e-Portfolios and Personalisation

For well over a year now I've been trying to think through what 'personalisation' means in something more than just the technical specifications of what some may call a PLE.

Yes, I've had several attempts at defining the functionalities that make learning personal. I really think that the e-Portfolio is that pinacle of personal ownership of learning and a potential summary of all aspects of formal, informal and experiential learning.

However, it was not until this week, I feel embarrassed to admit, that I came across a most powerful document, published in 2004:

Personalisation through participation
A new script for public services
Charles Leadbeater March 2004
Published by Demos (100pp)
http://www.demos.co.uk/files/PersonalisationThroughParticipation.pdf

Although the document is primarily written as a case study based on Health Care in the UK and with some illustrations of school scenarios, almost every paragraph could be applied to how we should think about e-Portfolios. I quote just two early paragraphs to illustrate:

First, personalisation could mean providing people with a more customer-friendly interface with existing services: 24/7 call centres, booked appointments, guaranteed fast response times, better basic customer service.

Second, personalisation could also mean giving users more say in navigating their way through services once they have got access to them. Thus in the health service, ministers talk about ‘patient pathways’ through the system, and in secondary education, children will be given more choice over the pace and style at which they learn.

I have taken the liberty (after checking copyright details) of extracting just four pages of selected notes with an adequate margin to add your own reflective comments:

http://www.maximise-ict.co.uk/Personalisation%20through%20participation.pdf

I found this to be a most salutory document, considering it is now almost five years old!

Comments appreciated.