Revisiting e-portfolio practices for employability in a digital age
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by Lisa Gray
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Revisiting e-portfolio practices for employability in a digital age
- 2. Background • 2008: Effective practice with e-portfolios • 2012: e-portfolio implementation toolkit & Crossing the threshold • 2016: Technology for employability toolkit • 2018: Apprenticeship toolkits
- 3. Background • UK context • The use of e-portfolio tools rose from 27% in 2005 to 76% in 2012 and 78% in 2014. In 2016 - 74%. • Mahara 42% • PebblePad 29% • Blackboard 17% https://www.ucisa.ac.uk/bestpractice/surveys/tel
- 4. Has the technology slipped below the radar? •Changing nature of the workplace • And our working landscapes • Need to prepare learners for a different landscape • Increasing recognition of the importance of attitudes, aptitudes and broader capabilities 4 Why it shouldn’t Employers focus above all on the attitudes and aptitudes that will enable graduates to be effective in the workplace – 90% of employers rated it as among the three most important factors CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey 2017
- 5. What does an employable student look like in a digital age? • Basic work readiness • Professional skills and knowledge • High level capabilities • Key student attributes • Authentic learning experiences • Lifelong employability in a digital world • Lifelong learning capabilities
- 6. Technology- enhanced authentic and simulated learning experiences Technology- enhanced lifelong learning and employability Digital communications and engagement with employers Technology- enhanced employability skills development Employer- focused digital capabilities development 5 key ways digital approaches can support employability
- 7. What’s changed? Drivers • Less PDP; more employability; authentic assessment; growth in apprenticeships, professional body requirements for reflective practitioners Practice • More embedded practice, reflected in assessment frameworks • Scale of use Tools • Increased functionality and sophistication; use of readily available tools and apps 7
- 8. What hasn’t? • Critical importance of the process – not just the product • The breadth of practice • Sector differences • Difficulty of definition 8 Photo: Nottingham Trent University
- 9. Lessons for success What needs to be in place: • Clear messages (purpose) • Support for learners - process • Work teams and mentors on board • Need for an e-portfolio lead • Engagement won’t happen without embedding • Graduate attributes / programme level assessment 9 You can’t expect your students to become independent, competent learners capable of evaluative reflection on their own performance if you don’t show them first how to get there! Tracey Coppins, University of Keele
- 10. Threshold concepts •Their PURPOSES •LEARNING ACTIVITY DESIGN •The PROCESSES involved •OWNERSHIP ISSUES •Their transformative and DISRUPTIVE NATURE 10
- 11. Themes: showcasing who I am “The world of work is a crowded marketplace so students have to look for ways they can stand out. Examples of what our students do include videos of achievements as athletes or instructors, digital presentations they have given on a theme related to sport, evidence of courses they have run in the community, even images of their time at Camp America – the digital format of the e-portfolio enables students to present themselves in the round.” Andrea Cameron, dean of school of social and health sciences, Abertay University 11 Photo: Abertay University
- 12. Themes: showcasing who I am “With the loan of an iPad installed with some creative apps, our learners have a far greater range of opportunities than anything previously available to us to capture what they have been doing and fashion it into a presentation about themselves that is usable now and in the future.” Dave Monk, e-learning development coordinator, Harlow College 12 Photo: Harlow College
- 13. Themes: Developing as a professional “The ability to self-reflect has enabled me to develop professionally.” Abertay sports graduate, now a school physical education instructor 13 “Most end up loving the fact that they have created something about themselves and for themselves which can be changed for a different audience and purpose without starting all over again. That’s when the penny drops; e-portfolios have given them control over their professional identity.” Barbara Nicolls, senior lecturer, learning development unit, Buckinghamshire New University Photo: Abertay University
- 14. Themes: Developing as a professional 14 “It was not immediately apparent to us to what extent students felt confident in their ability to meet the overarching programme-level outcomes. We needed to develop a system to track the students’ progress towards meeting the higher level outcomes throughout their three-year programme.” Andrew Kirke, senior lecturer in paramedic science, Sheffield Hallam University
