In May 2021 I presented at the edTech Conference in Carlow IT, I presented findings of out ePortfolio implementation here in SETU (Waterford Campus)

1. Conor O’Neill
Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning
School of Education
Waterford Institute of Technology
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An ePortfolio Implementation Journey:
Placing the student in the driving seat.
ILTA EdTech - May 2021

2. Engagement
“Institutional leaders are constantly looking
for ways to engage students and enhance
learning techniques.”
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Credits: https://elearningindustry.com/student-engagement-in-higher-education-institutions

3. Our Background
“Try again. Fail again. Try Better.” - Samuel Beckett.
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4. The Background
▰ False starts
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▰ ePortfolio Ireland Support
▰ Technology Champions

5. What is an ePortfolio
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Source: https://edusasha.com/the-guide-to-everything-elearning/introduction-the-guide-to-everything-elearning-for-the-higher-education-administrator/eportfolios-for-the-higher-education-administrator/

6. What is an ePortfolio
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7. ePortfolio Pilot considerations?
▰ Licensed / Open Source Platform / Hosting
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▰ Supporting assessment and LMS integration
▰ Student centred
▰ Supporting lifelong learning

8. Which ePortfolio Platform?
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9. Which ePortfolio Platform?
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10. Why Mahara?
▰ Single Sign-on
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▰ Moodle assignment Integration
▰ Pages and Collections
▰ The Student has the wheel

11. The Pilot
“If you aren't making some mistakes, you aren't taking
enough chances.” - John Scully
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12. ePortfolio Pilot Implementation
▰ Hosting arrangements
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▰ LMS (Moodle) Integration
▰ Student Module Assessment
▰ Support Strategy

13. The pedagogical Structure
▰ Semester One versus Semester Two (Nursing Modules)
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▰ Differences in support
▰ Differences in assessment and engagement

14. Student Feedback
▰ Support Structure
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Semester 1 Support

15. Student Feedback
▰ Support Structure
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Semester 2 Support

16. Implementation Structure
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▰ Differences in support (S2 ePortfolio Book)

17. Student Assessment
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▰ Differences in assessment and engagement

18. Student Feedback
▰ Semester One versus Semester Two
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▰ Differences in support
▰ Differences in assessment and engagement

19. Student Feedback
▰ Have you ever used Mahara before?
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20. Student Feedback
▰ Mahara is an easy system to use as regards 'Ease of Use'?
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21. Student Feedback
▰ What did you like about Mahara?
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Variety of different documents and
things that can be added
compared to a word document
HUH i didn't really like it it was
something i had to do
Nothing, only added stress to the
module
When it got linked to moodle
When it got linked to moodle
Everything about mahara was ridiculously complicated
and hard to use. It created so much additional
unnecessary stress to the module.
I had a choice of either submit my
work recorded or written

22. Student Feedback
▰ What concerns did you have when using Mahara?
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was nervous that I might get stuck
uploading my assignments to
mahara because it was a new part
of technolgy to me
That people may see my work
It was quite difficult to navigate at
first
How to use it, uploading the work,
and unable to edit my work.
Wasn’t straightforward at all
Was unable to understand how to use it, too technical
It often would not work correctly for me and it was very
complicated. I was constantly concerned that what I wrote was
not saved because many times things would just disappear.

23. Student Feedback
▰ Is there anything that would stop you from using Mahara again?
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Yep i don't think i will use it again, i
never understood the purpose of it
because we could have just done
those things in word.
Using mahara
Yes, the difficulty navigating the portal
nothing, would happily use it the
whole time
Overall found it very hard to navigate, found it
added stress to doing portfolio for me.
Yes, how difficult and stressful the whole
mahara experience was
Would not like to use it again

24. Student Feedback
▰ Technical support is an important success factor when learning how to use Mahara?
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25. Student Feedback
▰ Choose the content blocks you used in your e-Portfolio pages
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26. Student Feedback
▰ I found submitting my ePortfolio to Moodle very easy
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27. Student Feedback
▰ Overall would you say you had a positive or negative experience when using Mahara?
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28. Next Steps
“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the
first step.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
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29. ePortfolio Next Steps
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▰ Platform selection
▰ Implementation and adoption strategies
▰ Further formal research
▰ Establish ePortfolio User Group

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Thank You!
You can contact me at cponeill@wit.ie