Beyond the Blog: getting the right level of structure in an ePortfolio to support learning'

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Beyond the Blog getting the right level of
structure in an ePortfolio to support learning.

• Simon Cotterill, Paul Horner, Sue Gill, Tony
  McDonald, Paul Drummond, David Teasdale, Anne
  Whitworth, Geoff Hammond

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Aims of this paper

• Position there is still a need for some level of
  structure for ePortfolios in most learning
  contexts.
• Work in progress developments with ePET which
  aim to integrate blogs and community publishing
  into the ePortfolio.
• Present an inclusive definition of ePortfolio

http//www.eportfolios.ac.uk
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Introduction

• Rapid growth of freely available blogging and
  social networking sites on the Internet (as part
  of the Web 2.0 phenomena)
• Growing anecdotal evidence that these
  technologies can have benefits for supporting
  learning
• What are the implications for ePortfolio do we
  need them anymore?!

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Web 2.0

• Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation
  of web-based communities and hosted services
  such as social-networking sites, wikis and
  folksonomies which aim to facilitate
  collaboration and sharing between
  users(Wikipedia)
• The components of "Web 2.0" (blogs, Wikis etc.)
  have existed since the early days of the Web
• Real change characherised by
• Large communities with access to fast Internet
• (moving towards the Real World Web)
• Greater ease of publishing
• Relatively unstructured environments
• Self assigned semantics (blog categories, tagging
  etc)

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Internet Communities post Web 2.0
Map from http//xkcd.com/
Examples not endorsements!
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Can Web 2.0 support learning?
Bartlet-Bragg A Reflections on pedagogy
Understanding adult learners experiences of
weblogs In Burg BlogTalks Reloaded. Social
Software - Research Cases (2006) see
http//blogtalk.net/Main/BlogTalks Williams, J.
B. and Jacobs, J. (2004). Exploring the use of
blogs as learning spaces in the higher education
sector. Australasian Journal of Educational
Technology, 20(2), 232-247. http//www.ascilite.or
g.au/ajet/ajet20/williams.html
But many reports are anecdotal / serendipitous
learning
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85 of US College students use Facebook 7th
most visited Website in 2006
SPIRE Project Results and analysis of Web 2.0
services survey http//www.jisc.ac.uk/media/docume
nts/programmes/ digital_repositories/spiresurvey.d
oc 1,369 students December 2006 February 2007
More research required Into educational value
of Blogs/Web 2.0
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• Does the availability of free blogs and social
  networking sites mean that specialist ePortfolio
  applications are now redundant?

How do we define ePortfolio? How much structure
should there be in an ePortfolio?
Tensions between positivist constructionist
philosophies (Paulson Paulson, 1996)
Eschers relativity -we have different views and
points of reference!
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The Case for Structure

• Intrinsic structure
• scaffolding
• structured educational / CPD programmes
• assessment
• structured skill sets, objectives, outcomes and
  competencies
• Interoperability for LLL, mobility, learning
  through multiple agencies (e.g. using IMS
  ePortfolio, Europass-CV HR-XML).
• Extrinsic structure
• guidelines / assessment criteria
• guidance / direction from tutors mentors

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.but how much structure?

• The level of structure required is very much
  dependent on the learning context, pedagogic
  requirements and the individual learner needs.
• ePET flexible structure and high level of
  customisation
• Cotterill SJ, Aiton J, Bradley PM, et al. A
  flexible component-based ePortfolio adapting and
  embedding in the curriculum. In In Jafari A,
  Kaufman C, ed. Handbook of Research on
  ePortfolios. Pennsylvania Idea Group Inc, 2006.
• Cotterill SJ, Horner P, Hammond GR, et al.
  Implementing ePortfolios adapting technology to
  suit pedagogy and not vice versa ! Proc.
  ePortfolio 2005
• Cotterill SJ, McDonald AM, Drummond P, Hammond
  GR. Design, implementation and evaluation of a
  'generic' ePortfolio the Newcastle experience.
  Proc. ePortfolios 2004 ISBN 2-9524576-0-3.

