Independent learning?

A recent post by Gerry White of DERN got me thinking - 'How independent can learning ever be?' Obviously even the books we read, the style of writing, the bibliographies that we check out all influence our learning, nevermind our own preferred learning styles. However, what clearly impressed me about both Gerry's article and the initial document by Chau and Cheng is that of the controlling factors that influence how a learner sets about a particular task.

Questions arise as to how much influence the culture of a country, the ethos of the institution, the background of the teachers, their presentation styles, the curriculum, the school's resources, home resources and relations with other students all combine to form the learner's individual learning environment. In response to the Chau and Cheng article, therefore, I wrote:

The Chau and Cheng article makes good reading but perhaps inadvertently highlights a number of issues which, for me, make me feel that the whole ePortfolio exercise in the Hong Kong university was missing the point. Firstly, the aspect of peer-review and collaboration. To quote:

"In general, peer feedback was hardly found because it was not mandatory in the competition. Students tended to assign less significance to peer comments, but consistently agreed on the usefulness of teacher feedback for language learning in both cognitive and affective terms."

To me this is one of the most important features of an ePortfolio, that of feedback which can clarify, confirm or even change one's thinking. - Apart from anything else, peer review or that of mentors or 'other experts' reduces something of the workload of teachers.

Secondly, the feedback from teachers appears to be mainly summative, whereas I would argue that the ePortfolio is an excellent medium for allowing the teacher to apply 'a guiding hand on the tiller' before things get completely out of hand. It is generally recognised that so-called summative feedback is too late and of little consequence 'after the event'.

Thirdly, the Chinese University's concept of the ePortfolio appears to ignore its central concept of being learner-owned. It appears to be being used as a learning management system. I quote:

"Where the students’ desire to meet evaluation criteria prevails, the potential of e-portfolios for individualised developmental performance is eroded. Where teachers struggle to forge their identity in the shift towards a learner-centred paradigm without appropriate and adequate scaffolding, e-portfolios may be seen as another externally mandated exercise in which teachers are coerced to participate. Where institutional policy takes developing graduates’ competitiveness as its focus, e-portfolios bear the risk of perpetuating a culture of ‘dressing up’ achievements at the expense of candid interrogation of weakness for progress."

Fourthly, I am concerned that the sample ePortfolio as in Appendix 3 is a very scant example and is apparently lacking in any real personal identity. How does the material showcased relate to the rest of the student's life etc?

I think that the time is well overdue to look beyond 'pilots' and to try and define what a real ePortfolio should be capable of doing, how the ePortfolio can widen the owner's learning experience and how, secondly, it can also make work better for the practitioner.

The Evolution of the VLE

I was recently asked if I had written anything on the history of the VLE (aka MLE) in UK schools. As it happened, I had a half-completed paper, based on a presentation that I made last year. Although I did not (purposely) mention ePortfolios within the VLE document, I thought that some readers might be entertained by my personal account of the evolution, or even revolution, that the introduction of the VLE has gone through over the last 30 years.

The .pdf document at 4Mb can be accessed here.

My paper does not pretend to be an accurate history of VLEs for the simple reason that the activities mentioned inevitably were performed in different institutions at different times. And again, it only refers to the work within mainly Secondary education and does not refer to the immense amount of work done by universities around the world as a precursor to the work in schools. (See Wikipedia) I can only go by my own experiences and the results of my research for my Bill Tagg paper of 2007.

Be Very Afraid

I don’t know what ‘blind spot’ has caused me to pay less attention than I should have done on this work by Prof Stephen Heppell. Perhaps it was an assumption on my part that it was all about an emphasis on the video community.

However, the BVA website provides an immense number of exemplars of what young people can do, given the chance. This ‘short’ gives a brief summary of what BVA is all about. http://www.heppell.net/bva/bva6/reflections.htm

It will take a number of hours to work through all the excellent material found here!

But I have included reference to BVA for one particular reason. The examples shown reveal good supervision, often in smaller groups and with plenty of technical support. However, in the real world children are often left to their own devices. Yes, OK for the more able and responsible student, but what of those who may be more vulnerable or careless about revealing their personal identity?

The one thing that struck me about all of the work illustrated is that it could be so safely contained and developed within the bounds of an ePortfolio system such as eFolio that allows materials to be shared within closed groups until such time as it may be made public. Being hosted externally, ie not within the confines of an institutional VLE, students may have access to their work 24/7 and not just within the classroom.

