Implementing webfolios in school leadership internships: "pluses  (Page 3/6)

Faculty and students received instructions on utilizing webfolios through a variety of formats including: handouts, demonstration, overview sessions in computer lab, and individual appointments. During the year-long internship students met once a month for internship seminars and webfolio instruction. Upon completion of the internship, students and faculty were asked to complete a survey on the use of the webfolio. In addition, the webfolio application also generated several reports used to compare student use of the webfolio and learning during the internship. Faculty perceptions of the usability of the webfolio were also assessed.

Facets of implementation of the webfolio

Selection of webfolio tool. There are two venues to webfolio development: off-the-shelf tools such as Microsoft Office and Web-based systems such as TaskStream (Strudler&Wetzel, 2005). After researching available venues the faculty selected TaskStream as the webfolio application. One reason for the selection of TaskStream was the technical support offered by the Web-based system. The support was immediate and uninterrupted. Another reason for selecting this application was the cost factor. At the time the faculty decided to take initiative and use webfolios, there was (and still is) no funding for the implementation of this innovation. TaskStream did not incur any additional costs to the department or the faculty. The cost associated to this Web-based system was to the students upon subscription. In order to not overburden students, the faculty decided not to require textbooks and in place of the textbook students subscribed to TaskStream. A final consideration that led to the selection of TaskStream was the fact the Web-based system provided storage and tools to manage and generate reports specifically aligned with accreditations standards. This also meant that there would not be a need for a technology commitment from the university to maintain files.

Implementation process. The faculty coordinating the implementation of TaskStream translated the existing internship portfolio outline into a Web-based format. Faculty and students received instructions on utilizing webfolios in many ways that included handouts, demonstration, overview sessions in computer lab, and individual appointments. During the year-long internship students met once a month for internship seminars and webfolio instruction. In addition, faculty would provide individual help during their school observation visits. Change is complex and takes time (Hall&Hord, 2001) and this case was no different. Faculty members were willing to try the new Web-based application yet many times commented on the challenge to learn a new venue. Students also made similar comments along the way in addition to expressing difficulty in accessing the internet in many rural areas of the eastern part of the state. The key to the success of the implementation was appointing one faculty to facilitate the process. It was comfortable and important for all of those involved to turn to a person that would be available to help and in this case it was the university faculty. As the year progressed, the familiarity with the application helped with the process of uploading evidences and artifacts. By the end of the school year all students completed their webfolios and all faculty evaluated the webfolios via the Web-based system.