- 15. Themes: What I gain as an apprentice •Make connections between theory and practice •Use rich media to capture evidence •See at a glance what is completed and what is still outstanding •Communicate online with their mentors and tutors •Receive and respond to feedback •Develop digital capabilities, a key element in their employability and •Avoid working with bulky paper files.15 Apprentices need to: Photo: Barnsley College
- 16. Discussion 1. What opportunities do your students have to reflect on, evidence and articulate their skills? 2. How are your students developing professional mindsets / skills for the workplace? 3. What tools are you using? 16
- 17. Find out more • e-Portfolio ‘quick guide’ • http://bit.ly/jisc-eportfolio • Employability toolkit and case studies from: ji.sc/employ- guide • All previous work • http://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/e-portfolios 17
- 18. Get in touch… 18 Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC-BY Lisa.gray@jisc.ac.uk
Editor's Notes
- back in 2008 JISC published an overview of the e-portfolio scene, which set the scene for how e-portfolio technologies could support a range of drivers and educational purposes. The infoKit went further in synthesising the outcomes of a range of JISC funded projects. So by 2010 we had a language around e-portfolio use, evidence of benefit and growing examples of practice. But we had questions around how much of this was at scale, were there barriers to maximising the benefits that the tools could offer, and were there lessons we could learn from others experiences. The result was an online toolkit, collaboratively developed by Gordon Joyes, University of Nottingham with 18 institutions UK NZ and Australia. Lessons for implementation – Threshold Concept model. 2016 we published research into the breadth of use of digital to support employability, including no. of case studies. And 2018 we published the outcomes of research into tools to support apprenticeships, both degree and lower levels.
- Biggest jump in use of tools was between 2005 and 2008. 2008 – 55% responded 2010 – 44% responded. 2014 – 94 full responses
- At our recent Digifest conference we heard much about the changing nature of work Fourth industrial revolution through digital Digital literacy as a fourth literacy - Pace of technology is transforming workplaces Preparing learners for jobs that don’t exist. One constant will be change Preparing learners for that changing workplace is a key challenge. Recent International Delphi study suggested that ‘future skills’ included autonomy; self-management, and autonomous learning competence to adapt to this envt. And that there was a gap in the importance of these skills and current support in HE contexts.
- Findings from our 2016 research into the role of technology for employability highlighted the critical role of lifelong learning and lifelong employability as key employability skills to reflect this changing nature of working landscapes. Aligns with David Nicols work which highlighted self-regulation as one of the key skills for life. Including: self directed identification of learning needs, through dialogue regular reflecting, recording and articulation of skills
- Aiming to be very practical guidance, it breaks down how digital can help develop student employability in 5 key ways, the role of technology in augmenting, simulating and enabling engagement with ‘real world’ experiences. key importance of supporting learners in the development of ‘lifelong learning, and lifelong employability’ which are key employability capabilities in their own right. develop personal and professional networks, and their professional and digital identities diagnostic tests to surface any skill gaps, and online careers services to support transition Importance of digital capabilities aligned to employability skills Highlights the key roles e-portfolios can play.
- Changes since 2008 Less of a focus on PDP as the driving agenda – difficult as it often sat outside of the curriculum Now more of an employability focus Increasing move to portfolio practices assessed in the curriculum Abertay: Finally, the shift towards e-portfolio-based learning is reflected in the assessment framework; for example, in the second year placement module, 50% of the credits awarded are for the webfolio that the students assemble during their placements. This not only ensures students view their e-portfolios as their main digital learning space but also helps develop the skills and capabilities valued by employers. Increasing sophistication of tools: Mahara plug-in and PebblePad means institutions with those tools are prepared for more complex forms of assessed curriculum design. Competency based platforms (eg Smart Assessor and One File) also evolving. But also some practical use of tools not designed for purpose – eg although many Further education colleges have for some time used e-portfolio tools for tracking and evidencing achievement in apprenticeships and other vocational courses; these competency records are not designed to capture a rounded picture of the learner or inspire reflection on and ownership of learning over a longer period of time. Harlow Colleges answer to the issue is to use ipads and apps such as Showbie and Padlet for digital storytelling.