Schools and Parents: a New Partnership?

Niel McLean, Executive Director, Becta, the government agency for technology in education discusses (November 2009) how technology supports a new relationship with schools. In his introduction he writes:

"Good parental engagement is fundamental to children’s learning and closely linked to increased attainment. One of the more effective ways for parents to engage in their child’s learning is to maintain good communication with a school, learning more about their child’s progress whilst also helping to identify any development or performance issues early on."

The website is very attractive and, for those who can find it, provides a lot of thoughtful material, including the 16-page .pdf document.

Yes, school VLEs or MLEs are as essential as the Home Access Programme. However, yet again, the mention of e-Portfolios is significant by its absence. School may be one part of e-Learning and before long it is hoped that teachers will begin to realise that remote on-line access will change the ways teaching & learning is enabled.

But, as I have repeatedly said, the major part of a child's learning takes place outside of the four walls of the classroom. It is the e-Portfolio that can document all the other forms of informal, casual or experiential learning that enables teachers, parents, new school or colleges as well as employers to see the 'whole person'.

Virtual Schooling ?

Following on from my previous post I wanted to explore with you the impact of 'Virtual Schooling' and came upon a post by Tony Bates commenting on the newsletter from ReViCa. This looks like a document that we should all be watching.

However, as a footnote to the newsletter was the link to Morten Flate Paulsen's book 'Online Education'. Although somewhat dated (pub 2003) and at 338 pages (.pdf) it is still a serious read. The following SlideShare brings out just a few of the salient points to whet appetites:

I make no excuse for quoting this academic document which deals primarily with 'Virtual Learning' across Higher Education in Europe. I believe that mainstream schooling can have much to learn from such documents. - It is just a pity that teachers in Secondary schools do not have the time to produce such works.

I quote, below, a number of key points identified as, ' Fourteen interventions to stimulate learner persistence and reduce dropouts.' Most of these points should be discussed in relation to on-line learning and virtual schools:

1. Students’ active participation should be sought in planning remedial or introductory courses.
2. Interviews with students while in their first year (or even before it starts).
3. Skilled diagnostic counseling to “help each applicant to explore his aims, motivation and commitment and comprehend how they might relate to the ... [institution]”
4. Counselling-out of high risk students.
5. “Conditional registration ... after students have taken advantage of the counseling service, every effort should be made by the University to ensure that they are able to follow the courses they really want... Students interested in courses which entail projects should be made aware of the volume of work involved and the type of library resources required (especially remote students)”.
6. “Counselors, academic advisors, course designers, and administrators of distance-taught programs should develop a diagnostic and remedial program to assist students in organizing their time and energy toward a successful completion of their study program”.
7. Regulate the study load of students.
8. Active tutorial assistance during the course. This might be provided either face-to-face or via mediated communications.
9. Examination of students’ completed assignments to analyze students’ cognitive learning styles, strengths and weaknesses, and affective responses to the instructional materials.
10. Provide option of longer time period for students with difficulty to complete the course.
11. Monitor the performance of participant instructors for needs amenable to improve via in-service training.
12. Distance education institutions should develop programs to enhance their academic status and social credibility so as to enhance student satisfaction and commitment.
13. Concentrate resources for student advising and other assistance on the more vulnerable first-year students.
14. Periodical redesign of courses and print (on line? -ed) materials. Cookson (1990)

Minds on Fire?

This morning I came across a blog from 'Supercool School' which pointed me to the Educause document
'Minds on Fire', from last year. The document is well worth reading, even if a bit out-of-date now.

What particularly attracted me was the strapline to their recommendation, "In a rapidly changing world social learning will dominate over formal education."

'How daft', was my instant response. For ages we have recognised that more sex education is taught behind the bike sheds than in the Biology labs, that 5-year-olds are taught how to say 'please' and 'thank you' not by being told that this is the accepted norm, but by the fact that parents and grandparents informally and unconsciously teach these things by regular practice between themselves and also upon the informal correction, at the point of need, of the child.

Similarly, schools recognise that they only have an input to the child's education for some 12% to 20% of their young lives. Recently, through the Home Access Programme in the UK we are supporting the need for closer contact with parents and carers in order to reinforce good educational practice. (Use the search tool at the top right column for more on the Home Access Programme.)

Nowhere is the e-Portfolio a more practical and effective tool for supporting informal or social learning and documenting the transitory and ephemeral experiences of out-of-school learning. What I would like to see in the coming months is more examples of good practice in capturing that 'butterfly' of informal learning, particularly with younger students. - Any offers?

E-Portfolios in Rural Communities

Adrienne Carlson has contributed the item below. Its full title should read, 'How to Raise Awareness of E-Portfolios in Rural Communities'. Of course, we have the Home Access Programme in England but that is only the begining. Having the technology is one thing, getting both teachers and learners to use it is another, as Adrienne writes:

There are various reasons teachers use e-portfolios – from enhancing their profiles to developing their knowledge and skills, it helps them improve personally and professionally as members of the pedagogic society. But their counterparts in rural communities are not blessed with the same advantage, because they hardly have access to technology let alone the wherewithal to use it on a regular basis to create, develop and maintain an e-portfolio. If we are to raise awareness of e-portfolios in rural communities, we must:

• Introduce technology as a regular teaching tool: Since e-portfolios are linked to technology, it follows that technology must be made a teaching tool in rural communities before it can be harnessed for the purpose of e-portfolios. One way to do this is through grants and other forms of funding, but more than that, efforts have to be made to introduce teachers to technology and encourage them to use it without any hesitation. And to do this, we must teach them to use the technology with the right kind of training.
  
  
• Train teachers to use technology: Most teachers (or anyone else for that matter) who don’t have much contact with technology are usually intimated by it. They refuse to even attempt to learn it because they are scared that they will not be successful at it. Any training program should address these issues and manage the apprehensions of teachers before attempting to teach them how to use technology as a teaching aid.
  
  
• Introduce them to e-Portfolios: When teachers realize the value and usefulness of e-portfolios, they are more eager to adopt them as development tools. Programs must be held to prove to them the potential of e-Portfolios and show all staff how it can help them grow in their profession and update their skills as well.
  
  
• Understand the needs of learners: The work of Eva deLera underlines the value of making distance learning more acceptable to rural learners. Just think: no personal transport, poor public transport, little contact with other learners etc are all reasons for poor retention rates. The e-Portfolio can be the means to overcome these barriers to learning and make learning actually enjoyable.
  

E-portfolios are a relatively new tool in the pedagogic toolkit, so it will take some time before they gain any amount of popularity in rural communities. But with persistence and time, it will slowly gain acceptance and become a tool that is used regularly and to great effect.

By-line:
This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of engineering degrees online . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson83@yahoo.com

The Advantages of E-Portfolios in Teaching

E-portfolios are beginning to gain in popularity as the entire world embraces digital technology and the online way of life, but e-portfolios still have a long way to go before their full potential is realized. For those in the dark, an e-portfolio (when used in connection with teaching) is a collection of the work of someone in the pedagogical field which reflects their ideology, their views and thoughts on teaching, a list of their accomplishments and talents, the courses and classes they teach, and so on. In short, an e-portfolio for a teacher is similar to the portfolio artists carry around in order to showcase what they’ve achieved and provide a teaser of what they’re capable of. There are various advantages in using e-portfolios when you’re a teacher:

• It’s easy to update and rectify: Any data stored in a digital format is easy to maintain because you don’t have to rewrite entire documents when you make a mistake. Updating information also becomes a piece of cake because the process is almost effortless.
  
  
• It helps you become a better teacher: When you have a readymade package of all your work and your ideas and thoughts, it’s easier to analyze your style and refine your presentation when you have a plan for the future and work towards it. When you’re able to show others what you stand for as a teacher, you can prove yourself more effectively, especially when you’re aiming for a promotion.
  
  
• It proves you’re tech savvy: When you show that you’re familiar with the technology used to create and maintain an e-portfolio, you prove that you’re tech savvy, a skill that many teachers lack. In today’s world, you must know and love technology if you want to keep up with all that’s happening.
  
  
• It allows easy access to your work: When you have an e-portfolio, it’s easy to put your work online so that more people have access to it. This way, you’re showcasing your skills to a larger audience and providing yourself with appropriate exposure.
  
  
• It allows you to use multimedia: When you’re able to include pictures, videos and music in your e-portfolio, it gives it much more depth than using just text alone. E-portfolios allow you to use multimedia to your advantage and showcase your ideas and skills with much more strength.
  
  
• E-portfolios save space: No matter how much information you want to add to your e-portfolio, you can do so without worrying about space constraints. It’s easy to include information and events as they happen, because digital information is compact and concise.

E-portfolios are just becoming well-known as tools of the trade for teachers, as well as within some other sectors such as Health Care & Nursing. With more from the pedagogy field embracing them, they’re soon going to become the norm rather than the exception they are now.

By-line:
This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of online degrees . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson83@yahoo.com

The New Literacy?

Thanks to a brief post from Leigh Blackall I read this eloquent item from Rachel McAlpine. It talks of young people enthusiastically writing away on their netbooks or laptops - and that whilst they were away on holiday! If ever there was an example of learning taking place outside of the classroom, I think that this is it!

Writing, however reflective, can still be very introspective and misses something of the point of learning as far as I understand it. Even some three hundred years ago we read of Isaac Watts putting together his great works on Logic etc by comparing the writings of two or three others and compiling a single work from the synthesis of both the other writers and his own perceptions. Perhaps, although not interactive, this could be seen as a form of collaboration?

Certainly, for today's learners, Rachel McAlpine's observations are but just the beginings of e-Portfolios as the store of fond and sometimes private memories only to be trusted by a select few. I wonder how many of Rachel's holiday writers will publish their rich gems of observation, refined by the collaboration or peer-review of others.

e-Portfolios? Let's get going!

Are we Limiting their Learning?

Reflecting upon some work I did two years ago, I came across the above challenging graphic. So often teachers teach in the same way that they learnt. As much as we expect our students to 'think outside of the box' so often we fail them by not doing it ourselves.

It reminds me to re-think the early ideas I obtained from Dr Helen Barrett's work on Metaphors. I respectfully list an abridged version of her collated list. For the full versions including the distinguished sources see her website at:
http://electronicportfolios.org/metaphors.html

I therefore show this list in order to encourage readers to re-think how we can apply these concepts to the daily teaching and learning we try to encourage each day. Please enjoy:

28 Metaphors - What is an e-Portfolio?
Some years ago I discovered the work of Dr Helen Barrett and soon became enthralled with the enormous amount of work that she has done in relation to portfolios in over two decades and how it has shaped world thinking on the subject.

Rather than getting bogged down with the technicalities of security or ‘cloud computing’, rather than getting into the very personal ideas on teaching and learning, or discussing if the e-Portfolio can really be ‘Lifelong’ and ‘Lifewide’, it is worth just stopping to consider what various authorities have said concerning e-Portfolios. Helen Barrett presents a challenging list of thought-provoking metaphors from a variety of sources which I have cobbled together and in some places summarised slightly.

I suggest that it is well worth considering how all of these metaphors reveal something of the applicability of the e-Portfolio as a tool to aid teaching and learning and in particular PLTSs.

A Mirror
The mirror is a more obvious metaphor...fairly literally to ask the question how can the portfolio assist one to see oneself? (Dr. Mary Diez)

A Map
...the map image is linked to the mirror--focusing on what you see can spark the question about where you want to go next. (Dr. Mary Diez) (and, for that matter where you have come from and how far you have travelled. - RT)

A Sonnet
The portfolio, like the sonnet, is simply a form, a structure. Provided one puts quality work between the covers, the portfolio can be a structure to help an individual express meaning. (Dr. Mary Diez)

A Theoretical Act
...a portfolio is a theoretical act. By this I mean that every time you design, organize, or create in your teacher education program a template, a framework, or a model for a teaching portfolio, you are engaged in an act of theory. (Dr. Lee Shulman)

A Story
A portfolio tells a story. It is the story of knowing. Knowing about things... Knowing oneself... Knowing an audience... Portfolios are students' own stories of what they know, why they believe they know it, and why others should be of the same opinion. A portfolio is opinion backed by fact... Students prove what they know with samples of their work. (Pearl & Leon Paulson)

A Journey
... we suggest that students view their portfolios as a journey into knowing and that they write a narrative describing that journey. Our goal is to help students tell their story, a story that has a happy ending. (Pearl & Leon Paulson)

A Laboratory
The portfolio is a laboratory where students construct meaning from their accumulated experience. (Pearl & Leon Paulson)

A Test
.... portfolios that are composed of written reflections (a form of an essay) and products representative of the candidate’s skills, and performance, fall under a professionally acceptable definition of “test”. (Dr. Judy Wilkerson & Dr. Steve Lang's "High Stakes" Portfolios)

