Bea Rodriguez-Fransen: Embrace decolonial design futures thinking in education

Assistant Research Professor in Principled Innovation Dr Bea Rodriguez-Fransen works at the  Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University (ASU), focusing on its Principled Innovation Infrastructure for Discovery and Engagement initiative.In early 2025, Bea published the book Education and decolonial futures in the Philippines: Perspectives for educators and practitioners in which she introduces the decolonial design futures framework that she developed. It is an extension of design thinking to suit working with Indigenous and marginalised communities better.Bea introduces the decolonial design futures framework along with the decolonial portals and related ideas in this episode, tying them in particular to reflection and how educators can make use of the techniques and frameworks that she's developed, tested, and elaborated on through her work with different communities.Additional resourcesMary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning InnovationPrincipled innovation frameworkBea's TED World Theater talk 'Unlocking Indigenous knowledge: A new path for education'Young African Leaders InitiativeDesign Justice NetworkCostanza-Chock, S. (2020). Design justice. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Paulo FreireCervantes, C. L. G. (2025). The Filipino experience of Kutob: Understanding culturally-informed hyper-intuition. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive, 113.Rank, H. (1976). Teaching about public persuasion, In: Daniel Dietrich (ed.). Teaching about doublespeak. Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English.ORID frameworkRodriguez-Fransen, B. (2024). From “Little Brown Brother” to Filipino genocide: A critical discourse analysis of the Philippine-American War’s impact on Modern Filipino colorism. Journal of Colorism Studies; Windsor Mill, 5(1), 1–22.Quimpo, N. G. (2020). Colonial name, colonial mentality and ethnocentrism. Public Policy, 4(1), 1–49.Related episodesChristine Slade and Kevin Kelly: Digital ethics principle DEIBDKevin Kelly & Kristina Hoeppner: Digital ethics principles and UDL guidelinesSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Marie 'Bernie' Fisher, SFHEA, AFHERDSA, BA/BSc, Grad Dipl Ed, MA, MA (Hons), is a PhD candidate at the University of New England in Australia. She's been creating portfolios and supporting students create their own for many years in and outside of academia. As a member of the ePortfolios Australia Organising Committee, she's been involved in community engagement and support.In this episode, Bernie takes us on her portfolio journey and shares what is important to her in her portfolio practice, what some of her methods and ways are to reflect meaningfully, and how she supports others with reflection.ResourcesAAEEBLHERDSAEportfolio Forum, 12-13 November 2025PARE sessionsShut Up & Write!Fisher, M. (2024, August 13). Look in the mirror and what do you see [Presentation]. AAEEBL Annual Meeting.Bernie's publicationsGibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford Brookes University.Mezirow, J., & Taylor, E. W. (Eds.). (2009). Transformative learning in practice: Insights from community, workplace, and higher education. Jossey-Bass.Related episodesAllison Miller: The portfolio is a processBob Reuter: Externalise your thinking with portfoliosSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Dr Suzanne Schibeci is the Work-Integrated Learning Partner at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, supporting students, faculty, and employers with the administration and running of work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences.In this episode, Sue shares how she's using portfolios to help her students reflect on their WIL experiences that take them outside of the university. She talks about what works for her and what some challenges are.ResourcesAAEEBL Digital Ethics in ePortfolios Task ForceEportfolio Forum 2025: Revolution, Evolution, ResolutionSTAR method by Michael PellSchibeci, S. (2025). Enabling students to identify and develop employability skills during work-integrated learning experiences. AAEEBL ePortfolio Review, Summer/Fall, 30–34.Related episodesMike Altieri: Use reflection bot Riff for deeper and more meaningful portfolio reflectionLeticia Britos Cavagnaro: Make learning visibleMark Brady: Journal regularly for profound insightSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Prof. Dr. paed. Dipl.