The Pragmatic Portfolio: An assessment approach for distributed learning

The pragmatic portfolio:An assessment approach for distributed learning___________________________
Matthew Allen & Elaine TayDepartment of Internet StudiesCurtin University of Technology

Introduction
Distributed learning: a general perspective
Distributed learning: network technologies?
Portfolios and higher education
Internet Communications: the pragmatic portfolio

Distributed learning (I)
Formal learning (education) strongly bound to common place and time ... students ‘gathered’
Yet learning (of course!) goes on outside of this gathering in the class, through the assignment
It is not quite informal learning... Hence distributed learning (individually distributed in time/space)
Vital to activate the relationship between concentrated and distributed learning for good education
A very good way...? the portfolio

Distributed learning (II)
Internet makes a difference – via the context of a broader social change: this is notjust ‘online learning’
Learning more naturally and extensively distributed; products of learning remain visible, useable, accessible
Authentic assessment often lies outside the academy, within the possibilities of online knowledge work
But technology does not link: the method to link distributed and ‘in-class’ (formal) learning is pedagogy
The method is...? the portfolio

Three kinds of portfolios
Portfolio – as – mirror (reflection)
Portfolio – as – portrait (presentation of self)
Portfolio – as – self (embodiment through practice)

Differences
Audience: relationship of the producer to the intended readers (self? others? public? advisor?)
Parts and whole: relationship of each item and the totality which, collectively, they create (a compilation? a synergy? subordinate appendix?)

Similarities
All portfolios are designed to permit judgments – even if not being formally assessed; the nature of the portfolio is a search of approval, perhaps even approval of the self.
All portfolios are ‘in progress’ – they speak through both incompleteness and overemphasis on progression

Portfolios in Internet Communications
First goal ... internal (nature of education)
Links between distributed learning and collected formal learning, between individuals and common structure, were needed
Without portfolios, students would lack purpose and guidance (distributed learning cannot just be ‘gathered’ but should be nurtured – tasks!); they would lack validation and motivation; feedback would be ephemeral

Second goal ... external (demands of practice)
Professional knowledge net-workers require skills in fragmented, distributed forms of knowledge production, circulation and review;
Without portfolios, not easily assessable as single entities and, again, hard to signal value to students of diversity and interconnection of small fragments

Portfolios involve:
Students continuously accumulating numerous traces of learning, (conversations, contributions, activity reports, specific tasks)
Collation of these traces, selection for presentation, brief contextualisation and reflection on how they evidence achievement

Portfolios are pragmatic:
student work designed to involve greater number of smaller tasks but which nevertheless were assessed, so as to motivate performance – therefore needed a ‘compilation’ assignment
Student work across many domains, forms – far too complicated to assess ‘in situ’, so use simple, easily submitted and returned word document for the compilation
No significant attempt to link portfolios across course – too complex to organise; focus becomes the portfolio (and the technology) not the actual goals and outcomes

Conclusions
Problems
Despite attempts at pragmatic simplicity, problems arose which reveal the contested nature of what we were attempting
Ultimately portfolio work of this kind dissolves some socially dominant boundaries between the class and the self in learning; students can be alarmed, annoyed and ill-equipped to handle this.
Portfolios always involve two audiences and lack of clarity about which is the primary audience threatens their viability

Conclusions
From here...
But, the nature of social media and the further emphasis on distributed cognition in knowledge networking requires resolution of these challenges, not abandonment
Also suggests wider applicability of portfolios, where success rests upon recognising their capacity to work across the boundaries between different modes of learning

The pragmatic portfolio:An assessment approach for distributed learning___________________________
Draft paper available at ... http://netcrit.net/writing
More info on LINK ...http://altc-link.wikidot.com
Thanks to the ALTC ...
http://www.altc.edu.au

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The Pragmatic Portfolio: An assessment approach for distributed learning

by Matthew Allen on Jan 30, 2010

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