Delivered as part of the Netskills workshop How Can ePortfolios Support 21st Century Learning? on 25th October, 2012 in Manchester

1. Thursday 25th October, 2012
Netskills workshop
Effective Practice with e-Portfolios:
Supporting 21st Century Learning
Lisa Gray
Programme Manager, e-Learning Team, JISC

2. Overview of the day
 10.20 – 11.20: e-Portfolios in context, definitions, purposes, resources
and projects
 11.20 – 11.35: Coffee break
 11.35 – 12.45: Presentations from practitioners
• Liz Barnes – University of Manchester
• Chrissi Nerantzi – University of Salford
 12.50 – 13.50: Lunch (13.10–13.50 hands on with e-portfolio tools)
 13.50 – 14.25: Presentations from practitioners
• Duncan Gillespie – Dumfries and Galloway College
 14.30 – 15.15: Reverse brainstorming exercise – e-portfolio
implementation
 15.20 – 15.45: Second opportunity: hands on activity
 15.45 – 16.05: Crossing the threshold: moving e-portfolios into the
mainstream. Current e-portfolio activities and resources
 16.05 – 16.20: Final Q&A with presenters

3. Context
 Why are e-portfolios important?
– Policy context (PDPs by 2005/6)
– Institutional drivers (including retention, widening participation,
employability, reflective learning , graduate attributes, student
awards)
– Pre-Higher Education initiatives 14-19
– Professional requirements
 But most importantly…..their potential to transform
learning
– “Emerging and often powerful evidence from practitioners and
learners of the value of developing e-portfolios….adding value to
personalised and reflective models of learning”
– Supporting transition, assessment, application, professional
3
development, personal development planning…..

4. UK context
 The use of centrally supported e-portfolio tools rose
from 27% in 2005, to 76% in 2012
– PebblePad 33%
– Mahara 27%
– BlackBoard 20%
 The use of non-centrally supported e-portfolio tools
rose from 11% in 2008 to 23% in 2012
– PebblePad 43%
– Mahara 22%
– In house tools 14%
JISC/UCISA Surveys
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/projects/ucisasurveys.aspx

5. Published in 2008... and 2012
31/10/2012 | slide 5

6. Exercise: What are e-portfolios?
31/10/2012 | slide 6

7. Some definitions:
‘The research team worked from an understanding of e-
portfolios that incorporates both process and product, and
includes a range of tools within a system that links with other
systems. Broadly, the product (e-portfolio) is a purposeful
selection of items (evidence) chosen at a point in time from
a repository or archive, with a particular audience in mind.
The processes that are required to create e-portfolios for
any purpose include capturing and ongoing storage of
material, selection, reflection and presentation.’
Hartnell-Young et al (2007): The Impact of e-Portfolios on
Learning. Coventry. Becta
http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=rh&catcode=_r
e_rp_02&rid=14007
31/10/2012 | slide 7

8. Some definitions:
‘Definitions of an e-portfolio tend to include the following elements:
• A collection of digital resources
• That provide evidence of an individual’s progress and achievements
• Drawn from both formal and informal learning activities
• That are personally managed and owned by the learner
• That can be used for review, reflection and personal development
planning
• That can be selectively accessed by other interested parties e.g.
teachers, peers, assessors, awarding bodies, prospective employers’
Helen Beetham, 2005
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/eportfolio_ped.dochttp://www.jisc.ac.uk
/uploaded_documents/eportfolio_ped.doc
31/10/2012 | slide 8

9. e-Portfolio as process and product,
owned by the learner
An e-portfolio is the product, created by
the learner, a collection of digital artefacts
articulating experiences, achievements and
learning. Behind any product, or
presentation, lie rich and complex
processes of planning, synthesising,
sharing, discussing, reflecting, giving,
receiving and responding to feedback.
(JISC, 2008)
9

