January 29, 2025 • 20 mins
In this episode of Digication Scholars Conversations, host Kelly Driscoll talks with Matthew Gomes, an EDP Systems Analyst at Bunker Hill Community College.
They delve into the campus's dynamic involvement in the Audience Choice Awards for ePortfolios, sharing insights on students' and faculty's reactions, the logistical challenges of organizing such contests, and the inspiring stories behind some of the showcases.
Matthew highlights the importance of ePortfolios in career advancement and reflects on the consistent challenges each semester.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to DigicationScholars Conversations.
I'm your host, Kelly Driscoll.
In this episode, you'll hear PartTwo of my conversation with Matthew
Gomes, an EVP Systems Analyst atBunker Hill Community College.
More links and information about today'sconversation can be found on Digication's
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
(00:21):
Full episodes of Digication ScholarsConversations can be found on
YouTube or your favorite podcast app.
I love that you got the wholekind of campus involved in
doing the audience choice, too.
Because even just having thatopportunity for other people on
campus to open those portfolios andsee what other students have done.
(00:48):
I think would be inspiring for those thatmay not have created their own ePortfolio
yet, or maybe working on one, but mightneed to see what other people are doing.
And also for the faculty memberstoo, to see how students are using
this technology, whether it'ssomething that they're already
using within their classes or not.
Um, and to use it as an opportunityto really celebrate those students
(01:11):
and the work that they put intotheir ePortfolios, I think it's a
wonderful way to get visibility around.
The project and to celebratethe student success with that.
And then it sounds like the, um, forthe in-person event, that's when you're
kind of providing the actual rewardsto the students that, um, received
(01:35):
either the top scores from the.
Judges that were invited, um, butalso those that accumulated kind
of the most votes or points fromthose that, um, around the campus
were impressed by what they did.
So that's, that's really fantastic.
And do you find that the students whenthey're in that, um, you know, in this
(02:01):
kind of content contest phase or feelingexcited about the fact that other people
are going to have a chance to see whatthey do and what their skills are or are
some students kind of nervous about it...
what what is thatexperience like for them?
Uh, Good question.
(02:21):
So we've gotten an arrayof reactions and sentiment.
Um, one of the winnerswas so hard to track down.
Cause I was like, I wanted to do the,the silly, maybe you saw that on the
ePortfolio, but we have these giantcardboard checks printed, really,
you know, cheesy, but it was fun.
Yes, I saw it!
(02:42):
And one of them was so hard to track down.
I had to stay till 7PM.
on campus, and I found her, like, in a,uh, event that she was doing over here.
I'm like, I've been trying to track youdown and give you the, uh, your prize.
Um, but, okay, so, uh, generalsentiment and, uh, are they
anxious or anything like that?
Yeah, it's a mixed bag.
(03:02):
So some of them, uh, we'vegotten some that are, Hey, so,
so when are we going to find out?
When are we going to find out?
You know?
Uh, Oh, it's not until December.
Oh man.
You know?
Um, but then other peopleare like, okay, good.
Uh, now I have time to kind of, you know,relax or whatever, something like that.
Um, so, I don't know, it's a unique,um, of like excitement or maybe anxious
(03:26):
or something like that, kind of mixedthing, uh, like that, we had one student
that wasn't, um, I guess when they foundout they weren't, they didn't win, they
weren't super thrilled, um, but on thatsame token, we had students who were like,
oh, uh, This makes me motivated to trynext year, or when are you doing it again?
(03:46):
That was another one that surprisedme, where students were like, when
are you going to run it again?
Even faculty were like, oh, if I knew,oh, and I'm like, well, you sent out a
million emails and you know, it's, it'stough these days, you know, especially
post pandemic, you know, many departmentsand many emails about many things.
And it's like, yeah,you got to prioritize.
(04:06):
So, so I get it.
Um, it's.
Really tough when everybody's tryingto promote their, you know, whatever's
going on in their areas as much as theyare, um, for them to notice our thing.
Um, which is fine, but yeah, just a, avast array of, of reactions like that.
People were like, yeah, essentially,Oh, well, when are you running it again?
(04:28):
Are you going to run it in the spring?
Are you going to run in the fall?
And I wanted to do it in the spring.
I, I, I did, but it was, uh, again.
We wanted to kind of graduallyadjust, um, to doing it and adding
that on to everything else going onin our department and everything.
And I didn't want it to be, Idon't want it to ever get to the
(04:49):
point where it's watered down.
You know, that's one of the thingsthat I It's especially, oh man, this
September is so hard to do, um, obviously,uh, you know, and every other college
knows how brutal September's can be.
Um, it's the first month back on thefall and, you know, it's very, very busy.
And so, I saw, um, little thingsstarted to kind of dip or whether it's
(05:14):
promoting or whether it's, uh, youknow, getting priorities change and
people want to join their classes.
I can't join because my Webex linkwon't work and things like this.
And that becomes the new problem.
And we have to, within our departmentaid, we're trying to figure out,
okay, what are the solutionsto that and things like this.
And so you focus on that and then.
You know, the one other person in mydepartment that's helping me work on
(05:37):
the contest and ePortfolio topics,even he gets, um, you know, taken away
with other things and then it's like,Oh, wait, we got to bring it back.
We got to bring it back.
Let's plot a meeting for next Monday,you know, and just to make sure that
we're on top of it and we're notforgetting and we're not losing it.
So that's the thing I, I found tobe a bit challenging, um, last year.
(05:58):
And again, this year, even though thisyear we had more time to plot things out.
It's still.
Um, you know, one thing, I don't know ifit's a Higher Ed thing or Academia thing,
or maybe just community colleges, but nomatter how much you plan, um, you know,
things, there tends to be just things thatcome out of the sides and out of nowhere.
(06:19):
And it's almost like a life thing.
Yeah.
That too.
For sure.
Absolutely.
Um, but it's so, the strangestthing with that is, um, It's
almost like every semester.
There's a topic if I were togo back to every semester.
There's like a thing that likeThat like colored that semester.
(06:41):
So like if I looked back at leastfor again for Bunker Hill Oh, we
had the the great the great 'SingleSign On' issue of 2019, you know,
or the great WiFi, WiFi crisis ofOf fall 2020, you know what I mean?
Like it was, and obviously 2020, 2021are obvious as a pandemic and everything.
(07:02):
Um, so there was alwayslike a thing that colored.
And so I find that it's almostlike, okay, what's going to be the
thing this semester and like plotand plan for that and say, okay.
Knowing that there's a thing that's goingto happen, let's not schedule as many like
of this and webinars and things like thisand, you know, do a little promotion and
things like this and really refocus howwe're going to do because it's almost like
(07:26):
we're planning for it to definitely happensometimes, you know, not to be pessimistic
about it, but it's, it's a reality andit's inevitable, especially these days
with, you know, the whole cybersecuritythings going on and, and all of that.
So really trying to.
Uh, stay on top of that whilealso staying enthusiastic with
things like the contest and makingfunny videos and stuff like that.
(07:49):
So.
Yeah, and I was curious, too.
So you shared a little bit aboutthe, um, perspective of the students.
What was the process like for thejudges, and have you had some judges
that wanted to return this yearbecause they enjoyed that process?
Yes, actually.
So, um, much like the students, the judgesshared a sentiment at first, something
(08:15):
like, Why is the process like this, likethe first one or two, but then after
doing three, four, five, four, four,he's like, Oh, this is really easy.
You know, it's just, they had toget into a flow of the, the way that
we built out the process of judgingbecause we use a few different things.
Um, we have a, um, now we havea Microsoft SharePoint page, but
(08:37):
it was a Word doc the first time.
So I'll just go with the Worddoc for simplicity, but so
imagine a Word document with.
The steps written down in a couple ofscreenshots, not too wordy, not too
big, no more than two pages, reallytry to keep it as simple as possible
and as to the point as possible.
Um, so you have that process and thenyou have, so those steps kind of map out.
(09:02):
Okay, step one, click into theDigication course and we have
the link to it right there.
They click it, they view the submissions.
Next.
Look at the list of submissionsthat anybody with the right status,
that means they have a submission.
So you have to explainthe logic of it to them.
That means they have a submission,click the button and click this view.
(09:23):
ePortfolio submission button as well,but make sure you click the latest
one and not the previous one becausestudents can submit multiple times.
You can see the date time stamps listed.
Click that.
So there was multiple steps.
So the, the faculty at first were sayingI, you know, one of their, we did a
survey and got feedback from them andeverything and some of the things that
they were saying was, oh, what's the um,I'm wondering if there's an easier way
(09:48):
to go about, well, now that we did like10, 20, 30 ePortfolios and, and reviewed
them, I, we understand why it was like it,but in the beginning, we were like, ah, I
wonder if there was an easier way you canuse this or use this feature or use this.
So really it was just sort ofthe logistical of how to judge
(10:08):
that was, um, a little in fluxin terms of sentiment for them.
Um, overall they.
I think for some of them, well, oneof them, like, it came right up to me
and she was like, yeah, ask me again.
I'd love to do it again.
Um, you know, actually two of them, uh,two of the six from last year said that,
(10:30):
um, but I wanted to get maybe two repeatjudges, but then maybe three new ones.
I wanted to get new, new judges too.
And so there was overall enthusiasm.
They loved the portfolios.
Um, Some of them, they were like, oh,well, this student submitted a screenshot.
And obviously, that wasn't, you know,this one was a submitted screenshot.
And it's like, oh, maybe theydidn't read the instructions, or
(10:51):
maybe they didn't quite understand.
Maybe there's a better way that youcan, like, have the instructions laid
out for them, or maybe there's a wayto turn off settings, whatever it
is, to make it a little easier andto the point for them for submitting.
Fortunately, now it is, becausethe submit button's built in
and everything, so it's great.
Um, built into the portfolio.
So, yeah, so it was generally, um, some ofthat sort of sentiment we got from them.
(11:14):
Overall, they were just reallyenthusiastic about, um, the types
of ePortfolios they were seeing.
Some of them, I remember hearingfrom other faculty saying, Oh my
God, I taught that student, youknow, cause, uh, there were some
that I've done e portfolios for, um.
That were in a class that I did ePortfoliotrainings for and they submitted to the
contest, but that professor had no idea.
(11:36):
And then in the, uh, when doingtheir training this year, I was
showing some of the winners.
Here's a couple of example winningportfolios that, you know, uh, for
you students to check out and look at.
And the professor goes, Ohmy God, that was the student
from my last year semester.
Oh my God, I didn't realize you won,you know, and Uh, so it, it, it just
adds an extra layer and then it buildson the enthusiasm of like, Oh, like,
(11:58):
yeah, I think I'd like to be a judge.
And they're like, Oh, I don'tknow if I have the time.
And then one of them that originallysaid they didn't have the time,
they're like, you know what?
Yeah, I'll, I'll do it.
I want to do it.
And I'm like, Hey, good.
Cause it's not that bad.
Once you get the momentum going, I thinkfor the way we built out the judging, you
just get one, two, three in, you're good.
And you just keep flowing through it,stick to the rubric as much as possible.
(12:21):
Um, And yeah, generally they'd be fine.
Yeah.
And I'm thinking, you know, hearingabout the process too, with, um, the new
Digication KORA courses that that judgingprocess will probably be even easier
for the judges be able to just kind ofmove from one submission onto the next.
(12:42):
Then.
Um, so I'm excited about that too.
And, you know, in looking at theshowcase, uh, or the, the winners that
the judges chose, um, and also thosethat were the audience choice too,
I mean, the quality of the work thatthe students were sharing in there.
(13:03):
experiences were so inspiring and I knowthere was one that I read who was, I
believe he's a, uh, economy or economicsmajor and was talking about how, you know,
his background and kind of family historyand what's led him to what he's studying
(13:26):
today is, you know, really driving hispassion for, uh, Working in the community
and helping those that, um, are inmarginalized and underserved communities,
and that's why he's studying what he istoday, and then, I think you mentioned
Cleo earlier, creating her own kind of,I think, her own Literary, magazine, uh,
(13:52):
just, you know, these students are justremarkable and I'm sure every opportunity
that people have to, you know, just kindof celebrate who's in their community
and the work that they're doing is a timefor everybody just to kind of reflect on.
You know, what makes Bunker HillCommunity College what it is and the,
(14:16):
you know, the success of the studentsand in turn the success of the faculty
members there and people like you thatare working hard to support everyone
and all of their different endeavors.
Um, so a huge congratulationsreally to, to all of you and I hope
that you feel very proud about.
(14:37):
What you've done in your rolefor everyone, and all of the work
that you're doing in creating thisopportunity for students to celebrate
what, you know, what they've doneand the success of their peers.
It's, it's really remarkable.
Yeah, thank you.
I really appreciate that.
