1. Fostering conversations to plan quality into e-portfolios
Helen Richardson
University of Manchester/CRA

2. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
Introduction
Opportunity to consider which functions of e-portfolio systems are likely to be important for learners in your own context.
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

3. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
Introduction
Opportunity to consider which functions of e-portfolio systems are likely to be important for learners in your own context.
Background to the workshop:
draws on findings of JISC Review, which:
identified existing e-portfolio products
described illustrative sample in terms of
availability
functions supported
conformance to e-learning standards
development timeframe
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

4. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
What we did
Identified about 30 systems
Selected 12 of these to survey:
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

5. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
What we did
Identified about 30 systems
Selected 12 of these to survey:
criteria were:
currently in use in UK
to represent range of
commercial/non-commercial systems
target learners
purposes
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

6. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
What we did
Identified about 30 systems
Selected 12 of these to survey:
criteria were:
currently in use in UK
to represent range of
commercial/non-commercial systems
target learners
purposes
Developed a mapping to tool to field test for functionality and requirements
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

7. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
From mapping tool: Main themes to consider when planning quality into e-portfolios
Target learners and purpose(s)
Guidance to support learner
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

8. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
From mapping tool: Main themes to consider when planning quality into e-portfolios
Target learners and purpose(s)
Guidance to support learner
Information owned/managed by learner
Information owned/managed by Institution
Managing information
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

9. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
From mapping tool: Main themes to consider when planning quality into e-portfolios
Target learners and purpose(s)
Guidance to support learner
Information owned/managed by learner
Information owned/managed by Institution
Managing information
Legal aspects
Conformance to e-learning standards
Other resources required to run alongside
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

10. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

11. Quality e-portfolio systems: functions to consider (1)
· Target learners and purpose(s)
Target learners - age, stage/episode of education, employment
Main purposes - supporting personal development, CPD, LL, presentational, assessment management, learner personalisation
Guidance to support learner
online guidance about using the system: - what/why/how/when
online guidance, tutorial support, mentor feedback
Information owned/managed by learner
PDRs, digital files to evidence claims (qcl, text, images, audio, video)
Information owned/managed by Institution
Transcript -can learner view progress/assessed achievements (marks, grades)?
Authentication and security of transcript information
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

12. Quality e-portfolio systems: functions to consider (2)
Managing information
editing text, uploading files, inventory, transfer of records
Legal aspects
Data protection policy
Accessibility/Usability
Ownership/Permissions
Storage capacity and storage duration - are records retained so that learner may reflect back on progress between ‘then’ and ‘now’?
Conformance to e-learning standards (interoperability)
how records can be transferred between systems without need for re-keying
by Institution to integrate with VLE
by learner to next organisation
Other resources required - to ensure product supports learner effectively, especially human resources, such as tutor and IT support .
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

13. What we found (1) “commercial basis & target learners”
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

14. What we found (1) “commercial basis & target learners”
School/LEA (2)
FE (1)
FE/Adult (1)
HE (1)
Lifelong (1)
Adult - other (1)
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

15. What we found (1) “commercial basis & target learners”
Home Grown (4)
Target learners
School/LEA (2)
FE (1)
FE/Adult (1)
HE (1)
Lifelong (1)
Adult - other (1)
HE (4)
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

16. What we found (1) “commercial basis & target learners”
Home Grown (4)
Open Source (1)
Target learners
School/LEA (2)
FE (1)
FE/Adult (1)
HE (1)
Lifelong (1)
Adult - other (1)
HE (4)
HE/FE (1)
(Some now being rolled out for additional learner communities)
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

17. What we found (2) “main purposes”
PDP (7)
Assessment
management (2)
Presentational (3)
(Purposes overlap!)
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

18. What we found (2) “main purposes”
PDP (7)
Assessment
management (2)
Presentational (3)
(Purposes overlap!)
Target learners
School (1)
FE (1)
HE (3)
Adult work/skills related (1)
Lifelong (1)
HE (PGCE) (1)
FE/Adult (NVQ) (1)
HE (2)
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

