August 6, 2024 • 38 mins
Associate Professor Dr Zala Volcic is Director of Teaching Innovation within the Faculty of Arts at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. She shares how her students in the Bachelor of Media Communication (BMC) in the School of Media, Film, and Journalism use portfolios in different ways in their studies.
Zala shares what is important to her in teaching students and how she and her colleagues assist them become humans with personal, professional, and social responsibilities. She has a lot of tips for educators, and the biggest one is to work with the learning / educational designers at their institutions.
Zala's work was supported by the Australian Research Council [DP230103037].
Resources
- Press release on Zala being awarded the Australian University Teacher of the Year 2023 Award in February 2024
- Bachelor of Media Communication students on their portfolio work
- D’Souza, I., Volcic, Z., & Sapsed, C. (2023a). Connecting through eportfolio practice: Trust, relationships & expertise. eBook of Shortened Peer Reviewed Papers, Eportfolio Forum 2023, 15–19.
- D’Souza, I., Volcic, Z., & Sapsed, C. (2023b, October 11). Connecting through eportfolio practice: Trust, relationships & expertise. Eportfolio Forum 2023, Darwin, Australia.
- Volcic, Z., Tran, I., Palepu, V., & Baath, R. (2024). Intercultural communication during pandemic: New ways to build intercultural dialogue and relationships. Intercultural Communication, 35(1), 42–61.
- Ingrid D'Souza's episode on creativity and lifelong learning
- Joanne Painter from the ICON Agency
- Zala's publications
Click through to the episode notes for the transcript.
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Production information
Production: Catalyst IT
Host: Kristina Hoeppner
Artwork: Evonne Cheung
Music: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kristina Hoeppner (00:04):
Welcome to 'Create. Share. Engage.' This is
the podcast about portfolios forlearning and more for educators,
learning designers, and managerskeen on integrating portfolios
with their education andprofessional development
practices. 'Create. Share.
Engage.' is brought to you bythe Mahara team at Catalyst IT.
(00:25):
My name is Kristina Hoeppner.
I'm stoked to be speaking withAssociate Professor Dr Zala
Volcic from Monash Universitytoday. Dr Ingrid D'Souza
introduced me to her in 2019. DrKevin Kelly from San Francisco
State University and I haveresearched what then became the
(00:45):
AAEEBL Digital Ethics principleof DEIBD, which stands for
diversity, equity, inclusion,belonging, and decolonisation,
and we spoke with Zala and someof her colleagues, Dr Frankie
Egan, Prof Dr JaneMaree Maher,and Dr Emily van der Nagel.
(01:06):
Welcome to the podcast, Zala.
It's good to catch up.
Zala Volcic (01:09):
Oh, Kristina, thank you so much for having me. I so
appreciate your interest andyour work in this space. Thank
you.
Kristina Hoeppner (01:17):
Thank you so much, Zala. Before we actually
get started with the questions,and I'm super excited to finally
after, I think, four and a halfyears roughly be talking with
you again, I would like tocongratulate you on being the
latest recipient of the Awardfor Australian University
Teacher of the Year for 2023.
That's a wonderful achievementand confirmation of your
(01:39):
commitment to your students.
Congratulations, Zala.
Zala Volcic (01:44):
Thank you, Kristina. Thanks so much. That's
so nice. And you know, it's awonderful opportunity for me
here to thank my colleagues atMonash as well. It's wonderful
to be working within thecommunity of committed educators
at Monash University andspecifically at Arts Faculty and
my school, which is the Schoolof Media, Screen Studies, and
Journalism. They have beenabsolutely wonderful.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:07):
It's always great to catch up with you and
also with Carmen and Ingrid, whowork very closely with
portfolios and see what you'reup to. So I'm really happy that
we can share a bit more aboutwhat you're doing in the
Bachelor of Media Communication.
Zala Volcic (02:22):
I do want to say to work with Ingrid, the dearest
educational designer, has beenreally life changing in so, so
many ways. And also I soappreciate talking about
ePortfolio and our teaching ingenerally because, I think, it's
so important to in a waycelebrate our work because we do
teach and we mentor and weguide, but we also inspire and
(02:44):
encourage and care for eachother and our students and also
help to intervene withspecifically innovations such as
ePortfolio that then work sobeautifully for community,
educational spirit, and for ourstudents in particular.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:59):
Yeah, before we get to the particular
portfolio questions, let's maybebacktrack a little bit. Who are
you? What do you do? I mean, weknow that you work at Monash
University, but do you want totell us a bit more about your
role, Zala?
Zala Volcic (03:13):
I would love to, thanks, Kristina. So I now teach
at Monash University, but I havebeen teaching at different
international universities inEurope, in United States, a now
in Australia. I come from theregion of former Yugoslavia. So
I grew up during turbulenttimes. I have witnessed, you
know, the collapse of communismin Yugoslavia and the rise of
(03:35):
nationalisms, and then theviolent collapse of my country,
and you know, this reallyprofoundly shaped me as a
teacher as well.
So very early on, I wasinterested in the role of media
and media propaganda. I wasasking myself as a young woman
questions such as you know, howand why do media affect us? How
(03:57):
can in a way the soul ofcommunity be healed after the
trauma of wars? What can we doin terms of education to bring
us together? And what does itmean to come to terms with the
traumatic past? So these werekind of intellectual questions,
and then I decided to do my PhDin United States in Media
Studies, and so I come frommedia studies discipline. Media
(04:21):
studies in the United States isin Arts and Humanities
Education. To grow within thisframework really deeply shaped
me as well because this type ofeducation is, I would say,
intentionally intimate andbeneficially broad.
Coming from media studies, youknow, wow, what a moment to be
(04:41):
teaching media studies about themedia. We see the rise of
automated systems that promiseto take on a growing range of
tasks, including teaching, Iwould say, but the one area that
remains beyond their reach isthat of creative human thinking.
This is what I try to do in myclassrooms as well: To teach the
students about the media. Ofcourse, one of the problems that
(05:04):
I think we face and it doesalready connect to ePortfolio is
that the challenge of teachingabout the media is that our
students are immersed in themedia and the media themselves
have, in a way becomerelentlessly self reflexive. My
goal as a teacher is to pushthrough these existing
preconceptions to provide mystudents with new and very
(05:26):
productive ways of thinkingabout the technologies in which
they are immersed, but alsoabout the practices that have
become automatic for them.
EPortfolio, in that way, veryearly on, offered me that
possibility.
One more sentence just to finishthe circle. What drives my
teaching and particular kinds ofinnovations in my classrooms is
(05:50):
my research. I love my research,my methodologies, you know,
qualitative, I do focus groupsand in depth interviews with
people and I'm interested in howthey consume the media. With
those stories then I go into myclassrooms, and we discover the
media worlds together with mystudents.
Kristina Hoeppner (06:10):
I think, you are then in the correct position
because you're not just anAssociate Professor in the
Faculty of Arts, teaching yourmedia students, but you are also
the Director of teachingInnovation within the Faculty of
Arts. So you have this wonderfuldual role of being a teacher and
also the researcher and canprogress all of those ideas that
(06:32):
you've just talked about andmany others that your colleagues
are researching, and bringingall of that together in an
innovative environment.
Zala Volcic (06:40):
Yeah, this role, Kristina, really nicely allows
me to experiment and to godeeper within some of the
theoretical ideas as well, thatI have been writing about. So it
allows me deeper engagement withmy community and that is the
community of my colleagues andthe community of my students and
(07:02):
then also the community ofindustry voices, especially in
media studies, in the degree,you know, that I have been
directing, Bachelor of MediaCommunication, we have a very
strong industry board withmembers coming from media
studies and screen studies andjournalism spaces and critical
PR. We love conversations anddialogue and learn from each
(07:25):
other, and to really think aboutdifferent perspectives.