And, um, yeah, I think,yeah, we're definitely proud.
(14:59):
We're definitely happy.
Um, you know, we, one of the thingsagain, we, we just want students
to one, understand what they reallyhave with ePortfolio and to, um, like
really appreciate the concept of it.
Um, Such that they're, you know,it, it's not necessarily this
(15:21):
obligatory thing that you have todo, like in a class or homework.
Yes, you might, you're gettinga grade on it in some ca...
classes, but, um, the utilityof it is, the more you put into
it, the more you get out of it.
And I, I, from what I've seen, um, I'll,I'll throw this example at you too.
Um, there, there was anearly childcare student.
(15:43):
I used to go around to a lot of thoseclasses as well, and they, they've.
Blended out a place where they'reusing one template for all
their classes, which is great.
Um, and so there, uh, one student heardmy whole spiel, my whole sentiment.
And they were like, you know what?
I actually want to try.
And they like, you know, added thebackgrounds, added banner, whatever.
(16:03):
Made it really, really nice.
Um, Life for me, I, I, I might have lostthe portfolio, but, um, maybe I'll reach
out to the teacher to find it again.
But, um, anyway, they appliedfor a job in the field that
they were going to school for.
And the Wednesday of that nextweek, they got a job in the field
that they were going to school for.
So for me, yeah, exactly.
So for me, it's, I kind ofview it as like a cheat code.
(16:27):
Um, it's like, I mean, so, and I, I'vegone, I've been in search committees.
I've been, I've hiredpeople in our department.
And.
You know, I, when you have a stack of20, 25, 30 resumes, um, or applications
and white page with black text, itmight, it gets kind of dry after a
(16:47):
while, but I see one, and this is what Iencourage students to do too, I see one
with the name at the top, the address,phone number, and then they have.
The word website or they have the wordportfolio colon link pasted next to it.
And I'm like, Oh, cool.
I actually get to look atsomething now and I can look at
it and I see two eyes, a smile.
I see them doing choir with a groupof 20 people like that has implicit.
(17:09):
It implies.
I get along with people.
I've worked long, medium to long termwith a group of more than two people
to make one thing happen and createsomething like all that's implied.
What image, uh, picture'sworth a thousand words, right?
So.
All of that utility is, is great.
(17:30):
And I think over time, students areunderstanding this more and more.
And so, yes, I think we are, ourdepartment is very proud of ePortfolio
and very proud of, you know, whatwe've been able to do and, um,
build enthusiasm for students.
And, you know, we're only looking to growit even more on the next coming semesters.
You know, our department's a littlebehind or our school's a little behind on
(17:51):
getting KORA going, but I'm really excitedfor January when we, when we launch it.
So it's going to be great.
Yeah.
We've got your back there.
Awesome.
I know you, you all do.
You guys have been so helpfuland I thank you, all so, so much.
Well, we love working with your community,and, you know, we know that, um, as
(18:12):
technology changes and transitions andupgrades happen, some, sometimes some
schools need a little more time, andwe're really excited to see how you, um,
put these new, these new tools to work.
I think it'll, Really fall in linevery well with the way that you're
already using the platform and openup some more streamlined ways to do
(18:35):
your, uh, assessments for, for sure.
Um, I can, you know, directly see how itwould support some of the judging and.
Um, viewing thesesubmissions for the showcase.
Um, but I think it'll have a lotof power in the classes that you
have using the ePortfolios also.
So I'm, I'm thrilled.
Yeah, totally agree.
Thank you.
I'm so excited.
(18:56):
I can't wait.
Good, good.
Well, thank you again,Matthew, for joining me today.
It was really wonderful to havea chance to connect with you.
And I get just so close to this kind of,um, 15 year, uh, reunion of sorts, our
anniversary of, um, beginning our timeworking with your, uh, school, just doing
(19:21):
wonderful things over this time and veryexcited to continue that collaboration
and excited to share your, your storyand your experience with others.
Great.
Thank you, Kelly.
Appreciate it.
This was great.
Great.
Take good care.
Bye.
You too, Bye...
Coming up next, we'll be chattingwith Sharron Huang, recent
(19:41):
graduate of Stony Brook University,where she received a B.A.
in Linguistics, an M.
A.
in Teaching English to Speakersof Other Languages, and an M.
S.
in Speech Language Pathology.
Here's a quick preview.
