The Digital Transformation of Education

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Although Vineet Madan does not even mention ePortfolios what he does say makes a lot of sense, for schools of all age-ranges, not just Higher Education, upon which he focuses.

I quote briefly from two sections of his paper:

"Creating a More Engaged Classroom
"Increasing engagement is about much more than simply entertaining our students with new devices and whiz-bang multimedia; it's about accomplishing the very real task of connecting them more closely to their coursework, to their teachers and to each other. Technology enables biology students to touch, spin and explore the structure of a molecule as they're reading about it in a text, watch a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King as they read about the civil rights era and ask questions of their classmates and complete their homework assignments all in a digital environment. By fostering these connections, technology can enhance and increase students' learning interactions, leading to better performance.


"Making Personalized Learning a Reality
"To teach our students effectively, we first have to learn about them. One of the best ways to do this is to use technology to collect data that tells us where they're strong and where they're weak, how they learn best, and use this data to create personalized pathways to help students build their knowledge and skills.
"The single hottest trend in education technology is the popularity of adaptive learning systems. These systems use student assessments to gather performance data and point students to course content that's specifically targeted to help them build their knowledge and skills. Formative assessment programs work in a similar way, only they provide insights directly to teachers, allowing them to more efficiently personalize their instruction for every student. When we talk about making the classroom smarter, this is what we mean....

" The simplest reason why we should continue our push to bring technology to our classrooms is also the best one: it works. According to the U.S. Department of Education and recent studies by the National Training and Simulation Association, technology-based instruction can reduce the time students take to reach a learning objective by 30 to 80 percent. In the world of higher education, where technology is adopted at a much faster rate than in K-12 schools, adaptive learning systems such as LearnSmart have already been shown to have a significant impact on student pass rates, retention rates and overall academic performance.
This improved level of performance has implications far beyond the classroom. Today we live in a global, digital society, and increasing students' exposure to technology can not only help them develop the skills they need to succeed in it but open them up to a world much greater than their own."

For those of us who understand the ePortfolio culture, we can say 'Amen' to all of the above.  eFolio is one of the best ePortfolio systems for providing the feedback, ownership and flexibility that Vineet is writing about.

Not on Paper, surely?

I find it inconceivable that in this day and age anyone should be expected to produce paper-based Portfolios.  However, I have attached this YouTube video hoping that readers will play the game of attempting to work out how many problems can be overcome by producing an electronic version, ie an ePortfolio.

For instance, can two or more people see this at the same time?  Can different aspects of the Portfolio be hidden/removed so as to make it more readable for different audiences?  What about costs?  or updating?  etc...  etc..

Above all, can a paper-based system really present the whole life-story of the owner?  His/her multiple personas?  Is there any possibility of providing feedback from peers or respected adults?

Yet Another Showcase

 

Yet another well-intentioned YouTube video describing a limited application of an ePortfolio.  When will people discover that the ePortfolio tool is for much more than a single purpose Showcase.  Where is the feedback or Likert Scales?  Where is the sharing or collaboration between a restricted audience?  Where is the facility to present different personas to different audiences? Can the novice html builder create a site which gives various levels of 'rights' to internal- or external verifiers?

I'm all for quality presentations BUT... we also need to recognise the full lifelong and lifewide aspects of an ePortfolio such as eFolio can provide.

As a teacher, perhaps my biggest concern is that Teacher Training Colleges are encouraging a level of technical expertise (or lack of it) that young or newly qualified teachers will assume is normative in Secondary or even Primary schools.

Which ePortfolio tool for staff and students?

I recently picked up on a post, typical of many, that suggested a list of requirements of an ePortfolio.  In response to the author I wrote the following but have added a few more points here:

Although I think that in principle your response is logical, it is also both introspective and contradictory. For instance, you list Lifelong Access (or rather ownership?) as being a requirement and yet you apparently require an institutional repository. Will the Nursery or Primary school maintain the lifelong support?  Or multiple repositories as one moves through life? You require integration with Moodle - but what about the other 50+ VLEs?