This role really, in a way, it'svery exciting. It's very timely
for me, and it's really based onthe premise of, I would say,
three notions. The first one iscommunity. The second one is
relationships. So relationshipsthat we build with each other
(07:47):
while we are together, you know,in the classroom. And thirdly,
it's this notion that I reallydeeply care about, which is
compassion. Compassion for eachother, compassion for the
knowledge, compassion for thepractices of daily life because
it's such a huge responsibilityto be teaching our students and
(08:08):
sending them out into the world.
Really my maxim is that asteachers, we should intrigue
students. By that in a way, Imean, that we must communicate
to our students that there aresome realms of knowledge and
practices, new practices worthknowing that they don't yet
know, and then conveying, youknow, our own passion and
(08:30):
excitement about our own workand research and thinking that's
just energising for everybody.
Because I also really believethat when students see our
genuine passion, they getpassionate about knowledge in
new ways of learning themselves.
If we are there for them in theclassroom, outside the classroom
(08:50):
with particular extracurricularactivities, that just works.
Kristina Hoeppner (08:55):
All the things you've already mentioned,
community relationships,compassion, they fall very, very
nicely into the portfoliopractice. So I'd kind of like to
know when were you actuallyintroduced to portfolios?
Zala Volcic (09:09):
The Bachelor of Media Communication, it's an
undergraduate degree. It now hasover 1,000 students, domestic
and international. The degreewas implemented in 2018, at the
end of 2018, with the idea tobuild a bridge between theory
and practice so that we arecommitted to explore the layers
(09:33):
of theory and history with ourstudents, but at the same time
that we teach skills in a verymeaningful and really deep
manner. Very early on, we wereworking with Monash educational
designers at Arts Faculty, andso ePortfolio started in 2018
and really picked up a year anda half later.
(09:56):
We started with the first year,and we implemented ePortfolio in
first year units. These arelarge units, we teach at scale.
We have roughly 400 students inour first year unit. But we see
these units as crucial. They lieat the heart of undergraduate
education. That's where thesocialisation happens as well of
(10:18):
our students. That's where youcan really build a sense of
belonging, and you help studentsto discover themselves and
explore and engage. We put a lotof intellectual effort into our
first year units. And so toreally start with first year
units really made sense to us.
Now, ePortfolio is implementedin the degree throughout the
(10:40):
three years. It's beautiful. Imean, it has been the most
successful, I would say,impactful intervention that
really helped to promote thiscommunity focused education that
BMC really prides itself on. Itreally strengthened student
engagement, plenty of evidenceto show that this has been
(11:01):
extremely important, if not keypart of innovations within the
degree.
Kristina Hoeppner (11:09):
Oh that is wonderful to hear, and also
seeing that authentic learningis important and has its place,
especially for journalism, wherewe can't just learn the theory
of how to write something or howto interview somebody, but
ideally, students can do it andexperience also the pressure
that can be on any of thoseactivities. Now that you're
(11:31):
using portfolios with all ofyour students throughout the
degree, what sort of portfoliosdo your students create? I
assume a lot of is forassessment purposes, of course,
because it is fully integratedinto the degree, but do they
also use it to gain internshipsor while they are on
(11:51):
internships? If you can go intoa bit more detail for us so that
we get a better idea of how thatcan be implemented in one of
those degrees.
Zala Volcic (12:00):
I'll try to be as systematic as possible. The
thing is that I do get veryenthusiastic talking about
ePortfolio. So I hope I can beas clear as possible. But let me
firstly say, you're right, ofcourse, it allows for a rich
array of assessments, and italso provides continuous
feedback, and it captures skillsgained over time for our
(12:22):
students. I would say on thegeneral level, it allows,
especially, you know, media andscreen and journalism and PR
students to curate, and, moreimportantly even showcase the
knowledge and the ideas andimagination that they have
gained and that they have beenshaping throughout their degree.
(12:42):
The ePortfolio is able to showhow our student has grown
intellectually throughout thosethree years.
This use, I think, allows thatthe students' assessments can be
collected and housedelectronically, as you said,
that's one level, and that'skind of quite technical.
Students understand why they arebeing asked to do each test, how
(13:04):
it helps them to be also, in away professionally ready,
because we communicate this tothem, and we give them constant
feedback on that. That's onevery important layer.
I think providing this veryinteractive feedback as well to
students is extremely important.
Communicating to the studentswhy it matters, it helps to send
the message to our students tobe professionally ready, why
(13:28):
it's important to beprofessionally ready, and how.
It's great to be teaching media.
I love it. It's very creative,it's full of imagination. Our
students create video essays,they create different artworks,
they create podcasts, theycreate radio podcasts, they
create folios. It's extremelydiverse. But what I feel it
(13:50):
really is very important tothink about these times because
I think ePortfolio provides themwith a sense of the continuity
and development of theirachievements over the course of
the degree. They see how they'regrowing from the first year
units into the second year unit,and then, wow, the third year.
They're able to see how they'regrowing, how they're building,
(14:13):
how they're changing, how theirintellectual subjectivity is
growing, and is beingtransformed, how more and more
they're connected to their ownwork and ideas, and how their
own work is entering spaces ofthe world, whether that's
newspapers where they want towork or different film
(14:33):
productions, and so on. I thinkthat's extremely important to
point out.
The ePortfolio on that layerreally allows for academic
rigour. Our assessments areextremely complex and really
allow for theoretical historicalrigour, but there is additional
incentive for our students toembrace this professional level
(14:55):
of commitment to craft theirwork in a very, very strong
manner. So it's both at the sametime. The ePortfolio allows
students to document theirmastery of practical skills that
they gained, but then, you know,for me, what is very important
is that the students are ablewhile using ePortfolio, and we
(15:16):
talk about it, and we share andwe collaborative, they give each
other feedback, right, they areable to develop personal, and
for me, that's extremelyimportant personal,
professional, and socialresponsibility, so civic
responsibility. Our goal aseducators is also prepare our
students as citizens to enterthe world that they are. They
have a social responsibility,and they're building on their
(15:38):
professional identity, ofcourse, but they're also being
shaped as people. That's a niceadditional attribute of
ePortfolio.
Kristina Hoeppner (15:47):
Also that your students get the chance to
try and use all of thetechnologies and techniques they
learn and have those thenassist, and that's why the
portfolios that I have seen aresome of your students, they were
extremely media rich, veryvisual, because of course, it
lends itself beautifully tothat. That, of course, is often
(16:10):
the learning evidence, theproduct that they've created to
demonstrate what they have beendoing. But do they also use
those visualisations or audioand video to reflect on their
practice? Or is that happeningmainly in text? Or is that a
mix?
Zala Volcic (16:28):
No, no, that's kind of the beauty because it allows
for the engagement that thestudents have among themselves
and with us, the lecturers, andsometimes with the industry. We
would invite film makers to comeand already comment on
particular group work.
Throughout this reflexivityprocess, we emphasise the
(16:50):
connection between academic andpractical, but then also for us
creative aspects of students'work, and they're able to see
these different dimensions. Forexample, we would emphasise or
communicate or dissect oranalyse, you know, the effort
that is so purely seen in thestudents' work that students put
(17:10):
into building their ePortfolios.
We would comment how we can seethe professional growth and how
we invite the students for selfreflection as well that they are
then able to articulate.
The ePortfolio integrationallowed us as lecturers to see
(17:30):
but also I mean, so clearly, thestudents are able to articulate
this as well to tell you theirstories, how this has empowered
students to take extra care andpride if you even want in the
final submission. They aremeeting the learning purpose,
but it's so much more. Itmotivates students if you want
to use this particular languageof encouragement and motivation.
(17:52):
It really enabled us aseducators to motivate students
to build their own criticalscholarship, to be very, very
proud of it, and to showcase itand with that work, go out there
and show it and get internshipsand jobs. Show it to the
parents. I mean, I think that'simportant factor as well to use
your personal and then socialand professional communities
(18:14):
where you share. So it's notlost, basically. It has that
extra dimension.