I do genuinely think that college isabsolutely what you make out of it.
And that's a life lesson forhow much, like, life, like, you,
life is what you make out of it.
(20:02):
You know, the opportunities you take,the risks you take, the people you meet,
and the connections you make, right?
Welcome to DigicationScholars Conversations.
I'm your host, Kelly Driscoll.
In this episode, you'll hear PartTwo of my conversation with Matthew
Gomes, an EVP Systems Analyst atBunker Hill Community College.
More links and information about today'sconversation can be found on Digication's
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
(00:21):
Full episodes of Digication ScholarsConversations can be found on
YouTube or your favorite podcast app.
I love that you got the wholekind of campus involved in
doing the audience choice, too.
Because even just having thatopportunity for other people on
campus to open those portfolios andsee what other students have done.
(00:48):
I think would be inspiring for those thatmay not have created their own ePortfolio
yet, or maybe working on one, but mightneed to see what other people are doing.
And also for the faculty memberstoo, to see how students are using
this technology, whether it'ssomething that they're already
using within their classes or not.
Um, and to use it as an opportunityto really celebrate those students
(01:11):
and the work that they put intotheir ePortfolios, I think it's a
wonderful way to get visibility around.
The project and to celebratethe student success with that.
And then it sounds like the, um, forthe in-person event, that's when you're
kind of providing the actual rewardsto the students that, um, received
(01:35):
either the top scores from the.
Judges that were invited, um, butalso those that accumulated kind
of the most votes or points fromthose that, um, around the campus
were impressed by what they did.
So that's, that's really fantastic.
And do you find that the students whenthey're in that, um, you know, in this
(02:01):
kind of content contest phase or feelingexcited about the fact that other people
are going to have a chance to see whatthey do and what their skills are or are
some students kind of nervous about it...
what what is thatexperience like for them?
Uh, Good question.
(02:21):
So we've gotten an arrayof reactions and sentiment.
Um, one of the winnerswas so hard to track down.
Cause I was like, I wanted to do the,the silly, maybe you saw that on the
ePortfolio, but we have these giantcardboard checks printed, really,
you know, cheesy, but it was fun.
Yes, I saw it!
(02:42):
And one of them was so hard to track down.
I had to stay till 7PM.
on campus, and I found her, like, in a,uh, event that she was doing over here.
I'm like, I've been trying to track youdown and give you the, uh, your prize.
Um, but, okay, so, uh, generalsentiment and, uh, are they
anxious or anything like that?
Yeah, it's a mixed bag.
(03:02):
So some of them, uh, we'vegotten some that are, Hey, so,
so when are we going to find out?
When are we going to find out?
You know?
Uh, Oh, it's not until December.
Oh man.
You know?
Um, but then other peopleare like, okay, good.
Uh, now I have time to kind of, you know,relax or whatever, something like that.
Um, so, I don't know, it's a unique,um, of like excitement or maybe anxious
(03:26):
or something like that, kind of mixedthing, uh, like that, we had one student
that wasn't, um, I guess when they foundout they weren't, they didn't win, they
weren't super thrilled, um, but on thatsame token, we had students who were like,
oh, uh, This makes me motivated to trynext year, or when are you doing it again?
(03:46):
That was another one that surprisedme, where students were like, when
are you going to run it again?
Even faculty were like, oh, if I knew,oh, and I'm like, well, you sent out a
million emails and you know, it's, it'stough these days, you know, especially
post pandemic, you know, many departmentsand many emails about many things.
And it's like, yeah,you got to prioritize.
(04:06):
So, so I get it.
Um, it's.
Really tough when everybody's tryingto promote their, you know, whatever's
going on in their areas as much as theyare, um, for them to notice our thing.
Um, which is fine, but yeah, just a, avast array of, of reactions like that.
People were like, yeah, essentially,Oh, well, when are you running it again?
(04:28):
Are you going to run it in the spring?
Are you going to run in the fall?
And I wanted to do it in the spring.
I, I, I did, but it was, uh, again.
We wanted to kind of graduallyadjust, um, to doing it and adding
that on to everything else going onin our department and everything.
And I didn't want it to be, Idon't want it to ever get to the
(04:49):
point where it's watered down.
You know, that's one of the thingsthat I It's especially, oh man, this
September is so hard to do, um, obviously,uh, you know, and every other college
knows how brutal September's can be.
