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)

Map from: http://xkcd.com/

Internet Communities: post ‘Web 2.0’Internet Communities: post ‘Web 2.0’

Examples not endorsements!

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

Can ‘Web 2.0’ support learning?

But many reports are anecdotal / serendipitous learning

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 studentsDecember 2006 – February 2007

85% of US College students use Facebook

7th most visitedWebsite in 2006

More research requiredInto educational value of

Blogs/Web 2.0

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?

Tensions between positivist & constructionist philosophies(Paulson & Paulson, 1996)

Escher’s relativity-we have different views and points of reference!

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 Blogbut 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 fromSupport for categories fromboth individual & community / programmeboth individual & community / programme

Integration of blog and ePortfolio

EPICS-2: North East regional collaboration for personalised, work-based, 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

• 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

Towards an inclusive definition of ePortfolio

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, self-awareness 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:

Simon Cotterill, October 2007

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).

(aka ‘ePortfolio Management System’)

Simon Cotterill S.J.Cotterill@ncl.ac.uk

http://www.eportfolios.ac.uk

Further Information

Unstructured

Formative

Factual / Quantitative

Sample

Best work

Learner Owned

Episodic

Structured

Summative

Reflective / Interpretive

All work

Representative

Employer Owned

Life-long

So what are Portfolios ?So what are Portfolios ?

InstitutionalInstitutionalDataData

Portfolio for Presentation

Portfolio for Application

(job / promotion)

Portfolio for Assessment

Portfolio for Accreditation/Revalidation

PDP(shared)

PDP / Reflective(private)

Portfolio for Appraisal

Learner’sLearner’s‘‘repository’repository’

Central data:TranscriptMIS/ HR data

Programme data:Granular assessment dataOutcomes / skills sets

ePortfolios are defined by their purposeePortfolios are defined by their purpose(may be multiple)(may be multiple)

Sharing / dialogue

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

• Unstructured• Easy to use

Also, Blogs tend to be: