September 2020
Approximately three years ago, my husband and I set out to build a home. We completed the process and after about six months moved into our new home. For the 2nd time in our then, 20 years of marriage, we owned a home. Or did we? Do we truly own the home if another entity can take it away from us? Like owning the ePortfolio, this is an important yet complicated issue.
The freedom to create
Ownership is defined by Dictionary.com as the act, state, or right of possessing something. Like my home, when considering ownership of my ePortfolio, I must consider everything that goes into creating and maintaining one. There are many factors involved with producing an ePortfolio, including, but not limited to, the domain on which it resides, and the content produced on the domain. Andrew Rikard, in his blog titled, Do I Own My Domain If You Grade It? states, “It is a living portfolio, my representation in the digital world“ (Rikard, 2015). The domain hosts grant us the opportunity to be represented on a larger scale. However, if we do not own the domain (mine currently resides on the Wix domain), do we actually own the contents therein? Is it just as important to own the domain that embodies our thoughts and ideas? I am hesitant to agree with Rikard when he writes,
“I agree that owning data has the potential to give students agency and control. But it is not a guarantee.”
As I continue to build my ePortfolio, I understand how owning the domain can lead to better control of our data, work and identity (Watters, 2015). However, I also believe that not owning the domain provides the creator with the freedom needed to create the content. Ideally, as authors vesting the domains of others, it would seem to make sense that we are able to control and create the content therein; thus, making us owners.
The COVA of it all
Dr. D. Harapnuik’s writes,
Therefore, we have to not only give students a choice, ownership, voice, and authentic learning (COVA) over their digital domain we have to give them COVA (Thibodeaux, 2015) over their ideas. The best way to do this is through a learning environment and pedagogy that provides authentic assignments and gives the student the opportunity to solve real-world problems in their own institutions or organizations.
When I think of choice, ownership, voice and authentic learning (COVA), I can certainly tie it back to my experience with creating my own ePortfolio. Our professors have given us a choice. We have the choice of our own page layout, site layout, our site appearance, who accesses the site, and the content on the site.
We have what I believe is limited ownership because although we do not own the domain, we own our ideas. It’s sort of like home ownership. We own the contents in the home, and we can make decisions regarding how our home will look. However, like the ePortfolio, we pay another entity (bank and taxing authorities) that can ultimately decide to take what we’ve created away.
In the ePortfolio, our voice has a unique opportunity to express our thoughts via data and graphics. Our voice is shown as a collection of ideas that represent our beliefs and ideas, but also to reinforce our learning. Isn’t this what the ePortfolio is all about?
Finally, in creating and maintaining an ePortfolio, we encounter authentic learning. By saying encounter, I mean that as we go through the process, we meet new learning opportunities through research and making connections with the information we’ve researched. Through grit and determination, we produce a product that is a true representation of who we are and what we have learned.
Allowing the designer of the content to have the freedom to create is an important factor in owning an ePortfolio. Whether I own my ePortfolio (domain included) or just the creative content therein, I can take pride in knowing that what is represented is also a part of me. Therefore, I own it.
Resources:
Rikard, A. (2015, August 15). Do I own the domain if you grade it? www.edsurge.com
Watters, A. (2015, July 15). The web we need to give students. https://brightthemag.com/the-web-we-need-to-give-students-311d97713713
Harapnuik, D. (2019). It's about learning: who owns the eportfolio? http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=5973
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