you will address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies”(Cennamo, p. 167).  However the current portfolio falls short of this.  Just as Daniel Broersma, a colleague of mine, shared on my blog post (http://m-hart.blogspot.com/2012/11/walden-portfolio-process-opinions-please.html I encourage you to visit this blog to see other students’ responses as well.  I just poste my initial questions/concerns yesterday and have already had a number of replies in 24 hours) regarding the portfolio process, “it is doing a disservice to us all that every education major must complete the same portfolio.  When we log into the ePortfolio, we must click on the link that clearly states ‘all specializations’ despite the numerous specialization areas Walden offers.” 

Research has shown that,  “For portfolios to be truly authentic, they have to relate to each students’ academic major” (Shavelson & Klein, 2009).  Since the requirements for our portfolio are generic and fall into the cookie cutter, “one size fits all mindset” it is obvious that our current portfolio process falls short of being truly authentic.  However, the assignments that we complete in our courses are specific to our specialization area and demonstrate our abilities using a variety of media.  If these artifacts were utilized in the creation of our portfolio, our assessment process would be more authentic, and student centered, just as Walden has deemed as “best practice”. 

3. Expectations are unclear.

“The guidelines and criteria for the selection of materials contained in the portfolio should be explained and made clear to your students”  (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 152).  The resources to access the directions for our current portfolio are very hard to access and understand.   The descriptions for many of the portfolio artifacts are extremely wordy and may range from 20-45+ pages.  The vocabulary used to describe the requirements is confusing and vague, leaving the students guessing what is expected of them, leading to increased stressed and anxiety.    With every approaching transition point discussion boards are filled with student questions regarding how to understand the directions, and trying to guess what is expected of us.  Tell me, is the purpose of the portfolio to assess our ability to decipher the pages upon pages of vague descriptions, or should the purpose be to demonstrate our abilities to create meaningful and effective lessons for our students?  Is the purpose of this Masters to be a writing scholar or to become a better teacher overall? 

Research shows that portfolios are most effective when teachers are knowledgeable about the requirements and able to offer advice for students.  After contacting numerous professors, it has become evident that very few Walden professors have any access to this process at all.   Many have just redirected us to the portfolio support team, admitting they have no information regarding the portfolio process.  I ask you, if the portfolio is such an important component of our education then why aren’t your professors familiar with the process?   I have contacted the portfolio support team a number of times and have gotten vague answers that did not answer my questions.  Instead I had to contact them again, sharing my dissatisfaction with their response in order to get a reply to my question. 

“Students who understand the goals of their schoolwork are more likely to stay focused, monitor themselves successfully, and drive satisfaction from their practice” (as cited in Cennamo et al., 2009, p. 122).  Throughout the seven courses I have completed, I have found the weekly expectations to be rigorous, yet manageable.  Progressing with each week, and relating to the weekly resources, it has been easy to understand, and recognize the importance of each assignment.   Also, should questions arise, we have had the great support of our professors and our colleagues to assist us with understanding our course requirements and to help us extend our thinking to the next level.   Our coursework and discussions more accurately demonstrate our level of understanding and the ability to apply this new knowledge to our classrooms than the portfolio pieces ever will. 

4. Time

According to the Walden website, 85% of its students are pursuing their degrees while working full time or self-employed.  We are trying to juggle our ever-demanding careers with the rigorous Walden course requirements.  On a daily basis I spend between 10-12 hours every day of the week preparing for the students in my classroom.  I value my learning experiences from Walden and each week I spend a minimum of 35 hours on my weekly Walden coursework, reviewing resources, even the optional resources, writing papers and discussions, and being an active participant in the online forums.  This leaves approximately 7 hours a day left to sleep, commute, pay bills, buy groceries, shower if I’m lucky, and eat (notice I did not mention any free time, exercise, or even time with family).  I have not attended any family events in the past 14 months.  I have missed my grandparents’ 91^st birthday, seeing my cousin who has been teaching in Germany the past 15 years, my husband’s birthday, and I have had to put off starting a family.

The fact that the majority of the artifacts for the portfolio must be completed outside of class causes a great deal of stress and anxiety for students.   There simply isn’t enough time in the day.  There is no time left in the remaining 7 hours a day to put forth the energy and effort needed to complete the portfolio to the degree that is necessary. 