And also, you know, that youprepare the students. I mean, so
many of our students first yearthey're so young, they're full
of hopes and dreams, and theymay not necessarily know what do
they want to do, what they'rereally interested in. So it
allows them to really experimentwith different mediums, with
(18:35):
different ways, genres, withdifferent types, of course of
knowledge. And in that way,anticipating the transition to
future careers. I think it'sreally important because it
imagines you know, the futureemployers. In this present
climate for the students to beable to electronically share
their learning opportunitieswith wider communities is
extremely, I think, important.
That's where the students'feedback on the use of
(18:57):
ePortfolio really comes out.
They love this idea that theycan showcase their works
throughout their three years ofstudying.
I don't know whether that'sinteresting for our listeners,
but also the industry, theyreally celebrate the ePortfolio.
I give you a very concreteexample, a wonderful industry
(19:19):
board member Jo Painter, she'sthe Director of ICON Agency. She
has been an Australian PR leaderof 2021, for example. She has
given to our students a lot ofinternships and a couple of
jobs, but she says, "Look, itreally fosters student
reflective practice and criticallearning. With those skills,
(19:40):
it's absolutely wonderful toimmediately see who the student
is what they're interested in,and it helps me as an employer."
Kristina Hoeppner (19:47):
Because we want to see that people can
learn from previous experiencesand make them better or employ
similar techniques in adifferent circumstance. So Zala,
what guidance do you give toyour students to become these
reflective practitioners, to dothat self reflection? Do you
have a framework for that orsome guiding questions that you
(20:10):
like to use?
Zala Volcic (20:12):
I think it runs throughout the degree in a more
cultural sense. What works isnot specific, you know,
questions or suggestions that wewould have for students, but
it's implemented within theintellectual core curriculum
that runs throughout the degreein every single unit. I'll give
(20:33):
you an example. It runs from thefirst your unit, and we were
talking about the importance offirst year units here, where as
teachers, we are not onlypresent in the classroom with
our intellectual abilities, butalso as individuals with
different experiences andbackgrounds. We really try to
create a culture of mutualrespect and honesty and
(20:56):
exploration and open mindednessand the really genuine concern
for teaching and learning. Iwould argue that these are key
principles within BMC that thestudents really respond because
they get to know you, as ateacher, as someone who is, of
course, in my case, an expert inspecific area, but it's also a
person who grew up in specificcontext and is able to self
(21:19):
reflect on practices and beingin the world and in personal and
professional way.
We, for example, in the firstyear unit, created a wonderful
layer that is called'Conversations with media
professionals'. We havecollaborated with our students
to make and we continue to makeshort videos, these are
(21:40):
conversations interviews withsome of the top scholars in the
world. For example, we wouldhave film makers from Argentina
or a conversation with an editorfor Asian TV. We would be asking
personal questions, alsoprofessional, how they have been
growing, how they decided whatto study, what are they doing
(22:01):
now, and these conversationswould be guided by specific
questions, but it's all aboutself reflection as well. I think
once you cultivate a culturethat is both, again, based on
rigour and hard work as well,each of us needs to put in,
lecturers and students, then, Ithink, self reflection, you have
a framework basically for it. Bythe time they come to the second
(22:22):
year, it's much easier.
Kristina Hoeppner (22:24):
What I really love, Zala, is that the self
reflection is woven into theprogramme.
Zala Volcic (22:31):
Yes.
Kristina Hoeppner (22:31):
Because you're committed to also
building inclusive communities,building communities, building
relationships, and then showingcompassion that you're not
saying, 'Okay, now we aredealing with this one thing, now
we are dealing with this otherthing, and now we're doing self
reflection,' but that it allcomes together that maybe you're
not even potentially using theword 'self reflect' at some
(22:52):
point, but because of the wayyou're asking your question and
how you're demonstrating askingthe questions by all of these
professionals you're talkingwith...
Zala Volcic (23:02):
That's so beautiful because when we are learning
about the different perspectivesand also about how we learn, we
are going to sometimes getthings wrong, or we are going to
make assumptions that wereuntrue. We just need to own
that, and once we are aware ofit to do better the next time.
Every profession in our societyinvolves human beings, whether
(23:22):
you are an engineer or a doctoror a journalist, a scientist or
politician, there is afundamental basic, I would say,
human commonality. We all facesome kinds of existential,
social, political, but alsopsychological realities. I think
this approach of the communityand compassion, relationship,
(23:44):
and self reflexivity addressesthese in a very profound way.
This self awareness with thefocus on humanistic, if you
want, development andcultivation centres us in our
own human condition. This makesus more effective, also more
humane, more compassionate, butalso more skilled person in
(24:05):
whatever profession we decide togo into. I think a lot of times
we forget about that, and Ithink it's so important to be
stressing this to each other ascolleagues, as academics, as
educators, and to our studentsnot to shy away to say this, and
clearly communicate thismessage. I think the students
really appreciate that.
Kristina Hoeppner (24:24):
Because we don't always get it right the
first time around.
Zala Volcic (24:27):
That's correct.
Kristina Hoeppner (24:28):
There's always a bit of trial and error,
and if that is built into thefabric of how the students
study, then it becomes morenormalised.
Zala Volcic (24:37):
Yeah, no, you're right. I love teaching. I just
get all my energy also from myresearch and further work for
me. But I do worry thatsometimes we start to see
university education as merelyprofessionalising. That at the
heart sometimes that we see ourexclusive goal of university
education is to equip for ourprofessions and doing career,
(25:01):
but I do think we shouldn't beneglecting the fundamental
condition of the individualstudents. We need to continue to
do this other work as wellbecause we need to do both. I
just came from this conferencein London on educational
leadership. It was four days ofconversations about what's the
purpose of university, and whereshould we be going? It was
(25:24):
great, and I think we need tounderstand I'm for both
positions.
Kristina Hoeppner (25:28):
Zala, this is a very, very important point
because also just recently, I'vetalked with Derrin Kent from The
Development Manager in the UK,that is basically a company that
provides degree apprenticeshipsand works with companies to get
these apprentices and then alsoworks with universities on the
other hand, so that studentsalso get their degree. He's
(25:49):
marrying both sides up. So theprofessional side, which you can
get through an apprenticeship,where you learn on the job,
where you do the things thatyour employer needs at the
moment. But then also on theother side, you have the
university degree where you canexplore more, where your need to
explore more so that you're notjust teaching to the present,
(26:11):
but can also look into, okay,what might that mean, in three
to five years? What are somefundamentals that we need to
give students on hand so thatthey can innovate, that they can
think about themselves, thatthey can think critically? So
kind of bringing both of thosethings together, I think, that
is good. Many universities, ofcourse, currently do this in a
way through the internships. Sowork-integrated learning that is
(26:35):
extremely important becausestudents do need to be exposed
to the professional world inorder to also be able to situate
themselves later on.
Zala Volcic (26:44):
You're so right.
You see this in students then aswell because I think what
ePortfolio then does is itinvites them, it's a beautiful
communicative space, in a wayspace of hope if you want, and
they just play and they designand they redesign and they edit,
and they spend much more energyto perfect their work that is
really beautiful to see. And soI think in this way, I'm like
(27:07):
you I'm extremely positive andoptimistic despite some of the
dire times that we are livingin. We take this positive moment
of uncertainty, and thisimplementation of a portfolio is
precisely that positive momentwithin uncertain times. It's
beautiful to see the feedbackfrom the students, the feedback
from colleagues, and thefeedback from industry.
Kristina Hoeppner (27:29):
Entirely.
Zala, we are both very positive,we are both optimistic about
portfolios, we love portfolios,we know why they are good for
our learners, but is thereanything that you would really,
really like to be able to do,but currently can't just yet to?
