Who is in the driving seat?

Over the holiday period (and repairs to my PC etc) I have had plenty of time to read others' blogs and reviews - all of which have made somewhat disappointing reading. On the one hand there are a few brave warriors contending for 'e-Portfolios in the sky' and on the other hand there are still far too many people propounding conventional didactic styles, somehow embedded within an e-Portfolio.

So, who IS in the driving seat? For some years now JISC and Educause have been beavering away and publishing regurgitated articles which move e-Portfolio thinking no further forward than we were five years ago! BECTA made several edicts a few years ago, expecting that all children in the UK, or possibly just England, would have access to e-Portfolios by next year - but I see little progress towards this date. And, of more concern, I see very little mention of e-Portfolios in their more recent publications,

What is not clear is where any guidance about how liberated approaches to Teaching & Learning are actually being used in conjunction with e-Portfolios. Just to use an e-Portfolio as a tool for presenting traditional coursework is, to my mind, somewhat anachronistic if not just a pretence at e-learning.

I am very concerned by the number of undergraduates who are developing their own e-Portfolios with little or no guidance as to how the use of such a tool can emancipate Teaching & Learning. This is a blatant case of 'the blind leading the blind' and, in my book, can only be viewed as professional irresponsibility.

For anyone reading this blog for the first time, and for all those out there who are blissfully ignorant of what an e-Portfolio can do, I strongly suggest that they read my simple analysis of what an e-Portfolio is all about.‘Ten Prime Directives’

Recently an eminent and well revered blogger referred to 'distance learning' within the context of e-Portfolios. I had to respond that e-learning is NOT the same as distance learning. In fact students could be involved in e-learning, collaboration and peer review all in the same room and even on the next workstation.