3. Educational Theory – Emergent Knowledge and Skills

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Argumentation and Persuasion / Educational Theory / Pedagogy

The UBC Arts eportfolio service references arguments in educational theory around "Emergent Knowledge" and "Folio Thinking". Eportfolios support complex and decentralized approaches to learning which are most appropriate for learning situations in which there exists more than one response to a topic. This requires creating a space and structure that allows for certain ideas to trigger other ideas and for knowledge to be discovered within this process.

Educational theorists and practitioners have portrayed complex, decentralized, higher-order learning through a metaphor of "Folio Thinking". The idea is that current educational systems compartmentalize knowledge and skills too much and so students need to be trained to think of their learning as something they can curate in an unstructured "folio" and something they can build so that their knowledge and skills can emerge authentically.

Eportfolios are a vehicle to facilitate the mental processes -- cognitive and emotional -- involved in folio thinking and the emergence of each student's knowledge and skills.

Next: 4. Working with Programs for ePortfolio adoption

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Learning Significance

  1. It was very helpful to have many cutting-edge educational theories to reference as we looked for sponsorship from the Office of the Dean and as we communicated with instructors.