E-portfolio drivers for change

The University of Minnesota Experience

Acker, S. (2005) ‘Overcoming obstacles to authentic e-portfolio assessment’ (online), Campus Technology. Available from:http://campustechnology.com/articles/2005/03/overcoming-obstacles-to-authentic-eportfolio-assessment.aspx?sc_lang=en (accessed 27^th September).

Drivers:3 R’s

Reflection, Representation and Revision, so student can demonstrate learning has occurred

Reflects constructivist approach students have multiple starting points

Possible use as course E-portfolio

Article addresses issues of confidentiality- who does or who should ‘own’ an e-portfolio this seems to be a minefield…no wonder it is not really taking off.

From the UK The Centre for Recoding Achievement on this page http://www.recordingachievement.org/eportfolios/default.asp

you need to open the link for further information.

E-portfolios to enable:

• Presentation
• Assessment
• Supporting learning
• Personal/professional/career development
• Linked to the same site for University admission e-portfolios: http://www.recordingachievement.org/downloads/20070308NCurrant.pdf

Students found it helpful in developing ‘thinking’ (no evidence to support this)

Schools reported it developed independent thinking and provided structure (a rather interesting combination, again no evidence).

In another study at http://www.recordingachievement.org/downloads/20070316JPondWmin.pdf

E-portfolio used to develop PDP

Student participation had to be ensured by embedding marks for completion: so students essentially forced to complete e-portfolio!!

QAA Guidelines for HE progress files.

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/progressFiles/guidelines/progfile2001.asp

Drivers/rationale

· To help make the outcomes or results of learning in higher education more explicit

· To improve the quality of learning so that the basis for academic standards will be clearer

· To support the idea that learning is a lifetime activity

· To strengthen the capacity of individuals to reflect upon their own learning and achievement and to plan for their own personal, educational and career development

The QAA is in the position of having an overview of the way HE institutions are functioning in the UK. However each university is responsible for its own academic standards. I am not sure how ‘powerful’ the QAA is as a player in driving change in the HE sector. I do not hear it talked about much in the corridors where I work (unlike the TDA and Ofsted). This is the place from whence that useful chart in the course resources that appeared attached below.

Drivers for E portfolios in Teacher Training: this is from Vuorikari, R. (2006) ‘National policies and case studies on the use of portfolios in teacher training’ (online). Europortfolio 2005, Cambridge, UK. Available from:http://insight.eun.org/shared/data/insight/documents/e_portfolio_teacher_training_final_10_05.pdf

In all four cases there is a strong policy drive to integrate use of portfolios. This seems such a top down process. It may be that this is because it needs national level co-ordination or it may be because without the downward push e-portfolio would not be used. If they were not used the companies that make them would no t be able to sell their products...is it conspiracy theiry to suggest there might be a link.

If we try to place e-portfolio into a framework of Personalised Learning Environments (PLE) this downward push seems even more far fetched, though the initiative does get dressed up in PLE language. I would argue that PLE are about choice and choice that is freely made.

Norway	Reform and renewal: increase digital literacy, national imperative linked to digital competency p. 3
Finland	Reform and renewal: to promote ‘good overall and pedagogical skills…and refresh teaching methods.’ P.2
Catalonia	Europen lang. learning initiative To provide a transparent Europen record of language competancies.
Italy	Reform- by ministerial decree, part of school reform

Change in Higher Education

Foucault tells us that power is "a complex strategic situation in a given society [social setting]". In terms of Higher education it is worth thinking about this.

I find it helpful to think of power as ‘authority’ which in simple terms seems to be power that is in some way legitimate. The question really is whether there is a change in the authority relations within Higher Education and to what extent these are driven by technological changes in the way that Education might be delivered or contrastingly the way that the authority relations drive the choice of technology; in essence what is promoted within a given institution. In order to examine this further though we would need to look at the way that there might be change that is not directly the effect of technology but about a change in the ‘social setting’.

Higher education has, I think, undergone just such a change. Higher education used to be the preserve of the few; I can distinctly remember my first lecture as an undergraduate, from the Vice Chancellor, which started with, ‘You are the few, the happy, select, chosen few, in the top 5%...’ In 1939 about 2% of the age cohort (mostly drawn from the male side) might have gone on to Higher Education…the figure is now nearer 40%? That is in the context of the UK, the contrast in India or China is even greater. This forms part of an historical trend in recent centuries to ever greater levels of formal education. The question is what causes this change.

We are under control!

As part of our H800 course we use First Class (FC). This can be used as an agent of control over students and tutors alike. Consider these functions (much loved by many tutors)

1. It is easy to collect posts by any individual together so working out how much we have done is made simple.

2. There is the power to delete messages by anyone with the right priviledges (not sure htis has been used on H800 but it is quite defitely used elsewhere).

3. Even if the student does not write they leave clear and easily observed footprints. WHo has opened a post and whether they have downloaded anything is easy to see.

4. Outside of First Class it is easy to see who has signed in and when they last did so.

The fact that the new Moodle Platform may not replicate some of these functions is casuing distress to some tutors. SO we might choose to assume the current VLE is used as an agent of hierarchical control, at least to some extent. Here is a question: does the INteractive WHiteboaard fulfil the same function in school. Is the IWB an agent of control, sucking in the minds and eyes of the pupils like some sort of sick hypnosis?

SO now I am trying to think about Web2 and power. We have a very current example unfolding in front of our eyes in Tehran. the BBC http://is.gd/1497Z amongst others is reporting the role played by Web 2 technologies in spreading 'knoweledge' . Twitter delayed its upgrade apparently after a request not to dirupt its role in acting a chanel of communication http://is.gd/149dn speaks of this. This is knowledge creation taken out of the halls of academia and into the world. Knowledge truth and falsehood all revealed to our gaze. WHat is suprising me is that the purportedly powerful, the ruling elite, appear to be unable to effectively silence this event. Restrictions on journalists, closing down of services and feeds and the young in Tehran still manage to carry on twittering. There must be despots the world over who are looking on with interest and not a little concern. In my H800 course I am menat to be citing form previous activities, here I am citing from the current: but I think it fundamentally supports the notion that Web2 is shifting the way we learn and the way 'knowledge' is created.