And what of the learner?  Every person is different and has different skills and ways of representing themselves.  I fear that an institutionally based assessment tool will not allow the individual freedoms of self-representation that I support with eFolio.

You do not clarify if your hypothetical ePortfolio system is for institutional use with all the facilities required for rubrics, submission dates, overdue flagging, assessments and sign-offs etc and therefore institutionally owned or is it for ownership, collaboration and self representation etc?

You suggest that it should be free and at the same time lifelong. I am amused as to what support a 5-year old or ancient granny will get from a system that is free. Are you assuming that there is no on-line staffing to support maintenance, monitoring, upgrading and technical help. These are all significant costs that have to be paid for by someone, somewhere.

Wikipedia unfortunately gives a really out-dated and rigid definition of three distinct types of ePortfolio. We are now in the age of the cloud and should see our ePortfolio tools in this light.

Another requirement of the personally owned ePortfolio is that of the ability to present different 'views' or personas to different audiences. This is essential when presenting one's ePortfolio to different clients or potential employers whereby the learner is able to represent (or re-present) themselves as having different characteristics according to the job-specification etc.

I recently attended a conference which was purported to address the cost benefits of ePortfolios. It was an excellent conference but focussed specifically on a range of institutionally owned and operated assessment tools. These related to specific courses of study for a particular type of student and possibly where assessments may support a learner taking a number of qualifications by different examination boards.

Until such time as we are able to contain all the aspects of assessment within the VLE we will continue to have this confusion as to what an ePortfolio really is. For me I would argue that the ePortfolio is NOT an institutional tool, although it may be encouraged by the institution. Just think, do we only advise one form of mobile device? Do we only demand one form of note-taking? Or research method?... etc etc.

The ePortfolio, I suggest, is a tool that can provide and support evidences of rich-media artefacts, dialogues, evidences of collaboration and blogs etc which the student uses to supplement the in-house assessment system. This way the conundrum of ownership is resolved.

Towards the Next Revolution in Teaching and Learning

to boldly go...

I have long maintained that so-called disruptive technologies are only that for the slothful teacher who is not willing to recognise that Teaching andd Learning strategies are changing.  For those educationists who DO recognise that we must move on in terms of teaching styles, that learners my benefit from a different combination of learning styles on two different days then and only then can we move on. 

The wise teacher will recognise that mobile devices, self-paced learning, collaborative pedagogies, cloud-based systems and intelligent PLEs are but tools to assist their dreams.  I argue that the ePortfolio is the central hub that can make all of the potential changes in Teaching and Learning become effective. - And, I would suggest, within the next few years.

The paper briefly identifies some 25 aspects of Teaching and Learning which, when mixed together will combine to form an explosive mixture that is nothing short of revolutionary:

http://www.maximise-ict.co.uk/Towards_the_next_revolution_in_T&L.pdf

Tagxedo

A new 'Wordle-type' toy but an analysis of my work over the last three years.  Obviously many words we would expect to see on a blog dedicated to ePortfolios and eFolio in particular.  It would be a good exercise to check up on the more obvious words, using the search function at the top of this blog.

A welcome to new readers from several countries who have joined us, particularly from some of the smaller islands off the east coast of the USA.  Over 14,000 readers from 141 countries at the last count. - Check out your country (bottom right of the blog).

Engineers talking about ePortfolios

Nice one!  From LaGuardia, a good clear report on ePortfolios in college, as far as it goes.

Those of you that follow this blog will note that I haven't made any comments about their ePortfolios coming with them from Junior High, or for that matter taking their ePortfolios on with them throughout life.

ePs for Engineering Students

A recent post by Ilona Buchem drew my attention to a review of the above erudite article which can be found here.  The 25-page .pdf is well worth reading.

The striking sentence of the review for me was near the end, "Participant comments such as “This {portfolio activity}allowed me to” or “this forced me to” suggest that the range of identity-related thinking prompted by the exercise was unprecedented or novel for many of these participants."

It remains a tragedy that students much earlier on in their school-days are still not being introduced to the ePortfolio concept and are not being encouraged to transition with their ePortfolio from one institution to the next.

