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Why, When and How? Considering ePortfolios

by Hazel Owen

753 views

This presentation (audio coming soon) aims to provide a: ...

This presentation (audio coming soon) aims to provide a:
# clear idea of the types and possible uses of ePortfolios for students and staff in lifelong, lifewide learning
# increased awareness of some key ePortfolios platforms / tools and associated issues
# ideas around alternative assessment
# some strategies for starting your own ePortfolios / scaffolding students to develop their own ePortfololio

The presentation will be useful for the following groups:

Tutors and group leaders who are interested in assisting students to build up a portfolio of assignment and work

IT support/coordinators who might like to learn more about linking to student-driven portfolio systems

Careers advisers who would like to learn more about how students can share details with prospective employers and learning institutions

- Student support who would like to learn how students can share information with their tutors.

Links to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFAVvAjCkKE

Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYVRT54CWVE

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Hello my name is Hazel Owen, and I am a consultant with Ethos Consultancy. Today I am going to talk about ePortfolios, but before I start I would just like to mention something I heard a the ACEC 2010 conference last week. One of the keynote speakers was telling us about a 10 year old student who is making a whole range of math videos to help her peers with math. She now also runs PD for teachers around how to facilitate students creating content as well. The videos are available online and many have had upwards of 3,000 hits. A video takes her about 2 hours to make initially, but then she receives feedback from peers, and from her global audience, as well as observing what happens when other students are using her videos. She uses this feedback to improve the videos in an iterative cycle of upgrading. When asked why she made the videos rather than doing her math homework (which she felt would only take her about 7 minutes) , given that she doesn’t receive an assessment grade (but does receive feedback from her teacher on the content), she replied that homework only benefitted herself, whereas her videos helped a whole heap of people, especially her classmates. In light of ePortfolios - if she were using an ePortfolio (and I don’t know if she is), then she would be able to upload the videos themselves, capture the reflective process - in turn increasing its impact, and include descriptions and media from the PD sessions and presentations that she has made. This would provide a rich record of the process and not just the product - something that she could carry forward with her.
This session around ePortfolios will briefly provide - an overview of how an e-portfolio could be used in student assessment - how it might add value to academic programmes (e.g.) managing student project submission. - what students are able to use it for while at BoP and when they leave - what is already working (for teachers with learners at other institutions - explore a couple of options of possible ePortfolio platforms, including Web 2.0 and Mahara. - IT support required for different types of hosting options Philosophically, I am a strong advocate of the potential of Web 2.0 to empower learners from all walks of life and cultures, especially after my experiences working for 6 years in the Middle East. In particular, I am interested how ePortfolios can be used in education (especially where Literacy and Language challenges are faced), in Recognition of Prior Learning, and in authentic, applied assessment.
The contents of an ePortfolio can be numerous and are dependent on the identified purpose and audience. However, one of the central issues an education institution faces is where manifold purposes for ePortfolios have been identified, resulting in poorly defined or contradictory aims and outcomes. This situation can be exacerbated when overly prescriptive guidelines are mandated (Zeichner & Wray, 2001), or where unsuitable, inflexible tools are adopted (Hallam et al., 2008). Benefits of ePortfolios in tertiary education include helping students to become focussed critical thinkers who can apply theories and concepts to concrete, authentic situations (Hauge, 2006), as well as creating an archive of learning progression over time (Smith & Tillema, 2003). Further associated positive outcomes are an enhanced sense of empowerment and awareness of personal attributes (Darling, 2001; Young, 2002), plus improvements in creativity, design, planning, self-direction, communication, and organisation skills (Brown, 2002; Bull, Montgomery, Overton, & Kimball, 1999; Campbell, Cignetti, Melenyzer, Nettles, & Wyman, 2001). For academic faculty, the potential for fostering lifelong learning and Professional Development (PD) planning engendered by the use of ePortfolios is considerable (Hallam et al., 2008). Furthermore, other stakeholders, including employers and professional organisations, are showing increased interested in future possibilities, in particular those who employ graduates (ibid, 2008). The first question before how and what should be why... - for you - your learner - your programme - your discipline -your insitution
