ePortfolios and Market Traction

I recently came across this interesting blog - well, interesting in that the author appears to have opinions on so many different subjects.

However, he (she?) does raise some interesting points concerning ePortfolios that I felt I should respond to:

You say, “how many of the players of traditional portfolios were wondering why e-portfolios hadn’t had better market traction. I commented that it has been broadly accepted but it just isn’t called e-portfolios, it was simply people creating an online identity (not always positive unfortunately) with social media.”

Have you not in your statement summed up several of the reasons why the takeup of ePortfolios has been so slow?

Firstly “players of traditional portfolios” are certainly not the ones likely to extol the benefits of innovative digital systems. The driver for ePortfolios is certainly not traditional didactics but starts with a hunger within teachers and students alike for collaborative approaches to teaching and learning.

I fail to see that ePortfolios have been “broadly accepted”. I do agree that some institutions have established internal ‘Portfolios’ embedded within their VLE, but these hardly come under such criteria as ‘portability’, ‘ownership’, ‘Longevity’ or ‘Lifewide Learning’. Quite simply, these manifestations do not come under an enlightened view of what an ePortfolio can do. But more significantly, “most” teachers or Faculty that I speak to do not have a clue about what an ePortfolio can really do for their students or for their own delivery.

Thirdly, of course, just creating an on-line digital identity is hardly what an ePortfolio is about. As much as some social media might claim to be secure and can be presented to different audiences for different purposes, such sites lack the self-image or self-representation that a true ePortfolio can offer as part of a ‘digital identity’. And again, I cannot see solutions such as FaceBook providing the ability to ‘transmogrify’ from one persona to another in the same way as a good ePortfolio such as eFolio can offer.

I really feel that old assumptions about ePortfolios should be discarded and that we should come up with a clear set of ePortfolio definitions. Several years ago I published the following set of 10 criteria. Since then no-one has disagreed with them:
http://issuu.com/efoliouk/docs/ten_prime_directives (best read in FullScreen mode)

Adult Education - The Great Divide

A great Victorian evangelical preacher, Brownlow North, wrote powerfully about the great spiritual divide between worldliness and Christianity. However moving his collection of sermons might be, it prompts me to think that we have a similar social, cultural and economic divide between, generally, two groups:

On the one hand are the 'youngsters' those under 30 who are generally ICT literate. Some might not think of themselves as technologically aware but they have access to all the trappings of modern society. Youngsters rarely wear a watch - instead they have a multi-function 'smart-phone'. They use all the modern digital appliances in the kitchen or lounge including a range of entertainment devices. If there are children or students in the home there will inevitably be a computer with internet access. The family car will have its sat-nav and all the modern creature-comforts digitally controlled. At school or at work, they use computers every day. They buy both goods and services on-line and represent themselves through websites or some form of blog or social software and have free access to learning, self-development and CPD. They have adopted a 'learning mindset'. They can generally be described as 'autonomous learners'.

On the other hand, there is a group of 'oldies' who are benefiting from various government and local initiatives to get on-line, to start learning how to 'catch up' with the so-called digital natives. They have the time and support, they have memories and expertises which need to be captured and shared. Homes for the elderly are fitted with all the latest safety and security gadgets, residents are supplied with personal alarms and even pace-makers. In their visits to hospital they are increasing surrounded by astoundingly expensive X-ray machines and body scanners. Increasingly we find in homes for the elderly all the latest digital equipment, computers and large-screen projectors. Care staff are encouraged to provide interesting activities for the elderly, infirm or those who have some form of disability. In general they are getting personal and appropriate support according to their needs.

But, there is a GULF FIXED for those who fall between these two groups. This intermediate group is composed generally of those who are in work, 'looking for work' or caring for children but with little chance of self improvement. At this time of economic crisis they are insecure and with little ability or awareness of how to bridge the gap - to start learning by themselves or to get the support that they need. The UK has often been called 'a nation of shopkeepers' - yes small businesses where people are working hard, but standing still. They work 'noses-to-the-grindstone' and are not aware of how others are looking after themselves. CPD is an unknown word in their vocabulary. Many of these people fall into the 'Level 1, Level 2 categories' as described by Leitch. Smaller companies do not have 'Human Resource Departments', they do not have HR managers. Their employees are not able to 'bootstrap' themselves into being more able workers. Many do not have Trades Union support or belong to Professional Associations. In terms of self-improvement, they are trapped in a 'gulf of inability'.

