Cre ati ve Co m m u n i t i es Uni t Developing People – Developing Communities Technology Enhanced Learning Showcase Assessment by Blackboard E-Portfolio – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly... Louise Rutherford 22 nd June 2015 Alfred Bolton Room, Thompson Library, College Road

Cre ati ve Co m m u n i t i es Uni t Developing People – Developing Communities Session Outline The Contemporary HE Context Implementation of Technological Innovation: My Experience The Future and Any Questions?

Cre ati ve Co m m u n i t i es Uni t Developing People – Developing Communities Blackboard E-Portfolio: The Contemporary HE Context Digital divide: – Initially signified difference between those with access to technology and those without (Rainie et al, 2003) – Today more about unequal ways computers and technology used by individuals (Warschauer, Knobel and Stone, 2004) Digital divide evident in both teachers and student, contrasting: – “Digital natives” (Prensky, 2001) familiar with technology and comfortable integrating it into their learning environment, with – “Digital immigrants” who feel out of their depth in an unfamiliar landscape or virtual communication New educational technology introduced to support widening participation (Managed and Virtual Learning Environments) but required pedagogical change often absent Five Step Model (Salmon, 2000) – a new way to support a 3-way virtual interaction between ideas, colleagues and tutors

Cre ati ve Co m m u n i t i es Uni t Developing People – Developing Communities Implementation of Technological Innovation: My Experience Aim: Trial Blackboard E-Portfolio tool Web-based file system - users can upload files of any type, organise them, reference and share them To encourage virtual interaction, creating a powerful learning experience Used Salmon’s model of online learning Responding to Student Needs: Digital immigrants struggling with basic Web 1.0 “read only” environment, never mind Web 2.0 collaborative environment Digital natives using technology to supplement, personalise and enhance own learning experience Needed technical support and motivation from tutor TRAINING

Cre ati ve Co m m u n i t i es Uni t Developing People – Developing Communities The Good... The Impact of Training On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not confident at all and 10 being totally confident, how confident do you feel about submitting your portfolio online? Digital Students (pre-training)Digital Students (post-training ) 1-5 = digital immigrant 6-10 = digital native

Cre ati ve Co m m u n i t i es Uni t Developing People – Developing Communities The Good... What Does it Look like?

Cre ati ve Co m m u n i t i es Uni t Developing People – Developing Communities The Bad... Assessment Reality Many student s and phone calls Just 2 students used personalisation Several students uploaded Word documents 1 student submitted separate attempt for each element of assessment 3 students gave up - ed Word docs 2 students lost work 2-3 times All very time consuming and frustrating!!

Cre ati ve Co m m u n i t i es Uni t Developing People – Developing Communities The Bad... What Does it Look like?

Cre ati ve Co m m u n i t i es Uni t Developing People – Developing Communities The Ugly... 2 submissions uploaded - tutor access denied Minimal uptake of personalisation options Second marker – suffice to say, not impressed! Extra work to submit to external examiner

Cre ati ve Co m m u n i t i es Uni t Developing People – Developing Communities Feedback and Evaluation Students (Qualtrics Survey): Satisfied with training but frustrated with technological issues (even though 90% said IT skills were excellent, very good or good) Second Marker: Very negative experience, not one she would choose to repeat Myself: Teething problems frustrating and time- consuming …but also question if E-Portfolio adds anything positive to student experience?

Cre ati ve Co m m u n i t i es Uni t Developing People – Developing Communities The Future Improve online application process to enable early Blackboard access Tutor-created E-Portfolio template? Automated feedback upon successful submission Introduce E-Portfolio at start of module Share reflective learning diaries within E-Portfolio to gain feedback on mentoring sessions