Which e-Portfolio for what?
How to analyse needs and decide on tools
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ePortfolios
How to analyse needs
and decide on tools
Tim Neumann
London Knowledge Lab

Future-Proofing PDP and e-Portfolio
Developments
Date: 18th June 2009
Venue: Centre for Career Management Skills
University of Reading
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Contents
1 Introduction
2 Approach
3 Features of e-Portfolio Tools
4 Purpose of Use
5 Matching Purpose with Tools
4 Future-Proofing PDP and e-Portfolio Developments

1 Introduction
ePortfolio History at the IOE
• 2003-2005: Level 10, custom project/group management tool
• 2006-2007: PebblePad pilot for Secondary PGCE
• since 2006: individual, small-scale efforts and explorations
• 2008-2009: TQEF ePortfolio project
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1 Introduction
Motivation
• Multiple academic staff members had sought advice on ePortfolios
• Variety of intended use cases
• Availability of tools at no further costs
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1 Introduction
Overview of our work
• Discussion with participants (staff and students)
• Review of previous ePortfolio trials, paper portfolios, electronic exchanges
• Developing contextualised models of ePortfolio use
• Implementation in five scenarios
• Evaluation of tools in three cases (with student input)
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2 Approach
Three Elements
A. Feature comparison of e-portfolio tools - Technology
B. Needs analysis - Pedagogy
C. Needs-based e-portfolio tool evaluation - Practice
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3 Features of e-Portfolio Tools
Available Tools:
a) Blackboard Basic Portfolio - without Bb Content System
b) Blackboard Personal Portfolio - without Bb Content System
c) Learning Objects Expo LX - Blackboard Building Block
d) Mahara - for evaluation purposes only
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3 Features of e-Portfolio Tools
Comparison of Features (1)
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3 Features of e-Portfolio Tools
Comparison of Features (2)
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4 Purpose of Use
Needs Analysis
1. The Doctoral School
2. MA in ICT in Education
3. Secondary PGCE ICT
4. Post-Compulsory PGCE (ESOL/Literacy)
5. MTeach
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4 Purpose of Use
Scenario 1: The Doctoral School
• Portfolios co-owned by student and supervisor
• Limited access for registry staff for tracking purposes
• Record of supervisory meetings, progress reviews, assignments,
attendance
• Evidence of doctoral level competencies
• Building a professional academic identity
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4 Purpose of Use
Scenario 1: The Doctoral School
Student
Supervisor
Registry
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4 Purpose of Use
Scenario 2: MA in ICT in Education
• Student-owned and generated portfolio
• Repository for student-created teaching resources
• Record reflections on personal/professional development (multi-media)
• Identity space (profiles)
• Bibliographic management system
• Peer comments/reviews
• Monitoring of tutor-generated portfolio tasks
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4 Purpose of Use
Scenario 2: MA in ICT in Education
Student
Peers
Tutor
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4 Purpose of Use
Scenario 3: Secondary PGCE in ICT
• Community of practice involving five stakeholder groups
• Collaborative production
• Monitoring of course requirements (tracking of deadlines)
• Checklist for QTS standards
• Mentoring log, lesson observations, assessment record file
• Career entry and professional development profile
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4 Purpose of Use
Scenario 3: Secondary PGCE in ICT
Trainee Teacher
IOE Tutor
School Mentor
Administrator
Subject Leader
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4 Purpose of Use
Scenario 4: Post-Compulsory PGCE (ESOL/Literacy)
• Student-owned portfolio
• Tutors and mentors to contribute to selected portfolios
• Record of teaching practice
• Tracking progress over distances
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4 Purpose of Use
Scenario 4: Post-Compulsory PGCE (ESOL/Literacy)
Trainee Teacher
IOE Tutor
School Mentor
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4 Purpose of Use
Scenario 5: Master of Teaching
• Collaborative community beyond the course context
• Portfolio as a starting point for post-graduation engagement
• Communication and sharing tool
• Politically skewed towards open source tools
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4 Purpose of Use
Scenario 5: Master of Teaching
Student
Colleagues
Peers
IOE Tutor Administrator
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4 Purpose of Use
Analysis: Multiple Themes
1. Model: What is an ePortfolio?
2. Ownership: Who controls what?
3. Access: How does collaboration work?
4. Use and purpose: Implications for learning, development and assessment
5. Issues: Training, support, portability
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Theme Questions
Model What is an ePortfolio?
How can it be used to support learning, development, assessment?
How can/should it be organised/structured/managed?
Who would/should monitor development and progress?
Questions asked the benefits to the student, tutor, supervisor, mentor and/or Institution?
What are
Ownership Who is it for?
Who has overall control/ownership of it?
How, what, and with whom can it be shared?
Accessibility How can it be accessed?
Who can/should/needs to have access to it and at what level?
Tool Can it be integrated or linked to other systems, e.g. Registry?
What are the practical issues and implications of implementation?
What costs are involved?
Which system should be used and what are the alternatives?
Support What training is needed and how could this be delivered?
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4 Purpose of Use
Tutor and Administrators’ perceptions of ePortfolios as learning models
ePortfolio Model
Course Assessment Tool Shared Content Student Gen. Professional
Management Folio Tool Development
Tool (Repos./ Refl.) Tool
Doctoral School 2 (4) 1 (1) 4 (3) 3 (2)
MA in ICT 2 (4) 1 (1) 3 (2) 4 (3)
Sec PGCE ICT 2 (2) 1 (1) 4 (4) 3 (3)
PC PGCE 2 (3) 3 (2) 1 (1) 4 (4)
MTeach 4 (4) 2 (2) 1 (1) 3 (3)
 Institution -------------------------------------------------------------- Student 
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4 Purpose of Use
Perceptions around ownership and control of the ePortfolio
Superviso School or
Institution
rs or Link Work-
Course Students Course/ Registry
Course Tutors Based
Dept
Tutors Mentors
Doc Sch. 1 1 2 N/A N/A 2
MA in ICT 1 2 1 N/A N/A N/A
PGCE ICT 1 1 N/A 2 2 3
PC PGCE 1 2 1 3 3 2
MTeach 1 2 N/A 0 0 3
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5 Matching Purpose with Tools
Case 1: Blackboard Personal Portfolio
• Almost no collaborative features
• Sharing is limited to ‘viewing’
• Tracking difficult and time-consuming
• Good as online repository and reflection tool
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5 Matching Purpose with Tools
Case 2: Blackboard Personal Portfolio versus Mahara
Blackboard
Mahara
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5 Matching Purpose with Tools
Case 3: LO Expo LX Wiki Tool
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Further Information
Download
Occasional Paper 5, by Wilma Clark:
http://www.wlecentre.ac.uk/occasionalpapers
(to be published on 18 June 2009)
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Contact
Tim Neumann
t.neumann@ioe.ac.uk
Learning Technologies Unit
Institute of Education, University of London
London Knowledge Lab
23-29 Emerald Street
London, WC1N 3QS
www.lkl.ac.uk/LTU
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