DRAFT PROPOSAL

ePortfolio Proposal
Draft 2
Sophia Barton-Bucknor
ETEC 590 Graduating Project

Instructor: Franc Feng

Master of Educational Technology
University of British Columbia
June 27, 2015

DRAFT PROPOSAL

Statement of Purpose/Objectives
I am an educator whose experiences span teaching at the secondary and post-secondary levels; but
most of my experience has been in educational quality assurance, and program development and
management. Three to four years ago, my focus broadened to the growing impact of communication
and digital technology within the educational space and I led my organizations foray into this new
direction. I was also the owner of a hobby business that made natural body and hair care products, in
particular body butters. Four years ago, my business partner and I decided to move into the space of
providing online courses for our clients; this was however shelved because we wanted to develop the
skills to do so.
Shortly after I embarked on UBCs MET program for both professional and personal development.
Development and growth often result through a process that incorporates planning, acting, assessing
and adjusting, and reflecting on both the process and the results. The MET program exposed me to new
theories and educational technology tools and resources, challenged my perspectives and application of
old knowledge and ways of doing and helped me to design learning assets and environments that
meld the old with the new.
The purpose of my ePortfolio (eP) is to showcase my development and growth throughout the MET
program, to be a vehicle of critical analysis and reflection of my learning journey, and to demonstrate
my understanding of educational technology theories and growing competence as an educational
technology designer and manager through chosen artifacts.
Audience
The primary audience for my ePortfolio is present and future MET peers, as well as instructors and
evaluators of the program and of the ePortfolio, including TQS evaluators. While I am not teaching in the
public school system, I may return to it in the near future. Other audiences include educators, especially
those with an interest in educational technology, educational technology program managers, family and
friends. I am also an audience for my ePortfolio as it represents and enables iterative continuous quality
improvements through reflection, discovery, and demonstration. This ePortfolio will also be an
excellent artifact that can be repurposed into a professional portfolio.
Metaphor
In draft number 1, I identified the continuous quality improvement (CQI) cycle (plan do assess
reflect) as my metaphor. This is appropriate, given my love for CQI, the my work in this field as a quality
assurance manager and continue to do as an accreditation mentor for the Ministry of Children and
Family Developments child service agencies. However, given the feedback from my peer reviewers and
upon reflection, representing the CQI cycle as a metaphor in my eP design might be challenging. I have
decided instead on another choice; this choice represents another passion that was leveraged into a
hobby business.
I have always dabbled in making beauty products, especially for afro textured hair. Ten years ago when
my husband and I along with our two young kids (ages 5 and 9) migrated to BC, Canada from Jamaica.
One challenge that I did not envision was a lack of products for persons of afro-heritage. This was and
still is especially challenging for those with natural hair; that is not chemically processed hair, which is
very curly (some would say kinky), and for skin that needs be well moisturized or it will appear very ashy,

DRAFT PROPOSAL

given it that is it dark. I along with a friend, who is a clinical researcher, started making our own beauty
products, at first for natural hair and then for natural skin. We eventually, expanded into creating freshly
made natural body and hair products for friends and others, established a commercial presence (online
ecommerce and expanded beyond BC and Canada). For me, the MET program and process is like
creating body butters -- step 1, identify base ingredients: step 2, research identify, select and weigh;
determine supplementary ingredients: select and add; step 3, process and package: blend, whip,
assess, add fragrance and package to finalize.
The MET program requires the completion of four foundation courses and 6 electives. These courses are
often offered within three semesters (though not all at once), giving participants the flexibility to
combine foundation and electives, but being constraint by course offerings for that semester. While my
learning journey was not linear, whereby I did all the foundation courses followed by the electives, my
eP will be organized or situated within the butter making process, that also includes CQI. Instead, it was
often iterative within a cycle that required an assessment of my needs and course offerings that would
inform my plans and my actions.
Step 1 represents the beginning of my MET journey. I conducted research vis--vis my professional
developmental needs, identified and embarked on the base ingredients, the foundation courses. Step 2
represents a selection of supplementary ingredients, electives based on a determination of program and
knowledge gaps, and desired outcomes in terms of professional positioning. Step 3 represents
finalization that includes an overall reflection of the program and demonstration of a finished product
my ePortfolio.
Artifacts, Media and Tools
Artifacts will be a mix of videos, websites, digital courses, and text-based assets that will demonstrate
my understanding of educational technology tools, theories and design principles. The artifact for the
ePortfolio will be Weebly. I have used Weebly in the development of many leaning assets throughout
the program and I have found it to be a good tool for the development of both elearning and mlearning
courses. It allows for a good mix of media: video, audio, images, and text.
Metaphor
Base ingredients:
natures wonders
(Foundation courses)

