Quo Vadis? again?

Following research into VLEs in schools and various edicts from BECTA I discovered that there is a serious lack of understanding in schools (ie throughout compulsory education) as to what an e-Portfolio is and how its use will influence teaching and learning. Despite some excellent documents from JISC and my own papers to BECTA the message does not appear to be ‘trickling down’ to mainstream education. Over the last two years I have spent almost every day investigating the development of e-Portfolios and have come to some very clear conclusions as to why most projects are limiting themselves to institutional practice and not breaking out into Lifelong and Lifewide usage.

Other initiatives such as Building Schools for the Future and the Home Access Programme will open up the floodgates to new levels of communication, collaboration and formative assessments etc. Not only will this increase in communication occur between teachers and students but also between a very wide range of stakeholders, using a wide range of platforms and software. How we, as teachers, prepare to handle this new era in Teaching and Learning and how we learn to cope with a much wider variety and number of contacts is being exemplified by our take-up of e-Portfolio practice.

The e-Portfolio is no longer just a ‘capstone’ tool for assessments, a convenient device for PDP or a method of showcasing to potential employers. It will become a common tool for all subject areas in schools, for informal learning and the recording of appropriate experiences. It will become THE tool for community work and even family life. It will also become the repository of one’s digital identity.

How the various ‘camps’ within the e-Portfolio debate agree to resolve their differences is yet to be seen. Examples include: individual ownership v state control, VLE embedded e-portfolios hard-wired to an MIS v privacy issues, personal identity v preformed templates, purpose-designed assessment systems v ‘all-age’ tools and last if not least, SIF v SCORM v IMS v Leap2.

It is therefore necessary to identify what are the present limitations to progress. In particular, clearer definitions of ‘transition’, ‘ownership’, ‘Lifelong’ and ‘Lifewide’ need to be addressed.

Only today I read yet another blog quoting outdated reports and ideas from 2004/5. This is just not good enough. What we need is practical exemplification and debate as to where we might be going to rather than where we have come from!

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.

Participation culture, creativity, and social change

In David Gauntlett's inaugural lecture, 'Participation culture, creativity, and social change', (from 12 November 2008 - Just less than 10 mins) he does not actually mention e-Portfolios. However, at a breathtaking pace he covers much of the ground that e-Portfolios can or should address. A very challenging video!

Through his understanding of media and communication skills he underlines the importance of understanding audiences, the need for communication skills and an understanding of a 'making and doing culture'. 'Happiness is about having a rewarding engagement with the world'. Or, quoting Ivan Illich, 'People should be able to shape their own world and not have it set for them by others.' And again, Richard Sennett's book, 'The Craftsman' deals with the important issue of 'self esteem'. Surely, this is very much what e-Portfolios are about?

He then goes on to talk about tools for thinking and everyday creativity on line. Again, almost every sentence has echoes of e-Portfolios. This is one of the very few videos that I have repeatedly gone back to time and time again.

Another of his videos worth watching is the results of his research in 'Representing Identities'.

Will Technology change us?

I was very disturbed to note the articulate writings of David Jones who proposes, Technology will *not* change the way we teach - an example why we’re an amnesiac field It seems to me that universities are still replicating the research model of the 19th century whereby students replicate the selected thinking of previous generations without respecting any learning from what is going on in the here and now.

David quotes various dated authors in suggesting that learning is still dominated by the teacher's delivery, rather than the concept of the learner being encouraged to map out his/her own learning strategies.

Perhaps he is dominated by professors who know no better, who only deliver according to lesson plans set in stone decades ago? Perhaps those professors are frightened to stand back and see what can happen with learner-owned learning? Perhaps he is surrounded by 'techies' who invent pseudo e-Portfolios without the embedded structures and support that is needed? Teaching and Learning has come a long way in the last 50 years. It seems unfortunate to me that some institutions might still be repeating the mantras of a previous age.

In my post on formative assessment I try to give a simple understanding of how teaching and learning can be transformed in a way that is only possible through the advances in e-Portfolio development.

Again, in response to David Jones' post, the combination of e-Portfolios with other technologies as in Becta's article by John Traxler, 'Learners – Should We Leave Them To Their Own Devices?' points up the real potential of the combination of different technologies such as accessing my eFolio on my iTouch.

But until such time as e-Portfolios are properly embedded in the Teaching of all institutions and until such time as ALL learners have their own e-Portfolios I suppose that there will be those who get left behind?

Adopting a new Technology

Last week was a very busy week for me, primarily in attending the very powerful, almost overwhelming, Naace Conference in Blackpool. As it happened I had the dubious priviledge of starting off the preliminary meetings with my report on my research findings into 'The Takeup of VLEs in Schools'. That over, we had 2.5 very full days of presentations, scores of exhibition stands and a lot of very enjoyable networking.

However, in retrospect, I began to wonder what I should do next. I had learnt so much, made so many contacts and was generally swamped with ideas. But which was most important, which should I investigate further and which commitments should I make first?