- What hasn’t – The development of e-portfolios involves processes that can be as important to a learner’s growth as the end product, the formal presentation(s). Recording Reflection selection articulation Range of practice – from competence assessment to showcasing to employers to developing reflective practitioners to Personal spaces for reflection programme level assessment Evidencing employability awards Difficulty of pinning down their USP learner owned; scaffolded places to reflect and make sense of learning, developing learners as independent lifelong practitioners. Places to share who I am and what I can do. Competence tracking tools Showcasing tools
- Explaining the kind of skills employers look for and how reflective practice supported by e-portfolios builds those skills helps focus hearts and minds, and may even prepare students more effectively for the workplace than any traditional mode of course delivery (CCC) The development of e-portfolios involves processes that can be as important to a learner’s growth as the end product, the formal presentation(s). These processes need to be explicit – reflection – and support provided. Importance of engaging not only students but also work-based mentors and examiner Evidence from e-portfolio practitioners is that embedding within the curriculum is essential.. Leaving learners to their own devices with an e-portfolio tool for PDP (as has been often the case) does not lead to success (Abertay) But adjusting the assessment framework to award credit to e-portfolio-based reflective tasks is most essential to secure buy in from staff and students (Abertay)
- These lessons highlighted through the case studies demonstrate 5 key implementation principles, based on our 2010 work into Threshold Concepts critical to e-portfolio success: PURPOSES: The PURPOSE/S for the e-portfolio must be aligned to the particular context; LEARNING ACTIVITY DESIGN: There must be a conscious DESIGN & SUPPORT OF A LEARNING ACTIVITY/ ACTIVITIES suited to the purpose and the context; PROCESSES: The PROCESSES involved in the creation of the eportfolio in this context must be understood and both technical and pedagogic support needs to be provided; OWNERSHIP: eportfolio processes and outcomes need to be OWNED by the student - this leads to considering portability, choice of tool (use their own phone camera, audio recorder, Web 2.0 application etc, but also their engagement; DISRUPTIVE NATURE: e-portfolios are disruptive from a pedagogic, technological and an organisation perspective because they tends not to fit exactly within existing systems or processes. But not necessarily so today if a curriculum is designed to promote capabilities linked to employability : self regulation, personal organisation, digital skills, reflection on strengths and weaknesses, self presentation and marketing skills, development of a digital identity, making connections. See examples in Abertay, NTU, New Buckinghamshire and Portsmouth. In these case studies you have detailed examples of assignments exploiting the potential of e-portfolios to address the complex skills required in the modern workplace.
- Showcasing who I am Abertay - the assignments embedded throughout the sports sciences curricula from reflecting on placements to showcasing skills, strengths and experiences for future employers in a LinkedIn style webfolio have enabled students to enter the workplace accustomed to using digital media to manage their own career development, improve their performance through self-assessment and make the necessary adjustments to communicate effectively in a professional environment. So to have a portfolio presentation as a showcase, the scaffolded assignments capturing evidence and enhancing the learning journey have been built into the curriculum. So a simple presentation has a depth of learning and capture behind it.
- Harlow College has transformed learning and teaching on full-time courses by providing learners and staff with iPads pre-installed with a selection of creative apps. The initiative has not only revitalised classroom teaching but has also enabled learners at all levels in a general further education college to create digital narratives about who they are and what they have achieved.
- We’ll hear from David shortly from NTU – their practice has been driven by an employability framework, with an eportfolio scaffolded strand built into the curriculum throughout the 3 years of the programme. Focusing on developing a ‘professional growth mindset’. Both formatively and summatively assessed. Canterbury Christchurch University – PGCE programme entirely delivered through the eportfolio focusing on their growth as a teachers.
- At Sheffield Hallam University in the BSC paramedic programme they wanted to ensure graduates had the relevant attributes and skills to be confident and competent in their professional practice. And weren’t sure that the programme level outcomes integrated into modules was achieving that. So after a move to an eportfolio for evidence gathering, and a structured reflective assignment based on their clinical practice. They developed a self assessment tool within the eportfolio (PLOT) – which enables students to self assess against their programme level outcomes. Reviewed at the end of each semesters with their personal tutors. Key benefits identified included a narrowing of the gap between student and tutor views of progress – effectively developing their ability to self-regulate. And tutors are able to ensure students don’t enter the workplace without being fully ready.
- Although the new apprenticeship standards introduced between 2017 and 2020 in England focus on end-point assessment instead of incremental achievement of competencies in e-portfolios, the technology can still be a vital tool for learning.