Your response might be 'why not?'. Or maybe you already have some ideas around why ePortfolios may be the way to go. This presentation, hopefully will help you to confirm or flesh out some of those ideas. In contrast to the positive aspects of using ePortfolios in tertiary education, there are several issues and concerns that have been recognised in the literature around learning and teaching, academic policy, pedagogy, institutional culture, implementation, training and tools: ｷ  Tension between opinions around ‘value’, often with learners seeing the greatest value in Web 2.0 tools, and institutions in a fully-integrated ePortfolio system (Siemens, 2004); ｷ  Unclear purpose, use and guidelines (Smith & Tillema, 2003); ｷ  Over-prescriptive guidelines (Zeichner & Wray, 2001); ｷ  Few existing examples of ePortfolios (Darling, 2001); ｷ  Increased levels of learner confusion and anxiety when there is uncertainty about expectations and value of ePortfolios (Wade & Yarbrough, 1996); ｷ  High levels of initial scaffolding required for learners and faculty (Smith & Tillema, 2003; Wade & Yarbrough, 1996); ｷ  Approaches to feedback can sometimes be inappropriate (Smith & Tillema, 2003); ｷ  Conflict of the goals of learners, the tutors, the institution, and the wider community (Butler, 2006; Zeichner & Wray, 2001); ｷ  Disadvantages of interoperability standards and specifications of some ePortfolio systems can reduce flexibility for users (Siemens, 2004); ｷ  Potential costs to an institution (licensing, development, maintenance, support, adaptation, resources, longevity, and ICT upskilling) (Hallam et al., 2008); ｷ  Mis-match between assessment criteria, learning outcomes, and potential student competencies (Smith & Tillema, 2003); ｷ  An uneasy dichotomy between development and the measurement of competency (Smith & Tillema, 2003); and ｷ  Concerns about objectivity of assessment (Darling, 2001).
One thing you might find useful when thinking about ePortfolios is to go back to the question around why you are teacher. Why do you come to work every day (or teach online)? What are your motivations? How do you feel ePortfolios will help you and your learners?
Learning : facilitated by connections between the new and the familiar facilitated by 'deliberate practice' salient feedback that draws learner focus Deep learning (understanding) facilitates transfer Deep learning is time consuming Motivation matters (Bransford et al, 2000) Document ideas Capture inspiration Facilitate timely, formative feedback Constant connectivity Realtime flexibility Interaction with outside agencies (other people, not just immediate peers/staff) Mobilising learning levels of engagement/ creativity, and feelings of empowerment enhanced CULTURAL APPROPRIACY RPL LEARNING PREFERENCES 1. Presentation (showcase of ‘best’ work and accomplishments either during study or in the workplace); 2. Learning / process (includes guidance around reflection, analysing, thinking critically, making connections, identifying problems, and learning over time); 3. Assessment (evidence to demonstrate specific learning outcomes to an ‘authority’); 4. Personal development (used for registration, certification, professional development, and career progression. Usually involves a review process, action plan, and recognition of required professional criteria); 5. Multiple-owner (enables a group or organisation to represent research, projects and growth); and 6. Working (includes some or all of the characteristics identified in 1-5 above – hosted in a tool that facilitates flexible accessibility/privacy to discrete elements of the ePortfolio. Specific elements could for instance be selected from a working ePortfolio to create a presentation ePortfolio).
Developmental/showcase/professional Private/public space Trust/rapport Rehearse as a group as well as an individual Collection of 'projects' - some half-finished, some ready for the next production, some still in the concept phase, some abandoned Spend time as an apprentice, sweeping, painting scenery, learning the vocabulary Start to rehearse. Feedback from director/peers (work collaboratively to interpret a script) Personality - interpretation of the script (role/assessment/rubric) Audience - who are they? Appropriacy. Don't always know (global) Dress rehearsal/first night - iterative feedback loop A wide range of interpretations around what comprises an ePortfolio exists, partly around factors such as purpose and format, as well as around the tools utilised. As such, there is no uniform definition of ePortfolios (Hallam et al., 2008), which, in turn, increases the risk of placing the focus on ePortfolios as products as opposed to process (Barker, 2006; Smith & Tillema, 2003). Even in the use of the term ePortfolio, there is little consistency. Richardson and Ward (2005) discovered that one view of an ePortfolio involved the collection and storage of digital artifacts on a portable storage device that is not accessible from the Internet, such as a CD ROM. Alternatively, they also found that ‘webfolio’ is used to refer to digital artifacts hosted in a Web-based environment. Most definitions and descriptions recognise ePortfolios as “a collection of ‘works’...that represent physical evidence of achievements” (Mason, Cochrane, & Owen, 2008). For instance, in the UK, ePortfolios tend to be informed by the notion of Personal Development Records (PDRs) (Dearing, 1997), and are considered to be evidence of accomplishments, as well as an archive of associated reflections, which can be used to package and present learning and achievements (Richardson & Ward, 2005). Other basic definitions of ePortfolios include “a tightly integrated collection of Web-based multimedia documents that include curricular standards, course assignments, student artifacts [created] in response to assignments, and reviewer feedback to the student’s work” (Gathercoal, Love, Bryde, & McKean, 2002, p. 29). The JISC (2008) definition adds that the digital artifacts are used to express students’ experiences, achievements and learning. In contrast, this paper, with reference to the potential of Web 2.0 principles and tools, considers ePortfolios to have the scope to be “a multi-faceted forum, with areas for collaborative development, private reflection, and showcasing of achievements” (Owen, 2009).