It is very easy for even a 5-year old to discover that the ePortfolio IS their digital identity. They can proudly say, "This is ME!" and share and discuss their efforts etc.

Creative Thinking

Or for the full title, 'Twelve Things You Were Not Taught in School About Creative Thinking'.  I like this article because it covers a lot of ground related to ePortfolio thinking.  Not that I think that the title is necessarily totally true. - Well, not here in the UK anyway.  For almost 50 years I and my colleagues have been teaching problem solving and product design.  Even when I moved over to ICT the same principles exist:  that of identification or discovery of a need, of suggesting a variety of solutions, some more crazy than others, until a rational proposal can be put forward and worked upon.

This should be at the heart of ePortfolio thinking:   the ownership of learning through the personal discovery and generation of solutions that others might accept.  It is about personal integrity, communication skills, work ethic, recognition of audience etc.

And, of course, where better to present such personally owned solutions than in an eFolio?

ePIC 2012, the 10th ePortfolio and Identity Conference

Should everybody have an ePortfolio? How do ePortfolios contribute to the identity construction process? How do ePortfolios support the acquisition of 21st century skills? How do ePortfolios support lifelong learning, orientation and employability? How can we make ePortfolios fully interoperable? To find the answers to these questions, and more, join us at ePIC 2012, the 10th ePortfolio and Identity Conference, 9-10-11 July 2012, at the IET, Savoy Place, London. 

ePIC 2012, London 9-10-11 July 2012, will mark the 10th anniversary of the International ePortfolio and Identity Conference. We would be delighted to celebrate this special event with you and all those who have contributed to the success of previous conferences. It would be a great honour and pleasure for us if you accepted to submit a contribution or simply join us next July in London. It will be a wonderful opportunity to meet colleagues of a truly international community to, one more time, move forward the "state of the art" in the field of ePortfolio and identity construction. EPIC 2012 will also host the second ePortfolio World Summit (after Boston in 2011).

 

If you cannot attend ePIC 2012, please keep us posted on the latest developments in your area and forward the information about ePIC 2012 to people who might be interested to join our ePortfolio and Identity Community.

You will find below the information relative to the ePIC 2012 call for contributions

 (http://www.epforum.eu/2012/).

We look forward to hearing from you and your projects!

Serge and Esther, Europortfolio
    

Significant Context

When studying theology we are always taught to look at any statement in terms of its context ie the culture, the authority of speaker, the capabilities of the listener, the topic in question etc, etc.  And no more so than in today's constructivist mode of teaching and learning.

Following on from a recent NAACE discussion on LinkedIn, I suggested the above graphic as illustrating the inter-connectedness of three primary areas of the Curricula, the Skills & Competencies and the various Motivations that energise teacher and learner alike.  It is my firm belief that not one of these three areas can be considered in isolation but that the specific context within which the learner is placed can unite the relevant portions of each.

A well-organised ePortfolio can very effectively document all of these five areas and also show their inter-relatednesses. - As an afterthough, it is my instinctive nature to expect to see all of these five areas clearly considered within a student's ePortfolio.  A balance of all five will give the reader of an ePortfolio a clear sense of a 'well-rounded' person.

New wine into old bottles?

Or is it old wine into new bottles?  Anyhow, the above graphic amused me because it illustrates the old didactic 'me in charge' approach to teaching and learning rather than the constructivist approach to learning that allows some degree of individuality of learning, at one's own best speed, using a variety of tools and learning styles.

This is Oh, so true of ePortfolios.  On my Scoop/it! site (  http://www.scoop.it/t/eportfolios-examples )  I try to display a number of real active ePortfolios, not so much as to say which is right or wrong but to raise discussion.  One comment made is that most of the examples are somewhat 'old fashioned, little more than a CV.' and this is so true.  what I am waiting to see is a new breed, or 'Second Generation ePortfolio' which demonstrates the true dynamic potential of the ePortfolio as being the best tool for collaboration, peer-review and 'interuptive feedback'.  eFolio, to my mind is the perfect tool to make this all happen.

