Simon Cotterill

Towards the m-portfolio

Cotterill SJ*, Angarita M+, Horner P*, Teasdale D*, Moss J*, Jones S^, Walters R, Firth G~, Hennessy S~, McDonald AM*, Fajardo R+, Cendales JG+, Quintero G+ * Newcastle University, UK + Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia ^ James Cook University Hospital, UK ~ University of Leeds, UK

Towards the m-portfolio

Introduction

• The rapid growth of mobile technologies has implications for ePortfolios and portfolio learning. • Modern mobile devices (PDAs, smart phones etc) give learners high levels of connectivity.

• However, relatively little has been done to provide interfaces for these devices to Web-based portfolios.

• Research into the potential educational impact of mobile devices is growing, but evaluation of their role in portfolio learning is still in its infancy.

Towards the m-portfolio

Aims

• To present key issues for mobile access to portfolios and logbooks, including the potential for impact on education.

• To present summaries of 5 cases studies of m-portfolios (works in progress) from the Health Care sector, but with wider applicability.

• To outline IT strategies that allow a synchronisation information, notes, alerts between ePortfolio and m-portfolio.

Towards the m-portfolio

Background: ‘m’ is for Mobile!

PDAs Mobile phones Laptops / Compact Laptops Tablet PCs ‘hybrid’ devices ‘Ultra Compact’ computers Media players (podcasting +/- video)

Towards the m-portfolio

3 Ways to Connect

(not mutually exclusive)

‘Docking’ (connect to wired network)

+reliable data synchronisation - time-lag for info to central database -potential loss of data before docking

3G/GPRS (phone networks)

+good coverage (few ‘blackspots’) +widespread use of mobile phones -expensive (typically cost to learner)

Wireless (eg. ‘Wifi’)

many ‘blackspots’ +growing coverage / reducing costs +cheaper access to Internet (than GPRS) +easier to manage access / security

Towards the m-portfolio

Social Publishing using Mobile Phones

video pictures GPRS text • Great for unstructured blogging / ‘Social Publishing’ • Limited for a broader ePortfolio where some structure/contextualisation is required eg. artefacts not linked to specific learning objectives/ evidencing skills • Some locations do not allow mobile phones (eg. health care organisation in UK)

Towards the m-portfolio

‘m’ is for Mobile; ‘h’ is for hype?!!

Some ways in which mobile technologies could potentially impact on portfolio & portfolio learning:

Evidencing audio/image/video capture logging (verified) Reflection (capture/facilitate) text/audio/image/video ‘bookmarks’ for later reflection recorded on full-Web portfolio Communication

for

learning coaching/mentoring peer-learning/support remote interaction/feedback on portfolio

Towards the m-portfolio

CASE STUDIES

Towards the m-portfolio

Case Study 1.

Undergrad. Dentistry (Palm project)

• Newcastle University • Recording student clinical data using PDAs • Device-specific Software developed using Pendragon Forms v3.1 (4 years ago) Docking sync Local Database (MS Access™) Central Database (MySQL) Internet Secure Web interface

Towards the m-portfolio

Case Study 1.

Undergrad. Dentistry (Palm project)

2002

• Moderate success • Synchronisation was problematic (before modern wireless) • Time-lag from data collection to updating central database. • Resistance to change from some users (tutors and students).

Practical lessons: • Design forms to be as simple and clear as possible, not always easy to do as small screens are easily cluttered and can confuse users.

• Record checks need to be used (i.e. form validation) as large amount of unusable data was entered.

Towards the m-portfolio

Case Study 2.

PDA pilot over a wireless network

Established use of ePortfolios & Logbooks in the MBBS programme of Newcastle University

http://www.eportfolios.ac.uk

Established use of PDAs & wireless network at the James Cook University Hospital (JCUH) as part of the “Hospital at Night” Scheme

http://www.ibleep.net

Towards the m-portfolio

Case Study 2.

PDA pilot over a wireless network

• • •

Logbook (part of ePortfolio): mostly ‘tick-box’ Some outcomes required reflection Some outcomes required sign-off Supervisor’s signature Saved as graphic +timestamp

Towards the m-portfolio

Case Study 2.

PDA pilot over a wireless network

Feasibility study

• Year 5 Medical Students (n=31) • 21 students made 207 logbook entries & collected 5 signatures • PDA also useful for accessing reference materials & comms on the Wards • Portability (“no where to put it”) –> clip on pouches • Limitations: 2 week window part way through rotation

Conclusions / Future Plans

• Demonstrates feasibility of using PDAs for wireless access to Web based formulae, guidelines and log-books in the context of undergraduate Medicine.

• Extended pilots of full rotations planned for 2006/7 including new ‘value added’ features of Hospital at Night (peer-to-peer communications) to be evaluated in this context.

Towards the m-portfolio

Case Study 3.

Pilots of Mobile Devices in Health Care

•

Assessment & Learning in Practice Settings (ALPS )

•

Currently running 5 pilots using mobile technologies



Mobile Assessment



Supporting T&L (media blogs)

Towards the m-portfolio

Case Study 3.