Course
ETEC 510: Design of
Technology Supported
Learning Environments (core)

Artifact
Wiki (Quality Assurance in Higher
Education)

ETEC 511: Foundation of

Educational Tech (Core)

Research paper: Blended Learning with

Moodle in an Out of School Youth
Program
Ecology of Educational Tech (Wordpress
site)

ETEC 512: Applications of

Learning Theories to
Instruction (core)

Research paper

Paper (Methodological Critique)

DRAFT PROPOSAL

Supplementary
ingredients: natures
treats
(Electives)

ETEC 500: Research

Methodology in Education
(core)
ETEC 522: Ventures in
Learning Technology
ETEC 520: Planning and
Managing Learning
Technologies in Higher
Education
ETEC 565M: Mobile
Education
ETEC 521: Indigeneity,
Technology and Education
ETEC 565A: Special Course in
Subject Matter Field

Finalization: lovingly
whipped, fragranced
and packaged

ETEC 590: Graduating Project

Youtube video of pitch and evaluation

OLEs (Weebly site)

Research paper

Cloud Memory (Weebly site)

Setting Up and Using Moodle (Weebly
site)
Research paper (Digital storytelling and
Aboriginal youth)
ePortfolio (Wordpress)
Moodle Course (Media Literacy
Blended Learning Course)
Capstone ePortfolio

Timeline
Week
4 and 5
5
6
7 and 8
9
10
11 and 12
13

Activities
Submit proposal for review and feedback: metaphor and artifacts
Provide feedback to my peers
Use feedback from peers to revisit and improve proposal
Design and start set up Weebly site: storyboard design
Development of ePortfolio: storyboard content
Development of Introduction, Overview, and Plan pages
Ask for feedback from peers in individual group and use feedback to edit and refine
Development of Do pages
Development of Assess and Reflect
Ask for feedback from peers and instructor
Use feedback to edit and refine
Submission

DRAFT PROPOSAL

Assessment Rubric
CRITERIA
Purpose and TQS Outcomes
ePortfolio demonstrates understanding of
educational technology theory and research
ePortfolio demonstrates link to theory and
development or practice
Content
Artifacts are adequate to demonstrate
development of learning and growth throughout
the program
Artifacts are relevant to the metaphor and make
evident linkages to the MET program
New content designed for the ePortfolio is evident
and content appropriately reflects the theme
Organization, Design and Presentation
Organization and design reflect the metaphor or
theme and relevant to the content
Pages are easy to navigate, easy to read and
understand and hyperlinks aid navigation and make
it easy to access additional or external content
Multimedia applications augment the overall theme
and design, highlight artifacts and represent
learning and professional development
Reflection
Reflections demonstrate synthesis and analysis of
development as a result of individual and
collaborative learning
Reflections demonstrate development and growth
through assessment of personal, professional and
course goals, and to what extent were these
achieved and linkages to future goals and plans.

APPROACHES MEETS
EXCEEDS
EXPECTATION EXPECTATION EXPECTATION

DRAFT PROPOSAL

References/Resources
Anderson, T. (2008). Towards a theory of online learning. In Anderson T. & Ellourni, F. Theory and
practice of online education. Athabasca University.
Barab, S. A., & Duffy, T. M. (2000). From practice fields to communities of practice. In D. H. Jonassen & S.
L. Land (Eds.), Theoretical foundations of learning environments (pp. 25-55). Mahwah, New
Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Bates, A.W. & Sangr, A. (2011). Managing technology in higher education: Strategies for transforming
teaching and learning. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Gay, L.R., Mills, G.E., & Airasian, P.W. (2012). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and
application. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.