And this is the whole point of this particular post. I realised that the vast majority of educators are under such pressures whilst at work that they have little time to sort out these priorities, even if they do have the luxury of attending a major conference.

Mal Lee in an e-mail reminded me of Clay Shirky's book, 'Here Comes Everybody'. In reply I quoted back at him one of Shirky's many conclusions:

‘Revolution doesn’t happen when society adopts new technologies
– it happens when society adopts new behaviours.’

And this is perhaps one of my own most important messages. Until schools (and for that matter all learning institutions) begin to adopt new behaviours in terms of Teaching & Learning styles and until teachers begin to demand the technologies that will support this new thinking we will never experience revolution. Yes, some might argue that this is the old 'chicken and egg' syndrome, but where do we start?

I sincerely believe that no amount of national policy, technical specifications or even billions of pounds of funding will do the trick. Until the hearts and minds of the vast majority of teachers and senior managers are persuaded, until ICT evangelists are permitted to preach the gospel of ICT to the confused, unmotivated and leaderless, I do not see much chance of change within education.

e-Portfolios are such a case in point. Until educators see the vast benfits of the e-Portfolio in terms not only of showcasing, of capstones, progression and self-representation; not only in terms of collaboration, peer review, mentoring and formative assessments; not only in terms of reflection, selection, review and evaluation; not only of being able to select appropriate rich media, social software and web2.0 tools; but of equal importance the ability of the learner to decide on their own learning strategies, will we ever move towards this 'revolution' in Teaching and Learning.

Buyer Beware

Procurement is a funny old business! However much one warns people to be careful it seems that buyers can so easily be short-changed. I know of an accountant who, against my advice, bought sets of swivel chairs for school use. Yes, you've guessed it, being an accountant she ordered the cheapest that she could find in the catalogues, sight-unseen. Within weeks knobs and wheels were falling off and the sponge padding started coming out of the upholstery - the chairs did not last a year. Slightly more expensive ones would have lasted years longer.

I mention this (true) story because I was reminded of it after recently reading of the frustrations of one teacher and his experiences in acquiring a VLE. Not that I'm surprised. There is a saying 'All salesmen are crooks.' But in the case of VLEs, as an unknown quantity, I can understand buyers not knowing what to ask for. My research some two years ago identified this exact same list of complaints, 'not listening', 'not delivering on time', 'lack of telephone support', etc, etc.

And that is why I am so adamant that educationists in general and certainly ALL teachers should go into the subject of e-Portfolios, knowing what they want and how it will support the sort of curriculum that they want to deliver. Over the last few months I have tried to raise some of the main issues concerning e-Portfolios. If you have any other questions, please contact my support office at www.support@maximise-ict.co.uk

Jamin Lietze in New Zealand has been doing the sort of research that every teacher should be doing, asking questions, pushing the boundaries of his understanding so that he will eventually get what his students deserve. I take my hat off to him. It just seems such a pity that there are so few of us willing to push the boundaries of our thinking beyond what the establishment tells us is good for us!

As for me and eFolio, I am just so proud as to be partnered with an organisation that takes the trouble to listen to what teachers are thinking and can deliver solutions that meet not only curriculum objectives but also I am able to provide students with a tool that they can keep for life.

Well, wa de yer want?

Those that know it all don't ask, and those that don't know what to ask for don't ask. The curious may ask but don't often recognise nor understand the answer. It is the wise who ask, listen to the answers and ask again. As I have said to my students many times, 'If you don't ask, you don't get!'

In the world of academia it seems to me that often students are not asking the right questions and wondering why the answers obtained do not meet their needs.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the area of e-Portfolios. It appears that far too often technicians appear not to understand what teachers and learners actually want. Furthermore, those responsible for teaching and learning are often not aware of what they should be asking for.

As I have often said, we are in a situation where we use new technologies only to replicate previous forms of delivery. This scenario is typically illustrated by those who use digital projectors and Interactive WhiteBoards in as clumsy a delivery as when using OHPs.

Nowhere is this more clearly expressed than in a recent blog that I came across, I quote:

"It is sometimes difficult to see past the technology and remember that it is used for particular purposes, in especially, for reflective practice - which is why e-portfolios seem especially popular on courses such as PGCE, nursing and medicine, where reflective practice is part of professional requirements. It seems to be a little more difficult to find a true purpose for the technology in other areas..."

My response to such sentiments will be obvious to some readers:

On reflection and why other disciplines don't use it:

Perhaps it is because other disciplines are still working by 19th Century methods?

Teaching and Learning has moved a long way since some of our Professors went to school. Even 5 year-olds are now taught to reflect on their activities. Certainly much GCSE and 'A'-level coursework requires 'evaluation'. Here is another point, 'reflection' is often taught as being about the artefact whereas the most significant parts are probably about the process and the person. I have taught for many years that the reflection or evaluation must substantively deal with 5 aspects:

• The Product
• The Process
• The Person
• The Problems, and
• The Potential.

And I expect any user to be enabled by the e-Portfolio to demonstrate all of these. The technology should be transparent and as intuitive as any wordprocessor, spreadsheet or blog.