Secondly, I have another Scoop.it! site ( http://www.scoop.it/t/eportfolios-worldwide  ) which attempts to collate some of the best apps or tools that might help this approach to learning.

An Introduction to ePortfolios

An Introduction to ePortfolios (3.25 mins)

A nice presentation focussed on preparation for the job-interview. The problem is that an ePortfolio can be used for so many other things. It would be good to see such a clear and straightforward approach being used to present on 'constructivism', feedback, peer-review etc. Another presentation could deal with using the one set of artefacts spread across different personas.  And yet another, more delicate activity, might be an illustration of how Faculty put together an Institution ePortfolio.

eFolio and the top 10 Added Values

I was recently asked, "What is the Added Value of your eFolio system?"  -  and that got me thinking.  It's not so much the saving of money, but that IS a major advantage, it is all the other extras that go to make up an effective product that does not need the "Oh, by the way, this will also cost you..."  The picture of the sliding block puzzle says it all.  There are many different issues to setting up an ePortfolio system and all of these need to be slid into place from an otherwise incoherent jumble of bits.

So here is my list of the top 10 Added Values of eFolio:

1. Pride of ownership of a unique ePortfolio
2. Institutional identity through bespoke banner
3. True low-cost Lifelong and Lifewide ownership
4. No problems of conventional portability
5. Ease of access by readers/assessors through clear menus
6. Ability to switch on/off a range of feedback tools on any page
7. Ability to integrate other web-based tools/services
8. Ability to create multiple views of "self"
9. Ability to use selected artefacts for alternative personas
10. 10 years experience of eFolio providing 24/7/365 educational support

The hierarchical structure of an ePortfolio

I came across a very thought provoking paper: http://www.tojned.net/pdf/tojnedv01i04-05.pdf  by Assit. Prof. Dr. Nilgün TOSUN, Trakya University, Faculty of Education, Edirne, TURKEY, head of Computer and Education Instructional Technologies Department and thesis advisor to M. Fatih BARIŞ, a teacher at Tekirdağ Technical and Vocational School, Tekirdag, TURKEY. As you can see from this diagram, the versatility of the ePortfolio can allow for divers uses of artefacts as opposed to the traditional linear way of working.

In mainstream education this could be taken even further by replicating the above graphic for every subject a child might be studying.  And then the logic really comes into play.  Consider a simple essay for a Technology homework:  It could firstly be a simple description of how an artefact is constructed as part of the initial homework.  That same essay could also be used as evidence of learning strategies, research skills, referencing etc.  It could also be used as evidence of collaboration or enquiry of experts or 'other adults'. It could similarly be used as an exercise in reflection or evaluation. 

And yet again, some of these various artefacts, from different subject areas could also be used within different personas.  And so it goes on.  I am sure that readers could add a dozen different examples of the 're-purposing' of artefacts.

Admittedly, Baris' paper was written from a very academic perspective and several assumptions are made which do not necessarily apply to mainstream education.  However, I must give praise where praise is due.  Thanks again, Dr. Nilgün Tosun and Fatih!

Lifewide? What do you mean?

Recently I was asked this very question, 'What do you mean by Lifewide?' I have noticed before that others have used the term 'Lifewide' without really defining what it means.

There are at least three different aspects whereby I would describe an ePortfolio as being Lifewide:

1. All learners have multiple personas and should be able to display differing aspects to different audiences concurrently. For instance, I may be applying for two different jobs, one requiring a very professional format as an educator and yet another side of me, that of a bearded environmentalist wanting to escape academia and work for a charitable organisation. The two are not very compatible!
   



2. Secondly, the software itself should be capable of moving with the steadily maturing young learner, ‘through multiple metamorphoses’. This requires a simple easy-to-use tool which even the youngest student can use and yet has the capability of highly professional or complex multi-media presentation. Some years ago I attempted to illustrate this as on my website: http://www.maximise-ict.co.uk/eFolio-01.htm
   



3. Even within one persona, there are many different facets to that learner. Eg a college student does not just follow one course of study – his tutors want to know something of other aspects of his life, what clubs he attends, his out of college activities, his family circumstances, his part-time job. All of these go to make up the whole ‘width’ of the person.

