eportfolios

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e-portfolios the value of and use by students
and staff Sarah Chesney Centre for the
Development Of Learning Teaching
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Context Definition Use by students
staff Issues
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Drivers
DfES Strategy HEFCE Strategy Widening
Participation Lifelong learning HE institutions
purchase systems
Software
Learner
PebbleLearning Blackboard/WebCT Mahara
(Moodle) OSPI
Purpose
Assessment Reflection Evidence of competencies
met Demonstration/Celebration
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• Definition
• a personal online learning space to store
  coursework, course resources, results and
  achievements supported by a personal identifier
  for each learner . This would be an
  electronic portfolio, making it simpler for
  learners to build their record of achievement
  throughout their lifelong learning DfES
  E-learning Strategy, 2005

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• Wikipedia
• a collection of electronic evidence assembled and
  managed by a user, usually on the Web
• E-portfolios are both demonstrations of the
  user's abilities and platforms for
  self-expression, and, if they are online, they
  can be maintained dynamically over time. Some
  e-portfolio applications permit varying degrees
  of audience access, so the same portfolio might
  be used for multiple purposes.

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• Benefits

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• Use by students
• Support PDP
• Personal Academic Tutoring
• Reflection keeping an online journal (Blog)
• Assessment portfolio or patchwork text
• Demonstration Application for a job

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• Use by staff
• Flourish Project is looking at 5 key areas
• Professional in service course
• Staff annual appraisal
• Professional accreditation
• Team building
• Sharing learning gained from conferences

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• Encouraging faculty to engage in reflection on
  their teaching should not be seen as a noble
  goal, it should be an explicitly stated and
  recognised aspect of a scholarly approach to
  teaching. Perhaps if faculty modeled the process
  of reflecting on their teaching, it would be
  easier to encourage and support students in
  reflecting on their learning. The use of
  technology as the medium for reflective
  portfolios should not in fact require any
  justification.
• (Stefani 2005 p 11)

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• Research
• In its infancy
• Tutor/management attitudes affect uptake
• IT skills can obscure the focus of the task
  (especially in assessment)
• Students staff dont use it unless there is a
  requirement
• Owners may be keen, but the panel or reviewers
  are not

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• Issues
• Some professional bodies only recognise their own
  portfolio
• Security
• Privacy
• IT skills
• Ownership
• Embedding value
• Portability

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• new vehicle to perform an old task (Yancey,
  2006)

Learner
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• References
• DfES (2005) E-learning Strategy available from
  www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/e-strategy
• HEFCE (2005) E-learning Strategy available from
  http//www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_12/05_12
  .doc
• Stefani, L (2005) PDP/CPD and e-portfolios
  rising to the challenge of modelling good
  practice Association for Learning Technology
  available from www.alt.ac.uk/docs/lorriane_stefani
  _paper.doc