Web-folios for Assessment of Practice in Social Work Degrees Louise Frith (Education Developer) Ruben Martin (Social Work Lecturer) Sam Osborne (IT officer)

Chronology Pre year Dip SW 130 days assessed practice Assessor’s report could lack objectivity Since year SW degree 200 days Assessed Practice Student owned Portfolio of Evidence Based on NOS Validated by PA 2007/8 Introduction of Pebblepad Collaborative webfolio To replace Word docs

Background to Social Work at Kent Students are placed in a wide variety of settings Private sector Statutory sector NHS Voluntary sector Private sector All students are paired with a practice assessor Student Practice Assessor

Collaboration Academic Personal Tutors Students Practice learning Co- ordinato r Practice Assessors UELT IT Officer

Student Profile Introduced to 2 nd and 3 rd years in 07/08 Age range years -not Web 2.0 natives? Many come into Social Work as a second career

Ready or not? Many SW students have little or no knowledge of IT before they come to university Assessed for CLAIT or ECDL - required to achieve either of these during the three years Very few have heard of Web 2.0 technologies – blogs, instant messaging, etc Many only use their mobile phones for voice calls.

Student Feedback “I will use it again. It is easy to access at the work place.” “There were some glitches but it is the same with any new software.” “I didn’t use it at work, I used it at home.” “I wouldn’t use Pebblepad again. It was time consuming and stressful. It is like another exercise you have to go through.” “I would have liked to have had an introduction to Pebblepad in the first year. ” “I liked the fact that my PA and I could work on it simultaneously. PA was able to give me comments instantaneously.” “It’s too slow and I do not have the time to wait that long.” Access via internet was the most useful thing about Pebblepad. My placement wouldn’t allow me to use USB data stick.

Examples of students’ webfolios

Sticking to it Give up or keep on trying?  GSSC requirement to maintain a log of CPD – Pebblepad gives them a framework they can take with them  Students have said that being able to collaborate is the most useful tool Lessons learned:  Start early  Embed ePortfolio from start of Year 1  Engage PAs as soon as possible – work on IT issues  Engage academic tutors