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THE PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO
The LME Portfolio Process
The LME Professional Portfolio is a culminating activity in the WKU Library Media Education Program. The Portfolio demonstrates that students are able to reflect on and provide evidence of professional growth in either library media or educational technology. The reflections, actions and evidences that are a part of the Portfolio are aligned with state and national professional standards for either library media education or educational technology depending on a student's area of concentration. The national standards used in the LME program are established by the following professional societies: the American Association for School Librarians, the International Society for Technology in Education, and the Association for Educational Communications Technology.
The process for developing the professional portfolio begins at the beginning of the students program with the development of a Professional Growth Plan. The Plan is then revised during the students program and used as a framework for the Professional Portfolio at the end of the program. Evidence used in the Portfolio for demonstrating professional growth include papers, projects, and activities students complete in LME courses, and activities and projects students are engaged in a as educational professionals.
Initiation of the Professional Growth Plan and Development of the Professional Growth Plan
The Professional Growth Plan or PGP is initiated in LME 501, Program Organization and Administration and fully developed in LME 512, Issues and Trends in Library Media Education. Instructions, Templates and Standards used for the PGP are listed below.
Application for the Practicum Capstone Course
The LME 590 Practicum experience occurs at the end of a student's program and is the capstone course, meaning that students are required to reflect on and demonstrate the knowledge, concepts and skills acquired throughout the LME program. The practicum is comprised of field hours in either an educational technology or library media center and a Professional Portfolio created on a CD/DVD disc. Students gain admission to LME 590 by permission of the instructor, completion of 24 hours of course work including LME 501, 512, 535, and 537; and admission to candidacy (Form D on file). Students must not have any outstanding incomplete courses remaining in their program of studies to be eligible for the practicum. Students who do not have prior teacher certification must be admitted to WKU Teacher Education before being admitted into the practicum. Students must fulfill the above requirements and complete the Application for the Practicum form below to be eligible to enroll in the class.
The Practicum Capstone Course
The Practicum experience provides students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills in Educational Technology and Library Media Education in a "real world" setting. A total of 120 practicum hours are required in the course.
40 of these hours must be in either and educational technology or library media center assisting students. For these hours, students will be under the supervision of a cooperating educational technology or library media specialist. For students seeking certification, cooperating specialists must be experienced and certified in library media education or educational technology. For students who are not seeking certification, the specialists must have experience working in a private or public sector informational technology setting. These cooperating specialists are not compensated for their time. Their work with students is considered a professional courtesy. The cooperating educational technology or media specialist must be willing to work with students in the practicum setting, maintain contact with the university practicum supervisor, sign the student's time log of practicum activities, and complete an online evaluation of the practicum student's work.
Students spend the remaining 80 hours of the practicum working in media centers or other educational settings on activities aligned with state and national standards for educational technology or school media specialists. The university supervisor is responsible for overseeing these activities and will sign the student time log.
As part of the Practicum class students are also responsible for developing the Professional Portfolio, which is based on the Professional Growth Plan developed early in the LME program. A brief syllabus of requirements for the practicum is posted below:
For additional information about the practicum contact cynthia.houston@wku.edu or Barbara.fiehn@wku.edu
Development of the Professional Portfolio
As part of the LME 590 Practicum course, students must complete a CD/DVD Professional Portfolio. Detailed instructions for completing this requirement are provided in the LME 590 class. Listed below is a general description, instructions, and grading rubric for the Portfolio.
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