A Celebration of Learning Across the Lifespan
An electronic portfolio has the potential to become a dynamic celebration of learning that documents one’s professional development across his or her career. (Dr. Helen Barrett)

A Comparison with Financial Portfolios
A financial portfolio documents the accumulation of fiscal capital or monetary assets. A learning portfolio documents the development of human capital or intellectual assets. (Dr. Helen Barrett)

My Attic
... referred to my website as an "attic" with a lot of history/artefacts of my journey... Of course an e-portfolio is more than a collection of artefacts, but this metaphor evokes fond memories of grandparents' houses and the rich memories that are represented in the artefacts stored there. (Dr. Helen Barrett)

Campfires around which we tell our stories
"Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories," says musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson. If that be so, what tales will be shared in the flickering glow of peoples' electronic portfolios? (Dr. Joanne Carney)

My digital clone
A digital representation / extension of my self – my eSelf. (Serge Ravet)

My work companion
A tool blended into my learning / working environment. (Serge Ravet)

My butler
A service provider to one’s self. (Serge Ravet)

My dashboard
An informative display of the state of my skills and knowledge. (Serge Ravet)

My planner
A tool to plan my learning. (Serge Ravet)

My IPR management assistant
A tool to value and exploit my personal assets. (Serge Ravet)

Others from various sources (see list):

A Teenager’s Bedroom
It's their teenage bedroom, we own the house and we can say there are key things that need to be in there, but we can only stand back and watch as they decorate it in a manner that they find wonderful, and we may find hideous.

A Toothbrush
A habit of mind, something you do every day.

My tree
My electronic portfolio is my tree. In building a portfolio I see a tree of many branches with each branch being an extension from the trunk which begins with ones self and goals. As we grow, our branches grow and spread out in many directions.

A Caterpillar (or Acorn or Seed)
An emerging form... undergoing metamorphosis through personal growth... from a caterpillar to a butterfly; from an acorn to a tree; from a seed to a flower or plant

A Kaleidoscope
Just as a kaleidoscope needs light to view the endless possibilities of visual combinations of the coloured glass, a e-portfolio provides the illumination for the learner to view the endless possibilities of the potential views and connections of her/his learning experience from self to global society.

A Window
I like idea of the window working two ways (ignoring police stations, of course). Not only can others look inside but portfolios, like windows offer the chance for the portfolio author to look outside as well. In the portfolio process, reflecting and conferencing help the portfolio author accomplish this external gaze. But secondly, the owner can choose which windows people may look through by closing the blinds when necessary.

A Confessional
A place where the student can quietly and privately recount acts of commission and omission and confess such to a selected audience. It is a place of catharsis and refreshment. Upon leaving this sanctuary the student is inspired to new levels of enlightenment and endeavour. (Ray Tolley)

A Constant Companion
People often work best at the strangest of times or places. We are not all constructed like robots to think only between the hours of 9 to 5 at our office desk. The e-Portfolio is a companion or familiar friend to whom we can turn at any hour of the day or night, anywhere, anywhen. (Ray Tolley)

A Digital Theatre
It is my digital theatre - where the audience is by invitation only. (Ray Tolley)

A Festival
A family time such as Christmas or Thanksgiving when we come together, celebrate the good things in life and invariably reflect on past occasions. (Ray Tolley)

NB. For all the original sources, please see Dr Barrett's site at:
http://electronicportfolios.org/metaphors.html

Economies of Scale?

Congratulations are in order to the NZ Ministry of Education for their brave decision to provide an impressive Software Agreement for the next three years. Click to see announcement.

Cynics may suggest that in providing something 'for free' it creates a lock-in which is hard to resist. Of course, as the statement says, "Schools will still be free to use any product they wish to. A number of schools are using open source software or browser based alternatives and they will continue to have this choice." But, as the graphic attempts to illustrate, 'Who wouldn't chase after free software?'

The whole point for e-Portfolio watchers, as I referred to before, see post - 'A Common Approach?, is that I am impressed with Local Authorities, Districts, States or even whole countries that see the benefits of the economies of scale and are willing to take up the challenge.

Again, some will be aware of the far-sighted vision of those in Minnesota who established a State-wide free e-Portfolio facility for all residents. This has proved without doubt that, without the 'holy grail' of perfect interoperability, eFolio is the best solution for portability or transition that anyone has thought possible.

