Transcript Slide 1

Beyond the Blog: getting the right level of
structure in an ePortfolio to support learning.
Simon Cotterill, Paul Horner, Sue Gill, Tony
McDonald, Paul Drummond, David Teasdale,
Anne Whitworth, Geoff Hammond
Aims of this paper
• Position: there is still a need for some level of
structure for ePortfolios in most learning
contexts.
• Work in progress: developments with ePET
which aim to integrate blogs and community
publishing into the ePortfolio.
• Present an inclusive definition of ePortfolio
http://www.eportfolios.ac.uk
Introduction
• Rapid growth of freely available blogging and
social networking sites on the Internet (as part of
the ‘Web 2.0’ phenomena)
• Growing anecdotal evidence that these
technologies can have benefits for supporting
learning
• What are the implications for ePortfolio – do we
need them anymore?!
Web 2.0
• “Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of
web-based communities and hosted services — such as
social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — which
aim to facilitate collaboration and sharing between
users…”(Wikipedia)
• The components of "Web 2.0" (blogs, Wikis etc.) have
existed since the early days of the Web
• Real change characherised by:
– Large communities with access to fast Internet
(moving towards the ‘Real World Web’)
– Greater ease of publishing
– Relatively unstructured environments
– Self assigned semantics (blog categories, tagging etc)
Internet Communities: post ‘Web 2.0’
Map from: http://xkcd.com/
Examples not endorsements!
Can ‘Web 2.0’ support learning?
Bartlet-Bragg A Reflections on pedagogy: Understanding adult
learners’ experiences of weblogs In Burg BlogTalks Reloaded.
Social Software - Research & Cases (2006)
see: http://blogtalk.net/Main/BlogTalks
Williams, J. B. and Jacobs, J. (2004). Exploring the use of blogs as
learning spaces in the higher education sector. Australasian
Journal of Educational Technology, 20(2), 232-247.
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet20/williams.html
But many reports are anecdotal / serendipitous learning
85% of US College students use
Facebook
7th most visited
Website in 2006
More research required
Into educational value of
Blogs/Web 2.0
SPIRE Project
Results and analysis of
Web 2.0 services survey
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/
digital_repositories/spiresurvey.doc
1,369 students
December 2006 – February 2007
Does the availability of free blogs and social
networking sites mean that specialist ePortfolio
applications are now redundant?
How do we define ePortfolio?
How much structure should
there be in an ePortfolio?
Escher’s relativity
-we have different views and points of reference!
Tensions between positivist
& constructionist philosophies
(Paulson & Paulson, 1996)
The Case for Structure
• Intrinsic structure
–
–
–
–
‘scaffolding’
structured educational / CPD programmes
assessment
structured skill sets, objectives, outcomes and
competencies
– Interoperability for LLL, mobility, learning through
multiple agencies (e.g. using IMS ePortfolio, Europass-CV & HR-XML).
• Extrinsic structure
– guidelines / assessment criteria
– guidance / direction from tutors & mentors
….but how much structure?
• The level of structure required is very much dependent
on the learning context, pedagogic requirements and the
individual learner needs.
• ePET: flexible structure and high level of customisation:
Cotterill SJ, Aiton J, Bradley PM, et al. A flexible component-based ePortfolio:
adapting and embedding in the curriculum. In: In Jafari A, Kaufman C, ed.
Handbook of Research on ePortfolios. Pennsylvania: Idea Group Inc, 2006.
Cotterill SJ, Horner P, Hammond GR, et al. Implementing ePortfolios: adapting
technology to suit pedagogy and not vice versa ! Proc. ePortfolio 2005
Cotterill SJ, McDonald AM, Drummond P, Hammond GR. Design, implementation and
evaluation of a 'generic' ePortfolio: the Newcastle experience. Proc. ePortfolios
2004 [ISBN 2-9524576-0-3].
Unstructured Blog
but with explicit links to skills/outcomes
Community Publishing
• Both assigned and user-initiated learning communities
• Both ‘open’ and ‘closed’ learning communities
• User control of access to their blog entries at private,
community, institution and public levels
Support for categories from
both individual & community / programme
Integration of blog and ePortfolio
EPICS-2: North East regional collaboration for personalised, workbased, and life-long learning
Partners include: 5 Universities in NE England
FE colleges (Falcon network)
JISC Regional Centre
• large evaluation studies of ePortfolios with Blogs/Social publishing
• personalised learning pathways
• mobile technologies
• technologies to support work based learning
• interoperability to support LLL
• identity management
http://www.epics.ac.uk
Conclusions
• Varying levels of structure (according to purpose[s] and
context) in ePortfolios can support learning
• It is this structure that in part differentiates ePortfolio
from ‘generic’ Web 2.0 tools.
• We are presenting our ‘work in progress’, to further
extended customisation of ePET to support a range of
structured and unstructured portfolio tools with integrated
blogging and community publishing tools explicitly
designed to support learning.
• Further research / evaluation is required
Simon Cotterill
http://www.eportfolios.ac.uk
Towards an inclusive
definition of ePortfolio
• No ‘Universal’ definition in the mature paper-based portfolio
literature: reflecting diverse purposes; different educational
philosophies and practices
• A nice starting point from the paper-based portfolio literature:
“..a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits to
the student, or others, [their] efforts or achievement in
one or more areas.” Arter and Spandel (1991)
• Needs to focus on the journey, not just the destination (outputs)
• Needs to touch on the differences / “value added” by technology
My Definition - Ok, its an Essay!!!
In general, an ePortfolio is a purposeful collection of
information and digital artifacts that demonstrates
development or evidences learning outcomes, skills or
competencies. The process of producing an ePortfolio
(writing, typing, recording etc.) usually requires the
synthesis of ideas, reflection on achievements, selfawareness and forward planning; with the potential for
educational, developmental or other benefits. Specific
types of ePortfolios can be defined in part by their
purpose (such as presentation, application, reflection,
assessment and personal development planning),
pedagogic design, level of structure (intrinsic or
extrinsic), duration (episodic or life-long) and other
factors.
Simon Cotterill, October 2007
Definition #2
the ePortfolio application:
(aka ‘ePortfolio Management System’)
ePortfolios can be produced using simple tools (such
as presentation software or blogs) but more typically
using specialist ePortfolio applications that contain a
level of structure (pedagogy and learning
outcomes/skills) with a high level of customisation for
specific contexts and support for multiple purposes.
ePortfolio applications allow the owner to share specific
parts or views of their portfolio online and support
feedback and dialogue. Ideally ePortfolios are
interoperable (for example with learning environments,
recruitment services or for the migration of portfolio
data to support continuity in life-long learning).
Simon Cotterill, October 2007
Further Information
Simon Cotterill
[email protected]
http://www.eportfolios.ac.uk
So what are Portfolios ?
Unstructured
Formative
Factual / Quantitative
Sample
Best work
Learner Owned
Episodic
Structured
Summative
Reflective / Interpretive
All work
Representative
Employer Owned
Life-long
Portfolio for
Assessment
ePortfolios are defined by their purpose
(may be multiple)
Portfolio for
Accreditation/
Revalidation
Sharing / dialogue
Learner’s
‘repository’
Portfolio for
Presentation
Portfolio for
Application
(job / promotion)
Institutional
Data
Central data:
Transcript
MIS/ HR data
Programme data:
Granular assessment data
Outcomes / skills sets
Portfolio for
Appraisal
PDP
(shared)
PDP / Reflective
(private)
What is a Blog?
From Wikipedia:
“A blog is a website where entries are written in
chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse
chronological order.…Many blogs provide commentary
or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or
local news; others function as more personal online
diaries.... The ability for readers to leave comments in an
interactive format is an important part of many blogs….”.
Date retrieved: 15 October 2007 10:28 UTC
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blog&oldid=163709228
Also, Blogs tend to be:
• Unstructured
• Easy to use