Welcome to Digication Scholars Conversations.
I'm your host, Kelly Driscoll.
In this episode, you'll hear Part Two of my conversation with Matthew
Gomes, an EVP Systems Analyst at Bunker Hill Community College.
More links and information about today's conversation can be found on Digication's
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Full episodes of Digication Scholars Conversations can be found on
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I love that you got the whole kind of campus involved in
doing the audience choice, too.
Because even just having that opportunity for other people on
campus to open those portfolios and see what other students have done.
I think would be inspiring for those that may not have created their own ePortfolio
yet, or maybe working on one, but might need to see what other people are doing.
And also for the faculty members too, to see how students are using
this technology, whether it's something that they're already
using within their classes or not.
Um, and to use it as an opportunity to really celebrate those students
and the work that they put into their ePortfolios, I think it's a
wonderful way to get visibility around.
The project and to celebrate the student success with that.
And then it sounds like the, um, for the in-person event, that's when you're
kind of providing the actual rewards to the students that, um, received
either the top scores from the.
Judges that were invited, um, but also those that accumulated kind
of the most votes or points from those 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 when they're in that, um, you know, in this
kind of content contest phase or feeling excited about the fact that other people
are going to have a chance to see what they do and what their skills are or are
some students kind of nervous about it...
what what is that experience like for them?
Uh, Good question.
So we've gotten an array of reactions and sentiment.
Um, one of the winners was 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 giant cardboard checks printed, really,
you know, cheesy, but it was fun.
Yes, I saw it!
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 you down and give you the, uh, your prize.
Um, but, okay, so, uh, general sentiment and, uh, are they
anxious or anything like that?
Yeah, it's a mixed bag.
So some of them, uh, we've gotten 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 people are 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
or something like that, kind of mixed thing, uh, like that, we had one student
that wasn't, um, I guess when they found out they weren't, they didn't win, they
weren't super thrilled, um, but on that same token, we had students who were like,
oh, uh, This makes me motivated to try next year, or when are you doing it again?
That was another one that surprised me, 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's tough these days, you know, especially
post pandemic, you know, many departments and many emails about many things.
And it's like, yeah, you got to prioritize.
So, so I get it.
Um, it's.
Really tough when everybody's trying to promote their, you know, whatever's
going on in their areas as much as they are, um, for them to notice our thing.
Um, which is fine, but yeah, just a, a vast array of, of reactions like that.
People were like, yeah, essentially, Oh, well, when are you running it again?
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 gradually adjust, um, to doing it and adding
that on to everything else going on in our department and everything.
And I didn't want it to be, I don't want it to ever get to the
point where it's watered down.
You know, that's one of the things that 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 the fall and, you know, it's very, very busy.
And so, I saw, um, little things started to kind of dip or whether it's
promoting or whether it's, uh, you know, getting priorities change and
people want to join their classes.
I can't join because my Webex link won't work and things like this.
And that becomes the new problem.
And we have to, within our department aid, we're trying to figure out,
okay, what are the solutions to that and things like this.
And so you focus on that and then.
You know, the one other person in my department that's helping me work on
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 not forgetting and we're not losing it.
So that's the thing I, I found to be a bit challenging, um, last year.
And again, this year, even though this year we had more time to plot things out.
It's still.
Um, you know, one thing, I don't know if it's a Higher Ed thing or Academia thing,
or maybe just community colleges, but no matter how much you plan, um, you know,
things, there tends to be just things that come out of the sides and out of nowhere.
And it's almost like a life thing.
Yeah.
That too.
For sure.
Absolutely.
Um, but it's so, the strangest thing with that is, um, It's
almost like every semester.
There's a topic if I were to go back to every semester.
There's like a thing that like That like colored that semester.
So like if I looked back at least for again for Bunker Hill Oh, we
had the the great the great 'Single Sign On' issue of 2019, you know,
or the great WiFi, WiFi crisis of Of fall 2020, you know what I mean?
