Thursday 25 th October, 2012 Netskills workshop Effective Practice with e-Portfolios: Supporting 21 st Century Learning Lisa Gray Programme Manager, e-Learning Team, JISC
But most importantly…..their potential to transform learning – “Emerging and often powerful evidence from practitioners and
learners of the value of developing e-portfolios….adding value to personalised and reflective models of learning”
– Supporting transition, assessment, application, professional development, personal development planning…..
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Background and context Why is JISC exploring e-portfolios? The increasing interest in the potential for e-learning tools and technologies to support more learner-centred and personalised forms of learning has been prompted in part in the UK by national strategies for e-learning and initiatives in favour of lifelong and personalised learning (see JISC 2009k for some examples of these). In particular the higher education expectation for a Personal Developing Planning (PDP) policy to be in place by 2005/2006 (QAA, 2001) has been a key driver for institutional e-portfolio initiatives over the last few years. However this has not just been driven by top down initiatives - within higher education institutions in the UK, drivers around the importance of retaining students, widening participation, and the increasing importance of reflective learning (particularly in professional disciplines such as medicine) have also contributed to widening interest in e-portfolio tools and technologies. Before learners enter higher education, within schools and 14-19 sectors, there has been an increasing focus on a national curriculum that values skills. A new qualification, the Diploma has emerged, with the development of personal, learning and thinking skills (PLTS) at its core. e-Portfolio technologies provide ways in which these skills can be evidenced. But perhaps the most important reason for considering the potential of e-portfolios to support learning and teaching is the emerging evidence from practitioners and learners of the value of developing e-portfolios, not only to support more profound forms of learning, adding value to personalised and reflective models of learning, but also facilitating the transition between institutions and stages of education, supporting application to education and employment, staff appraisal and applications for professional accreditation, and supporting learners based in the workplace.
UK context
The use of centrally supported e-portfolio tools rose from 27% in 2005, to 76% in 2012 – PebblePad 33%
– Mahara 27%
– BlackBoard 20%
The use of non-centrally supported e-portfolio tools rose from 11% in 2008 to 23% in 2012 – PebblePad 43%
From a survey of UK HE institutions - 167 Biggest jump in use of tools was between 2005 and 2008. 2008 – 55% responded 2010 – 44% responded.
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Published in 2008... and 2012
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We are also here because JISC has been funding a range of activity over the last few years which is building up momentum – and we have resources and examples of practice to share. In 2008 we commissioned an online resource and accompanying publication to synthesise the range of activities that had been undertaken. The publication takes an overview of the field – and highlights key messages through a series of case studies – both JISC and non-JISC work. Not working in isolation – through bodies such as Becta, HEA and the CRA we are taking this work forward.
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Exercise: What are e-portfolios?
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Consider the added value of the ‘digital’
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Some definitions:
‘The research team worked from an understanding of e-portfolios that incorporates both process and product, and includes a range of tools within a system that links with other systems. Broadly, the product (e-portfolio) is a purposeful selection of items (evidence) chosen at a point in time from a repository or archive, with a particular audience in mind. The processes that are required to create e-portfolios for any purpose include capturing and ongoing storage of material, selection, reflection and presentation.’
Hartnell-Young et al (2007): The Impact of e-Portfolios on Learning. Coventry. Becta http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=rh&catcode=_re_rp_02&rid=14007
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Diversity of views – here are a series of complementary definitions – with some common themes – identifying both processes and purposes as being key to how we talk about e-portfolios
e-Portfolio as process and product, owned by the learner
An e-portfolio is the product, created by the learner, a collection of digital artefacts articulating experiences, achievements and learning. Behind any product, or presentation, lie rich and complex processes of planning, synthesising, sharing, discussing, reflecting, giving, receiving and responding to feedback.
(JISC, 2008)
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So any definition encompasses both product and process but also the fact that is learner created These processes of learning aren’t specific to e-portfolios, but are at the heart of good learning and teaching. e-portfolio tools and systems can support these, but only as part of a good learning design, not by themselves. Get good and bad e-portfolio stories as with any other form of assessment.
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This diagram nicely formalises what was in the previous image & highlights the activities involved in creating e-portfolio presentations – and indicates how the technology can support these processes.
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This diagram from the Flourish project at the University of Cumbria highlights process as key Dialogue, sharing, refining and reflecting, collaboration.... as in traditional paper portfolios, e-portfolios are the product – presentations presented for different purposes to different audiences at different times. But it is in the process of creating that presentation that the real potential is seen – with technology able to support a range of core learning processes such as reflection, presentation and collaboration.
The confusion over e-portfolios
“The problem is that portfolio is a learning approach not a technology……..the essential nature of an e-Portfolio for
learning is not as a repository but as a place for reflection” Trent Batson, 7th Jan 2009, ‘The Portfolio Enigma in a Time of Ephemera’
“It is a reflection of the student as a person undergoing continuous personal development, not just a store of evidence’
Geoff Rebbeck, e-Learning Co-ordinator , Thanet College
“a genre, a set of practices supported by a set of technologies” Darren Cambridge, 2008
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Cambridge 08 – ‘a genre, a set of practices supported by a set of technologies’
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Perspectives
‘…like a filing cabinet online, but it’s got a dialogue with it as well…’
‘The fact you can put video and tell your story …’
‘It’s an addictive thing to use both academically and socially’
‘The VLE are owned by the institution and the e-portfolio is owned by me’
‘It takes the CV into the modern era’ ‘e-Portfolio tools enable students to make the all-important connections
between the curriculum and the other things they do’
‘An e-portfolio should be your opportunity to draw on everything you have already created to make your own story’
‘a lifeline of communication’
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These quotes from learners and practitioners share their feelings of what e-portfolios mean to them
Exercise: For what purposes might learners create e-portfolios and
why?
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Application to University
Application to employment Employability
Presentation of work for professional accreditation
Non-traditional learners, women returning to higher education
Information advice and guidance Digital storytelling
Course approval and design and more........
Using e-portfolios to support...
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JISC and e-portfolios drafting, reflection, redrafting etc. and more easily promoting collaborative working. People are arriving at e-portfolio practice from a wide range of areas – professional bodies, employers, PDP practitioners, and starting to see the benefits to all involved. e.g. application to university: One project (ELP) looked at use of eportfolios to support entry to University, with a mentor at the University feeding back. One student as a result didn’t apply for his previous chosen career of medicine. Two students got accepted for midwifery courses after completing their portfolio, when the year previous none had. Mentors and e-portfolios were positively received. PorthisHEad – looking at using an e-portfolio to provide a richer application to Higher Education Applying for jobs and Work placements: MyWorld looked at the use of eportfolio (moodle extension) as a discussion prompt with a range of non-traditional learners from a socially deprived area of Oxford helping them to create CV’s, helping them to think about what to put in it etc. Presentation of work for professional accreditation A project led by the University of Cumbria is looking at the use of e-portfolios to evidence professional standards and accreditation. They are also using the e-portolio tool to support appraisal and team building across institutions. Presentation of work for assessment: Plumpton College– use an e-portfolio system in a professional studies module on a BSC Viticulture – they gathered professional evidence for assessment. Employers tend to be overseas so provided evidence of work placements and could share this electronically. Found course useful but software wasn’t great. Many projects are looking to use e-portfolios to support work-based learning – particularly around reflecting on experiences and relating that to their formal learning Overwhelmingly projects have found that the process was found to be useful – even where the tool wasn’t.
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Supporting reflection, collaboration, planning
“The use of e-portfolios with this group has been effective in encouraging the development of student reflection. Learners feel that they have benefited from reflecting on issues such as their personal experiences, their behaviour, events in their lives, their thoughts and feelings, their writing, and their personal development in general.”
“The use of e-portfolios with this learner group resulted in a greater appreciation of collaboration and collaborative learning.”
File-Pass Final Report
“…I find doing this quite useful because it made me think about a much more structured way whether I was going to long term be happy in a vineyard or would I be happy in a winery”
MyWorld Final Report
“We became reflective writers and practitioners without even thinking about it”
PGCE student, University of Wolverhampton
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concept of e-portfolios is not new. Digital presentations of skills and competencies, online records of achievement and action plans with opportunities for reflection have been in use in education for many years. But there are benefits and affordances to the new tools and practice - driving more learner-centred and more personalised forms of learning, Not only the obvious benefits in terms of inclusion of multimedia, enhancing communication etc, but also encouraging the processes of planning, Process of reflection can lead to deeper levels of learning (Barrett 04). Central element to PDP and CPD. The strength of e-portfolios to support learners reflect on both informal and formal experience and skills has been explored through a number of projects, including supporting both those not currently engaged with formal education, those planning to start, and those planning for work. These quotes from some project final reports support the concepts I mentioned earlier about although the e-portfolio itself is the presentation, it is the processes that are supported during the creation of the e-portfolio that are key. They found the use of e-portfolios had been effective in supporting key learning processes - reflection, collaboration and planning their future.
Power of the digital
“As dietetic tutors viewing the digital stories we were astounded by the quality of student work. We were able to experience the reflective learning journey in a way we have never done before just through text alone and we finally gained some insight into the intensity of the student experience in practice learning which helped us to engage in a a truly student-centred approach”
Dietetic Tutor
“Something happens in passing and when you start to choose the pictures you realise that actually had an effect on me, that actually meant something....when you spend five minutes finding the pictures and looking back at what happened in makes you think about it a lot more”
First year medical student
‘Digital approaches to academic reflection‘ Reflect 2.0 project
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Using images and other multimedia techs to tell your story can have some real benefits for tutors and learners. Evidence suggests can enhance deeper reflection and learning for example around critical incidents.
Emerging from JISC work - tangible benefits
Efficiencies Time savings in information retrieval Supporting reflection and feedback, Supporting presentation, Assessment AND administration
Enhancements Improving quality of evidence, Reflection and feedback; Skills development; Student motivation and satisfaction Increases in recruitment and retention Use by staff for professional development increasing and informing use with students
Transformation Through engaging practitioners and policy makers; Through institutional integration of e-portfolio use in a number of professional development activities Through providing a work placement quality management system
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What have we learnt? Benefits - tangible
e-Portfolios for Starters – Flourish Project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B3tujXlbdk
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Just to share one of the resources from one of our projects, Flourish, based at the University of Cumbria, which explored the use of e-portfolios for staff CPD and appraisal. They asked animation students at the university to produce something which would start to explain in easy steps what this was about – to better engage staff with the process.....this approach was used by Southampton Solent University to engage their staff, with similar focused animations. The institution has now embedded e-portfolio use as part of the PgCinLTHE ...... Staff appraisal – relaunched staff appraisal based on the intial work undertaken in the project. A challenge to embed not only a new process, but new technology too. Weren’t allowed to mandate the system. Wanted a more agile, living process of development, focus on the conversation. Launched institution wide. 91% staff completed it, and 75% did it in the e-portfolio, a suprise even to the project team.
How would I make my e-portfolio implementation FAIL.....
So, what things will make life difficult for the implementation?
1. no technical support 2. lack of clarity on privacy, rights and ownership 3. lack of import and export capability at end of course 4. lack of instructions at all 5. top down approach only 6. impose unclear, boring, flaky uninteresting system 7. no useful timing, provide late feedback 8. mention only once 9. no privacy / personal options 10. no clear reason / explanation for why you are implementing it 11. no consultation of stakeholders 12. no evaluation of tool available 13. lack of deadlines and milestones to implementation 14. no time / space for staff/learners to engage 15. so technical no-one can understand it, exclusive 16. ridicule peoples first attempts 17. blanket training to all
How did other people fail?
1. Not getting key people on board 2. No academic leadership 3. Not emerging beyond the champions 4. System too complicated, unusable, in- or not-
accessible 5. Insufficient training for staff and students – poor
internal support (technical and pedagogical) 6. Getting the levels of ownership wrong 7. Lack of long term strategic commitment 8. Technical infrastructure not suitable 9. Don’t have (or articulate) an understandable and
acceptable purpose 10. Insufficient time for planning and preparation 11. No planning for growth 12. Poor support from the supplier 13. No back-up strategy 14. Product costs escalate 15. Poor introduction, induction. Bad messages 16. Bringing in too many new tools at once 17. Relying on good will 18. Not having a common understanding of eportfolio 19. Have no link to strategic initiatives 20. No communication or sharing between users,
implementers, stakeholders... 21. It’s the cure for all your ills
23. Do a ‘short’ trial or use the word Pilot 24. Ignore and exclude the middle managers 25. Ignore the needs of the academics 26. Tell everyone that it’s easy “it will reduce your
workload” Honest!! 27. Don’t articulate the differences between the LMS
and the PLS 28. Train, expose or promote all aspects at once 29. Don’t have a project champion, leader or
manager. No focal point. 30. Make it optional 31. Introduce it at the end of a course or programme 32. Don’t value (or even view) the work of the
learners 33. Choose a tool that isn’t fit for purpose 34. Provide no support – technical or pedagogic 35. No single sign on 36. No clear learning purpose 37. Make sure you have no central support (no
budget, no training, no resources...) 38. Design your curriculum around the features of
the tool 39. (Regular) Institutional change 40. Poor admin procedures
Background and context
2008 – Effective
Practice with e-Portfolios and infoKit
Leap2a interoperability specification
Evaluation activities
But information about the issues at scale were as yet unresearched.....
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So , as a result of the increasing number of projects we were funding to explore e-portfolio practice, processes and technologies….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 including personal development planning, employability and reflective practice. Based around a series of case studies, the guide showcased a range of practice, both JISC and non JISC funded. The infoKit went further in synthesising the outcomes of a range of JISC funded projects. We also undertook an evaluation of all of the e-portfolio activity in from 2007-2009 , which evidenced some of the benefits of e-portfolio use, and resulted in a model which highlighted 5 ‘threshold concepts’ based on project experiences which needed to be addressed if successful implementation was to occur. If you’re interested in finding out more, Gordon led on a paper which was presented at Ascilite in 2010 which is referenced at the end of these slides. Other work at that time also explored case studies and the state of play of e-portfolios and assessment practice, and ongoing projects exploring technology enhanced practice in the contexts of curriculum design and delivery, and work-based learning and lifelong learning. But there was very little research found on examples and issues of e-portfolio implementation at scale – most case studies had captured small to medium examples, often in individual course level and revealed potential.
ePI Study
‘Study on large-scale e-portfolio implementations’
(Aug 2010 – May 2011)
Aims: – To identify, research and document a range of
examples of large-scale e-portfolio implementations
– To analyse these examples, produce models and guidance materials on effective practice in this area aimed at different stakeholder groups
Led by Gordon Joyes and Angela Smallwood, University of Nottingham
So, in May 2010 JISC went out to tender for a study that would identify, research and document examples of large scale e-portfolio implementations, and do an analysis of those in order to develop resulting models and guidance that would enable others to understand issues around implementation, and identify cases that were most relevant to their own contexts. By large scale we were looking for implementations ideally across a whole institution, that were seen by that institution as strategically significant.
– Through an open process, institutions were invited to contribute their implementation stories.
– Criteria for selection included evidence of a breadth of effective practice, balance of HE and FE institutions, and balance of drivers, purposes and tools
– A total of 18 case studies developed, including 11 in the UK, 4 in Australia, and 3 in New Zealand (as a result of a parallel study)
Case studies and resources developed through a collaborative approach supported by a wiki
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We invited some key institutions where practice was established and went out through an open process to seek other volunteer institutions to share their e-portfolio practice and development stories. Criteria for selection are published on the ePI study pages, but we were looking for a breadth of purposes and drivers of e-portfolio use to be reflected, across a balance of types of institution, across a range of tools. The requirements were for between 6 and 10 examples of practice to be written up, but the final resource holds 18 institutional case studies in total, including case studies from the UK as well as Australia and New Zealand. In NZ a parallel study was funded to align with the UK work. Gordon and Angela developed the case studies and subsequent analysis of these through a wiki resource, firstly as a collaborative space where case studies were developed together, but also to ensure that the final resource would be easily sustainable through the JISC infoNet service.