-Math. Mike Altieri is a professor of Media Didactics in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Media, and Computer Science at Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Amberg-Weiden (OTH Amberg-Weiden) in Bavaria in Germany. He teaches in the Master's programme in Educational Technology and leads the research project Dreiklang.Projekt Dreiklang is funded by Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre and contributes to the improvements in using portfolios in Germany in higher education.In this interview Mike shares how he uses the artificial intelligence reflection bot Riff with his students to encourage deeper and more meaningful reflection in their portfolios and how he incorporates his students' work in their portfolios into his lectures.ResourcesMike's OTH web pageSign-up for free access to the Dreiklang ePortfolio starter kit (some information is in English)Publications by the Dreiklang project teamMap of institutions using portfolios in Germany (and beyond). This map is in the early stages. Get in touch with Mike if you want to be listed.Blog post introducing Riff: 'Reflecting with AI: A Tool to Develop Human Intelligence'Recordings of the AAEEBL AI webinar series, including recording 'Supporting reflection through an AI powered reflection bot'Related episodesChristina Stollner & Romy Hösl: Portfolio support for educators and learnersDr Leticia Britos Cavagnaro: Make learning visibleProf Dr Paul Libbrecht and Prof Dr Wolfgang Müller: Support your portfolio learning with AISubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Prof Dr David Hicks is a Professor of History and Social Science Education at Virginia Tech in the U.S.A. He's been teaching with portfolios for over 20 years supporting teacher candidates on their journey to become professionals.In this episode he talks about how he and his team integrate portfolios into a capstone course in the teacher training programme at Virginia Tech (VT), what scaffolds they employ, and how the supports in place help students create portfolios that emphasise reflection. The basis of his portfolio work is folio thinking and the ePortfolio development framework that he and his team have developed over the course of time.ResourcesHicks, D., Allen, A., & Evers, S. (2025). Folio thinking in teacher education: A case study on the evolution of reflective ePortfolio assignments. AePR ePortfolio Review, Winter / Spring 2025, 19–29.Parkes, K. A., Dredger, K., & Hicks, D. (2013). ePortfolio as a measure of reflective practice. International Journal of ePortfolio, 3(2), 99–115.Penny Light, T., Chen, H. L., & Ittelson, J. C. (2011). Documenting learning with ePortfolios: A guide for college instructors. Jossey-Bass.Connect with Virginia Tech School of Education in the College of Liberal Arts and Human SciencesLinkedInInstagramFacebookXRelated episodesRita Zuba Prokopetz: Building a learning communityDebra Hoven: The value of self-reflection and peer feedbackBob Reuter: Externalise your thinking with portfoliosClick through to the show notes for the transcript.Subscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Dr Lindsay Richardson is the Educational Technology Manager in the Teaching and Learning Services Department at Carleton University. She is also an Adjunct Professor and Contract Instructor in the Department of Psychology at the university.Lindsay has been using portfolios in large introductory psychology courses with 200 to 450 students. Students create 'success portfolios' which they also grade themselves based on a rubric. In this interview, Lindsay talks about why she introduced portfolios into her courses and how she is navigating the use of generative AI.ResourcesDr Lindsay Richardson and Dr Ashley Thompson's podcast 'Agile Ed': Exploring learner-centred education fuelled by curiosity and critical thinkingStudents as Partners ProgrammecuPortfolio, Carleton University's instance of MaharaUngrading and alternative assessments, a resource from York UniversityRelated episode: Cathy Elliott: Have fun, be flexible, and encourage feedback in your portfolioSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

In this episode, Mahara project lead Kristina Hoeppner, MA, takes a brief look back at 15 years on the Mahara team at Catalyst IT. She pulls out a few instances of portfolio use. This is only a tiny selection and by no means a full representation of what is happening in the portfolio community as you can see from the many stories that we share on this podcast.ResourcesLearning management system MoodleMoodleMoot Global 2025Library management system KohaKohaCon 2025Bret Eynon, Laura Gambino (2018): Catalyst in action: Case studies of High-Impact ePortfolio practiceRecording of Mahara Hui Online on 10 June 2025 on the Mahara YouTube channelMorgan Gresham, Megan, Mize, Sarah Zurhellen (2023). High-impact practices and third spaces: Connecting across disciplines. Across the Disciplines, 20(3–4), 157–176.AAEEBL Digital Ethics Task Force and Digital Ethics in ePortfolios principlesAAEEBL YouTube channelePortfolios Australia and upcoming Eportfolio ForumChris Cormack (2025): Data sovereignty in Aotearoa: Navigating how to protect our digital taongaPresentation 'Portfolios: Integral to your programmatic assessment approach'Janine Quiding, Miriam Laidlaw, Tabitha Parker, Kristina Hoeppner (2020): Portfolios come full circle in the world of workJanine Quiding, Miriam Laidlaw, Tabitha Parker (2022): PDRP at WaitematāRelated episodesAndrea Ghoneim: Learn transversal skills through portfoliosLisa Donaldson: From 0 to 6,000 in six weeksChristina Stollner & Romy Hösl: Portfolio support for educators and learnersDiKuLe: Planning and decision making guide for portfoliosChahira Nouira: Use