At a recent meeting in the North East of some 80+ senior leaders and education managers organised by NIACE this problem really struck home to me. It is this massive group of unsupported workers that need the targetted help of organisations such as NIACE. Of the several strong and clear messages that came out of this meeting was the whole concept of Partnership. Not of many small partnerships, for instance, of a local employer and a local school or college. Not even of a local district uniting a consortium of employers, schools and colleges. What we need is the BIG PICTURE of a locality (or region?) as big as the North East where all providers of learning, all careers services and employers become one large partnership. Such a group would need to show a lot of respect for each other, all around one 'round table'.

But how does the above Big Partnership help those trapped in the Gulf between autonomous learners and those benefitting from personal support. I believe that, with the benefits of on-line information services, the available skills and training needs can be plotted for a whole region; that larger organisations, with their staff development expertise, should be providing 'open house' to those smaller companies who, as described above, do not have such facilities for their personnel. Such consortia or partnerships are working well in the Netherlands, so why not here?

Adult education is therefore at a cross-roads. It can continue to provide 'more-of-the-same' to a dispirited workforce and dispirited employers. Or, Adult Education can pull together a Partnership of both the wider range of expertise(s?) within separate organisations, pull together a broader range of learners, pull together a wider range of training organisations and actually get to grips with the challenges laid down by Leitch so many years ago. Colleges, in particular, need to understand something of 'The Joy of e-Learning' as described by Eva de Lera several years ago. Learners, 'trapped at the grindstone', need to be supported by employers who can see that their companies will become more productive, loyal and retentive by upskilling their workers.

Obviously organisations such as NIACE should be in the vanguard of promoting Partnerships which not only enhance current provision but also they must address the wishlist of Leitch and 'get to the parts that others cannot reach' ie, those who are trapped in this gulf of inability.

But why have I gone to the trouble of describing this scenario in such detail? It is simply that I believe that the ePortfolio is the perfect low-cost tool which will enable this underclass of potential learners to share their achievments with others, to have access to personal mentoring and discover and communicate their self-worth.

There is no reason why mobility of labour should be available only to the upper echelons of society. Autonomous learning should be free to all. And it is the ePortfolio that can make this happen.

Effective Practice with ePortfolios

The above presentation, recently produced by JISC RSC Scotland South & West is an excellently crafted document which clearly articulates present thinking and concerns relating to ePortfolios. Click here to see for yourself.

However, yet again, this author appears to believe that the whole content delivery system, learning management and assessment, CPD and showcasing can all be crammed into what is essentially a private and learner-owned tool. As I tried to make clear, several years ago, (Who's Hijacking My ePortfolio - best read in Full Screen mode) institutions have their own individual agendas and appear to expect the ePortfolio to do all the conventional tasks of a VLE but without the expense! Admittedly, some VLEs are expensive as are assessment tools, plagiarism checkers etc.

As regular readers will know, one of my pervading mantras is "Let the VLE do what it does best and leave the ePortfolio to do what it can best do."

But, again, let me say, a good presentation which is worthy of further discussion.

Inspired by Technology, Driven by Pedagogy

The recently published book/paper by OECD ‘Inspired by Technology, Driven by Pedagogy’ may not say anything significantly new for those who have been involved in education and innovation for more than a few years. But it is a document well worth studying. I was saying that ‘Innovation must be curriculum driven’ some 40 years ago – and ever since.

http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?sf1=identifiers&st1=9789264094789

However, it’s not what you say, but how you say it. This document pulls together wide-ranging research and well-argued thinking which together presents a very powerful case of which the UK government in particular should take note.

Space here does not allow me to quote all the impact statements or questions but let the following suffice:

“do governments (be they at national, regional or local level) have a systemic approach to technology-based school innovations?’ (p.18)

As one who has been involved with both innovation in schools and Total Quality Management for many years, I was pulled up suddenly by this question as I fear that the only answer at all levels is “No!”

Now that Becta in the UK is steadily dissolving due to Government cuts, I wonder if there will be any organisation ready, willing and able to develop an advisory paper on whole-school innovation? I am not sure that the ICT-Mark properly addresses whole-school innovation, and even if it can, is it realistic to expect that what one school sees as innovation and another sees as irrelevant can be merged into one policy? Is it possible to develop a regional or national approach to ‘a systemic approach to technology-based school innovations?’

The book raises many questions including teacher-training and the place of Web2.0 technologies. If this very articulate book were to fall into the hands of headteachers or even District or Local Authority advisors I just wonder what might happen. Perhaps my oft-quoted observation, “everyone did that which was right in his own eyes” has some poignancy here. Is there a place in UK education for firm advice as to how we should approach innovation particularly in relation to ICT?

Or is it that some countries have a very different educational regime to the UK? Writing a chapter for another book I was recently pulled up suddenly by a comment, ‘I am unclear as to the relationship between ePortfolios and the school regulatory bodies in the UK...’ My gut reaction was ‘What regulatory bodies?’

