E-portfolios: implementation and the learners’ perspective - Neil Currant
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The document discusses the implementation of e-portfolios in higher education from the perspective of learners and a lecturer. It emphasizes the importance of pedagogical considerations, ongoing engagement, and the usefulness of e-portfolios in enhancing learning outcomes and time management. Student feedback highlights varied preferences for multimedia formats and the need for a holistic approach to integrating e-portfolios into the learning experience.
![E-portfolios: implementation and the learners’ perspective Neil Currant, lecturer in PDP & e-portfolios [email_address]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/learnersperspectiveneilcurrent-091120034504-phpapp01/85/E-portfolios-implementation-and-the-learners-perspective-Neil-Currant-1-320.jpg)
![Student 2 in the computer rooms and it’s good to have something just accessible. Its the sort of case of building it up and then I found with some two weeks left that I wanted to put more layers in because we looked at some examples and found that they’ve got simple sort of page by page like an essay but then you can go into further depth with links or references to lectures which can open up a new window. in the first year I used it much more like a diary which I think it was more of and I think I just think liked the sort of week by week. . I didn’t do it quite so much this time as I wish I sort of had done now in hindsight because I, in the first year I found it quite useful to look back on and it was a quite a detailed thing looking back. I just found it quite useful after, at the end of every lecture to just go on to spend five ten minutes writing you know a couple of paragraphs. lecturer who talked about it in terms of layers and saying there’s a sort of, there’s the immediate layer which is sort of the essay style you just read through it and it sort of says this is this; and then its got the second, a second or even third layer which is certain points you may mention in passing and then want to bring up more information on. it showed me that this sort of layering he was suggesting was important and yeah and I think that sort of helped because I think using some things, a software like that, you don’t quite know what it should look like and its it’s a different side of it I find. it time stamps what you do as well I found [pause] sort of influences you because you don’t, I didn’t want to hand in a piece of work that sort of said 28 th and things all over it yeah. I do feel that its something about the way you have to keep sort of writing in it I, I do like that because I do feel that every time I have written in, in a comment or something that especially straight after a lecture I, I guess maybe that sort of thought reflects from my first year because its, in an ideal … I think I should have done that more in third year. its changed my time management](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/learnersperspectiveneilcurrent-091120034504-phpapp01/85/E-portfolios-implementation-and-the-learners-perspective-Neil-Currant-6-320.jpg)
E-portfolios: implementation and the learners’ perspective - Neil Currant
- 1. E-portfolios: implementation and the learners’ perspective Neil Currant, lecturer in PDP & e-portfolios [email_address]
- 2. Background context 4 years experience of using e-portfolios; personally, with staff & with learners Involved in JISC e-portfolio project in 2005 (Enhancing Learner Progression, www.elp.ac.uk ) In charge of implementation / roll out of university wide e-portfolio since 2007.
- 3. The key message E-portfolios need to be driven by pedagogy, e.g. learning outcomes, assessment & purpose, e.g. PDP, personal tutoring.
- 4. The lessons from students about rolling out the e-portfolio Multimedia Students as ambassadors Ongoing engagement Tracking & Monitoring Learning takes time Part of holistic learning
- 5. Student 1 “ I like to write things down more than type them on a screen.” “ mainly reflections on a particular shift maybe or err a particular talk that we’d covered in a, in a lesson in university. It’s something that had stood out for me that needed to be recorded.” “ its made me err realise that it helps with time management I’ve found from it, its been something that I’ve had to do so I have done and in doing it, it prompted me to realise that other things need doing so therefore I’ve set myself goals to achieve this part by this time and things like that and I’ve been able to record it in there as well so yes it, it helped my learning.” “ I quite enjoyed it ... I think I’ll quiet miss it and I will want somewhere else if pebble pad is not available to us, to record the things that I think need recording in the future while I’m working.” “ you’ve more err computer literate you know everything in the future is going to be all, all on the computer”
- 6. Student 2 in the computer rooms and it’s good to have something just accessible. Its the sort of case of building it up and then I found with some two weeks left that I wanted to put more layers in because we looked at some examples and found that they’ve got simple sort of page by page like an essay but then you can go into further depth with links or references to lectures which can open up a new window. in the first year I used it much more like a diary which I think it was more of and I think I just think liked the sort of week by week. . I didn’t do it quite so much this time as I wish I sort of had done now in hindsight because I, in the first year I found it quite useful to look back on and it was a quite a detailed thing looking back. I just found it quite useful after, at the end of every lecture to just go on to spend five ten minutes writing you know a couple of paragraphs. lecturer who talked about it in terms of layers and saying there’s a sort of, there’s the immediate layer which is sort of the essay style you just read through it and it sort of says this is this; and then its got the second, a second or even third layer which is certain points you may mention in passing and then want to bring up more information on. it showed me that this sort of layering he was suggesting was important and yeah and I think that sort of helped because I think using some things, a software like that, you don’t quite know what it should look like and its it’s a different side of it I find. it time stamps what you do as well I found [pause] sort of influences you because you don’t, I didn’t want to hand in a piece of work that sort of said 28 th and things all over it yeah. I do feel that its something about the way you have to keep sort of writing in it I, I do like that because I do feel that every time I have written in, in a comment or something that especially straight after a lecture I, I guess maybe that sort of thought reflects from my first year because its, in an ideal … I think I should have done that more in third year. its changed my time management
