In the planning of this course, the organizers identified the following course goals as a starting point for our planning:

• To discuss the uses of e-portfolios as a professional development tool for teachers
• To look at different tools for assembling an e portfolio
• To begin thinking about and/or building your own e portfolio (optional)

How do these goals align with your own purposes or aims in this course? Map*^ your goals for this course here. Feel free to “talk back” to the course goals above, or forget them entirely for this exercise and reflect on what you hope to learn, discuss and do in this course.

* Admittedly, participants may not see themselves as “mappers” and may prefer to simply list or write their goals. Participants might also take this opportunity to write about the benefits of different types of mapping, or even debate the worthiness of an organizer directing participants to set goals in a specified (though open-ended) format. For what it is worth, this organizer/participant recognizes the merits of both a discussion of mapping and a philosophical rejection of mapping in the name of self-directed learning. Still, this organizer/participant would like to focus this group on the rich potential of a diverse collection of maps that could grow like a digital flower garden below this introduction. No maps, no "garden."

^Another possibility arises in an online mapping activity: participants might experience technical barriers in trying to complete the activity. “How the heck am I supposed to map my goals and get them on this discussion board?” participants might say. If this is a concern of yours, I would encourage you to map your goals on paper and scan or photograph the map. Then, if you choose, you can try out some of the tools other participants use if you want to revise your map later in the week or at any time during the course. You can also leave the photographed, hand-drawn map unrevised. It is your flower, after all.