Um, it's the first month back on thefall and, you know, it's very, very busy.
And so, I saw, um, little thingsstarted to kind of dip or whether it's
(05:14):
promoting or whether it's, uh, youknow, getting priorities change and
people want to join their classes.
I can't join because my Webex linkwon't work and things like this.
And that becomes the new problem.
And we have to, within our departmentaid, we're trying to figure out,
okay, what are the solutionsto that and things like this.
And so you focus on that and then.
You know, the one other person in mydepartment that's helping me work on
(05:37):
the contest and ePortfolio topics,even he gets, um, you know, taken away
with other things and then it's like,Oh, wait, we got to bring it back.
We got to bring it back.
Let's plot a meeting for next Monday,you know, and just to make sure that
we're on top of it and we're notforgetting and we're not losing it.
So that's the thing I, I found tobe a bit challenging, um, last year.
(05:58):
And again, this year, even though thisyear we had more time to plot things out.
It's still.
Um, you know, one thing, I don't know ifit's a Higher Ed thing or Academia thing,
or maybe just community colleges, but nomatter how much you plan, um, you know,
things, there tends to be just things thatcome out of the sides and out of nowhere.
(06:19):
And it's almost like a life thing.
Yeah.
That too.
For sure.
Absolutely.
Um, but it's so, the strangestthing with that is, um, It's
almost like every semester.
There's a topic if I were togo back to every semester.
There's like a thing that likeThat like colored that semester.
(06:41):
So like if I looked back at leastfor again for Bunker Hill Oh, we
had the the great the great 'SingleSign On' issue of 2019, you know,
or the great WiFi, WiFi crisis ofOf fall 2020, you know what I mean?
Like it was, and obviously 2020, 2021are obvious as a pandemic and everything.
(07:02):
Um, so there was alwayslike a thing that colored.
And so I find that it's almostlike, okay, what's going to be the
thing this semester and like plotand plan for that and say, okay.
Knowing that there's a thing that's goingto happen, let's not schedule as many like
of this and webinars and things like thisand, you know, do a little promotion and
things like this and really refocus howwe're going to do because it's almost like
(07:26):
we're planning for it to definitely happensometimes, you know, not to be pessimistic
about it, but it's, it's a reality andit's inevitable, especially these days
with, you know, the whole cybersecuritythings going on and, and all of that.
So really trying to.
Uh, stay on top of that whilealso staying enthusiastic with
things like the contest and makingfunny videos and stuff like that.
(07:49):
So.
Yeah, and I was curious, too.
So you shared a little bit aboutthe, um, perspective of the students.
What was the process like for thejudges, and have you had some judges
that wanted to return this yearbecause they enjoyed that process?
Yes, actually.
So, um, much like the students, the judgesshared a sentiment at first, something
(08:15):
like, Why is the process like this, likethe first one or two, but then after
doing three, four, five, four, four,he's like, Oh, this is really easy.
You know, it's just, they had toget into a flow of the, the way that
we built out the process of judgingbecause we use a few different things.
Um, we have a, um, now we havea Microsoft SharePoint page, but
(08:37):
it was a Word doc the first time.
So I'll just go with the Worddoc for simplicity, but so
imagine a Word document with.
The steps written down in a couple ofscreenshots, not too wordy, not too
big, no more than two pages, reallytry to keep it as simple as possible
and as to the point as possible.
Um, so you have that process and thenyou have, so those steps kind of map out.
(09:02):
Okay, step one, click into theDigication course and we have
the link to it right there.
They click it, they view the submissions.
Next.
Look at the list of submissionsthat anybody with the right status,
that means they have a submission.
So you have to explainthe logic of it to them.
That means they have a submission,click the button and click this view.
(09:23):
ePortfolio submission button as well,but make sure you click the latest
one and not the previous one becausestudents can submit multiple times.
You can see the date time stamps listed.
Click that.
So there was multiple steps.
So the, the faculty at first were sayingI, you know, one of their, we did a
survey and got feedback from them andeverything and some of the things that
they were saying was, oh, what's the um,I'm wondering if there's an easier way
(09:48):
to go about, well, now that we did like10, 20, 30 ePortfolios and, and reviewed
them, I, we understand why it was like it,but in the beginning, we were like, ah, I
wonder if there was an easier way you canuse this or use this feature or use this.