Zala Volcic (27:46):
Look, I do want to say that for us in BMC, what
really worked and continues towork is the work of designers,
our educational designers. As Isaid, the work that Ingrid
D'Souza did very, very early on,she really laid the ground, and
the continuous collaborationsthat we have with educational
(28:08):
designers is incredible. Thesecolleagues work and are there
for us and our students 24 hoursa day when sometimes there is
submission button that doesn'twork. They're just always there
in terms, again, of the physicalwork, design work, but also in
terms of psychologicalencouragement work. We are very
(28:28):
lucky because we have beensupported in this sense.
Educational designers areproviding and organising
specific workshops as well forstudents. We have different
mentoring programmes, even, forthe students to showcase the
good portfolios, I'm actuallyvery happy how it works now. If
the students could take theePortfolio with them in the long
(28:51):
run, that would be really,really beneficiary. And then
also if we could open it up aswell to colleagues who are not
part of the university. So if itwould be a little bit more
flexibility in terms ofopenness, that would really
work. There's just smallercomments in terms of how to
provide feedback, if it could beeasier to comment on group work,
to do those kinds of ways, butthese are small comments and
(29:15):
suggestions that I think we areaddressing as we go.
Kristina Hoeppner (29:18):
We are addressing some of them also in
the UX review that we arecurrently doing of Mahara, and
that some of your students willactually also very soon be
involved in. So I look forwardto their feedback.
Zala Volcic (29:29):
Me too.
Kristina Hoeppner (29:30):
Speaking of your educational designers,
Ingrid laid the foundation andthen over the last few years,
you've had Carmen Sapsed and thethree of you actually wrote a
paper together for last year'sEportfolio Forum, so I'll also
make sure that I'll put the linkinto the episode notes to that
because that also reallybeautifully shows that interplay
(29:51):
between you as the academic, asthe faculty member, and then the
educational designers on theother side and making sure that
everything works. together inorder to give your students the
best possible learningexperience.
Zala Volcic (30:04):
Yeah, it's beautiful to see, as you say,
you really have students engagedwith providing feedback. I think
that's a wonderful as wellbecause they feel that they are
a part of the process. And thestudent voices are so important.
It's the work that you dosharing and really making sure
that we all get informed abouteach other's uses and how and
(30:24):
what works for us, and just thephilosophies behind it because
it's, of course, not just aparticular technological
platform, but it's so much more,as you point out in your
conversations, in your own work,and as I hope, you know, that
our conversation contributed toas well.
Kristina Hoeppner (30:40):
Most definitely. Now, before we get
to our quick answer round, Zala,is there anything else that you
would like to share?
Zala Volcic (30:49):
I think in BMC, we now have a pretty good rhythm to
ePortfolio. But it's veryimportant, I think, to realise
that stagnation is the enemy ofgood teaching and learning. So
we feel very comfortable now.
It's important to continue tothink about different strategies
to ensure that the ePortfolioremains very fresh, meets the
(31:10):
challenges that we are allhaving and we are all going to
continue to face, and that itcontributes to transform itself
as well and its role. And Ithink that in technological
sense, but also inintellectually symbolic way.
Kristina Hoeppner (31:25):
With more and more faculties at Monash also
going to use the portfolio,that'll also help keeping it
fresh and looking at each other.
What is the other one doing?
What are you doing? Can we takesomething that somebody else had
thought about that might also begood for you?
Zala Volcic (31:39):
Yes, yes. I mean, I think the beautiful thing is
that then we can really shareand exchange across the
university, not just you know,in our case within Arts Faculty
that is already brilliant interms of ePortfolio, and it's
interesting, because, of course,I come from Arts Faculty, and
I'm advocating arts education. Ithink we lie at the heart of
(32:01):
also the portfolio, and if I maysay, you know, I think we are
guiding the rest of universityin terms of intellectual
implementation and philosophies,but it's beautiful to see the
rest of the faculties followingand learning from Arts. Arts
should really get credit, andthen that we share and exchange
our students work, because it'samazing because most of the work
(32:25):
that the students produce,create, and then put onto
ePortfolio is just - you getreally spoiled.
Kristina Hoeppner (32:33):
Thank you for that, Zala. So let's jump into
our quick answer round. Whichwords or short phrases do you
use to describe portfolio work?
Zala Volcic (32:45):
Imagination, collaboration, and courage.
Kristina Hoeppner (32:50):
Nice. That is, I think, also, where I can
see that as a summary of yourBachelor's in Media
Communication, all of thatcoming through and what you have
talked about. What tip do youthen have for learning
designers, educationaldesigners, or instructors who
create portfolio activities fortheir own learners?
Zala Volcic (33:10):
It really matters, this aspect of collaboration. So
really carefully, listening toeach other, and learning and
working with each other to takeall the expertise the
educational designers give to usacademics. Of course,
educational designers then leavea lot of space for us, the
lecturers, because we are theexperts within particular
(33:30):
discipline and know what worksfor our students. I do think we
just need to be patient.
Sometimes things don'tnecessarily work in the first
step. So just persevere,persist, try it out, talk to our
students.
I'm a believer, we need to be inthe classroom, to talk to
students to hear them to gettheir feedback. And that
requires and physically in theclassroom and working with them
(33:54):
and grading their work andgiving them feedback on their
being in the classroom outsidethe classroom ready to hear them
and really take their voice intoaccount. For that we need time.
We need space to be together ina very, very meaningful way, and
then magic happens.
Kristina Hoeppner (34:12):
We need to bullet point all of these tips
because there was way more thanone tip which is fantastic
because there's lots of inthere, and I'm sure that
everyone can find at least one,two, or three things that they
can take on for their ownpractice. Now to the last
question then Zala, what advicedo you have for your students or
(34:34):
for anybody else who wants tocreate portfolios?
Zala Volcic (34:37):
Some of the students get quite afraid,
either they're shy or as withany new way of submitting
assignments, it's terrifying.
Being at the university in firstyear it's already difficult and
hard. There are all these newthings happening around what it
means to be a student: expectations and then guidelines (34:52):
undefined
and then pressures, I mean fromall sorts of angles. And then on
the top of it, this new thingePortfolio. But to just go
smoothly and very openly aboutthese to seek out help and
support, either from fellowstudents. That's why this
culture is so important. So thatit's not even a question of
(35:14):
solidarity and openness andinclusion, just really of
compassion, so that you reachout with any kind of questions,
problems, dilemmas that youreach out to your professors and
that you reach out toeducational designers if needed.
Help is really there, and that'snot just for ePortfolio. It's
for all the layers or students,whether they are first year
(35:37):
students or when they aregrowing up within the structure
of university. There are peoplearound who are so willing to
help, and we are there for eachother.
Kristina Hoeppner (35:48):
Those educational designers, they are
the superheroes in that fabricbecause they know so much, they
need to keep the context inmind, find activities that
really work for what you asacademic want to achieve, and
then the both of you work welltogether in order to bring this
all together for the students.
Zala Volcic (36:07):
YYou're very right.
I cannot stress enough the workof educational designers, and so
you know, Arts Monash has JoHooks, we have Carmen (Sapsed),
and we have Andrew (Junor) andthey're just absolutely amazing.
Kristina Hoeppner (36:20):
Wonderful, and thank you for the shout out
to your colleague, Zala, so thatwe also know that it's not just
educational designers, but everyone of them has a name and is a
person and so we're coming backto this: it is relational, i is
a community, and we need to havecompassion for all of us. So
thank you so much for reallystressing this and also
(36:41):
exemplifying it very well usingthe bachelor that you are
directing and showing us how theportfolio is not just a
portfolio that the students needto do, but really is part of
that entire study programme thatyou have this programmatic
approach to it that it is seenthroughout and the students
(37:03):
carry on the students learn moreabout it and then can also see
throughout their years that theyare with you how they've gotten
better. So thank you for showingthat.
