ePortfolios for

PDP

An overview of student and

staff perceptions across subject areas

Federica Oradini and Gunter Saunders

Online Learning Development

Background

• Blackboard been used for 5 years• 13 study skills type modules across UG levels• ~2000 students and 25 staff involved • All experiencing ePortfolios for the first time• All portfolios were assessed

Year 3 SABE Student

PDP and ePortfolioTraditional Portfolio processes include:

• Collecting• Selecting• Reflecting• Celebrating

Bb portfolio’s advantages

Shared = show others

Comment = peer review, tutor’s feedback

Portable= take it away end of course

Website format = can be updated

Adding tech. allows enhancement through:

• Archiving• Linking• Storytelling• Collaborating• Publishing

ePortfolios across subjectsModule name Year Percentage of

Module MarkSubmission

MethodN. Students

(2098)

N. Tutors

Work Placement in a Legal Setting 2 100%

Assignment function

64 2

Studying In Higher Education1 50%

Assignment function

345 9

Perspectives of Computer Science 1 40% Sharing 256 8

Developing Your Professional Future 2 100% CD 196 5

Employability and Work Placement 2 100% CD + Paper 17 2

Cross-Cultural Work Placement 3 100% CD + Paper 17 2

The ICT Practitioner1 40%

Assignment function

122 2

Introduction to the Built Environment 1 50% CD 123 5

Research Methods 2 30% CD 22 2

Research Methods 2 30% CD 40 2

Personal Development 3 100% CD 72 2

Interpersonal Skills for Business 1 15% Sharing 413 11

Interpersonal Skills for Business 1 15% Sharing 411 11

Common contentWelcome Welcome statement

Short paragraph – learning points

About Me Personal introduction, career aspiration

Self Assess Learning Style assessment, skills matrix, swot and swain

Career Management Skills

Develop self-awareness in the context of career decision making

Educational and Career Goals

Reflection on education goals

Action Plan Based on self-assessment, reflection and action points

Evidence Selected pieces of coursework to demonstrate competencies

CV Electronic version of CV

Contact Me Email info

Supporting the students

Lecture

Workshop 1 (face to face 1hr, 20 students per lab)

Workshop 2 (face to face 1hr, 20 students per lab)

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Workshop 4 (face to face 1hr, 20 students per lab)

Workshop 3 (face to face 1hr, 20 students per lab)

Online support:

screenshots +

instructions

Narrated video

guides

The students

• From 7 subject areas

• Majority IT literate - 75% said were confident with prior skills

• Most work at home 63%, at university 37%

• Generally positive about their e-portfolio.

Opportunity to think more/reflect

Recognise/understand their achievements

Plan for future career or understand job opportunities/career path better

Determining strengths and weaknesses

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1 2 3

Year of study

% Y

es

Interesting?

waste of time?

Used more widely?

Variation in views across years

In Year 1 30% cited value with regard to employment compared to 60% in year 3

Students – the net generation?• 66% used images 5% audio 5% video

Reasons for not using multimedia:

• Lack of confidence in the value of using multimedia for assessment

• Lack of IT skills• Prior learning experiences

How do you prefer expressing/recording ideas or thoughts

% preferred

Text 72

Drawings/graphs/tables 20

Audio 1

Video 7

Students – one size fits all?

Do you prefer expressing yourself in electronic format?

• 60% computing students • 36% social science

Should ePortfolio be used more widely?

• 70% computing students• 26% social science

Clearly not !ePortfolio assessment must suit the

students tasks and skills to be developed

Year 1, Social Science student

• Hard to create an ePortfolio?

• Benefits?

• PDP useful?

• Overall thoughts

ePortfolio examples in BB/Web

And…..

ePortfolio narrated video, year 3 student

Tutors

ePortfolios useful to the course? - 100% Yes  

Helps monitoring of progress

Formative and summative feedback

Easier submission for students

Students found ePortfolio interesting and motivating

The tutor can view and scroll work quickly

Save paper work/handouts

Reduced paper to carry

Accessible from anywhere

It provided templates to scaffold students progress

Saved time when collecting work

Develop students IT skills

Enabled students to be more creative

Helped identify struggling students for additional support

AssessmentSubmission  • On a CD  30%• Assignments function  60%• Shared in Blackboard  10%  

Feedback • 40% via email• 10% through BB• 10% handwritten on sheets• 20% face to face • 20% did not say

91% Marked on screen  9% on paper

40% found on screen was challenging, tiring and time consuming

Blog/Wiki

Set up by the tutor Visible/accessible from day one

Tutors comments on individual pages

Easier to see

Tutors can see modifications

Student actions

RSS subscription

Monitor easily student updates

No submission is required

Tutor set deadlines

ePortfolio

Rely on students sharing their ePortfolio

Comment area is separate, students can delete comments

No alert mechanism

Cannot monitor modification

No alerts when the students modify the ePortfolio

Cannot freeze an ePortfolio

Can submit as zipped files Unzipping is not easy

Very careful re-design is necessary

Evidencing for ePortfolio is not as straightforward !!!

Overall conclusions• Students need encouragement to take advantage of

multimedia and its use must be valued and rewarded (e.g. gain marks)   

• Must tailor activities and assessment to students and learning outcomes

• Flexibility allows students to take ownership• 1 size does not easily fit al• Some staff and students need a lot of support• Both staff and students need more time to

understand/appreciate all of the potential benefit• Technical failures can mean pedagogic disasters