So really it was just sort ofthe logistical of how to judge
(10:08):
that was, um, a little in fluxin terms of sentiment for them.
Um, overall they.
I think for some of them, well, oneof them, like, it came right up to me
and she was like, yeah, ask me again.
I'd love to do it again.
Um, you know, actually two of them, uh,two of the six from last year said that,
(10:30):
um, but I wanted to get maybe two repeatjudges, but then maybe three new ones.
I wanted to get new, new judges too.
And so there was overall enthusiasm.
They loved the portfolios.
Um, Some of them, they were like, oh,well, this student submitted a screenshot.
And obviously, that wasn't, you know,this one was a submitted screenshot.
And it's like, oh, maybe theydidn't read the instructions, or
(10:51):
maybe they didn't quite understand.
Maybe there's a better way that youcan, like, have the instructions laid
out for them, or maybe there's a wayto turn off settings, whatever it
is, to make it a little easier andto the point for them for submitting.
Fortunately, now it is, becausethe submit button's built in
and everything, so it's great.
Um, built into the portfolio.
So, yeah, so it was generally, um, some ofthat sort of sentiment we got from them.
(11:14):
Overall, they were just reallyenthusiastic about, um, the types
of ePortfolios they were seeing.
Some of them, I remember hearingfrom other faculty saying, Oh my
God, I taught that student, youknow, cause, uh, there were some
that I've done e portfolios for, um.
That were in a class that I did ePortfoliotrainings for and they submitted to the
contest, but that professor had no idea.
(11:36):
And then in the, uh, when doingtheir training this year, I was
showing some of the winners.
Here's a couple of example winningportfolios that, you know, uh, for
you students to check out and look at.
And the professor goes, Ohmy God, that was the student
from my last year semester.
Oh my God, I didn't realize you won,you know, and Uh, so it, it, it just
adds an extra layer and then it buildson the enthusiasm of like, Oh, like,
(11:58):
yeah, I think I'd like to be a judge.
And they're like, Oh, I don'tknow if I have the time.
And then one of them that originallysaid they didn't have the time,
they're like, you know what?
Yeah, I'll, I'll do it.
I want to do it.
And I'm like, Hey, good.
Cause it's not that bad.
Once you get the momentum going, I thinkfor the way we built out the judging, you
just get one, two, three in, you're good.
And you just keep flowing through it,stick to the rubric as much as possible.
(12:21):
Um, And yeah, generally they'd be fine.
Yeah.
And I'm thinking, you know, hearingabout the process too, with, um, the new
Digication KORA courses that that judgingprocess will probably be even easier
for the judges be able to just kind ofmove from one submission onto the next.
(12:42):
Then.
Um, so I'm excited about that too.
And, you know, in looking at theshowcase, uh, or the, the winners that
the judges chose, um, and also thosethat were the audience choice too,
I mean, the quality of the work thatthe students were sharing in there.
(13:03):
experiences were so inspiring and I knowthere was one that I read who was, I
believe he's a, uh, economy or economicsmajor and was talking about how, you know,
his background and kind of family historyand what's led him to what he's studying
(13:26):
today is, you know, really driving hispassion for, uh, Working in the community
and helping those that, um, are inmarginalized and underserved communities,
and that's why he's studying what he istoday, and then, I think you mentioned
Cleo earlier, creating her own kind of,I think, her own Literary, magazine, uh,
(13:52):
just, you know, these students are justremarkable and I'm sure every opportunity
that people have to, you know, just kindof celebrate who's in their community
and the work that they're doing is a timefor everybody just to kind of reflect on.
You know, what makes Bunker HillCommunity College what it is and the,
(14:16):
you know, the success of the studentsand in turn the success of the faculty
members there and people like you thatare working hard to support everyone
and all of their different endeavors.
Um, so a huge congratulationsreally to, to all of you and I hope
that you feel very proud about.
(14:37):
What you've done in your rolefor everyone, and all of the work
that you're doing in creating thisopportunity for students to celebrate
what, you know, what they've doneand the success of their peers.
It's, it's really remarkable.
Yeah, thank you.
I really appreciate that.
And, um, yeah, I think,yeah, we're definitely proud.
(14:59):
We're definitely happy.
Um, you know, we, one of the thingsagain, we, we just want students
to one, understand what they reallyhave with ePortfolio and to, um, like
really appreciate the concept of it.