19. What we found (3) “functions supported”
PDP online guidance ( 9)
Tutorial support and/or mentor feedback (12)
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

20. What we found (3) “functions supported”
PDP online guidance ( 9)
Tutorial support and/or mentor feedback (12)
Transcript link - learner can view formal achievements (6?)
Text Editing (12 )
File upload - text, auditory, video (10 )
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

21. What we found (3) “functions supported”
PDP online guidance ( 9)
Tutorial support and/or mentor feedback (12)
Transcript link - learner can view formal achievements (6?)
Text Editing (12 )
File upload - text, auditory, video (10 )
Inventory for learner to view his/her information (11)
Learner controlled Preferences (3)
Learner controlled Permissions ( 5)
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

22. What we found (3) “functions supported”
PDP online guidance ( 9)
Tutorial support and/or mentor feedback (12)
Transcript link - learner can view formal achievements (6?)
Text Editing (12 )
File upload - text, auditory, video (10 )
Inventory for learner to view his/her information (10?)
Learner controlled Preferences (3)
Learner controlled Permissions ( 5)
Data protection policy stated (5)
(Functionalities partly depend on purpose and ‘version’)
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

23. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
What we found (4) “conformance to e-learning standards and planned developments”
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

24. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
What we found (4) “conformance to e-learning standards and planned developments”
No systems yet support PDR learner information transfer between systems
most stated ‘records can remain on website indefinitely’ or ‘can be transferred to CD-ROM’
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

25. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
What we found (4) “conformance to e-learning standards and planned developments”
No systems yet support PDR learner information transfer between systems
most stated ‘records can remain on website indefinitely’ or ‘can be transferred to CD-ROM’
About half systems are working towards UKLeaP
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

26. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
What we found (4) “conformance to e-learning standards and planned developments”
No systems yet support PDR learner information transfer between systems
most stated ‘records can remain on website indefinitely’ or ‘can be transferred to CD-ROM’
About half systems are working towards UKLeaP
Very few systems support preference setting
only one mentioned working towards ACCLIP specification
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

27. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
What we found (4) “conformance to e-learning standards and planned developments”
No systems yet support PDR learner information transfer between systems
most stated ‘records can remain on website indefinitely’ or ‘can be transferred to CD-ROM’
About half systems are working towards UKLeaP
Very few systems support preference setting
only one mentioned working towards ACCLIP specification
About half systems have DP policy on site
planned development by some others
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

28. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
Glossary of acronyms
ACCLIP - Accessibility for Learner Information Package Specification
DP - Data Protection
CPD - Continuing Professional Development
(e) ILP - (online) Individual Learning Plan
LL - Lifelong learning
PDP - Personal Development Planning
PDR - Personal Development Record
UKLeaP - UK standard means of recording information about learners (BS8788) e.g. relating to transcript and personal development records
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

29. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005
Recommended reading
Charlesworth, A (2005) Data protection, lifelong learner record systems and ePortfolios: a short FAQ.
Charlesworth, A & Home, A (2005) Legal aspects of ePortfolio: a short FAQ.
Grant, S, Rees Jones, P and Ward, R (2004) E-portfolio and its relationship to Personal Development Planning.
Richardson, H C and Ward, R (2005) Developing and implementing a methodology for reviewing e-portfolio products.
Richardson, H C (2005) Things to think about when considering ePortfolios. PDP–UK Newsletter Issue 2, p4
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

30. JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

31. What we found (5) Opportunities, Issues and Challenges
the wide representation of PDP support in e-portfolio systems across learner communities
Issues
low representation of DP, preferences, permissions
Challenges of our methodology
getting from developers
guest log-in
confirmation of mapping accuracy
completion of mapping queries
agreement to publish findings
‘messy data’ - a developer’s different ‘customisable’ versions with different features/functionalities
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005

32. What we found (6) “Mapping tool as a transferable outcome”
Mapping tool has wider applications, including:
providing criteria that may be appropriately considered when choosing a system to buy or develop
to enable informed conversations between practitioners, managers, and developers
to prompt developers to consider learners’ needs
to catalyse developers into action!
JISC/CRA/AAHE meeting 10/11 May 2005