a portfolio to give students space and time to reflectMahara 25.04 and how a feature makes it into MaharaSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Cordula Schwiderski, MA, Hannah Brodel, MA, Martina Osterrieder, and Dr Martin Sticht work at Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg in Germany. Hannah, Martina, and Martin are members of the DiKuLe project, and Cordula works in the eFolio team, which was established through the project.DiKuLe - Digitale Kulturen der Lehre entwickeln (develop digital cultures in academic teaching) is a project funded by Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre.The part of the project the four are involved in looks at improving portfolio practices. To do that, they have created a planning and decision making guide as one output of the project. This guide combines the technical and learning design aspects necessary for successfully planning, preparing, and implementing portfolios in academic courses.Connect withCordulaHannahMartinaMartinDiKuLe on LinkedInResourcesPlanungs- und Entscheidungshilfe zum Einsatz von E-Portfolios in der Lehre (incl. editable file)Planning and decision making guide for the use of ePortfolios in academic teachingDiKuLe SymposiumOnline workshop 'Strategic course design with ePortfolios: A practical guide' with Hannah Brodel and Martina OsterriederBiggs, J. (1996). Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. In Higher Education 32, S. 347–364.eFolio offering at the University of BambergRelated episodesChristina Stollner & Romy Hösl: Portfolio support for educators and learnersMargarete Imhof, Franziska Ohl, Sebastian Laube: Feedback as driver for learning with portfoliosSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Christina Stollner, MA, and Romy Hösl, MA, work at Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Amberg-Weiden (OTH Amberg-Weiden) in Bavaria in Germany. There they are members of the 'Dreiklang' project, which aims to make it easier for lecturers and students to work with portfolios by offering a triad of support: theory, communication, and examples for the direct application of portfolios in various contexts in higher education.The resources they have already created and that they will continue to create until the end of their project, are all available under the Creative Commons license BY 4.0.Projekt Dreiklang is funded by Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre and contributes to the improvements in using portfolios in Germany in higher education.Connect withChristina on LinkedInRomy on LinkedInResourcesProjekt DreiklangOTH's Master's programme in Educational TechnologySign-up for free access to the starter kit (some information is in English)Reflection bot RiffRecordings of the AAEEBL AI webinar series, including recording 'Supporting reflection through an AI powered reflection bot'AISOP projectRelated episodesDr Leticia Britos Cavagnaro: Make learning visibleProf Dr Paul Libbrecht and Prof Dr Wolfgang Müller: Support your portfolio learning with AISubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Professor Dr Michael Sankey from Charles Darwin University in Australia has been involved in the ePortfolio practice for more than 25 years. He started out writing HTML pages, then used various portfolio platforms throughout his university career, and transitioned to a non-institution owned site now that he is retired.In this conversation Michael emphasises the role of the portfolio to support emerging professionals. He advocates for institution-operated portfolio platforms to provide a space where employers looking at student portfolios can be assured that they are dealing with real students. Michael also makes the case for programmatic assessment as the next evolution in assessment and the key role that the portfolio plays in it.Connect with MichaelLinkedInBlueskyInstagramResourcesMichael's websiteePortfolios AustraliaKeynote at the Eportfolio Forum 2024: 'Making visible the "human" side of learning and celebrating one’s achievements through ePortfolio practiceUniversity of Sydney's two-lane approach to artificial intelligence in assessment tasksWhat to do about assessments if we can’t out-design or out-run AI?Program level assessment design and the two-lane approachArtificial intelligence and academic integrity: A conversation between Prof Dr Danny Liu and Prof Dr Stephen MarshallCentre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University; resources on programmatic assessment:Nieminen, J. H., & Boud, D. (2024). Placing authenticity at the heart of student self-assessment: an integrative review. Teaching in Higher Education, 30(3), 640–662.Tree, D., Harvey, A., & Rand-Weaver, M. (2025) Integrated Programme Assessment: 10 years on. (2025). Open Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 4(1).CRADLE Seminar Series 2025 #1: Programmatic Assessment. Insights from Theory and Practice with Dr Liesbeth BaartmanRelated episodesKate Mitchell: Deliberate and programmatic designMark Glynn: Take a programmatic approach to assessment with portfoliosSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward