Ticket to rideEngaging students in personal

learning journeysThe role of e portfolios

Alan Howe

Andrea Collins

Structure of the SW Degree

• Year 1 – two semesters in university

• Year 2 – semester one in practice 100 days– semester two in university

• Year 3– semester one in university– semester two in practice 100 days

Problems we experienced with paper based portfolios

• Lack of opportunity for formative feedback

• Lack of personalisation or ownership

• Poor evidence of use of a practice log

• Little evidence of development of learning between placements

• Dull and boring to read leading to possibility of poor decision making

• Assembly of portfolio stressful for students (2 x A4 copies of 100 + pages)

• Admin time approx 2 days needed

• Moving and handling– 100 portfolios per cohort

• Printing and postage costs

• Sustainability

Traditional portfolio – e portfolio

e portfolios on SW Degree

• pebblePad e portfolio – introduced to students in year one – forms basis for reflecting upon and recording

Personal Development Planning (PDP) throughout three years of degree

– to be used by students to reflect upon and record their learning journeys

• Students can take their e portfolios with them, when they complete their SW degree, as the foundation of their Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Year Two Practice Placement

• We ran a pilot with 8 students and 4 practice assessors/educators 08/09

• Students reflected on and recorded their learning experiences in practice

• Student’s e portfolio (webfolio) shared with practice educators and tutors during placement

• Assessment was on line

Exampleshttp://pebblepad.glos.ac.uk/gateway/gateway.aspx?gatewayoid=50999

The student’s voice - Carly

The student’s voice - Paul

The practice educator’s voice - Sharon

The practice educator’s voice - Barbara

Student Evaluation 1

• Students welcomed the opportunity to personalise their webfolios

• Most found the blog tool (practice log) useful in recording their practice experiences

• Able to link to web sites and make links between blog and National Occupational Standards (NOS)

• Easier to organise their material compared to paper based portfolio

Student Evaluation 2

• Built their webfolio as the placement evolved rather than wait until last few weeks

• Shared their experiences more readily with practice educators

• Felt more supported and received more formative feedback

• For students with dyslexia, easier to organise and to write

Practice Educator Evaluation

• Access to Blog facilitated Practice Educators’ ability: – to be better informed about the students’ daily

activities on placement– to observe continuous development– to monitor student performance

• They felt the students actually took more responsibility for their own learning on placement

• Found webfolios saved them time and it was easier to complete their assessment

Problems experienced with paper based portfolios

• Lack of opportunity for formative feedback

• Lack of personalisation or ownership

• No evidence of use of a practice log

• No evidence of continuity or development of learning

• Dull and boring to read leading to possibility or poor decision making

• Assembly of portfolio stressful for students (2x A4 copies of 100 + pages)

• Admin time approx 2 days needed

• Moving and handling– 100 portfolios per cohort

• Printing and postage costs

• Sustainability

Advantages of e portfolios

• Students received formative feedback from practice educators and tutors

• Greater sense of personalisation and ownership

• Student learning was recognised to be enhanced and deepened

• Practice blog used extensively to reflect upon and record practice

• webfolios were readily shared with practice educators, tutors and others

• Created a community of learners

• Assessment was made easier• Reduced workload of

assessors• Webfolios were easier to read

and navigate • Reduced stress and cost for

students• Saved admin time• Students enjoyed using them

and eager to build on their use for year 3 placement

Future Plans

• Year 2 – Roll out of pebblePad webfolio for all level 2

students and assessors September 2009

• Year 3– Plans to use webfolio for Jan 2010 placement

Post Qualifying Award

• Opportunities to develop pebblePad for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) beyond qualification as part of life long record of learning

Thank You

• Questions?

The End

• Contacts

• ahowe@glos.ac.uk

• acollins@glos.ac.uk