Why use ePortfolios? Sociocultural theory indicates that the process of human development, cognition and context are not discrete factors. Learning occurs in social settings (Tharp & Gallimore, 1989) comprising communities, rules, tools, and activities, where there is potential for an individual’s higher mental functions such as logical memory, verbal and conceptual thought, and complex emotions to mature (Kublin, Wetherby, Crais, & Prizant, 1989). Importance is thereby placed on cultural and social aspects of learning experiences (Owen, 2006), in turn signifying Web 2.0 as potentially desirable for ePortfolios as discussed below. Development Excellence Reflective Creativity End point Competence Descriptive Guidelines ( Mason, C., Cochrane, T., & Owen, H. (2008, March). E-portfolios. Paper presented at the Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation Lunchtime Series, Unitec New Zealand, Auckland.) Peer, family & professional support Individual learning Paced collaborative learning Student to student Student to community Teacher to student Community of learning/inquiry Structured learning resources Model of Online Learning - "Toward a Theory of Online Learning", Terry Anderson, Athabasca University 2004.
Identity: as a student / learner as an ‘ apprentice in a specific discipline as a social person with a variety of networks Chan Sook lives in Auckland, New Zealand, is twenty-years-old, and is enrolled on the The Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) at Unitec New Zealand. A second year student, Chan Sook has been building a Web 2.0 ePortfolio for over a year, after being encouraged to start one in her first year. She was already familiar with using Facebook, Flickr, You Tube, Twitter and Twine with her friends. However, she felt that her these spaces were part of her personal social community and she did not want to use them for what would become her professional profile. As such, she made the decision to set up new accounts specifically for use while studying, during internships, and for any other relevant experience, feedback, reflections and comments.
Unpack learning outcomes Use rubrics to help tie together learning outcomes (what will be learned); graduate profile (what they will be able to do); life after tertiary education (how the LOs and what they are able to do fit in with their career…before they leave) Continuing to work in consultation with her tutors, Chan Sook is constructing an ePortfolio that captures her learning journey and development as both a self-directed learner and an accountancy student. By updating and adding resources regularly from the activities she undertakes, Chan Sook considers that she is building a body of evidence and reflection for use during the course she is studying, as well as being easy to adapt to a showcase graduate portfolio once she has left Unitec NZ. As such, at the moment her ePortfolio is designed around the key competencies and learning outcomes required by the course she is studying even though she believes her ePortfolio will be something that is going to accompany throughout her working life.
Communities of practice (feedback / ideas) - medical discussion forum (ASCILITE) Vocabulary Demonstrations and simulations / case studies
Might follow a couple of eminent thinkers / doers blogs Join a community Read papers and articles Watch videos (newscasts / profession specific broadcasts) Listen to discussions (podcasts)
Organic Re-visited regularly What is the end goal, and what are the steps to get there - can be a broad framework and filled in along the way She would like to pursue a career in accountancy, initially with a large company either in New Zealand or Australia, and later she has the ambition of setting up her own accountancy firm. She is finding some of the course at Unitec NZ a little challenging at times, but is enjoying opportunities where she is able to develop technical accounting skills that help her analyse and evaluate accounting and business problems. Chan Sook enjoys working in groups some of the time and often takes on a leadership role, but as a self directed individual she also enjoys work where she can concentrate on things by herself.
Need to be taught how to reflect Different media to reflect (Unitec vid) Accessible to peers and tutors - feedback Iterative cycle becomes obvious - feeds into planning
expedite work-based learning, apprenticeships Voluntary work Internships Connect the new and the familiar POV cameras - feedback directly to the student as they work Ethics / permissions (teachable moments)
Publications Resources for learning (shared - e.g. bookmarks) When first starting to build and design her ePortfolio, Chan Sook was introduced to the ideas of collecting, selecting and reflecting, giving her some guidelines around what to include in the 'public' face of her ePortfolio. Through this work, Chan Sook became aware that 'less is more' and is not a repository for everything she has ever done and thought. Rather, her ePortfolio is an organic tool that will change as she does, and will need frequent revisiting to remove or replace resources that are no longer relevant - for instance, examples of competencies that she has since improved.
