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Saturday 20 June 2009

Adult ICT users

You may or may not have been aware that John Denham recently asked Baroness Estelle Morris to carry out an independent review of ICT user skills. She has now published her report.

The BIS website gives a synopsis which may be worth reading first.
Even at a cursory glance it appears to be saying all the right things. However, I am flabberghasted in that although written by the highest authorities in the land it makes no mention of e-Portfolios!

Is there nobody who actually advises these lofty oracles who knows anything about the value of e-Portfolios in any form of learning, however old the learner or whatever their previous abilities?

Surely, the motivation to get on and learn anything to do with ICT starts by having some sense of pride of ownership and self-representation. What tool is better able to provide planning, collaboration, peer-review, formative assessment and the final showcasing of a student's work than the e-Portfolio?

Having marked adult learners' paper-based portfolios before I cannot understand why anyone can even dream of not using a simple e-Portfolio system. eFolio, for instance, is a low-cost product, simple to use and maintain and, what's more, can be kept with pride, for life!