Like it was, and obviously 2020, 2021 are obvious as a pandemic and everything.
Um, so there was always like a thing that colored.
And so I find that it's almost like, okay, what's going to be the
thing this semester and like plot and plan for that and say, okay.
Knowing that there's a thing that's going to happen, let's not schedule as many like
of this and webinars and things like this and, you know, do a little promotion and
things like this and really refocus how we're going to do because it's almost like
we're planning for it to definitely happen sometimes, you know, not to be pessimistic
about it, but it's, it's a reality and it's inevitable, especially these days
with, you know, the whole cybersecurity things going on and, and all of that.
So really trying to.
Uh, stay on top of that while also staying enthusiastic with
things like the contest and making funny videos and stuff like that.
So.
Yeah, and I was curious, too.
So you shared a little bit about the, um, perspective of the students.
What was the process like for the judges, and have you had some judges
that wanted to return this year because they enjoyed that process?
Yes, actually.
So, um, much like the students, the judges shared a sentiment at first, something
like, Why is the process like this, like the 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 to get into a flow of the, the way that
we built out the process of judging because we use a few different things.
Um, we have a, um, now we have a Microsoft SharePoint page, but
it was a Word doc the first time.
So I'll just go with the Word doc for simplicity, but so
imagine a Word document with.
The steps written down in a couple of screenshots, not too wordy, not too
big, no more than two pages, really try to keep it as simple as possible
and as to the point as possible.
Um, so you have that process and then you have, so those steps kind of map out.
Okay, step one, click into the Digication course and we have
the link to it right there.
They click it, they view the submissions.
Next.
Look at the list of submissions that anybody with the right status,
that means they have a submission.
So you have to explain the logic of it to them.
That means they have a submission, click the button and click this view.
ePortfolio submission button as well, but make sure you click the latest
one and not the previous one because students 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 saying I, you know, one of their, we did a
survey and got feedback from them and everything and some of the things that
they were saying was, oh, what's the um, I'm wondering if there's an easier way
to go about, well, now that we did like 10, 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 can use this or use this feature or use this.
So really it was just sort of the logistical of how to judge
that was, um, a little in flux in terms of sentiment for them.
Um, overall they.
I think for some of them, well, one of 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,
um, but I wanted to get maybe two repeat judges, 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 they didn't read the instructions, or
maybe they didn't quite understand.
Maybe there's a better way that you can, like, have the instructions laid
out for them, or maybe there's a way to turn off settings, whatever it
is, to make it a little easier and to the point for them for submitting.
Fortunately, now it is, because the submit button's built in
and everything, so it's great.
Um, built into the portfolio.
So, yeah, so it was generally, um, some of that sort of sentiment we got from them.
Overall, they were just really enthusiastic about, um, the types
of ePortfolios they were seeing.
Some of them, I remember hearing from other faculty saying, Oh my
God, I taught that student, you know, cause, uh, there were some
that I've done e portfolios for, um.
That were in a class that I did ePortfolio trainings for and they submitted to the
contest, but that professor had no idea.
And then in the, uh, when doing their training this year, I was
showing some of the winners.
Here's a couple of example winning portfolios that, you know, uh, for
you students to check out and look at.
And the professor goes, Oh my 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 builds on the enthusiasm of like, Oh, like,
yeah, I think I'd like to be a judge.
And they're like, Oh, I don't know if I have the time.
And then one of them that originally said 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 think for 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.
Um, And yeah, generally they'd be fine.
Yeah.
And I'm thinking, you know, hearing about the process too, with, um, the new
Digication KORA courses that that judging process will probably be even easier
for the judges be able to just kind of move from one submission onto the next.
Then.
Um, so I'm excited about that too.
