Institutional Documentation?

My reading of the Summer edition of the eFolioWorld newsletter set me thinking.

Some years ago I studied for the Diploma in Total Quality Management (TQM) and with special reference to the place of the Investors In People award to schools. At that time I was also awarded a certificate as an Internal Quality Auditor and became a member of the Chartered Quality Institute. I say this, not because of any wish to 'blow my own trumpet' but rather to indicate some real passion and understanding of the subject of Quality Assurance in schools and colleges.

So, perhaps, my title could have been 'e-Portfolios - not just for students'. The fact that an e-Portfolio can equally be used for students, teachers, institutions or even whole Districts or Local Authorities needs to be understood. My 8-Page Brochure is worth looking at in this context.

Within TQM circles, one of the Prime Directives is that documentation should be easy to find and appropriate to the reader's needs. It is my belief that a well laid-out e-Portfolio is by far the best means of doing this. See the Ridgwater College site, which is no more than a collaborative e-Portfolio where others can read and respond to articles and submit new artefacts.

The point that I am making is that e-Portfolios are not just for children or students searching for their first job or even for PDP. The same tool, used by the Principal of a college or an 8 yr-old will serve their needs equally well

What does your e-Portfolio look like?

Following Dr Helen Barrett's blog it worried me that her graphical representation of all of the various aspects of an e-Portfolio was beginning to get a bit too complex to be of any practical use - apart from provoking some intense discussion. In her discussion forum it soon became apparent that there are many contrasting elements both linear and cyclical. Maria lists some of the essential contrasts:

"The key concepts: process vs product, formative vs summative evaluation, internal vs external audience, inmediate vs retrospective reflection, learning experiences vs learning outcomes/standards is a welldefined framework."

I therefore attempted to create my 'Radar Diagram' and thus presenting a useful representation. I soon realised that this could be used by tutors to discuss with their students such things as learning styles or areas needing more attention etc. Students, too, could use this as a personal self-assessment exercise, comparing their results with 'ideal' results at stages throughout the course.

The obvious input for this was to create a set of questions where an individual might give a '1-10' response. Similarly, this approach could also be used to identify a whole class's or cohort's general position on this learning diagram.

I attach the spreadsheet used to generate the Radar Diagram or Map. I do not claim that this is a perfect solution and would therefore appreciate your feedback. Thinking in terms of formative assessment, the same spreadsheet could obviously be developed to assess the general understanding of the uses of an e-Portfolio for a whole class and thus meet Popham's first level, ie that of adjusting one's lesson plans to suit the needs of the class.