MOVING FROM PAPER TO ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIO: PITFALLS AND PROCESS

As teacher preparation institutions (TPI) prepare students for the world of teaching it has become common for students to leave their institutions ready for the classroom as documented in an electronic portfolio, e-portfolio. In an effort to show school district employers and interviewers what the student teacher has accomplished in his/her content area, pedagogical preparation, and student teaching field internship many teacher preparation institutions have transitioned from a paper portfolio to an e-portfolio. This presentation will sequence one teacher preparation university's transition to e-portfolio and will share the sequence and process of that transition. The content of the presentation will help other teacher preparation institutions that are thinking of moving to an e-portfolio or who are in the transition stage as they see the support systems that we had to implement and the problems that we had to overcome as we moved to this expectation and requirement. We will look at the transition through the lens of a university that has successfully moved from the paper portfolio to the e-portfolio. The problems, the obstacles, the interventions put in place to support the transition, the platform that is used, and the successes will be shared in hopes that our process will help institutions that are moving toward an e-portfolio for their student teachers avoid some of our problems and learn from our mistakes.