And, you know, in looking at the showcase, uh, or the, the winners that
the judges chose, um, and also those that were the audience choice too,
I mean, the quality of the work that the students were sharing in there.
experiences were so inspiring and I know there was one that I read who was, I
believe he's a, uh, economy or economics major and was talking about how, you know,
his background and kind of family history and what's led him to what he's studying
today is, you know, really driving his passion for, uh, Working in the community
and helping those that, um, are in marginalized and underserved communities,
and that's why he's studying what he is today, and then, I think you mentioned
Cleo earlier, creating her own kind of, I think, her own Literary, magazine, uh,
just, you know, these students are just remarkable and I'm sure every opportunity
that people have to, you know, just kind of celebrate who's in their community
and the work that they're doing is a time for everybody just to kind of reflect on.
You know, what makes Bunker Hill Community College what it is and the,
you know, the success of the students and in turn the success of the faculty
members there and people like you that are working hard to support everyone
and all of their different endeavors.
Um, so a huge congratulations really to, to all of you and I hope
that you feel very proud about.
What you've done in your role for everyone, and all of the work
that you're doing in creating this opportunity for students to celebrate
what, you know, what they've done and 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.
We're definitely happy.
Um, you know, we, one of the things again, we, we just want students
to one, understand what they really have 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
obligatory thing that you have to do, like in a class or homework.
Yes, you might, you're getting a grade on it in some ca...
classes, but, um, the utility of 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 an early childcare student.
I used to go around to a lot of those classes as well, and they, they've.
Blended out a place where they're using one template for all
their classes, which is great.
Um, and so there, uh, one student heard my whole spiel, my whole sentiment.
And they were like, you know what?
I actually want to try.
And they like, you know, added the backgrounds, added banner, whatever.
Made it really, really nice.
Um, Life for me, I, I, I might have lost the portfolio, but, um, maybe I'll reach
out to the teacher to find it again.
But, um, anyway, they applied for a job in the field that
they were going to school for.
And the Wednesday of that next week, 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 of view it as like a cheat code.
Um, it's like, I mean, so, and I, I've gone, I've been in search committees.
I've been, I've hired people in our department.
And.
You know, I, when you have a stack of 20, 25, 30 resumes, um, or applications
and white page with black text, it might, it gets kind of dry after a
while, but I see one, and this is what I encourage 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 word portfolio colon link pasted next to it.
And I'm like, Oh, cool.
I actually get to look at something now and I can look at
it and I see two eyes, a smile.
I see them doing choir with a group of 20 people like that has implicit.
It implies.
I get along with people.
I've worked long, medium to long term with a group of more than two people
to make one thing happen and create something like all that's implied.
What image, uh, picture's worth a thousand words, right?
So.
All of that utility is, is great.
And I think over time, students are understanding this more and more.
And so, yes, I think we are, our department is very proud of ePortfolio
and very proud of, you know, what we've been able to do and, um,
build enthusiasm for students.
And, you know, we're only looking to grow it even more on the next coming semesters.
You know, our department's a little behind or our school's a little behind on
getting KORA going, but I'm really excited for 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 helpful and I thank you, all so, so much.
Well, we love working with your community, and, you know, we know that, um, as
technology changes and transitions and upgrades happen, some, sometimes some
schools need a little more time, and we're really excited to see how you, um,
put these new, these new tools to work.
I think it'll, Really fall in line very well with the way that you're
already using the platform and open up some more streamlined ways to do
your, uh, assessments for, for sure.
Um, I can, you know, directly see how it would support some of the judging and.
Um, viewing these submissions for the showcase.
Um, but I think it'll have a lot of 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.
I can't wait.
Good, good.
Well, thank you again, Matthew, for joining me today.
It was really wonderful to have a 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 time working with your, uh, school, just doing
wonderful things over this time and very excited to continue that collaboration
and excited to share your, your story and 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 chatting with Sharron Huang, recent
graduate of Stony Brook University, where she received a B.A.
in Linguistics, an M.
A.
in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and an M.
S.
in Speech Language Pathology.
Here's a quick preview.
I do genuinely think that college is absolutely what you make out of it.
And that's a life lesson for how much, like, life, like, you,
life is what you make out of it.
You know, the opportunities you take, the risks you take, the people you meet,
and the connections you make, right?