Competency - authentic, situated, depth On the job (POV) Environmental concerns ｷ Integrating into curricula / assessments; ｷ Using frequent, meaningful feedback from tutors and peers; ｷ Aligning / designing / refining using LOs and agreed graduate profile; ｷ Providing pedagogical / ICT support; ｷ Raising learner awareness (LOs/skills); and ｷ Choosing tools that empower not fetter.
Competency - authentic, situated, depth On the job (POV) Environmental concerns
Two examples from tertiary education (NZ & UK) One example from industry (the Netherlands) Students’ ICT literacy Teachers’ ICT literacy Embedding in programmes Ownership Portability Interoperability Security / shareability Storage Choice Design mobility
Driving a car; knowing about the engine and expecting to know how to drive Osteopathy Medical imaging Sport Business Don DoLs (group ePortfolio) TPA (reaction of TPA initially - defensive; Lata/Vickel) Promotion staff (reaction to begin with 2008; no real results - 2009 Daniel Performing Arts; Nicola Dunham Education) Unsolicited enquiries / interest / teacher in crisis all picked up ePFs Reflection / evaluation - what have we learned along the way? Resources (Amy Ling) Concepts - e.g. ePF as performance Motivation - reason for developing ePf Accessibility - of concepts and resources
Unitec NZ Eclectic - range of ages, ethnicities & backgrounds; certs to PhDs; big focus on vocational education / practical programmes (boat building, landscape design, vet nursing, sport science, architecture etc) Design programme (3 year degree) Use both ePortfolios and mobile technology (Thom Cochrane)
Dumfires and Galloway College Wolverhampton Uni Candid comments from 'Introduction to Construction Technician' students at on the perceived benefits and otherwise of e-portfolios and impact on employability Jenny Woodhams and Emma Purnell - Jenny Woodhams and Emma Purnell discuss the benefits of using an e-portolio to record their progress on a Post-Compulsory PGCE course
NedCar, situated in Born in the Limburg province, is the only large-scale automobile producer in the Netherlands. Staff training is an essential part of the company’s strategy to remain competitive, and to encourage employees to take responsibility for improving their own job prospects, both internally and externally. The problems at the Nedcar plant in the southeast of The Netherlands - decision made to stop the production of a specific model. NedCar expected to reduce the number of employees by 1.000 in a reorganization aimed at cutting production costs. Synergetics introducec the eXact Portfolio as the ePortfolio Management System (ePMS) for the Nedcar project. All 3000 employees will get their personal “EmployabilityPortfolio”. All employees will be enabled to develop and complete their personal Employability Portfolio, thus creating both a powerful, standards based tool that will help them to develop their NedCar career (internal employability) or assist them in the finding a new job (“shortest way to work”, external employability). The ePMS will also act as an instrument for the new continuity-HR policy of Nedcar, which is focusing on developing mobile, competency-aware employees thus providing mobility of work in the region. Strongly supported by the Dutch government and wider industry as well as education policies
TECHNOLOGY PEDAGOGY PRACTICE Commercial software - benefits & drawbacks No direct software development costs Licences must adapt to vendor’s pricing structure Technical support handled by the vendor Customer service and technical support may be poor Choice of software system Requests for adaptation may be slow and expensive CMS may have built-in ePortfolio solution, offering integrated environment Proprietary (in-house) systems - benefits and drawbacks Institution develops exactly what it wants Development costs can be prohibitive No software licence fees May require time and energy to build Institution owns intellectual property High levels of technical expertise required to build and maintain the system Need to retain expert staff to sustain and scale the system May be difficult/impossible for students to take their ePortfolios with them (compatibility) •   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 15 Future-Proofing PDP and e-Portfolio Developments 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 All decisions made around the choice, implementation and pedagogy underpinning ePortfolios and the choice of tools resonates in their future use by academic faculty and learners. For example, if an enterprise ePortfolio system is chosen one concern is that a mandated system might foster conformity and raise questions of ownership. Such applications tend to limit peer access, and the implication is that the ownership of artifacts and interactions hosted within it belong to the institution. Learner control is often limited to basic layout and colour scheme. On the other hand, if ePortfolios are to be used in a programme as a reflection and assessment tool, then some level of consistency is desirable.