I have also put together a random collection of sample ePortfolios for discussion purposes which might help the thoughtful reader: http://www.scoop.it/t/eportfolios-examples How many of the 'examples' that I list are capable of showing different 'views' to different audiences.

Well, what do you expect?

The layout of an ePortfolio is critical. But for whom? A potential employer does not have time to browse through one's self-congratulatory essays when looking for just one characteristic. One might be looking for clear skills in organisation or an eye for detail. Another might be looking for literary excellence or previous leadership experience.

Faculty might well expect a similar style and layout from all students - it's so much easier to find the latest essay that requires feedback or to check out a learner's progress. But, unfortunately, such regimentation does not sit easily with the concept of the ePortfolio being 'Learner-owned'.

I think, therefore, that it is essential that one's ePortfolio is easily 'navigable' - that separate sections and subsections have some logic. Perhaps colour-coding will help the reader.

As my previous two posts have alluded, I am in the process of compiling a collection of ePortfolios in order to help learners (or teachers) decide on their own particular format - and whether, for that matter, the software that they have chosen can deliver the layout and navigation they need.

Looking at the examples that I have posted here I suggest that we should consider a number of questions:

Does this eP reflect the character of the owner?
Does the software allow for accessibilty controls?
Are all graphics properly credited?
Is the use of language appropriate for the audience?
Is the balance of rich media appropriate?
Is the balance of content right for a prospective employer?
Is the eP well organised and easy to navigate?
Is reflection used to display the strengths of the learner?
How is informal or extra-curricular prior/experiential learning documented?
Does the ‘Life Story’ reinforce the claims of the learner?
Does the eP display a vision for ‘my future’?
Are peer-review/feedback/mentoring tools used effectively?
Is the eP truly 'portable'?
What’s missing?

If you have examples of ePortfolios that I can attach to my list, please let me know!

The Perfect Example?

Following my last post, Barbara Nicholls asked the challenging question concerning the 'Perfect ePortfolio'. Let me start by repeating my belief that an ePortfolio should be 'Lifelong, Lifewide and for Learning and Leisure'. Secondly, my observation upon studying many hundreds of ePortfolios is that they generally appear to ignore many principles of constructivism - of team working, responding to a mentor's advice, of asking for feedback. Is it that institutions are trying to bolt on new technologies onto traditional pedagogies?

Firstly, it is probably the institution that introduces the eP concept and that generally based upon one discipline or subject. BUT, as soon as the eP is controlled by a single discipline it will tend to be little more than an assessment tool and preclude all the other exciting things that a young student is capable of doing.

On the other hand, the 'learner owned' eP could contain little more than the confused renderings of a Facebook account or the directionless accounts of a 'Dear Diary' blog.

By the time that the eP becomes the showcasing pride and joy of the young graduate looking for employment, some of the earlier peer to peer classroom stuff might well be considered a bit immature and the learner may not include evidences of such nascent learning, valuable as it might well be.

And then, again, as is the case with some of my examples by older professionals, they tend to display a very polished if somewhat conservative presentation which can provoke nothing but awe and admiration.

Recognising, therefore, that the eP is invariably engineered for a single audience, we might never see the "perfect eP". However, we, as teachers, ARE interested in the learner's Life Story, of the 'multiple metamorphoses' of the eP from cradle to grave - and this is a 'big ask'.

Maturely constructed ePortfolios that include all of the above are probably impossible to find. Even if teachers in Primary schools had the right software and vision many years ago, and even if numerous institutions later the learner’s ePortfolio had survived multiple transitions with various interoperability standards it would be rare for a mature learner to display all the hidden pages of an ‘evolutionary’ ePortfolio. Unfortunately, this may be the reason why we rarely see 'long-term reflection'.

The only way to encourage learners to demonstrate this sort of ePortfolio longevity would be through the establishment of some sort of competition – but even then people might be too shy to step forward.