Um, Such that they're, you know,it, it's not necessarily this
(15:21):
obligatory thing that you have todo, like in a class or homework.
Yes, you might, you're gettinga grade on it in some ca...
classes, but, um, the utilityof it is, the more you put into
it, the more you get out of it.
And I, I, from what I've seen, um, I'll,I'll throw this example at you too.
Um, there, there was anearly childcare student.
(15:43):
I used to go around to a lot of thoseclasses as well, and they, they've.
Blended out a place where they'reusing one template for all
their classes, which is great.
Um, and so there, uh, one student heardmy whole spiel, my whole sentiment.
And they were like, you know what?
I actually want to try.
And they like, you know, added thebackgrounds, added banner, whatever.
(16:03):
Made it really, really nice.
Um, Life for me, I, I, I might have lostthe portfolio, but, um, maybe I'll reach
out to the teacher to find it again.
But, um, anyway, they appliedfor a job in the field that
they were going to school for.
And the Wednesday of that nextweek, they got a job in the field
that they were going to school for.
So for me, yeah, exactly.
So for me, it's, I kind ofview it as like a cheat code.
(16:27):
Um, it's like, I mean, so, and I, I'vegone, I've been in search committees.
I've been, I've hiredpeople in our department.
And.
You know, I, when you have a stack of20, 25, 30 resumes, um, or applications
and white page with black text, itmight, it gets kind of dry after a
(16:47):
while, but I see one, and this is what Iencourage students to do too, I see one
with the name at the top, the address,phone number, and then they have.
The word website or they have the wordportfolio colon link pasted next to it.
And I'm like, Oh, cool.
I actually get to look atsomething now and I can look at
it and I see two eyes, a smile.
I see them doing choir with a groupof 20 people like that has implicit.
(17:09):
It implies.
I get along with people.
I've worked long, medium to long termwith a group of more than two people
to make one thing happen and createsomething like all that's implied.
What image, uh, picture'sworth a thousand words, right?
So.
All of that utility is, is great.
(17:30):
And I think over time, students areunderstanding this more and more.
And so, yes, I think we are, ourdepartment is very proud of ePortfolio
and very proud of, you know, whatwe've been able to do and, um,
build enthusiasm for students.
And, you know, we're only looking to growit even more on the next coming semesters.
You know, our department's a littlebehind or our school's a little behind on
(17:51):
getting KORA going, but I'm really excitedfor January when we, when we launch it.
So it's going to be great.
Yeah.
We've got your back there.
Awesome.
I know you, you all do.
You guys have been so helpfuland I thank you, all so, so much.
Well, we love working with your community,and, you know, we know that, um, as
(18:12):
technology changes and transitions andupgrades happen, some, sometimes some
schools need a little more time, andwe're really excited to see how you, um,
put these new, these new tools to work.
I think it'll, Really fall in linevery well with the way that you're
already using the platform and openup some more streamlined ways to do
(18:35):
your, uh, assessments for, for sure.
Um, I can, you know, directly see how itwould support some of the judging and.
Um, viewing thesesubmissions for the showcase.
Um, but I think it'll have a lotof power in the classes that you
have using the ePortfolios also.
So I'm, I'm thrilled.
Yeah, totally agree.
Thank you.
I'm so excited.
(18:56):
I can't wait.
Good, good.
Well, thank you again,Matthew, for joining me today.
It was really wonderful to havea chance to connect with you.
And I get just so close to this kind of,um, 15 year, uh, reunion of sorts, our
anniversary of, um, beginning our timeworking with your, uh, school, just doing
(19:21):
wonderful things over this time and veryexcited to continue that collaboration
and excited to share your, your storyand your experience with others.
Great.
Thank you, Kelly.
Appreciate it.
This was great.
Great.
Take good care.
Bye.
You too, Bye...
Coming up next, we'll be chattingwith Sharron Huang, recent
(19:41):
graduate of Stony Brook University,where she received a B.A.
in Linguistics, an M.
A.
in Teaching English to Speakersof Other Languages, and an M.
S.
in Speech Language Pathology.
Here's a quick preview.
I do genuinely think that college isabsolutely what you make out of it.
And that's a life lesson forhow much, like, life, like, you,
life is what you make out of it.
(20:02):
You know, the opportunities you take,the risks you take, the people you meet,
and the connections you make, right?
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