Pilots of Mobile Devices in Health Care

• Software: mediaBoard: – Build web-based multimedia message boards, can add comments by sending SMS (text) or MMS (picture) from a mobile phone. Email and web access will work too.

• Hardware: O 2 XDA Mini-S • Support & Training – Training sessions – WebCT module – CCS support

Towards the m-portfolio

Case Study 3.

Pilots of Mobile Devices in Health Care

• Pilots: 20 Physiotherapy & 26 Dietetics students • Using mobiles during placements • Supported by university-based tutors • Learning activities: – a reflective media blog, incl. placement observations + learning experiences – log of pivotal incidents that support critical analysis + higher level thinking – opportunity for inter-professional interaction to enhance inter professional and collaborative working – reflections on how the use of mobile devices adds value (or not) to their work-based experiences – support reflective and reflexive learning experiences – evaluating the key skills of teamwork, ethics and communication (links explicitly to the initial competency mapping activity) – emphasis on supporting formative activities such as a face-to-face clinical debriefing session – support the summative assessment for the Integrated Practice module

Towards the m-portfolio

Case Study 4.

Mobile technologies at FSFB, Colombia

• University Hospital Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogotá (FSFB) • Mobile Innovations Centre in Education to generate knowledge, capture experiences, and develop research plans in mobile learning across Latin America. • FSFB is aiming to develop a mobile-portfolio to be used for medical students to support the coaching and mentoring process.

Towards the m-portfolio

Case Study 4.

Mobile technologies at FSFB, Colombia

ePET portfolio Palm OS Windows Mobile Exploratory work to provide interfaces to ePET from 2 different mobile platforms (asynchronous)

Towards the m-portfolio

Case Study 5.

Undergrad. Dentistry (wireless)

• A consortium of 6 Dental Schools and Postgraduate Deaneries in the UK have developed ePortfolios for undergraduate and vocational dentistry. • This built subject-specific tools on the ePET portfolio framework • Successful implementation of the Web-based portfolio for undergraduate dentistry at Queen Mary’s University of London (QMUL) & with postgraduate Vocational Trainees in the Northern Deanery (from September 2004). It has been rolled out in these institutions and subsequently at Newcastle University.

http://www.eportfolios.ac.uk/dentistry

Towards the m-portfolio

Case Study 5.

Undergrad. Dentistry (wireless)

Access the same Website: Standard Web interface ePET presents an ‘image-light’ interface if accessed by mobile device

Towards the m-portfolio

CHALLENGES / RECCOMENDATIONS

Towards the m-portfolio

Seamless interface with Web-based portfolios ?

portfolio

An IT strategy for developing a seamless m-portfolio – ePortfolio interface:

•

Needs support for both offline (asynchronic), and online (synchronic) synchronisation processes.

•

m-portfolio needs to be able to update ePortfolio databases on the Web in a synchronic or asynchronic modes (possibly supporting both Wifi & GPRS).

•

Support multiple mobile platforms (PALM OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian etc);

Towards the m-portfolio

The ‘Text Challenge’

• Handwriting recognition software is relatively mature BUT • • Many novice PDA users do not like inputting text this way (learning curve?) DO like tick-boxes and pull-down lists Familiar but limited Too small?

Right size but inconvenient?

Getting there?

Or should we concentrate on multi-media capabilities of mobile devices: -audio / image / video capture

Towards the m-portfolio

m-portfolio : e-portfolio interface Recent study from Nursing in Canada

Used more for clinical reference apps. than e-portfolio PDA Interface limitations

“The handwriting user interface put the students off entering data; the screen was seen as too small requiring too much time to enter data quickly…Students wanted more pick and choose menu items rather than inputting text”

Reflection on practice

“..computer based Web access was preferred to record entries and the PDA used for capturing images or recording critical event reminders rather than full blown portfolio entries. In general students liked the ability to send multimedia remotely to the e portfolio…”

Towards the m-portfolio

The challenge of rapid change

!

• Both technology and pedagogy are rapidly evolving • Successive cohorts of learners are increasingly ‘m-literate’ Strategies for development, evaluation & research need to take this into account!

Towards the m-portfolio

Conclusions

• The case studies summarised here present a range of different approaches to meeting some of the challenges for the m-portfolio and their interface with ePortfolios. • There are great potential educational benefits of the m-portfolio and their interface with ePortfolios. • However, there is a need for collaborative development and careful research and evaluation in order to move towards this potential.

Towards the m-portfolio

Further Information

For further information: [email protected]

http://www.eportfolios.ac.uk

http://www.eportfolios.ac.uk/dental http://www.CETL4HealthNE.ac.uk

http://www.alps-cetl.ac.uk

http://www.m-learning.edu.co

Towards the m-portfolio

Potential Benefits of PDAs  Curriculum monitoring eg. identifying gaps in clinical skills exposure from a centralised database collected by students via PDAs.

Engum SA.

Do you know your students' basic clinical skills exposure?

Am J Surg 2003; 186(2):175-81