Reflecting on Reflections

I have written several times about the value of the ePortfolio as a tool to aid reflection (see tags list for 'reflection'.) However, in a recent post Karen Barnstable writes very clearly on the value of reflection, but more than that, adds some helpful advice on how to think through and document reflection with a 4-point STAR - well worth reading.

As I commented on Karen's post, the compilation of a separate 'diary' of reflections might be a very effective CPD tool for anyone. As Dr Helen Barrett suggests, the ePortfolio lends itself to recording one's 'Life Story'. I just wonder how many myriads of reflections or evaluations I have composed and then forgotten. What would I think about my own life-story if I had retained those reflections for further reflection?

Memory Jogger:

S - Situation

T - Task

A - Action

R - Result

But please read Karen's post to see this in context.

A few questions...

Well, the full title should be, A few questions before you launch into implementing ePortfolios at your education institution.

For some time now, I have been following the adventures of Sarah Stewart and her application of ePortfolios to the work of midwives in New Zealand and Australia. Recently she posted some 10 questions which potential implementers of ePortfolios should ask themselves before taking such a leap of faith. With her permission I have duplicated her questions and provided some answers:

1. What are you wanting to achieve?
Does an ePortfolio system allow you to achieve that aim or would something else be more appropriate? For example, you would like to use an ePortfolio to allow a seamless submission of assignments by students...do you need an ePortfolio to do this, or can you achieve that function via your current learning/student management system?

Answer:
Any half-legitimate institution for teaching and learning should have its own VLE with a good range of resources including rubrics, rich media, archived materials, and powerful tools much broader than the standard syllabus in order to allow students to develop their own personalised learning environment. So, what we should be doing is looking at those aspects of an ePortfolio that a VLE cannot easily deliver.

2. Is what you are wanting to achieve pedagogically sound?
In other words, do you have a sound educational reason for implementing ePortfolio or are you attracted by the technology with all the latest bells and whistles?

Answer:
Introducing an ePortfolio system will not suddenly change teaching and learning strategies. Rather, a student-focussed approach should inevitably suggest that an ePortfolio is the best medium to manage a range of learning activities where peer-review, feedback in all its forms, use of alternative media, supplementary information about students etc is possible. Above all the ePortfolio should allow the ability to present selected artefacts to a variety of audiences, under controlled access.

3. What is the evidence about ePortfolio in your context?
Is there solid evidence that ePortfolio makes a difference to students' learning or is ePortfolio another fad you are following for the sake of it?

Answer:
There is a growing body of evidence from both students, teachers and administrative staff that ePortfolios have a demonstrable impact on both teaching and learning. However, this takes time for new-start institutions. It takes several years for most institutions to settle down to ePortfolio thinking. Until teachers have discovered what works/does not work for them, until exemplar materials related to ePortfolio processes are tried and tested, until an institution has a good body of alumni who understand ePortfolios, until a good cohort of mentors can advise from their own previous experiences, that evidence will be slow to materialise. Administrators, too, have noticed a significant increase in retention rates.

4. What ePortfolio tools best suit your students' needs?
Before you sign off on an expensive proprietary ePortfolio platform, is there an online tool already available that will better suit your students' needs? For instance, if you want your business students to be prepared to find a job, would they be better off developing a LinkedIn account? Would your carpentry students be better off uploading photos of their work to Flickr? Would a blog suit students' needs for a reflective ePortfolio?

Answer:
This question suggests a restrictive view of teaching and learning. All students should have access to a wide range of tools, such as they prefer to work with, such as Flickr, Prezie, PhotoPeach, Issuu or Audacity to name just a few. But these are NOT ePortfolio tools as such. ePortfolio tools consist of facilities such as making individual artefacts private, shareable or public. Tools such as polls, surveys or Likart scales as well as pre-set forms which can be ‘switched’ on or off all allow different methods of providing feedback. Similarly, blogs or wikis can be contained within the ePortfolio so as to create a private but collaborative community where students can work together with some confidence that their efforts and mistakes will not be seen by ‘outsiders’. - Anyway, who says a proprietary system has to be expensive? - eFolio certainly is not!

5. Who is in control of the ePortfolio?
If you dictate the ePortfolio to the students they are far less likely to engage with it than if they have total control over it. The ePortfolio must belong totally to the students so it can be developed to meet their needs, as opposed to your needs as lecturer and that of the institution.

Answer:
In many cases it might be better for the institution to provide the ePortfolio with some level of scaffolding to help students get off to a good start rather than having to build from a blank canvas. A range of good support features will enable the student to identify what things can be changed immediately and what things can be modified at a later date. It is up to the teacher to decide how much ePortfolio support each student may need, but, as when encouraging a baby to walk, there comes a time when hand-holding is not necessary. Control is a matter of gradual release.