Zala Volcic (37:12):
Thanks so much for having me. It was such a
pleasure and joy to chat withyou and I want to wish you all
the best. I hope to haveconversation sometime soon
again.
Kristina Hoeppner (37:21):
Thank you, Zala. Now over to our listeners.
What do you want to try in yourown portfolio practice? This was
'Create. Share. Engage.' withAssociate Professor Dr Zala
Volcic. Head to our websitepodcast.mahara.org where you can
find resources and thetranscript for this episode.
(37:42):
This podcast is produced byCatalyst IT, and I'm your host
Kristina Hoeppner, Project leadand Product Manager after the
portfolio platform Mahara. Ournext episode will air in two
weeks. I hope you'll listenagain and tell a colleague about
our podcast so they cansubscribe. Until then create,
share and engage.
Welcome to 'Create. Share. Engage.' This is
the podcast about portfolios forlearning and more for educators,
learning designers, and managerskeen on integrating portfolios
with their education andprofessional development
practices. 'Create. Share.
Engage.' is brought to you bythe Mahara team at Catalyst IT.
(00:25):
My name is Kristina Hoeppner.
I'm stoked to be speaking withAssociate Professor Dr Zala
Volcic from Monash Universitytoday. Dr Ingrid D'Souza
introduced me to her in 2019. DrKevin Kelly from San Francisco
State University and I haveresearched what then became the
(00:45):
AAEEBL Digital Ethics principleof DEIBD, which stands for
diversity, equity, inclusion,belonging, and decolonisation,
and we spoke with Zala and someof her colleagues, Dr Frankie
Egan, Prof Dr JaneMaree Maher,and Dr Emily van der Nagel.
(01:06):
Welcome to the podcast, Zala.
It's good to catch up.
Zala Volcic (01:09):
Oh, Kristina, thank you so much for having me. I so
appreciate your interest andyour work in this space. Thank
you.
Kristina Hoeppner (01:17):
Thank you so much, Zala. Before we actually
get started with the questions,and I'm super excited to finally
after, I think, four and a halfyears roughly be talking with
you again, I would like tocongratulate you on being the
latest recipient of the Awardfor Australian University
Teacher of the Year for 2023.
That's a wonderful achievementand confirmation of your
(01:39):
commitment to your students.
Congratulations, Zala.
Zala Volcic (01:44):
Thank you, Kristina. Thanks so much. That's
so nice. And you know, it's awonderful opportunity for me
here to thank my colleagues atMonash as well. It's wonderful
to be working within thecommunity of committed educators
at Monash University andspecifically at Arts Faculty and
my school, which is the Schoolof Media, Screen Studies, and
Journalism. They have beenabsolutely wonderful.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:07):
It's always great to catch up with you and
also with Carmen and Ingrid, whowork very closely with
portfolios and see what you'reup to. So I'm really happy that
we can share a bit more aboutwhat you're doing in the
Bachelor of Media Communication.
Zala Volcic (02:22):
I do want to say to work with Ingrid, the dearest
educational designer, has beenreally life changing in so, so
many ways. And also I soappreciate talking about
ePortfolio and our teaching ingenerally because, I think, it's
so important to in a waycelebrate our work because we do
teach and we mentor and weguide, but we also inspire and
(02:44):
encourage and care for eachother and our students and also
help to intervene withspecifically innovations such as
ePortfolio that then work sobeautifully for community,
educational spirit, and for ourstudents in particular.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:59):
Yeah, before we get to the particular
portfolio questions, let's maybebacktrack a little bit. Who are
you? What do you do? I mean, weknow that you work at Monash
University, but do you want totell us a bit more about your
role, Zala?
Zala Volcic (03:13):
I would love to, thanks, Kristina. So I now teach
at Monash University, but I havebeen teaching at different
international universities inEurope, in United States, a now
in Australia. I come from theregion of former Yugoslavia. So
I grew up during turbulenttimes. I have witnessed, you
know, the collapse of communismin Yugoslavia and the rise of
(03:35):
nationalisms, and then theviolent collapse of my country,
and you know, this reallyprofoundly shaped me as a
teacher as well.
So very early on, I wasinterested in the role of media
and media propaganda. I wasasking myself as a young woman
questions such as you know, howand why do media affect us? How
(03:57):
can in a way the soul ofcommunity be healed after the
trauma of wars? What can we doin terms of education to bring
us together? And what does itmean to come to terms with the
traumatic past? So these werekind of intellectual questions,
and then I decided to do my PhDin United States in Media
Studies, and so I come frommedia studies discipline. Media
(04:21):
studies in the United States isin Arts and Humanities
Education. To grow within thisframework really deeply shaped
me as well because this type ofeducation is, I would say,
intentionally intimate andbeneficially broad.
Coming from media studies, youknow, wow, what a moment to be
(04:41):
teaching media studies about themedia. We see the rise of
automated systems that promiseto take on a growing range of
tasks, including teaching, Iwould say, but the one area that
remains beyond their reach isthat of creative human thinking.
This is what I try to do in myclassrooms as well: To teach the
students about the media. Ofcourse, one of the problems that
(05:04):
I think we face and it doesalready connect to ePortfolio is
that the challenge of teachingabout the media is that our
students are immersed in themedia and the media themselves
have, in a way becomerelentlessly self reflexive. My
goal as a teacher is to pushthrough these existing
preconceptions to provide mystudents with new and very
(05:26):
productive ways of thinkingabout the technologies in which
they are immersed, but alsoabout the practices that have
become automatic for them.
EPortfolio, in that way, veryearly on, offered me that
possibility.
One more sentence just to finishthe circle. What drives my
teaching and particular kinds ofinnovations in my classrooms is
(05:50):
my research. I love my research,my methodologies, you know,
qualitative, I do focus groupsand in depth interviews with
people and I'm interested in howthey consume the media. With
those stories then I go into myclassrooms, and we discover the
media worlds together with mystudents.
Kristina Hoeppner (06:10):
I think, you are then in the correct position
because you're not just anAssociate Professor in the
Faculty of Arts, teaching yourmedia students, but you are also
the Director of teachingInnovation within the Faculty of
Arts. So you have this wonderfuldual role of being a teacher and
also the researcher and canprogress all of those ideas that
(06:32):
you've just talked about andmany others that your colleagues
are researching, and bringingall of that together in an
innovative environment.
Zala Volcic (06:40):
Yeah, this role, Kristina, really nicely allows
me to experiment and to godeeper within some of the
theoretical ideas as well, thatI have been writing about. So it
allows me deeper engagement withmy community and that is the
community of my colleagues andthe community of my students and
(07:02):
then also the community ofindustry voices, especially in
media studies, in the degree,you know, that I have been
directing, Bachelor of MediaCommunication, we have a very
strong industry board withmembers coming from media
studies and screen studies andjournalism spaces and critical
PR. We love conversations anddialogue and learn from each
(07:25):
other, and to really think aboutdifferent perspectives.
This role really, in a way, it'svery exciting. It's very timely
for me, and it's really based onthe premise of, I would say,
three notions. The first one iscommunity. The second one is
relationships. So relationshipsthat we build with each other
(07:47):
while we are together, you know,in the classroom. And thirdly,
it's this notion that I reallydeeply care about, which is
compassion. Compassion for eachother, compassion for the
knowledge, compassion for thepractices of daily life because
it's such a huge responsibilityto be teaching our students and
(08:08):
sending them out into the world.
Really my maxim is that asteachers, we should intrigue
students. By that in a way, Imean, that we must communicate
to our students that there aresome realms of knowledge and
practices, new practices worthknowing that they don't yet
know, and then conveying, youknow, our own passion and
(08:30):
excitement about our own workand research and thinking that's
just energising for everybody.
Because I also really believethat when students see our
genuine passion, they getpassionate about knowledge in
new ways of learning themselves.
