Rose Papworth

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Higher Education Learning Portfolio for
Placements HELPP
Rose Papworth Hull College
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Hull College JISC Project - HELPP

• JISC e-learning capital programme
• HE in FE strand
• Elgg
• (We also use Moodle at Hull)
• Today we will
• Give you a brief overview of background/rationale
• Use so far, after a year, and what weve found
• Work-based learning
• What were doing now
• Work-based learning / personal development
  planning (PDP) e-portfolio
• Some issues with Elgg!

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HEA ICSHE in FE Mini-Project

• 2006 / 2007
• Foundation Degree Software Design and Development
  (full-time)
• One-day-a-week work placements
• Regular, but infrequent tutor visits

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HEA ICSHE in FE Mini-Project

• Issues
• Limited support/feedback for students and mentors
• Hard to keep track of project progress
• Personal Development Planning
• Standard documents chore
• Blogs can diaries rather than reflection
• Non-traditional students

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HEA ICSHE in FE Mini-Project

• Project rationale - use an online environment to
• Facilitate tripartite conversation between
  learner, employer and tutor
• Increase support for all parties via online
  provision
• Provide an online placement contract to keep
  track of progress
• Develop personal reflection via blogs and
  mentor/tutor comments (PDP)
• social constructivist perspective
• Use an e-portfolio to facilitate widening
  participation via personalisation

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HEA ICSHE in FE Mini-Project

• Elgg environment free-to-use, open source
• Individual and community blogs with comments
• Flexible e-portfolio space
• Access controls important for sensitive
  developments
• Open source to develop an online work placement
  contract
• Good feedback on Elgg usability

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HEA ICSHE in FE Mini-Project

• Elgg environment online placement contract

Check boxes to sign off progress by each party
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HEA ICSHE in FE Mini-Project

• Elgg environment in use
• 11 second year students as focus group
• Work placement project
• At least 12 blog entries during placement
  (weekly)
• Entries not graded
• Employers and tutors read posts and commented -
  students responded via comments
• E-portfolio space used to share documents as
  required rather than assessment

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HEA ICSHE in FE Mini-Project

• Encouraging reflection via comments

Probing questions to facilitate reflection
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HEA ICSHE in FE Mini-Project

• Conclusion - evaluation of use
• Most students posted regularly
• Harder to get employers to comment
• Students enjoyed using blogs as more immediate
  and aided reflection better than standard PDP
  documents
• E-portfolio helped share documents
• Outcomes and progress more easily monitored
• Enabled better communication and support

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HEA ICSHE in FE Mini-Project

• For the future!
• Students indicated that employers needed
  reminding to comment and that the quality of
  employer comments varied
• Better mentor training on the use of comments to
  aid reflection
• Led to the JISC-funded project
• Using Elgg in a similar manner with other
  subjects at Hull College

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JISC Project - HELPP

• How were using Elgg this semester
• Work-based learning for first year FDs
• Part-time FD Business Information Technology -
  distance unit
• Full-time FD Software Design and Development
  face-to-face
• Use of community to seek help / store tasks
• Small tasks build into assessment
• Blogs enable sharing of knowledge via compulsory
  comments
• Use of blogs and e-portfolio for assessment

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JISC Project - HELPP

• How were using Elgg this semester
• Personal and Professional Development
• Third year BSc Computing
• Reflection assessed via blog entries
• Enhanced via comments
• Use of Elgg presentations to evidence individual
  contributions
• First year FD Business and Management
• Four blog entries for reflection enhanced via
  comments
• Induction/training materials developed

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JISC Project - HELPP

• How were using Elgg this semester
• Blogs and e-portfolio work must be chosen for
  assessment
• Some private entries may not want to be used
• Interoperability issues
• Download system developed
• Files chosen, zip file created
• When unzipped, an HTML-based interface to view
  files is created
• Still being tested!

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JISC Project - HELPP

• How were using Elgg next semester
• HE Research Group
• Document active research via blogs
• Create a community for information and support
• Teacher Education
• A need for innovative use of technology
• Wants to use blogs for reflection
• Health and Social Care
• Has a module on reflective practice
• Wants to use blogs and comments
• Art and Design
• Would like to be able to choose themes for the
  download
• Would like to be able to showcase student work

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JISC Project - HELPP

• Elgg use
• Communities important for tutors to organise
  classes
• Communities also help students limit access
• Access controls on profile and assessed work
  important to explain
• Students who already use social software (e.g.
  MySpace, Facebook) pick up Elgg easily
• However, some get very confused between community
  and personal file storage

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Hull College JISC Project HELPP

• Further information
• HEA page
• http//www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/HEinFE/HullCollege_
  MP.htm
• JISC page
• http//www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/programm
  e_elearning_capital/el_heinfe/helpp.aspx
• JISC Project web site
• http//helpp.hull-college.ac.uk/
• Thanks for having us!