An attempt to explain how innovation has influenced the desigh of eFolio

1. he following slides present something of my approach to innovation. For many years people have declared my efforts to be ‘innovative’. However, I just think of myself as ‘ thinking of the obvious - first.’ I illustrate a typical practical example of innovation in relation to e-Portfolios. Secondly, I list some of my conclusions about innovation after some 50-odd years of ‘thinking of the obvious – first.’ Thirdly, I describe my three innovative features of eFolio. T

2. hilst researching the VLEs market I soon discovered a big ‘hole’ in VLE thinking, that of the e-Portfolio. Becta had announced that all pupils should have one and yet here in the UK the VLE suppliers were significantly silent about the functionality or teaching & learning benefits of their e-Portfolios. W

3. hilst researching the VLEs market I soon discovered a big ‘hole’ in VLE thinking, that of the e-Portfolio. Becta had announced that all pupils should have one and yet here in the UK the VLE suppliers were significantly silent about the functionality or teaching & learning benefits of their e-Portfolios. Every supplier appeared to have gone away and ‘done their own thing’ with apparently little reference to any educational thinking. However, I soon discovered that in the UK there was very little educational thinking about e-Portfolios at all. W

4. It soon became obvious that I had a major task on my hand to discover what information had been published and what software was available. Most published thinking and associated software was principally designed for the HE market with some applications being used in European industries.

5. It soon became obvious that I had a major task on my hand to discover what information had been published and what software was available. Most published thinking and associated software was principally designed for the HE market with some applications being used in European industries. After many hundreds of hours evaluating existing packages and reading the writings of many academics it became obvious that I had to define my own set of criteria, eventually developing a marketable product – eFolio.

6. However, I hasten to add that I did not therefore go out and re-invent the wheel! I found one application, by eFolioWorld, that appeared to meet my requirements, although it was primarily being used effectively by some 80,000 students in FE/HE in Minnesota.

7. However, I hasten to add that I did not therefore go out and re-invent the wheel! I found one application, by eFolioWorld, that appeared to meet my requirements, although it was primarily being used effectively by some 80,000 students in FE/HE in Minnesota. I spent some time in acquiring a demo-account and learning their system – and soon got to like it. Despite being ‘an outsider’ it was easy to develop a good relationship with the developers and soon we were talking!

8. The conversation went something like this: “ I understand that your eFolioWorld is hosted by yourselves within the institution. Is it possible that it could be hosted externally?” The answer came back, “Yes, but why would you want to?”

9. The conversation went something like this: “ I understand that your eFolioWorld is hosted by yourselves within the institution. Is it possible that it could be hosted externally?” The answer came back, “Yes, but why would you want to?” Recognising the formal presentations styles appropriate to US academic work, I therefore asked a second question: “Is it possible that we could develop templates for different age groups?” Again, the answer came back, “Yes, but why would you want to?”

10. Armed with those two encouraging responses, I was able to go back to my research and re-evaluate every single document on e-Portfolios (and even pre-electronic ones) in terms of a ‘free-standing’ and ‘all-age’ application. In every case, the limitations of previous efforts of institutional systems became obvious – that of ‘portability’.

11. Armed with those two encouraging responses, I was able to go back to my research and re-evaluate every single document on e-Portfolios (and even pre-electronic ones) in terms of a ‘free-standing’ and ‘all-age’ application. In every case, the limitations of previous efforts of institutional systems became obvious – that of ‘portability’. Again, why should the use of e-Portfolios be limited to HE and FE. What about Secondary schools, Primary schools, Home-learning, Travellers’ Children, Adult Education, Lifelong, Lifewide Learning and Leisure, Every Child Matters, Leitch, Gilbert, etc?

20. Here is an attempt to combine many of the features of the previous slides

21. E: [email_address]