If we are there for them in theclassroom, outside the classroom
(08:50):
with particular extracurricularactivities, that just works.
Kristina Hoeppner (08:55):
All the things you've already mentioned,
community relationships,compassion, they fall very, very
nicely into the portfoliopractice. So I'd kind of like to
know when were you actuallyintroduced to portfolios?
Zala Volcic (09:09):
The Bachelor of Media Communication, it's an
undergraduate degree. It now hasover 1,000 students, domestic
and international. The degreewas implemented in 2018, at the
end of 2018, with the idea tobuild a bridge between theory
and practice so that we arecommitted to explore the layers
(09:33):
of theory and history with ourstudents, but at the same time
that we teach skills in a verymeaningful and really deep
manner. Very early on, we wereworking with Monash educational
designers at Arts Faculty, andso ePortfolio started in 2018
and really picked up a year anda half later.
(09:56):
We started with the first year,and we implemented ePortfolio in
first year units. These arelarge units, we teach at scale.
We have roughly 400 students inour first year unit. But we see
these units as crucial. They lieat the heart of undergraduate
education. That's where thesocialisation happens as well of
(10:18):
our students. That's where youcan really build a sense of
belonging, and you help studentsto discover themselves and
explore and engage. We put a lotof intellectual effort into our
first year units. And so toreally start with first year
units really made sense to us.
Now, ePortfolio is implementedin the degree throughout the
(10:40):
three years. It's beautiful. Imean, it has been the most
successful, I would say,impactful intervention that
really helped to promote thiscommunity focused education that
BMC really prides itself on. Itreally strengthened student
engagement, plenty of evidenceto show that this has been
(11:01):
extremely important, if not keypart of innovations within the
degree.
Kristina Hoeppner (11:09):
Oh that is wonderful to hear, and also
seeing that authentic learningis important and has its place,
especially for journalism, wherewe can't just learn the theory
of how to write something or howto interview somebody, but
ideally, students can do it andexperience also the pressure
that can be on any of thoseactivities. Now that you're
(11:31):
using portfolios with all ofyour students throughout the
degree, what sort of portfoliosdo your students create? I
assume a lot of is forassessment purposes, of course,
because it is fully integratedinto the degree, but do they
also use it to gain internshipsor while they are on
(11:51):
internships? If you can go intoa bit more detail for us so that
we get a better idea of how thatcan be implemented in one of
those degrees.
Zala Volcic (12:00):
I'll try to be as systematic as possible. The
thing is that I do get veryenthusiastic talking about
ePortfolio. So I hope I can beas clear as possible. But let me
firstly say, you're right, ofcourse, it allows for a rich
array of assessments, and italso provides continuous
feedback, and it captures skillsgained over time for our
(12:22):
students. I would say on thegeneral level, it allows,
especially, you know, media andscreen and journalism and PR
students to curate, and, moreimportantly even showcase the
knowledge and the ideas andimagination that they have
gained and that they have beenshaping throughout their degree.
(12:42):
The ePortfolio is able to showhow our student has grown
intellectually throughout thosethree years.
This use, I think, allows thatthe students' assessments can be
collected and housedelectronically, as you said,
that's one level, and that'skind of quite technical.
Students understand why they arebeing asked to do each test, how
(13:04):
it helps them to be also, in away professionally ready,
because we communicate this tothem, and we give them constant
feedback on that. That's onevery important layer.
I think providing this veryinteractive feedback as well to
students is extremely important.
Communicating to the studentswhy it matters, it helps to send
the message to our students tobe professionally ready, why
(13:28):
it's important to beprofessionally ready, and how.
It's great to be teaching media.
I love it. It's very creative,it's full of imagination. Our
students create video essays,they create different artworks,
they create podcasts, theycreate radio podcasts, they
create folios. It's extremelydiverse. But what I feel it
(13:50):
really is very important tothink about these times because
I think ePortfolio provides themwith a sense of the continuity
and development of theirachievements over the course of
the degree. They see how they'regrowing from the first year
units into the second year unit,and then, wow, the third year.
They're able to see how they'regrowing, how they're building,
(14:13):
how they're changing, how theirintellectual subjectivity is
growing, and is beingtransformed, how more and more
they're connected to their ownwork and ideas, and how their
own work is entering spaces ofthe world, whether that's
newspapers where they want towork or different film
(14:33):
productions, and so on. I thinkthat's extremely important to
point out.
The ePortfolio on that layerreally allows for academic
rigour. Our assessments areextremely complex and really
allow for theoretical historicalrigour, but there is additional
incentive for our students toembrace this professional level
(14:55):
of commitment to craft theirwork in a very, very strong
manner. So it's both at the sametime. The ePortfolio allows
students to document theirmastery of practical skills that
they gained, but then, you know,for me, what is very important
is that the students are ablewhile using ePortfolio, and we
(15:16):
talk about it, and we share andwe collaborative, they give each
other feedback, right, they areable to develop personal, and
for me, that's extremelyimportant personal,
professional, and socialresponsibility, so civic
responsibility. Our goal aseducators is also prepare our
students as citizens to enterthe world that they are. They
have a social responsibility,and they're building on their
(15:38):
professional identity, ofcourse, but they're also being
shaped as people. That's a niceadditional attribute of
ePortfolio.
Kristina Hoeppner (15:47):
Also that your students get the chance to
try and use all of thetechnologies and techniques they
learn and have those thenassist, and that's why the
portfolios that I have seen aresome of your students, they were
extremely media rich, veryvisual, because of course, it
lends itself beautifully tothat. That, of course, is often
(16:10):
the learning evidence, theproduct that they've created to
demonstrate what they have beendoing. But do they also use
those visualisations or audioand video to reflect on their
practice? Or is that happeningmainly in text? Or is that a
mix?
Zala Volcic (16:28):
No, no, that's kind of the beauty because it allows
for the engagement that thestudents have among themselves
and with us, the lecturers, andsometimes with the industry. We
would invite film makers to comeand already comment on
particular group work.
Throughout this reflexivityprocess, we emphasise the
(16:50):
connection between academic andpractical, but then also for us
creative aspects of students'work, and they're able to see
these different dimensions. Forexample, we would emphasise or
communicate or dissect oranalyse, you know, the effort
that is so purely seen in thestudents' work that students put
(17:10):
into building their ePortfolios.
We would comment how we can seethe professional growth and how
we invite the students for selfreflection as well that they are
then able to articulate.
The ePortfolio integrationallowed us as lecturers to see
(17:30):
but also I mean, so clearly, thestudents are able to articulate
this as well to tell you theirstories, how this has empowered
students to take extra care andpride if you even want in the
final submission. They aremeeting the learning purpose,
but it's so much more. Itmotivates students if you want
to use this particular languageof encouragement and motivation.
(17:52):
It really enabled us aseducators to motivate students
to build their own criticalscholarship, to be very, very
proud of it, and to showcase itand with that work, go out there
and show it and get internshipsand jobs. Show it to the
parents. I mean, I think that'simportant factor as well to use
your personal and then socialand professional communities
(18:14):
where you share. So it's notlost, basically. It has that
extra dimension.
And also, you know, that youprepare the students. I mean, so
many of our students first yearthey're so young, they're full
of hopes and dreams, and theymay not necessarily know what do
they want to do, what they'rereally interested in. So it
allows them to really experimentwith different mediums, with
(18:35):
different ways, genres, withdifferent types, of course of
knowledge. And in that way,anticipating the transition to
future careers. I think it'sreally important because it
imagines you know, the futureemployers. In this present
climate for the students to beable to electronically share
their learning opportunitieswith wider communities is
extremely, I think, important.
That's where the students'feedback on the use of
(18:57):
ePortfolio really comes out.
They love this idea that theycan showcase their works
throughout their three years ofstudying.
I don't know whether that'sinteresting for our listeners,
but also the industry, theyreally celebrate the ePortfolio.
I give you a very concreteexample, a wonderful industry
(19:19):
board member Jo Painter, she'sthe Director of ICON Agency. She
has been an Australian PR leaderof 2021, for example. She has
given to our students a lot ofinternships and a couple of
jobs, but she says, "Look, itreally fosters student
reflective practice and criticallearning. With those skills,
(19:40):
it's absolutely wonderful toimmediately see who the student
is what they're interested in,and it helps me as an employer."
Kristina Hoeppner (19:47):
Because we want to see that people can
learn from previous experiencesand make them better or employ
similar techniques in adifferent circumstance. So Zala,
what guidance do you give toyour students to become these
reflective practitioners, to dothat self reflection? Do you
have a framework for that orsome guiding questions that you
(20:10):
like to use?
Zala Volcic (20:12):
I think it runs throughout the degree in a more
cultural sense. What works isnot specific, you know,
questions or suggestions that wewould have for students, but
it's implemented within theintellectual core curriculum
that runs throughout the degreein every single unit. I'll give
(20:33):
you an example. It runs from thefirst your unit, and we were
talking about the importance offirst year units here, where as
teachers, we are not onlypresent in the classroom with
our intellectual abilities, butalso as individuals with
different experiences andbackgrounds. We really try to
create a culture of mutualrespect and honesty and
(20:56):
exploration and open mindednessand the really genuine concern
for teaching and learning. Iwould argue that these are key
principles within BMC that thestudents really respond because
they get to know you, as ateacher, as someone who is, of
course, in my case, an expert inspecific area, but it's also a
person who grew up in specificcontext and is able to self
(21:19):
reflect on practices and beingin the world and in personal and
professional way.
We, for example, in the firstyear unit, created a wonderful
layer that is called'Conversations with media
professionals'. We havecollaborated with our students
to make and we continue to makeshort videos, these are
(21:40):
conversations interviews withsome of the top scholars in the
world. For example, we wouldhave film makers from Argentina
or a conversation with an editorfor Asian TV. We would be asking
personal questions, alsoprofessional, how they have been
growing, how they decided whatto study, what are they doing
(22:01):
now, and these conversationswould be guided by specific
questions, but it's all aboutself reflection as well. I think
once you cultivate a culturethat is both, again, based on
rigour and hard work as well,each of us needs to put in,
lecturers and students, then, Ithink, self reflection, you have
a framework basically for it. Bythe time they come to the second
(22:22):
year, it's much easier.
Kristina Hoeppner (22:24):
What I really love, Zala, is that the self
reflection is woven into theprogramme.
Zala Volcic (22:31):
Yes.
Kristina Hoeppner (22:31):
Because you're committed to also
building inclusive communities,building communities, building
relationships, and then showingcompassion that you're not
saying, 'Okay, now we aredealing with this one thing, now
we are dealing with this otherthing, and now we're doing self
reflection,' but that it allcomes together that maybe you're
not even potentially using theword 'self reflect' at some
(22:52):
point, but because of the wayyou're asking your question and
how you're demonstrating askingthe questions by all of these
professionals you're talkingwith...
Zala Volcic (23:02):
That's so beautiful because when we are learning
about the different perspectivesand also about how we learn, we
are going to sometimes getthings wrong, or we are going to
make assumptions that wereuntrue. We just need to own
that, and once we are aware ofit to do better the next time.
Every profession in our societyinvolves human beings, whether
(23:22):
you are an engineer or a doctoror a journalist, a scientist or
politician, there is afundamental basic, I would say,
human commonality. We all facesome kinds of existential,
social, political, but alsopsychological realities. I think
this approach of the communityand compassion, relationship,
(23:44):
and self reflexivity addressesthese in a very profound way.
This self awareness with thefocus on humanistic, if you
want, development andcultivation centres us in our
own human condition. This makesus more effective, also more
humane, more compassionate, butalso more skilled person in
(24:05):
whatever profession we decide togo into. I think a lot of times
we forget about that, and Ithink it's so important to be
stressing this to each other ascolleagues, as academics, as
educators, and to our studentsnot to shy away to say this, and
clearly communicate thismessage. I think the students
really appreciate that.
Kristina Hoeppner (24:24):
Because we don't always get it right the
first time around.
Zala Volcic (24:27):
That's correct.
Kristina Hoeppner (24:28):
There's always a bit of trial and error,
and if that is built into thefabric of how the students
study, then it becomes morenormalised.
Zala Volcic (24:37):
Yeah, no, you're right. I love teaching. I just
get all my energy also from myresearch and further work for
me. But I do worry thatsometimes we start to see
university education as merelyprofessionalising. That at the
heart sometimes that we see ourexclusive goal of university
education is to equip for ourprofessions and doing career,
(25:01):
but I do think we shouldn't beneglecting the fundamental
condition of the individualstudents. We need to continue to
do this other work as wellbecause we need to do both. I
just came from this conferencein London on educational
leadership. It was four days ofconversations about what's the
purpose of university, and whereshould we be going? It was
(25:24):
great, and I think we need tounderstand I'm for both
positions.
Kristina Hoeppner (25:28):
Zala, this is a very, very important point
because also just recently, I'vetalked with Derrin Kent from The
Development Manager in the UK,that is basically a company that
provides degree apprenticeshipsand works with companies to get
these apprentices and then alsoworks with universities on the
other hand, so that studentsalso get their degree. He's
(25:49):
marrying both sides up. So theprofessional side, which you can
get through an apprenticeship,where you learn on the job,
where you do the things thatyour employer needs at the
moment. But then also on theother side, you have the
university degree where you canexplore more, where your need to
explore more so that you're notjust teaching to the present,
(26:11):
but can also look into, okay,what might that mean, in three
to five years? What are somefundamentals that we need to
give students on hand so thatthey can innovate, that they can
think about themselves, thatthey can think critically? So
kind of bringing both of thosethings together, I think, that
is good. Many universities, ofcourse, currently do this in a
way through the internships. Sowork-integrated learning that is
(26:35):
extremely important becausestudents do need to be exposed
to the professional world inorder to also be able to situate
themselves later on.
Zala Volcic (26:44):
You're so right.
You see this in students then aswell because I think what
ePortfolio then does is itinvites them, it's a beautiful
communicative space, in a wayspace of hope if you want, and
they just play and they designand they redesign and they edit,
and they spend much more energyto perfect their work that is
really beautiful to see. And soI think in this way, I'm like
(27:07):
you I'm extremely positive andoptimistic despite some of the
dire times that we are livingin. We take this positive moment
of uncertainty, and thisimplementation of a portfolio is
precisely that positive momentwithin uncertain times. It's
beautiful to see the feedbackfrom the students, the feedback
from colleagues, and thefeedback from industry.
Kristina Hoeppner (27:29):
Entirely.
Zala, we are both very positive,we are both optimistic about
portfolios, we love portfolios,we know why they are good for
our learners, but is thereanything that you would really,
really like to be able to do,but currently can't just yet to?
Zala Volcic (27:46):
Look, I do want to say that for us in BMC, what
really worked and continues towork is the work of designers,
our educational designers. As Isaid, the work that Ingrid
D'Souza did very, very early on,she really laid the ground, and
the continuous collaborationsthat we have with educational
(28:08):
designers is incredible. Thesecolleagues work and are there
for us and our students 24 hoursa day when sometimes there is
submission button that doesn'twork. They're just always there
in terms, again, of the physicalwork, design work, but also in
terms of psychologicalencouragement work. We are very
(28:28):
lucky because we have beensupported in this sense.
Educational designers areproviding and organising
specific workshops as well forstudents. We have different
mentoring programmes, even, forthe students to showcase the
good portfolios, I'm actuallyvery happy how it works now. If
the students could take theePortfolio with them in the long
(28:51):
run, that would be really,really beneficiary. And then
also if we could open it up aswell to colleagues who are not
part of the university. So if itwould be a little bit more
flexibility in terms ofopenness, that would really
work. There's just smallercomments in terms of how to
provide feedback, if it could beeasier to comment on group work,
to do those kinds of ways, butthese are small comments and
(29:15):
suggestions that I think we areaddressing as we go.
Kristina Hoeppner (29:18):
We are addressing some of them also in
the UX review that we arecurrently doing of Mahara, and
that some of your students willactually also very soon be
involved in. So I look forwardto their feedback.
Zala Volcic (29:29):
Me too.
Kristina Hoeppner (29:30):
Speaking of your educational designers,
Ingrid laid the foundation andthen over the last few years,
you've had Carmen Sapsed and thethree of you actually wrote a
paper together for last year'sEportfolio Forum, so I'll also
make sure that I'll put the linkinto the episode notes to that
because that also reallybeautifully shows that interplay
(29:51):
between you as the academic, asthe faculty member, and then the
educational designers on theother side and making sure that
everything works. together inorder to give your students the
best possible learningexperience.
Zala Volcic (30:04):
Yeah, it's beautiful to see, as you say,
you really have students engagedwith providing feedback. I think
that's a wonderful as wellbecause they feel that they are
a part of the process. And thestudent voices are so important.
It's the work that you dosharing and really making sure
that we all get informed abouteach other's uses and how and
(30:24):
what works for us, and just thephilosophies behind it because
it's, of course, not just aparticular technological
platform, but it's so much more,as you point out in your
conversations, in your own work,and as I hope, you know, that
our conversation contributed toas well.
Kristina Hoeppner (30:40):
Most definitely. Now, before we get
to our quick answer round, Zala,is there anything else that you
would like to share?
Zala Volcic (30:49):
I think in BMC, we now have a pretty good rhythm to
ePortfolio. But it's veryimportant, I think, to realise
that stagnation is the enemy ofgood teaching and learning. So
we feel very comfortable now.
It's important to continue tothink about different strategies
to ensure that the ePortfolioremains very fresh, meets the
(31:10):
challenges that we are allhaving and we are all going to
continue to face, and that itcontributes to transform itself
as well and its role. And Ithink that in technological
sense, but also inintellectually symbolic way.
Kristina Hoeppner (31:25):
With more and more faculties at Monash also
going to use the portfolio,that'll also help keeping it
fresh and looking at each other.
What is the other one doing?
What are you doing? Can we takesomething that somebody else had
thought about that might also begood for you?
Zala Volcic (31:39):
Yes, yes. I mean, I think the beautiful thing is
that then we can really shareand exchange across the
university, not just you know,in our case within Arts Faculty
that is already brilliant interms of ePortfolio, and it's
interesting, because, of course,I come from Arts Faculty, and
I'm advocating arts education. Ithink we lie at the heart of
(32:01):
also the portfolio, and if I maysay, you know, I think we are
guiding the rest of universityin terms of intellectual
implementation and philosophies,but it's beautiful to see the
rest of the faculties followingand learning from Arts. Arts
should really get credit, andthen that we share and exchange
our students work, because it'samazing because most of the work
(32:25):
that the students produce,create, and then put onto
ePortfolio is just - you getreally spoiled.
Kristina Hoeppner (32:33):
Thank you for that, Zala. So let's jump into
our quick answer round. Whichwords or short phrases do you
use to describe portfolio work?
Zala Volcic (32:45):
Imagination, collaboration, and courage.
Kristina Hoeppner (32:50):
Nice. That is, I think, also, where I can
see that as a summary of yourBachelor's in Media
Communication, all of thatcoming through and what you have
talked about. What tip do youthen have for learning
designers, educationaldesigners, or instructors who
create portfolio activities fortheir own learners?
Zala Volcic (33:10):
It really matters, this aspect of collaboration. So
really carefully, listening toeach other, and learning and
working with each other to takeall the expertise the
educational designers give to usacademics. Of course,
educational designers then leavea lot of space for us, the
lecturers, because we are theexperts within particular
(33:30):
discipline and know what worksfor our students. I do think we
just need to be patient.
Sometimes things don'tnecessarily work in the first
step. So just persevere,persist, try it out, talk to our
students.
I'm a believer, we need to be inthe classroom, to talk to
students to hear them to gettheir feedback. And that
requires and physically in theclassroom and working with them
(33:54):
and grading their work andgiving them feedback on their
being in the classroom outsidethe classroom ready to hear them
and really take their voice intoaccount. For that we need time.
We need space to be together ina very, very meaningful way, and
then magic happens.
Kristina Hoeppner (34:12):
We need to bullet point all of these tips
because there was way more thanone tip which is fantastic
because there's lots of inthere, and I'm sure that
everyone can find at least one,two, or three things that they
can take on for their ownpractice. Now to the last
question then Zala, what advicedo you have for your students or
(34:34):
for anybody else who wants tocreate portfolios?
Zala Volcic (34:37):
Some of the students get quite afraid,
either they're shy or as withany new way of submitting
assignments, it's terrifying.
Being at the university in firstyear it's already difficult and
hard. There are all these newthings happening around what it
means to be a student: expectations and then guidelines (34:52):
undefined
and then pressures, I mean fromall sorts of angles. And then on
the top of it, this new thingePortfolio. But to just go
smoothly and very openly aboutthese to seek out help and
support, either from fellowstudents. That's why this
culture is so important. So thatit's not even a question of
(35:14):
solidarity and openness andinclusion, just really of
compassion, so that you reachout with any kind of questions,
problems, dilemmas that youreach out to your professors and
that you reach out toeducational designers if needed.
Help is really there, and that'snot just for ePortfolio. It's
for all the layers or students,whether they are first year
(35:37):
students or when they aregrowing up within the structure
of university. There are peoplearound who are so willing to
help, and we are there for eachother.
Kristina Hoeppner (35:48):
Those educational designers, they are
the superheroes in that fabricbecause they know so much, they
need to keep the context inmind, find activities that
really work for what you asacademic want to achieve, and
then the both of you work welltogether in order to bring this
all together for the students.
Zala Volcic (36:07):
YYou're very right.
I cannot stress enough the workof educational designers, and so
you know, Arts Monash has JoHooks, we have Carmen (Sapsed),
and we have Andrew (Junor) andthey're just absolutely amazing.
Kristina Hoeppner (36:20):
Wonderful, and thank you for the shout out
to your colleague, Zala, so thatwe also know that it's not just
educational designers, but everyone of them has a name and is a
person and so we're coming backto this: it is relational, i is
a community, and we need to havecompassion for all of us. So
thank you so much for reallystressing this and also
(36:41):
exemplifying it very well usingthe bachelor that you are
directing and showing us how theportfolio is not just a
portfolio that the students needto do, but really is part of
that entire study programme thatyou have this programmatic
approach to it that it is seenthroughout and the students
(37:03):
carry on the students learn moreabout it and then can also see
throughout their years that theyare with you how they've gotten
better. So thank you for showingthat.
Zala Volcic (37:12):
Thanks so much for having me. It was such a
pleasure and joy to chat withyou and I want to wish you all
the best. I hope to haveconversation sometime soon
again.
Kristina Hoeppner (37:21):
Thank you, Zala. Now over to our listeners.
What do you want to try in yourown portfolio practice? This was
'Create. Share. Engage.' withAssociate Professor Dr Zala
Volcic. Head to our websitepodcast.mahara.org where you can
find resources and thetranscript for this episode.
(37:42):
This podcast is produced byCatalyst IT, and I'm your host
Kristina Hoeppner, Project leadand Product Manager after the
portfolio platform Mahara. Ournext episode will air in two
weeks. I hope you'll listenagain and tell a colleague about
our podcast so they cansubscribe. Until then create,
share and engage.
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