I think, therefore, that at any stage of a learner’s career their ePortfolio should demonstrate as many ePortfolio ‘skills’ as possible. What is evident in my selected Scoop.it examples is that no one example includes ALL the potential skills for that context. As alluded to in my opening paragraph, it may be that we will not see the 'perfect ePortfolio' until we acquire a completely new cohort of teachers capable of creating a 'whole-school' constructivist culture.

The potential total of ‘skills’ for any stage throughout lifelong and Lifewide learning would make an interesting matrix – but that might be another post!

Examples of ePortfolios

Over the years I have been collecting examples of ePortfolios - the Good, the Bad, the Ugly. Not that I would dare to embarrass anyone by 'rubbishing' their efforts. However, since discovering Scoop.it! I have found a medium that can attractively display a collection of examples which might help both students and staff decide on the content and layout that suits them. See http://www.scoop.it/t/eportfolios-examples

Many examples contain profound glimpses of insight and are a joy to read (or listen to). However, even the best seem to have serious gaps in the total content.

Many examples are little more than a showcase of one's best works along with a CV and a list of contacts. Of these, quite a few, in blog format, document the learners interests, sometimes in far too much detail including descriptions of members of their family and even the cat!

Other examples are little more than the syllabus of the course being followed and links to modules completed.

Some are obviously clearly directed by the institution, others are less directed and are purely the results of an open-ended competition.

Many are just a linear blog listing the meanderings and short-term reflections related to a single course of study.

Few show any sense of long-term reflection, 'lifelong learning', or one's 'life-story'.

Despite our claims that ePortfolios are now a part of our Web.2 culture, I could not find any examples of mentoring (by non-academics), collaboration or peer-review.

I also have a second Scoop.it! collection of discussions and support materials relating to both ePortfolios and foramtive assessment: http://www.scoop.it/t/eportfolios-worldwide

Attraction, Retention and Inclusivity - Part 2

At a time when institutions are being pressurised to make serious cost-cutting economies, administrators might well be looking at the principle of retention. However, 'Retention' is a much bigger subject than just that of the efficient retaining numbers of students in courses.

As alluded to in my previous post, what is the point of 'Attraction' if once the students have 'signed-on' they then find that the course is not what they expected or that they cannot get on with their peers? Students should not feel a sense of entrapment, that they have entered upon a course of study from which they cannot escape. There is no worse feeling than, "This is not what I expected."

I therefore see the ePortfolio as being a powerful tool for supporting retention. - I am currently writing on this topic for a chapter in a book to be published later this year - where I attempt to think through these matters in some depth.

Attrition, or the falling away of students, invariably happens within the first term of joining a course of study, but, as explained in my previous post, this can be significantly overcome by establishing good relationships with mentors, established students and alumni, even before 'going up'.

There are not many recently published works that deal seriously with the subject of retention and significantly only one that I can find, (Bret Eynon 2009) that deals comprehensively with the benefits of the ePortfolio for supporting retention. (see:
http://www.academiccommons.org/commons/essay/eportfolio-learning-and-change

However, Eynon does not claim for the ePortfolio that it is some sort of 'magic bullet' but, in accepting a sea-change of institutional thinking, the ePortfolio has had a significant part to play:

' What happens if we shift the focus of our teaching and learning innovations from a single classroom to an entire institution? What new kinds of questions and possibilities emerge? Can an entire college break boundaries, moving from a focus on “what teachers teach” to a focus on “what students learn?” Can we think differently about student learning if we create structures that enable thousands of students to use new media tools to examine their learning across courses, disciplines, and semesters? What is possible if, as John Tagg has suggested, we stretch our frameworks, moving from course-centered to student-centered frameworks for encouraging and examining student learning? '

Accepting, therefore, that the ePortfolio can only come, hand-in-hand, with a 'student-centred framework', I would ask readers to suggest ways in which they have discovered their ePortfolio system to be encouraging retention.

If you have any data that illustrates the 'before-after' effect of an ePortfolio culture on retention I would be most appreciative - your institution could even get quoted in the forthcoming book!