myworld e-portfolio project a case study and usability study ellen lessner abingdon and witney...
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MyWorld e-Portfolio Project A case study and usability study
Ellen LessnerAbingdon and Witney College
George RobertsOxford Brookes University
22 June 2006
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With thanks to…• Richard Francis
• Fawei Geng
• Neil Smith
• Zack Wragg
• Liam Kilgarriff
• Ian Ibbotson
• Rob Tice
• Stan Stanier
• Joe Rosa
• Sasha East
• Shirley Borrett
• Chris Foss
• John Webber
• Bonnie Ferguson
• Edwina Bell
• Artie Vossell-Newman
Ellen LessnerIrmgard HuppeRhona SharpeJim HyndmanNick JeansDave PickersgillSeb SchmollerJulia DugglebyAlan DibbleAnne JonesRuth HilbourneAlice FoxCherie WoolmerJohn LidgeyGlenis LambertAdja Ciciand many many more
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Travel required
Access to HE in FE
ProfessionalPathways
Professional CVs forRecruitment
HND Multimedia
Access to Art
PGCE Primary
Refugees in HE
Arts Foundation Wine Studies
Brookes: Social CareBrookes:
Certificate Teachingin HE
CMALT
BLITZCV Builder
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myWORLD Project Aims• Implement the Petal ePortfolio Software and
pilot up to 10 case studies in post compulsory education
• Evaluate these case studies and their impact on learners and institutions
• Develop a stable installation configuration of the Petal ePortfolio tool and pilot this installation on at least four servers
• Enrich the eportfolio experience for the learner by integrating Web Services
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e-Portfolio Programme
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Key scaling issues
1. installation
2. localisation of the hierarchy
3. localisation of the presentation template(s)
4. localisation of the UI (principally as regards data input)
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EvaluationOSP1.5 not good enough (but we knew that)• Wait for 2.1 on Sakai - out now
– But, only suited for institutions with high IT readiness factors
• Develop “simple” appropriate technology solutions for smaller institutions– e.g. php “CV Builder” as a Moodle activity to be
run in a Moodle module
• Learner centred?– less so than some e-portfolio systems– but, are any?
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Higher Education Oxford Brookes University, Health and Social Care: “Fit for Practice” – E-
portfolios as tools in competency assessment for future social workers University of Brighton, Arts and Music Degree
Further Education Abingdon and Witney College: Tutorial process on an Access to HE course Plumpton College, Wine Studies: Mature students HND – BA/Sc level Sussex Downs : HND Media studies
Adult Community Education CUPP: Refugees: Variety of literacy levels plus ESOL CUPP: Community Arts: Entry level literacy Oxon CLSU: CV creator
Professional Institutes CILIP: E portfolios for practical use by a professional body CMI: e-portfolio for Chartered Professionals CIPD: ePortfolio alternative to CV ALT: Learning Technology Professionals
MyWorld Scenarios
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Access to HE – Tutorial module
The plan was…Use the ePortfolio to begin the reflective
process needed to produce a good personal statement for a UCAS application
Make the ePortfolio available to the interviewing tutor at the university
Be a third type of CV – part of the criteria for tutorial credit
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What the students (both IT novices) said…
“I wish this worked better. It is really useful to put all your experiences and qualifications in one place.”
“When I went for my interview, I was the only one there who knew what an e-Portfolio was! I was really chuffed to be able to hold my own with the tutor who interviewed me.”
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What happened in reality…
The software didn’t work until October so the students didn’t use it to reflect on their ‘life’ experiences to develop their UCAS statement.
Graphic guides needed designing for each step of using PETAL.
Customising the software to suit the students was not straightforward.
I had help from others but PETAL was located on the ALT server and I’m not technical!
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Lessons learned
The learners really liked the idea of the e-Portfolio and were disappointed that it didn’t work better.
The software has to work from the start of the year. It must be easy to customise to suit the group and
easy to use by the individual. Too many logins were involved for the IT novice – the
network, the VLE, remote access if off site and the PETAL login
Use of the e-Portfolio had to be linked to a credit or there wouldn’t have been any incentive for them to use it in its current state.
A considerable amount of time was needed to demonstrate it and to sit with those who were not IT competent.
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Petal and Accessibility Meetings
June 05 with George Roberts and Ellen Lessner Initial look at what accessibility tools worked and
what needed further consideration 13 October with TechDis, K-Int, selected Case
Study partners Agreed to produce an accessibility report using
TechDis expertise December 2006 with Alistair McNaught and Ellen
Lessner Looked at the practical issues of accessibility
(accessibility statement) Commissioned Peter Rainger to do an accessibility
audit (now completed)
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Accessibility and usability
Formal ‘accessibility’ testing might show Petal is ‘accessible’
Is it usable by the range of people included in the case studies?
‘Wish’ list contains features which cross the boundary
“…the concept of needing helpsheets is a bit of a dead giveaway regarding usability…. I don’t see many helpsheets on Amazon!”
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Examples from the ‘wish’ list
Accessibility statement to include how to customise browser views for font/size/colour and a link to free TechDis toolbar
Accessibility statement link here (first in line) on all pages. Statement to include link to TechDis tool download plus how to customise browser options
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Back button on each page plus symbol explanation
If you use the browser back button, you can get thrown out of the portfolio
Back button needed on all pages or browser back button will be used (also back to Welcome page)
Key to what the symbols mean on each page (information/delete/add/edit)
back
Key to symbols1. delete
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Customise settings before or on entering Petal
User preferences could be available on the Welcome page with links, including back to the Welcome page, on all other pages
If possible to customise setting or choose a different look of PETAL, option here.
‘Enter’ ‘Share’ on centre page should be hyperlinks as well as menu on the side (usability/accessibility)
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Pop up comments
Used on some areas – ‘add’ and ‘delete’ – but not on ‘edit’
No comment pop up to say ‘edit element (as it does with ‘add’ and ‘delete’)
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The ability to manage what displays on a screen is fundamental to accessibility
Management of the data structure Publishing and then being unable to edit or
hide various elementsTemplate output Setting user preferences as part of
PETAL instead of relying on browsers, Windows/Mac interface or independent software
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Was it worth doing?
We have said ‘yes’ to participating in the extension to the project if the software upgrade increases usability.
Everyone has seen the value of it in the long run. A colleague who used it decided to apply for a management position.
For more information: [email protected] 01235 [email protected]
01865 484871
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AWCBlitz Plump ALT
K-IntJoe
Rosa
OCSLD
Brookes
Interoperation
Continuation
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Continuation project aims• Implement OSPv2.1 software• Repeat a cycle of trials with three successful case
studies– Abingdon and Witney College, access to HE in FE – Plumpton College, career planning in Wine Studies– ALT, Certified Member of ALT scheme (CMALT)
• Run a CPD trial with academic staff at Oxford Brookes University
• Implement PHP-based CV builder, in a Moodle course and trial– Blackbird Leys Community IT Hub
• To test interoperability between – the CV Builder and the ALT CMALT system– the Brookes CPD system and the ALT CMALT system
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Thank you!Thank you!
George RobertsOxford Brookes University
+44 (0) 1865 484871+44 (0) 7711 698465
Ellen LessnerAbingdon and Witney College
+44 (0) 1235 216276