The e-portfolio implementation toolkit
1. Background
2. Implementation guidance
3. Implementation case studies
4. Exemplars of use
5. Video case studies
Case Studies
UK HE Birmingham City University
University of Bradford
University of Edinburgh
University of Newcastle
University of Northumbria
Southampton Solent University
University of Wolverhampton
UK FE Dumfries and Galloway
College
Newham College
Thanet College
Institute for Learning
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The case studies form the backbone to the toolkit. Total of 18 case studies, 11 UK based, 4 from Australia and 3 from NZ. All differ in breadth and depth. It was a self driven process – with institutions providing authentic accounts of their stories. RED = VIDEO CASE STUDIES
Case Studies
New Zealand University of Auckland
Massey University
Albany Senior High School
Australia Curtin University
QUT
RMIT
Australian Flexible Learning Network
Specific examples of use available through the full case study, summary, or exemplars of use.
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The case studies provide authentic accounts of practice (described by those involved) from within the UK, Australia and New Zealand - ranging from 2 to 7 + yrs of experience. Case studies are available through the wiki as: 1. summary overview providing details of numbers of users, distinctive features, drivers, tools, purposes. 2. Or full case study. 3. Exemplars e.g. Finding examples from localised use, school/faculty use, cross institutional use, or the broader lifelong learning context across all institutions involved.
Breadth of practice
Range of practice described includes, for example:
school-wide use to support assessment of nurses
school-wide use to support personal development in business studies
cross-institutional use of e-portfolios with research students
extra-curricular use for supporting transition in to the institution through recognition of prior learning
extra-curricular use for supporting staff professional development on an IT qualification
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The study has picked up a range of practice, at different levels of scale, including examples at local course level, school-wide level, cross institutional level, and extra-curricular. All case studies identified where their practice fitted in to that scale. For example: X institutional use supporting PDP with research students at Newcastle – use of e-PET School wide use, e.g. At the University of Edinburgh use with MSC nursing students changing a dissertation assignment to e-portfolio-based. Extra-curricular use at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology for RPL for competence based training qualifications And.....Thanet College and University of Bradford use of e-portfolios with staff, feeding in to their professional requirements with the professional body
Guidance and models
Relating to initiation of the implementation
Relating to key e-portfolio implementation principles (threshold concepts)
Relating to the stages of the implementation journey
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Are there any generic lessons we can learn from this body of knowledge? The case studies have been analysed, and a guidance provided relating to a series of models, some of which may make more sense to each of you in your different contexts. These different models relate to the way in which implementation was initiated, to a set of e-portfolio implementation principles, And also relating to the stages of the implementation journey. I
Initiation models
Top down – Driven by senior managers
Bottom up – Practitioner and learner demand
Middle-out – By managers with responsibility for technology enhanced
learning
In all cases, implementation leads to a ‘middle-through’ process, although the person taking on that role differed, often involving central co-ordinating units (particularly in HE).