6. Will the ePortfolio be integrated into the curriculum?
If the ePortfolio is an extra add-on to the students' work, they are unlikely to engage with it. Thus, you need to consider how you will integrate it into the curriculum and assessment. This may require a lot of work for faculty staff, so you have to decide if this effort is "worth it".

Answer:
This might create a bit of strain for those educators who have not made the transition to collaborative teaching and learning. However, having access 24/7 to a student’s ePortfolio means that monitoring progress is easier, particularly if you have a few students who need ‘prodding’ to get going. Similarly early intervention if a student is beginning to veer off course actually saves the teacher considerable work when students begin to get towards the date of submission. As mentioned previously, this can help retention rates.

7. How portable will the ePortfolio be?
What will happen to the ePortfolio when the students leave the institution? Portability is one argument for using the cloud such as Google Apps, as opposed to a platform that is restricted to student use only.

Answer:
Portability is a fundamental question and although questions about teaching and learning MUST come first, the issue of portability will actually influence teaching and learning strategies. I have heard too many HE students say “Why should I bother, I can’t take it with me!” If the ePortfolio is to be both Lifelong and Lifewide it MUST be capable of full portability without the destructive influences of extant interoperability systems. However, the rush to use cloud solutions is not without its drawbacks. A secure externally hosted system provides the best of both worlds. eFolio, for instance, is hosted externally in the UK and Europe. One of the significant drawbacks of a cloud-based solution is that of the lack of educational support whereas eFolio is provided primarily as a tool for learners.

8. Can the ePortfolio be integrated into the students' life as a professional tool once they have left university/college?
This is an especially important question for nurses and midwives who are required to have an ePortfolio as part of their statuary requirements for practice. There's little point in developing an ePortfolio platform that is different from one they will use once they are qualified. On the other hand, is this an opportunity to collaborate with hospitals and professional bodies to ensure there is a seamless integration of ePortfolio from life as a student into professional practice?

Answer:
Yes, it is ESSENTIAL that the principle of the ePortfolio as being Lifelong should enable the newly qualified professional, for instance, to use the ePortfolio for the continuation of one’s career and other interests and to share with new colleagues etc. In a new situation, the cosmetic display and layout of pages, the selection of relevant artefacts should be capable of matching one’s new image.

9. How will you evaluate the ePortfolio?
You must have a process for measuring the impact of the ePortfolio as opposed to implementing it without further follow up.

Answer:
Perhaps the most significant feature of evaluation is not that of the presentation of the ePortfolio nor of the artefacts contained within it and the temptation to think summatively, but rather to look at the reflections, the benefits of collaboration and the learning processes the student experienced that demonstrate an increased maturity of understanding rather than just a completed project.

10. Do you walk the talk?
Do you have an ePortfolio that models the process to both colleagues and students? How can you know the value of a pedagogical process if you do not engage with it yourself?

Answer:
Yes, every teacher is a learner, a collaborator, and, where necessary a bit of an exhibitionist. The ePortfolio should be seen as a tool for learners, teachers, departments and institutions. The same tool can be used for many different purposes and all sections of society.

Escaping the Stone Age - II

Click above to see the SlideShare

I have been following the progress of Sarah Stewart's work, exploring how the ePortfolio can serve the midwifery service in Australia. Her presentation, as indicated above, is a valuable consideration of the problems involved in introducing ePortfolio thinking into any community.

However, many of her 'frustrations' follow on from my previous post, that of overcoming 'Stone Age thinking'.

Perhaps one of the first issues to overcome is that of the technology. If it looks complicated then it IS complicated. For adults who are not as IT savvy as they could be, and have plenty of other things on their minds, it is essential that whatever ePortfolio system they choose, it should be 'childsplay'. It should be easy to use and immediately attractive.

Secondly, Sarah's presentation illustrates the generation gap in ePortfolio thinking. It was not only the midwives who found difficulty in adopting ePortfolios, it was the assessors and administrators who were at least reticent if not downright reluctant. It is time that governments recognised this situation and sponsored urgent adult training in ICT for all generations - and particularly for services, such as midwifery, that require portfolios.

Yes, the lack of equipment, of resources and of broadband availability needs to be recognised - and it may be some time before much of Australia gets the service it deserves!

However, speaking as an experienced teacher, it would appear that Education Authorities must reflect upon their own consciences and ensure that the upcoming generation is properly and speedily trained as the 'net generation. One thing that we have learnt here in the UK is that by ensuring that our children have good 'Home Access' that their parents, carers and even grandparents are having to learn ePortfolio thinking.