www.issbc.org
Helping immigrants build a future in Canada
Employability ePortfolios for
Immigrants: Arrival to Employment
Cannexus – Ottawa 2014
www.issbc.org
Introductions
 Clifford Bell – Director, Language College &
Career Services
 Don Presant – President, Learning Agents
 Lisa Herrera – Head Instructional
Coordinator, LINC/ELSA
www.issbc.org
ISSofBC
 First immigrant organization in BC (1972)
 Provides settlement,
language & employment
services for refugees and
immigrants
 Over 400 full and part-time staff
- ranked one of the Best Workplaces in
Canada in 2013
www.issbc.org
ISSofBC
www.issbc.org
Context
 Funding Shift
 Employment ePortfolios – Standard practice in
career counselling in 2013
 Language Assessment Portfolios – To be
integrated into CIC’s LINC Program in 2014
 Employment ePortfolios – Now being used in all of
ISSofBC’s Employment
www.issbc.org
Timeline
Nov 2012 Feb 2013
Initiative Inception
& Kickoff
• Don Presant’s
workshops at CAPLA,
Cannexus & Moodle
Moot conferences
• ISSofBC establishes
lead position in BC &
Canada regarding
portfolio development in
LINC/ELSA
• Agreement to move
forward with integration
of portfolios &
eportfolios in language
and employment
Feb - May 2013
Summer
2013
Research & Training
Planning
• Research on how eportfolios can fit into
LINC/ELSA
• Don Presant
facilitates a half-day
planning workshop to
explore eportfolio
options
• Decision about
Mahara platform
•ePortfolio training with
Don Presant
• Plan for piloting eportfolios in
LINC/ELSA
• Moodle course
and materials
developed
• Employment
Facilitator engaged
to participate in
LINC/ELSA pilot
and curriculum
development
www.issbc.org
Fall 2013
Piloting &
Further
Development
• ePortfolio
launched in
LINC/ELSA for
the Workplace
• Extend use of
eportfolios for
skilled and nonskilled
immigrants
Logic Model
www.issbc.org
Career Services
 Wide range of programs for immigrants with
a range of needs and skill levels







Immigrant Connections
Employment Program of BC
Building Together
Job Options BC
Skills Connect
Mentoring Connections
MAPLE - Internship
www.issbc.org
Portfolios and ePortfolios
 Portfolio and ePortfolio services :
 Workshops and individualized sessions
 Embedding portfolios in job search strategies
www.issbc.org
Process, Discoveries & Opportunities
 Limited time & resources in employment programs
 Significant amount of time devoted to language
correction
 Offering the eportfolio within LINC/ELSA
 Build an Employment Facilitator into the LINC/ELSA
program
www.issbc.org
Putting E-Portfolios into Play
for Immigrants: From Arrival
in Canada to Successful
Employment
Slides from Learning Agents
November 19, 2013
Learning Agents
ePortfolio, eLearning, eMedia
http://donpresant.ca
New service: savvyfolio.net
Multi-institution ePortfolio community
Professional Body
Workplace Trainer
Employer
College
Industry Sector Body
Adult Learning Centre
University
Employability Agency
ePortfolio
21st Century Employability Tool
for BC Immigrants
February 14, 2013
Research
Information Practices of Immigrants
Nadia Caidi, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, 2009
http://www.slideshare.net/settlementatwork/information-practices-of-immigrants
Technology Alternatives
• Web 2.0 purpose-built
– LinkedIn, about.me
• Web 2.0 “roll your own”
– Google sites, Weebly, Evernote, Prezi
• Dedicated FOSS
– Mahara, Sakai, ZenPortfolio (WP)
• Adapted FOSS
– Wordpress.com, Wordpress.org
• Dedicated Proprietary
– PebblePad, Digication, myeFolio, Pathbrite
Five solutions to consider
• WordPress
– WordPress.com, Zen Portfolios or download
– Free, or?
• PebblePad
– 20 GBP/year/person
• myeFolio
– $20/year
• Digication
– $20-35/year
• Mahara
– Free, or?
Why Mahara?
Personal Learning Environment
• Free Open Source Software (FOSS)
– Free (like a puppy)
– Controllable, predictable
– Extendable, “clusterable” (Moodle, Google Apps…)
• Designed for learning
– National school implementation in NZ: “MyPortfolio”
• Personalized, flexible
– Learner story centric, not a one-size-fits-all “tick the
box” form
Why Mahara?
Under the hood
• Content Archive (working portfolio)
– Profile, Resume, Files, Notes, Journals (blogs), Plans
• Publish as Pages, Collections
– Different content for different audiences
• Embed external content (Web 2.0)
– LinkedIn, Slideshare, YouTube, Google Apps, etc.
• Groups and collaboration
– Shared files, pages, collections
• Multi-layered sharing/privacy
– Formative -> summative assessment
Why Mahara?
Good and getting better
Mahara
Hands-on workshop
PRESENTATION SUPPORT PAGE:
bit.ly/ep4imm
don@learningagents.ca
Web: learningagents.ca
Twitter: donpresant
ePortfolio: donpresant.ca
LINC/ELSA
 English language skills from CLB 1 to 8
 Settlement and workplace focused classes
www.issbc.org
Essential Skills
Reading
Oral
Communication
Working
With
Others
Writing
Essential
Skills
Document
Use
for
Work,
Learning
And Life
Soft Skills
Thinking
Skills
Numeracy
Continuous
Learning
Computer
Use
www.issbc.org
ePortfolio Pilot Class
Class Profile
Model for Pilot
 Add job search skills
 Add skills to build
eportfolio
 More emphasis on ES
Evaluate
www.issbc.org
ePortfolio – Cooperative Framework
 LINC/ELSA and employment staff working
together
Employment
ESL
Facilitator
Teacher
Skills,
ePortfolio
Evidence
 Clients develop language, career planning
and job search skills as a package
www.issbc.org
Contribution to PLAR
 Previously, referral to Employment Facilitator
 Now provide:
 Evidence of
 hard skills
 experience
 language ability
 soft skills
 More skills to better represent themselves to employers and
professional associations
www.issbc.org
Moodle + Mahara
www.issbc.org
Mahoodle (Moodle Course)
www.issbc.org
Example Lesson:
www.issbc.org
Building Content:
www.issbc.org
ISSofBC ePortfolio Site
www.issbc.org
Essential Skills Profile
www.issbc.org
Professional Pages
www.issbc.org
Audio
Intro
Resume
Past
Projects
Certificates
Publications
www.issbc.org
Video
Intro
Photo
Gallery
Highlights
www.issbc.org
www.issbc.org
Lessons Learned
 LINC/ELSA Challenges




Admin Concerns - continuous intake of students
Student concerns - time
Technical issues – Firefox vs. IE
Student Technical Needs – support offered in multiple
ways
 New Curriculum Model
 ePortfolio as the framework
www.issbc.org
Next Steps
Fall 2013
Winter 13-14
April 2014
Pilot Phase
Evaluation Phase
Implementation
Continued
delivery of ELSA
eportfolio pilot &
extend use of
eportfolios for
skilled and nonskilled immigrants
Evaluation and
further development
of ELSA eportfolio,
and further
expansion of
eportfolio use in
employment
services
Implementation of
eportfolios in LINC –
creating an
environment where
clients can use
eportfolios across
multi-inventions at
ISSofBC
www.issbc.org
Questions
Contacts:
Clifford Bell, Director, Language College & Career
Services – clifford.bell@issbc.org
Lisa Herrera, Head Instructional Coordinator,
ELSA/LINC – lisa.herrera@issbc.org
www.issbc.org