Explain what open source is Hosted by a provider online - e.g. foliospaces Open source ePortfolio software (OSPI) - benefits and drawbacks No charge for open source software Costs associated with technical support and maintenance Members of OPSI participate in software development Possibility of open source initiative drying out and/or the community disbanding Software and development may not keep pace with needs Mahara (Māori for ‘think’or ‘thought’) NZ’sTertiary Education Commission's e-learning Collaborative Development Fund (eCDF) 2006/2007 • Massey University, Auckland University of Technology, The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand and Victoria University of Wellington • Ministry of Education to support School Leaver Profiles • Mahara is maintained by Flexible Learning Network and Catalyst IT Integrates with Moodle particularly well, but can also be used with Blackboard and other LMSs Student driven, focus on individual rather than course Can create any number of different views Assign access to unlimited individuals and groups Social networking functionality Users can set permissions of access to groups
Improvements in technology and connectivity have progressed hand-in-hand with a change in ethos around the use of the Internet, which was dubbed Web 2.0 by Dale Dougherty in 2004 (O’Reilly, 2005). Creativity, collaboration and sharing became key underpinning foci. Companies, rather than supplying the content, started to supply the platform for users to publish their own content, which is often in rich, multimedia formats. In turn, people around the world have the ability to collaborate, comment and communicate with the original creator, sometimes resulting in the formation of communities with a common interest. Copyright is shifting alongside these developments, with creative commons licenses giving a wide continuum of usage rights (Owen, 2009). Web 2.0 tools – benefits and drawbacks More creative ePortfolios are possible Students may need web authoring skills ePortfolio creators can design and enter artefacts in any way they choose Low software costs
Example - can see here that all the functionality is via easily accessible, usually free, portable tools Can disappear (but easy to have another option up and running) - spread the risk Accessible from anywhere in the world If one thing is down likely the others are still working Collating / sharing ‘views’ = issues Web 2.0 tools had the scope to offer ease of use, accessibility from most mobile devices (Cochrane, 2008), the possibility of collaboration, informal learning and peer input, and other benefits such as authentic access to experts in the discipline and/or profession. Furthermore, because Web 2.0 ePortfolios can be created and developed by any New Zealander with access to the Internet, opportunities for access to lifelong learning are increased.
Learning Work load Accessibility standardisation Design Cost Buy in / motivation Wider communities IT support Learner support These are some of the key considerations, and I am going to look briefly at a couple of them
There are a range of skills that need to be considered for both students and staff. Some are obvious ones such as technical skills and familiarity with a specific tool, while others are less so, such as digital citizenship (including cybersafety). TRAINING (staff & students) - Re-visiting programme design / integration into curricula - PD - faculty, - Self-access scaffolding / how to videos - Peer support - Models - Rubrics - Build in at least a couple of sessions at the beginning of a programme to get to grips with the concepts of ePortfolios and to set up profiles etc - Have a forum for students to ask questions / FAQs / virtual office hours - to clarify concepts, discuss expectations, and mentor choices
TECHNICAL / INFRASTRUCTURE - 24/7 IT response (crashing) - server - ensure it has enough capacity up front if the ePortfolio is being hosted on site rather than in the cloud - Wireless capability - Power points around the institution - Access to computers / bringing in own mobile devices - Upgrades / updates (not an issue with Web 2.0)...except where tools are upgraded (and you don't have a say) and you need to update scaffolding
Returning to the question of 'why'...you as an organisation, as a department, and as an individual to embrace ePortfolios for many reasons - some of which have been touched on today - but whatever your reasons it is important to capture those and to speak to learners and ask them to evaluate ePortfolios if and when the decision is made to implement them. The answers you give will help shape policy and practice, and in turn help ensure that you are prepared and supported.
Your answers to 'why' - the purpose will help answer many questions around how ePortfolios use will integrate into your programme curriculum, as well as the types of scaffolding and support students and staff will require, and finally, the platform and tools that are decided upon. ｷ Ensuring clarity of purpose; ｷ Opening dialogue with learners; ｷ Supporting / encouraging academic faculty; ｷ Working across sectors; ｷ Enabling / valuing casual and peer learning; ｷ Selecting tool(s) that are easy to use, but sophisticated enough to enable creativity/personalisation; I would suggest though, that the shift in ways of learning and assessment that ePortfolios offer, has the potential to engage learners in the creative production and publication of written, audio, and visual artifacts for an authentic audience. Furthermore, the empowering, collaborative nature of Web 2.0 can also lead to the cultivation of a community of learning, personalised learning networks, sharing and discussion of ideas, co-construction of knowledge, improvement of ICT and Web literacy skills, and a greater sense of freedom and independence as a learner (Hallam et al., 2008).