- 7. Student 3 I found the action plans really helpful and that was something where once I’m committed... in writing that this is how I was going to do it. it just kept me on track all the way through. I finished (my project) a week before the deadline and I got a really good grade for it so, and I’m quite convinced that had I not done it that way (action plans on e-portfolio) I would have approached it in a more chaotic manner. I suppose you could say it’s like chapters in a book really or, or a book of short stories and err that this year its different compared to the second year. I find reading quite difficult on a computer screen so what I did was that each page would be in colour, coloured font and I photographed the pictures and a bit of humour to try and make it as interesting as possible because if you just sat scrolling through and its boring then actually I think if I were marking it that I wouldn’t be as interested and therefore it might not get as good a mark; whereas if its visually appealing and you know it makes somebody want to carry on reading it then I think you’d get a better mark that way. we had to speak to first year students (as a 2 nd year) I got up and demonstrated mine (portfolio) and the response that I got with mine was sort of wow, that’s what you can do... the first years actually said that they found that more valuable than actually a teaching session by a tutor because they seen like examples and, and the possibilities and actually the thought of making it your own using colour and things made it more interesting for them to want to.
- 8. Use & encourage the multimedia aspects For many students writing or reading is not their preferred way of learning. “ For me sitting at a computer writing is like torture, you know, so to have to do it for something that you feel you don’t need on a personal level is just awful. But yeah to use other formats would be good. Loads better video especially, audio definitely” “ I find reading quite difficult on a computer screen so what I did was that each page would be in colour, coloured font and I photographed the pictures and a bit of humour to try and make it as interesting as possible.”
- 9. Use students as a valuable resource “ we had to speak to first year students (as a 2 nd year) I got up and demonstrated mine (portfolio) and the response that I got with mine was sort of wow, that’s what you can do... the first years actually said that they found that more valuable than a teaching session by a tutor.”
- 10. Encourage ongoing engagement - processes Most students don’t ‘get it’ at the start. “ initially when I started using it, it was just a complete mystery.” They really see the benefits at the end. “ in the first year I used it much more like a diary ... I just liked the week by week.. . I didn’t do it quite so much this time and I wish I had done now in hindsight because in the first year I found it quite useful to look back on and it was quite a detailed thing looking back.” The e- bit seems to make the processes more explicit.
- 11. The learning takes time “ It’s the sort of case of building it up and then I found with some two weeks left that I wanted to put more layers in.” “ ...it’s something about the way you have to keep sort of writing in it; I do like that”
- 12. Tracking & monitoring Staff like being able to track progress but what about implications of ownership? Students are aware of this and in some cases it influences behaviour. “ it time stamps what you do as well. I found that sort of influences you because I didn’t want to hand in a piece of work that sort of said 28 th and things all over it.” Or Not “ I opened assets throughout the year so that it looked like I’d been doing things and then I just filled it in at the end.”
- 13. An e-portfolio is part of the whole learning experience It becomes more useful where integrated into a whole course so it plays a holistic approach to student learning. “ it just kept me on track all the way through. I finished (my project) a week before the deadline and I got a really good grade for it so I’m quite convinced that had I not done it that way (action plans on e-portfolio) I would have approached it in a more chaotic manner.” “ I just found it quite useful at the end of every lecture to just go on (to the e-portfolio) to spend five or ten minutes writing a couple of paragraphs.” “ Looked up what the title of the lecture will be. Did some preparation on it (in the e-portfolio).... I wouldn’t have done it so formally. What it (the e-portfolio) made me do, very much, is write down what I did (the preparation).”
- 14. Q: If you were talking to a first year student starting this semester, in terms of using an e-portfolio, what would you say to them? Student: I’d tell them to record important events that they have. Their experiences in practice probably because those are the things that when you draw back on it, it means something; doing an action plan about an essay mean’s nothing but to record experiences that you’ve had in clinical practice or that you’ve had with your peers. Those are the things that you’re going to look back on and actually care about .”
Editor's Notes
- #4: Paper by Gordon, Lisa and Liz on 5 threshold concepts of eP: purpose, LA design, processes, ownership, disruptive
- #5: How to make it as effective for as many students as possible. Not the things I would have picked out in 2005 or in 2007
- #9: 1 st student had dyslexia. Thought that multimedia was a nice add-on but not realised just how important it was for some students.
- #11: It being the process of recording, reflecting and planning.
- #14: Disruptive
- #15: NB: this was from a student who hated doing their portfolio. The potentials for learning are there but in a modularise, assessment driven system we may miss them. Links to disruptive.