10. 10

11. 31/10/2012 | slide 11

12. The confusion over e-portfolios
“The problem is that portfolio is a learning approach not a
technology……..the essential nature of an e-Portfolio for
learning is not as a repository but as a place for reflection”
Trent Batson, 7th Jan 2009, ‘The Portfolio Enigma in a Time of Ephemera’
“It is a reflection of the student as a person undergoing
continuous personal development, not just a store of evidence’
Geoff Rebbeck, e-Learning Co-ordinator , Thanet College
“a genre, a set of practices supported by a set of technologies”
Darren Cambridge, 2008
12

13. Perspectives
 ‘…like a filing cabinet online, but it’s got a dialogue with it as well…’
 ‘The fact you can put video and tell your story …’
 ‘It’s an addictive thing to use both academically and socially’
 ‘The VLE are owned by the institution and the e-portfolio is owned by me’
 ‘It takes the CV into the modern era’
 ‘e-Portfolio tools enable students to make the all-important connections
between the curriculum and the other things they do’
 ‘An e-portfolio should be your opportunity to draw on everything you have
already created to make your own story’
 ‘a lifeline of communication’
31/10/2012 | slide 13

14. Exercise: For what purposes might
learners create e-portfolios and
why?
31/10/2012 | slide 14

15. Using e-portfolios to support...
Application to University
Application to employment Employability
Presentation of work for professional accreditation
Coaching Providing evidence for appraisal
Evidencing continuing professional development
Presentation of work for assessment
Showcasing work to employers APEL
Work-based learning
Supporting learning processes Flexible course delivery
Non-traditional learners, women returning to higher education
Information advice and guidance Digital storytelling
Course approval and design and more........

16. Supporting reflection, collaboration, planning
“The use of e-portfolios with this group has been effective in encouraging
the development of student reflection. Learners feel that they have
benefited from reflecting on issues such as their personal experiences,
their behaviour, events in their lives, their thoughts and feelings, their
writing, and their personal development in general.”
“The use of e-portfolios with this learner group resulted in a greater
appreciation of collaboration and collaborative learning.”
File-Pass Final Report
“…I find doing this quite useful because it made me think about a much
more structured way whether I was going to long term be happy in a
vineyard or would I be happy in a winery”
MyWorld Final Report
“We became reflective writers and practitioners without even thinking about
it”
PGCE student, University of Wolverhampton
31/10/2012 | slide 16

17. Power of the digital
“As dietetic tutors viewing the digital stories we were
astounded by the quality of student work. We were able to
experience the reflective learning journey in a way we have
never done before just through text alone and we finally
gained some insight into the intensity of the student
experience in practice learning which helped us to engage in a
a truly student-centred approach”
Dietetic Tutor
“Something happens in passing and when you start to choose
the pictures you realise that actually had an effect on me,
that actually meant something....when you spend five
minutes finding the pictures and looking back at what
happened in makes you think about it a lot more”
First year medical student
‘Digital approaches to academic reflection‘ Reflect 2.0 project

18. Emerging from JISC work - tangible benefits
 Efficiencies
Time savings in information retrieval
Supporting reflection and feedback,
Supporting presentation,
Assessment AND administration
 Enhancements
Improving quality of evidence,
Reflection and feedback;
Skills development;
Student motivation and satisfaction
Increases in recruitment and retention
Use by staff for professional development increasing and informing use with
students
 Transformation
Through engaging practitioners and policy makers;
Through institutional integration of e-portfolio use in a number of professional
development activities
Through providing a work placement quality management system
31/10/2012 | slide 18

19. e-Portfolios for Starters – Flourish
Project
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B3tujXlb
dk

20. How would I make my e-portfolio
implementation FAIL.....

21. So, what things will make life difficult for the
implementation?
1. no technical support
2. lack of clarity on privacy, rights and ownership
3. lack of import and export capability at end of course
4. lack of instructions at all
5. top down approach only
6. impose unclear, boring, flaky uninteresting system
7. no useful timing, provide late feedback
8. mention only once
9. no privacy / personal options
10. no clear reason / explanation for why you are implementing it
11. no consultation of stakeholders
12. no evaluation of tool available
13. lack of deadlines and milestones to implementation
14. no time / space for staff/learners to engage
15. so technical no-one can understand it, exclusive
16. ridicule peoples first attempts
17. blanket training to all