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Three models of initiation were identified in the toolkit. Top down: driven by senior managers (top down model), to support institutional goals (wolverhampton, Newham College, University of Edinburgh, Bradford) TEG the University of Bradford, who took a strategic, top down approach towards implementing national policy on Progress Files in response to the Dearing report (1997). A working group produced a framework approved by Senate and incorporated in their Learning and Teaching Strategy (2005-2009), which included an entitlement for every student to have a private online space for development. A small central team explored use, systems and practice and made recommendations on the choice of tool. It is now fully integrated with the VLE, all students and staff have access. Wide range of use including the Graduate School who are using it to implement a research development framework for all PhD students. Middle-out: by managers with responsibility for technology enhanced learning (Southampton Solent, Newcastle, Dumfries and Galloway College, Thanet College) Bottom-up: by learners and practitioner demand. (Birmingham City) Study found that this central co-ordinating role was key to success, although this role was undertaken by different people in different institutions. For eg. In HE it was often a central coordinating units outside of Information Services, although a ProVC (Curtin) and seconded lecturers were also key. If co-ordination and support are insufficient the initiative carries a higher level of risk. The toolkit outlines the advantages and disadvantages of each model, and presents examples from the case studies. For example, a top down initiative may mean that all students have the same entitlement, with central support provided from the start, but lecturers may lack a sense of ownership, and all course needs may not be addressed. In all cases the importance of aligning e-portfolio use with the institutions strategic aims is clearly signalled, no matter which model is adopted.
What are the features of a threshold concept?
'Threshold Concepts' may be considered to be "akin to passing through a portal" or "conceptual gateway" that opens up "previously inaccessible way[s] of thinking about something" (Meyer and Land, 2003).
They represent ‘troublesome’ knowledge,
i.e. counter-intuitive(Perkins, 2006)
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So from the review that we undertook, it became apparent that the lessons around e-portfolio implementation were complex, and out of that work emerged a model that could help us to understand the complexity. One feature is that threshold concepts are often ‘troublesome’ to the learner, i.e., that they may seem alien, incoherent or counter−intuitive (Perkins, 2006). It does appear that the implementation of e-portfolios is particularly troublesome. Threshold concepts exist in all bodies of knowledge. In the e-portfolio area they are particularly troublesome in that understanding emerges from technological, pedagogical, institutional, life-long and life-wide learning perspectives. Because of this the field engages a range of different stakeholders who need to understand the e-portfolio domain and these have different cognate backgrounds and professional interests. The evidence for this troublesome nature include the lack of a shared understanding of terms, that many don’t use the term at all, or use ‘personal learning’ as a way of describing the use of these tools. Purposes can be endless. Understanding seems to increase over time, suggesting that there are key issues to understand.
Threshold Concepts associated with e-portfolio implementation
These relate to:
1. Their PURPOSES:
2. LEARNING ACTIVITY DESIGN:
3. The PROCESSES involved:
4. OWNERSHIP issues:
5. Their transformative and DISRUPTIVE NATURE
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Threshold Concepts associated with eportfolio implementation PURPOSES: The PURPOSE/S for the eportfolio 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.
e-portfolio implementation model
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Once you take these key principles, and discuss them in relation to each step of an implementation journey, you get something quite powerful, and that enables informed decisions to be made that are suited to the local context. These four broad stages of the implementation journey, plus Stage 0 – what went on before (as key to the success of the implementation)– were apparent in all case studies. Stage Description 0. Context Developments and conditions prior to implementation 1. Planning and procurement This involved reflection on and response to the current context - institutions tended to have some pre-existing use of portfolios/e-portfolios 2. Facilitating adoption This involved piloting with volunteer practitioners who became champions 3. Embedding effective practice This involved sharing practice and wider adoption 4. Sustaining progress This involved some institutional change and though features that support sustainability may be in place during previous stages this commitment to e-portfolios is something that can only be judged over time Typically the activity comprising stages 1 to 3 takes three years, but for the institutions who pioneered the way, it took longer. NOT A LINEAR PROCESS, BUT A JOURNEY as continuing enhancement and improvement may lead to further instances of invention and early innovation. The toolkit outlines a set of key issues and statements of effective practice relating to each of these implementation principles – with a different focus for both managers and practitioners. For example for mangers around purpose – that the range of purposes are recognised up front, that teaching strategies relate to the drivers or e-portfolio use explicitly, and that the technology is able to support the range of purposes identified. For practitioners that there is a transparency of purpose and benefits for users, achieved for example through an institutional drive towards graduate attributes. Ownership is particularly interesting – whic
The guidance in summary Identify at least one senior manager who will engage in the vision
Identify/establish the e-portfolio implementation central unit and manager
Decide upon key stakeholder representatives and engage them in developing/supporting the implementation strategy. Research their requirements.
