On Wednesday I presented to students using our global learning e-portfolio this semester to get them on the right track and dispel any misunderstandings they might have about why and how e-portfolios are used, whether in classes or for personal use. I also gave recommendations for how to have successful cross-cultural discussions with their peers in Turkey who they will connect within online discussion forums. I then went a little bit into the nuts and bolts of keeping an e-portfolio and what tech tools are provided at Ohio State.

Along with the main ideas in the powerpoint slides, I offered some tools and resources (refer to the slide notes) such as a quick guide to Turkish culture and language at mesc.osu.edu/turkey and the Turkish culture e-book we created as a group assignment in Turkish 2241 Introduction to Turkish culture (see below). We had a conversation about the difference between rote learning and authentic learning, as well. The e-portfolio approach promotes authentic learning and we are evaluating its effect on intercultural learning in particular in our research project this semester.

In addition to maximizing learning, e-Portfolios are an effective way of linking classroom learning to real-world skills and abilities. One area of learning I wanted to discuss but did not have time to was the topic of the badges we use in conjunction with our global learning e-portfolio (those slides are included here if you are interested). Badging falls into that category of learning approaches, as well, and are often used in conjunction with e-portfolios.