22. How did other people fail?
23. Do a ‘short’ trial or use the word Pilot
1. Not getting key people on board 24. Ignore and exclude the middle managers
2. No academic leadership 25. Ignore the needs of the academics
3. Not emerging beyond the champions 26. Tell everyone that it’s easy “it will reduce your
4. System too complicated, unusable, in- or not- workload” Honest!!
accessible 27. Don’t articulate the differences between the LMS
5. Insufficient training for staff and students – poor and the PLS
internal support (technical and pedagogical) 28. Train, expose or promote all aspects at once
6. Getting the levels of ownership wrong 29. Don’t have a project champion, leader or
7. Lack of long term strategic commitment manager. No focal point.
8. Technical infrastructure not suitable 30. Make it optional
9. Don’t have (or articulate) an understandable and 31. Introduce it at the end of a course or programme
acceptable purpose 32. Don’t value (or even view) the work of the
10. Insufficient time for planning and preparation learners
11. No planning for growth 33. Choose a tool that isn’t fit for purpose
12. Poor support from the supplier 34. Provide no support – technical or pedagogic
13. No back-up strategy 35. No single sign on
14. Product costs escalate 36. No clear learning purpose
15. Poor introduction, induction. Bad messages 37. Make sure you have no central support (no
16. Bringing in too many new tools at once budget, no training, no resources...)
17. Relying on good will 38. Design your curriculum around the features of
18. Not having a common understanding of eportfolio the tool
19. Have no link to strategic initiatives 39. (Regular) Institutional change
20. No communication or sharing between users, 40. Poor admin procedures
implementers, stakeholders...
21. It’s the cure for all your ills

23. Background and context
 2008 – Effective
Practice with e-
Portfolios and infoKit
 Leap2a interoperability
specification
 Evaluation activities
 But information about
the issues at scale
were as yet
unresearched.....
31/10/2012 | slide 24

24. ePI Study
 ‘Study on large-scale e-portfolio implementations’
(Aug 2010 – May 2011)
 Aims:
– To identify, research and document a range of
examples of large-scale e-portfolio implementations
– To analyse these examples, produce models and
guidance materials on effective practice in this area
aimed at different stakeholder groups
 Led by Gordon Joyes and Angela Smallwood,
University of Nottingham
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/epi.aspx

25. ePI Study
 Case study selection
– Through an open process, institutions were invited to
contribute their implementation stories.
– Criteria for selection included evidence of a breadth of
effective practice, balance of HE and FE institutions,
and balance of drivers, purposes and tools
– A total of 18 case studies developed, including 11 in
the UK, 4 in Australia, and 3 in New Zealand (as a
result of a parallel study)
 Case studies and resources developed through a
collaborative approach supported by a wiki 31/10/2012 | slide 26

26. The e-portfolio implementation toolkit
1. Background
2. Implementation guidance
3. Implementation case studies
4. Exemplars of use
5. Video case studies

29. Case Studies
UK HE UK FE
 Birmingham City University  Dumfries and Galloway
College
 University of Bradford
 Newham College
 University of Edinburgh
 Thanet College
 University of Newcastle
 University of Northumbria
 Institute for Learning
 Southampton Solent
University
 University of
Wolverhampton

30. Case Studies
New Zealand Australia
 University of Auckland  Curtin University
 Massey University  QUT
 Albany Senior High School  RMIT
 Australian Flexible Learning
Network
Specific examples of use available through the full case
study, summary, or exemplars of use.