In the UK, despite all our impressive programmes for 'Home Access' and a 'Digital Britain' the Government's present approach to e-Portfolios is particularly tardy. Yes, individual schools are developing their own in-house e-Portfolios and we have some good work going on in the careers service, 'Connexions'. However, what with 35 or so VLE suppliers offering various attempts at e-Portfolio solutions and a few commercial free-standing systems, it would appear that 'everybody does that which is right in their own eyes.'

The point of this post, therefore, is to ask if UK readers in particular agree with my proposition that whole-school or Local Authority-wide provisions of an e-Portfolio system such as eFolio, which is both Lifelong and Lifewide, is the logical solution. Economy of scale is essential at the present time. I just wonder when our mandarins will wake up to this fact!

Online Learning

A recently produced research document makes encouraging reading- even if a lot of the interesting bits are embedded within masses of statistics and tables. However, although this document is about online learning we can extend its conclusions to the additional functionality that an e-Portfolio can provide. As the document is online and available for all to see I trust that the extracts as listed below make a fair basis for further discussion.

US Department of Education
Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning
May 2009

Extracts from the Executive Summary:
Online learning—for students and for teachers—is one of the fastest growing trends in educational uses of technology. The National Center for Education Statistics (2008) estimated that the number of K-12 public school students enrolling in a technology-based distance education course grew by 65 percent in the two years from 2002-03 to 2004-05. On the basis of a more recent district survey, Picciano and Seaman (2009) estimated that more than a million K–12 students took online courses in school year 2007–08.

These activities were undertaken to address four research questions:

1. How does the effectiveness of online learning compare with that of face-to-face instruction?
2. Does supplementing face-to-face instruction with online instruction enhance learning?
3. What practices are associated with more effective online learning?
4. What conditions influence the effectiveness of online learning?

Worth noting:
When a α < .05 level of significance is used for contrasts, one would expect approximately 1 in 20 contrasts to show a significant difference by chance. For 51 contrasts, then, one would expect 2 or 3 significant differences by chance. The finding of 2 significant contrasts associated with face-to-face instruction is clearly within the range one would expect by chance; the 11contrasts associated with online or hybrid instruction exceeds what one would expect by chance.

Key Findings:
The main finding from the literature review was that:

• Few rigorous research studies of the effectiveness of online learning for K–12 students have been published.
• Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.
• Instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction.
• Studies in which learners in the online condition spent more time on task than students in the face-to-face condition found a greater benefit for online learning.
• Most of the variations in the way in which different studies implemented online learning did not affect student learning outcomes significantly.
• The effectiveness of online learning approaches appears quite broad across different content and learner types.
• Effect sizes were larger for studies in which the online and face-to-face conditions varied in terms of curriculum materials and aspects of instructional approach in addition to the medium of instruction.
• Blended and purely online learning conditions implemented within a single study generally result in similar student learning outcomes.
• Elements such as video or online quizzes do not appear to influence the amount that students learn in online classes.
• Online learning can be enhanced by giving learners control of their interactions with media and prompting learner reflection.
• Providing guidance for learning for groups of students appears less successful than does using such mechanisms with individual learners.

Extract from the Conclusions:
In many of the studies showing an advantage for online learning, the online and classroom conditions differed in terms of time spent, curriculum and pedagogy. It was the combination of elements in the treatment conditions (which was likely to have included additional learning time and materials as well as additional opportunities for collaboration) that produced the observed learning advantages. At the same time, one should note that online learning is much more conducive to the expansion of learning time than is face-to-face instruction.

Personal Observation:
Although there are some remarkable facilities available to some students in the US, I wonder just how many children in 'average' schools in the US have the same computer ratios as in the UK or more importantly what % of the US population uses 'Home Access' as we are beginning to understand it here in the UK.

I say this because I am not sure how well we can compare 'like-with-like' across different countries. Until the UK can get down to producing similar research for our 'K-12' cohort we will not be able to begin to ascertain the added advantages of e-Portfolios.

There are still many 'loopholes' in the paper that I am still trying to clarify with the American authors. For instance, were their 'online learning courses' freestanding tools with no f2f support? And then, what does f2f mean? Individual 1:1 tuition or one lecturer in front of 200 students? Did the online courses allow collaboration? Did they allow individual investigation or project work? Was the students' work machine-marked or was it assessed by a real person? Why, in some cases did online retention rates drop - was this just bad teaching or was it online technical frustrations?

For me, the document, despite all its academic excellence, raises a number of issues which need to be discussed with those who are aware of the contexts.