The eighth week of each course is “set aside” for us to work on portfolio assignments, however many of these artifacts claim that they take more than one week to complete.   Most of us have not had one single day off away from Walden work since we began 14 months ago.   I have even utilized the 8^th week of each course and still find myself beyond behind.   I noticed that Walden posted an announcement a few weeks ago that said to relax and rejuvenate over the holiday season.  Unfortunately, we will be unable to relax when we have the stress of portfolio checkpoints 3 and 4 on our shoulders.  I also noticed that the Walden offices were closed for Thanksgiving.  I’m sure this was nice for the Walden employees, however the students still had an enormous amount of work to do. Numerous colleagues are sick from working such hours; some are now on medication for anxiety due to this process.  I ask you, is Walden really living up to its claims that it is designed with working professionals in mind? 

Since the majority of Walden’s students are also working full-time jobs, they simply don’t have the time and energy to create artifacts aside from the weekly assignments.  One study found that, “because they are responsible for applying their knowledge and managing a classroom, students hurriedly completed the tasks and collected the artifacts, detracting from the overall purpose of the e-portfolio”  (Parker, Ndoye, Ritzhaupt, p. 104).  With each portfolio checkpoint I have found that I have had to take days off work, away from my students, to simply complete these tasks, which has had a negative impact on my students’ learning, and goes directly against the school of education’s claim, “our faculty members understand your day-to-day and professional needs”  (Walden University, 2012).

“The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) has played a large role in the rapid increase of e-portfolio use because ‘institutions are expected to use technology to maintain their assessment systems” (Parker, Ndoye, Ritzhaupt, p. 99).  However, according the FAQ page on the NCATE website, it does not require schools to have portfolio assessments (NCATE, 2012).  Portfolios are great way to showcase what we have learned when artifacts are selected appropriately, and I feel that our Walden coursework more accurately demonstrates what we have learned than the current portfolio requirements.  Walden has taught us that technology should be used to do things that are not possible without the use of technology, not simply for the sake of using technology.  The only way our current portfolio supports technology is by allowing us to save our artifacts online, but it does not allow us to use technology to do new things or to demonstrate our competencies using a variety of media. However, our coursework has allowed us to develop 21^st Century Skills to collaborate with peers to make a group wiki, sharing our opinions and viewpoints using VoiceThreads, and allowing our voices to be heard through Podcasts and blogs.  These assignments allow us to learn from others, to extend our thinking, and truly demonstrate what we have learned through our time at Walden. 

As I near the end of my eighth course, I am feeling the immense pressure of the next two checkpoints and felt the need to share my concerns, as well as the concerns of my classmates.  I truly do value my experiences through Walden and I urge you to reconsider the requirements for the portfolio process.   I encourage you to get honest feedback from Education majors on the portfolio process through an open forum (like the one I posted in my blog: http://m-hart.blogspot.com/2012/11/walden-portfolio-process-opinions-please.html), or through a survey.  If the portfolio really does create a valuable learning experience instead of just extra busy work, then this will be revealed in the results of the survey.  I caution you to select questions carefully and to provide sections for open-ended responses to avoid skewing the results.  I also encourage you to conduct research to see what was the determining factor for students who have decided to drop out as well as statistics to show how many education majors pay the fee to have continued access to their portfolio.   This research, with appropriate action will help to meet the needs of Walden’s students, provide insight into student perceptions of the portfolio process, and it may help to improve graduation rates in the future. 

 I found it comforting to know that you have stated that, “There is a strength that comes from just listening to people” (University of Minnesota, 2010).  It is great to have a Dean who is committed to improving the university and staying true to being student-centered.  I do not like to complain but when there is an issue as large as this, I feel I must do my part to make my classmates’ and my voice heard.  I appreciate your time; I will be eagerly awaiting your reply on this important issue. 

Sincerely,

Mindy Hart

References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Lambert, C., DePaepe, J., Lambert, L, & Anderson, D. (2007) e-Portfolios in Action.  Kappa Delta Pi Record.  43. 2. 76-81.  Retrieved from the Education Research Complete database.

NCATE.  (2012).  FAQ of NCATE Standards.  Retrieved from:  http://www.ncate.org/standards/NCATEunitstandards/FAQAboutStandards/tabid/406/default.aspx#faq11

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