Establish an approach to both pedagogic and technical support that is able to suit the range of contexts of use
‘Implementations can fall down if students dislike sharing....’
Paula Stroud, Thanet College
‘Identify and engage e-portfolio champions/mentors, and use them to support communities of users
‘We looked for early adopters to take things further. Students sometimes fell into that category’
Southampton Solent University
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Look at these and decide what is in place and what your next steps would be. A summary guide for large scale institutional implementation is provided here, but it is important to note that each context for implementation is different and it is the application of the e-portfolio model that is the key to success. This assumes that the institution has decided to initiate a top-down implementation strategy Identify at least one senior manager who has responsibility for making executive decisions and who will engage in developing the vision for e-portfolio use across the institution. Identify/establish the e-portfolio implementation central unit and its manager – their roles are critical to the success of the implementation strategy and they need to be in place for all the implementation stages. Decide upon the key stakeholder representatives, eg students, lecturers, employment and careers, volunteering, alumni, administrators, Graduate School, Information Services and engage them in developing and supporting the implementation strategy over all the implementation stages. This process needs to be led by the e-portfolio implementation manager using ‘expert’ advice and will need to consider the key drivers, such as employability, retention etc as well as potential contexts for use across the insitution and the time line. Use by staff on the new lecturer course and for performance review/promotion should be considered. Establish an approach to both pedagogic and technical support that is able to suit the range of contexts of use – technical support and some pedagogic support through online resources will need to be centrally provided. And the training is not just on the technology, examples of how you use it is key. Identify existing effective use of e-portfolio and potential champions/mentors and gather case studies of use. CAN BE KEY IN EARLY STAGES OF PLANNING and at all other stages. FOR EG Curtin University, Australia appointed students with experience of the e-portfolio as student support officers – providing front line advice for new users, email requests and supporting practitioners. STAFF ENGAGEMENT KEY TO LEARNER ENGAGEMENT
The guidance in summary
Develop an approach for evaluation/dissemination that provides evidence of benefits (including the student voice), supported by case studies of use in a range of contexts. Include cost benefits analysis as a basis for sustaining the initiatives.
‘’The more evidence you have of successful adoption the more use you will get. The support you put in place for students can also be picked up by staff. Most people learn by doing’.
Dr. Barbara Lee, Southampton Solent University
Set up pilot schemes using early adopters.
Embed into the curriculum – activities need to be meaningful and purposeful, language should be appropriate to each context
Provide easy access to the e-portfolio tool and support resources for all staff and students.
Consider integration with all relevant systems and longevity of access.
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Develop an approach for evaluation and dissemination of the implementation that provides case studies of use across a range of contexts that include students explaining the benefits as well as providing cost benefits data to provide a basis for sustaining the initiatives. Establish and evaluate pilot projects supported by the champions and central unit – these need to be informed by the intended institutional uses for the e-portfolio and how these are to be rolled out/ developed. They can provide essential in demonstrating benefits, addressing misconceptions and establishing levels of support required Provide easy access to the e-portfolio tool and support resources to all staff and students, and integrate with other relevant systems. Been shown to increase learners perceptions of the value of the tool.
Resources
Two online resources providing guidance on large-scale implementation of e-portfolio tools in UK FE and HE are available to supplement the 2008 JISC publication, Effective Practice with e-Portfolios
The e-Portfolio Implementation Toolkit - the toolkit aims to identify salient messages from examples of large-scale e-portfolio implementation, articulate models of implementation and support users in addressing issues relevant to their context
5 institutional video case studies
Mini-guide summarising the key messages and resources – by implementation stage
Stories of e-portfolio implementation – Thanet College
www.jisc.ac.uk/eportimplement/
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Presentation Notes
This is an example, from Thanet College, one of the case study participants, of the role staff professional development can take in an e-portfolio implementation. Others pick up themes of employability , work-based learning, the challenges of implementing one tool across divergent schools. Changes to system...