31. Breadth of practice
Range of practice described includes, for example:
school-wide use to support assessment of nurses
school-wide use to support personal development
in business studies
cross-institutional use of e-portfolios with research
students
 extra-curricular use for supporting transition in to
the institution through recognition of prior learning
extra-curricular use for supporting staff
professional development on an IT qualification

32. Guidance and models
 Relating to initiation of the implementation
 Relating to key e-portfolio implementation
principles (threshold concepts)
 Relating to the stages of the implementation
journey

33. Initiation models
 Top down
– Driven by senior managers
 Bottom up
– Practitioner and learner demand
 Middle-out
– By managers with responsibility for technology enhanced
learning
In all cases, implementation leads to a ‘middle-
through’ process, although the person taking
on that role differed, often involving central co-
ordinating units (particularly in HE).

34. What are the features of a threshold concept?
'Threshold Concepts' may
be considered to be "akin
to passing through a portal"
or "conceptual gateway"
that opens up "previously
inaccessible way[s] of
thinking about something"
(Meyer and Land, 2003).
They represent ‘troublesome’
knowledge,
i.e. counter-intuitive(Perkins, 2006)
31/10/2012 | slide 35

35. Threshold Concepts associated with
e-portfolio implementation
These relate to:
1. Their PURPOSES:
2. LEARNING ACTIVITY DESIGN:
3. The PROCESSES involved:
4. OWNERSHIP issues:
5. Their transformative and DISRUPTIVE NATURE
31/10/2012 | slide 36

36. e-portfolio implementation model

37. The guidance in summary
 Identify at least one senior manager who will engage in the vision
 Identify/establish the e-portfolio implementation central unit and manager
 Decide upon key stakeholder representatives and engage them in
developing/supporting the implementation strategy. Research their
requirements.
 Establish an approach to both pedagogic and technical support that is
able to suit the range of contexts of use
‘Implementations can fall down if students dislike sharing....’
Paula Stroud, Thanet College
 ‘Identify and engage e-portfolio champions/mentors, and use them to
support communities of users
‘We looked for early adopters to take things further. Students
sometimes fell into that category’
Southampton Solent University

38. The guidance in summary
 Develop an approach for evaluation/dissemination that provides
evidence of benefits (including the student voice), supported by case
studies of use in a range of contexts. Include cost benefits analysis as
a basis for sustaining the initiatives.
‘’The more evidence you have of successful adoption the more use
you will get. The support you put in place for students can also
be picked up by staff. Most people learn by doing’.
Dr. Barbara Lee, Southampton Solent University
 Set up pilot schemes using early adopters.
 Embed into the curriculum – activities need to be meaningful and
purposeful, language should be appropriate to each context
 Provide easy access to the e-portfolio tool and support resources for
all staff and students.
 Consider integration with all relevant systems and longevity of access.

39. Resources
 Two online resources providing
guidance on large-scale
implementation of e-portfolio tools in
UK FE and HE are available to
supplement the 2008 JISC
publication, Effective Practice with e-
Portfolios
 The e-Portfolio Implementation
Toolkit - the toolkit aims to identify
salient messages from examples of
large-scale e-portfolio
implementation, articulate models of
implementation and support users in
addressing issues relevant to their  Mini-guide summarising the key
context messages and resources – by
 5 institutional video case studies implementation stage
 www.jisc.ac.uk/eportimplement

40. Further information
 e-Portfolio Implementation Toolkit and video case studies:
www.jisc.ac.uk/eportimplement
 Crossing the Threshold publication:
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/eportfolios/crossing.aspx
 ePI Study: www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/epi.aspx
 JISC e-Portfolio main page, including information on policy context, key
resources, JISC projects: www.jisc.ac.uk/eportfolio
 Resources from JISC workshops on e-portfolios:
ww.netskills.ac.uk/content/projects/2008/jisc-eportfolios/
 Effective Practice with e-Portfolios www.jisc.ac.uk/effectivepracticeeportfolios
 infoKit www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/e-portfolios
 Paper on ‘Threshold Concept’ model relating to e-portfolios:
http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/auckland09/procs/joyes.pdf
 Leap 2a interoperability specification
31/10/2012 | slide 41
www.leapspecs.org

41. Video case studies
 Stories of e-portfolio implementation –
Thanet College
www.jisc.ac.uk/eportimplement/