e-Portfolios for post-16s: 
key issues, 
practical approaches
e-Portfolios

Post-16s
e-Portfolios:
Key issues
e-Portfolios:
Practical approaches
Why not just use a VLE?
What is an e-Portfolio?
What can we do with e-Portfolios?
Two types of e-Portfolio:
1. Institutionally-owned = (Assessment Manager or LMS)
2. Learner-owned = (PLE eg Mahara or PebblePad)
ULCC Personalisation Model
http://moodle.ulcc.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=139 
But I can do so much more with my e-Portfolio!!
http://mahara.tdm.info 
Fill out specified templates
Submit work for assessment
CV-building
Lifelong learning
Reflective Growth
Communities of Practice

The global context for Post-16 Education:

The semantic (read / write) web 2.0
Shift happens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeoKQbT8BKs
UK Knowledge Economy strategy
Learning 2.0: National Educational Policy drivers
Leitch report
WBL: Is there a bug in the system?    
Digital divide: 
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/digital-divide.html

Teaching for Understanding:  
http://learnweb.harvard.edu/ALPS/tfu/info.cfm

Threshold Concepts
Change Management

"Knowledge, skill, and understanding are the stock in trade of education. Most teachers show a vigorous commitment to all three. Everyone wants students to emerge from schooling or other learning experiences with a good repertoire of knowledge, well-developed skills, and an understanding of the meaning, significance, and use of what they have studied. "



"So what is understanding? In a phrase, understanding is the ability to think and act flexibly with what one knows ...//...more like learning to improvise jazz or hold a good conversation or rock climb than learning the multiplication table or the dates of the presidents or F=MA. Learning facts can be a crucial backdrop to learning for understanding, but learning facts is not learning for understanding."

PURPOSE: The PURPOSE/S for the eportfolio must be aligned to the
particular context
LEARNING ACTIVITY DESIGN: There must be a  conscious DESIGN & SUPPORTOF A LEARNING ACTIVITY/ ACTIVITIES suited to the purpose and the context
Five Threshold Concepts (key understandings required for those responsible for encouraging e-Portfolio adoption) which I was introduced to by Gordon Joyes of the University of Nottingham:
Purpose
Learning Activity Design
Processes
Ownership
Disruptive Nature

Unless we UNDERSTAND these issues and are practically oriented towards implementing our e-Portfolios while taking these issues into account,
we are likely to struggle.
PROCESSES: The PROCESSES involved in the creation of the eportfolio in this context must be understood and both technical and pedagogic support needs to be provided
OWNERSHIP:  eportfolio processes and outcomes need to be OWNED by the
student - this leads to considering portability, choice of tool (use
their own phone camera, audio recorder, Web 2.0 application etc, but
also their engagement
DISRUPTIVE NATURE:  e-portfolios are disruptive from a pedagogic,
technological and an organisation perspective because it tends not to
fit exactly within existing systems.
http://mahara.org
http://demo.mahara.org
http://mahara.tdm.info
Blogging
Views (Webpages)
Groups
Integrations
Blogging: 
Reflective Fridays
Lecture / Conference Notes
NVQ Progress Reviews
Internal Reporting

Views: 
Profile views: Digital CVs
Demonstrating Understanding
Formal Assessment
External Marketing
Groups: 
Community Portals: 
Learner Peer Groups
Staff Knowledge Capture
Staff Knowledge Transfer
Staff Knowledge Creation
Employers engage with:
(eg) Curriculum Developments
(eg) Occupational Networks
(eg) Occupational Knowledge Transfer

Integrate 
with Moodle (VLE + LMS)
with Joomla (WCMS)
with Cloud Technologies
derrin@tdm.info
http://tdm.info
Choosing the right platform
Digital Divide
Teaching for Understanding
Threshold Concepts
Change Management
Pre-Order the TDM Mahara book here:
http://www.packtpub.com/mahara-1-2-e-portfolios-beginners-guide/book
This presentation is available online via:
http://bit.ly/tdm-ep
Choosing the right platform
http://epac.pbworks.com/f/ijet_paper_himpsl_baumgartner.pdf
Decision-Swinging Factors include:
Fit for Purpose?
Learner-Driven? Access controls for privacy?
Learner-Owned and Portable Data?
Walled garden? Institutional access to database records?
Well Structured? Categories? Groupings?
Ease-of-use?
Automated subscriptions to forums / watchlists?
Interoperability? Integration with a VLE?
Integration with a qualification tracking facility?
Integration with eg IfL Reflect?
Web 2.0-friendly integrations?
Mass User Set-Up?
Security? High Performance?
Vendor Lock-In? Future Sustainability?
Editable templates /  Tailorable software?
Aesthetics? Mobile Compatibility?
Commenting? Assessment Processes?
Low cost? Cost of Storage Space?
Technical support?  Pedagogical Support?

Comparative Research Paper: "Evaluation of e-Portfolio Software"   (Feb 2009) by Himpsl and Baumgartner from Danube University, Austria
"You get what you pay for".

As a consequence of misplaced government priorities, too few practising adult educators (esp WBL) see:
the need for learning and growth
the urgency for technological adoption