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Unstructured Blogbut with explicit links to
skills/outcomes
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Community Publishing

• Both assigned and user-initiated learning
  communities
• Both open and closed learning communities
• User control of access to their blog entries at
  private, community, institution and public levels

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Support for categories fromboth individual
community / programme
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Integration of blog and ePortfolio
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• EPICS-2 North East regional collaboration for
  personalised, work-based, and life-long learning
• Partners include 5 Universities in NE England
• FE colleges (Falcon network)
• JISC Regional Centre
• large evaluation studies of ePortfolios with
  Blogs/Social publishing
• personalised learning pathways
• mobile technologies
• technologies to support work based learning
• interoperability to support LLL
• identity management
• http//www.epics.ac.uk

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Conclusions

• Varying levels of structure (according to
  purposes and context) in ePortfolios can
  support learning
• It is this structure that in part differentiates
  ePortfolio from generic Web 2.0 tools.
• We are presenting our work in progress, to
  further extended customisation of ePET to support
  a range of structured and unstructured portfolio
  tools with integrated blogging and community
  publishing tools explicitly designed to support
  learning.
• Further research / evaluation is required

Simon Cotterill http//www.eportfolio
s.ac.uk
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Towards an inclusive definition of ePortfolio

• No Universal definition in the mature
  paper-based portfolio literature reflecting
  diverse purposes different educational
  philosophies and practices
• A nice starting point from the paper-based
  portfolio literature
• ..a purposeful collection of student work that
  exhibits to the student, or others, their
  efforts or achievement in one or more areas.
  Arter and Spandel (1991)
• Needs to focus on the journey, not just the
  destination (outputs)
• Needs to touch on the differences / value
  added by technology

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My Definition - Ok, its an Essay!!!
In general, an ePortfolio is a purposeful
collection of information and digital artifacts
that demonstrates development or evidences
learning outcomes, skills or competencies. The
process of producing an ePortfolio (writing,
typing, recording etc.) usually requires the
synthesis of ideas, reflection on achievements,
self-awareness and forward planning with the
potential for educational, developmental or other
benefits. Specific types of ePortfolios can be
defined in part by their purpose (such as
presentation, application, reflection, assessment
and personal development planning), pedagogic
design, level of structure (intrinsic or
extrinsic), duration (episodic or life-long) and
other factors.

Simon Cotterill, October 2007
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Definition 2 the ePortfolio application
(aka ePortfolio Management System)

ePortfolios can be produced using simple tools
(such as presentation software or blogs) but more
typically using specialist ePortfolio
applications that contain a level of structure
(pedagogy and learning outcomes/skills) with a
high level of customisation for specific contexts
and support for multiple purposes. ePortfolio
applications allow the owner to share specific
parts or views of their portfolio online and
support feedback and dialogue. Ideally
ePortfolios are interoperable (for example with
learning environments, recruitment services or
for the migration of portfolio data to support
continuity in life-long learning).
Simon Cotterill, October 2007
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Further Information
Simon Cotterill S.J.Cotterill_at_ncl.ac.uk http//
www.eportfolios.ac.uk
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So what are Portfolios ?

• Unstructured
• Formative
• Factual / Quantitative
• Sample
• Best work
• Learner Owned
• Episodic

Structured Summative Reflective /
Interpretive All work Representative Employer
Owned Life-long
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ePortfolios are defined by their purpose (may be
multiple)
Sharing / dialogue
Learners repository
Institutional Data
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What is a Blog?

• From Wikipedia
• A blog is a website where entries are written in
  chronological order and commonly displayed in
  reverse chronological order.Many blogs provide
  commentary or news on a particular subject such
  as food, politics, or local news others function
  as more personal online diaries.... The ability
  for readers to leave comments in an interactive
  format is an important part of many blogs..

Date retrieved 15 October 2007 1028 UTC
http//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?titleBlogol
did163709228