PLEs, e-portfolios and communities

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Posted in Gabinete de Informática on 2008/04/24

 

Relación del PLE con el life-long learning: e-portfolio

In the context of a knowledge society, where being information literate is critical, the e-portfolio system can provide an opportunity to support one’s ability to collect, organise, interpret and reflect on learning and practice. In this sense, an e-portfolio is a purposeful collection of learning record that demonstrates efforts, progress and achievement in one or more areas over time. Many different kinds of records can be used in a e-portfolio: samples of writing such as blog and wiki entries, documents, both finished and unfinished; images and photographs; audio and video files; research projects; observations and evaluations of supervisors, mentors and peers; and reflective thinking about all of these.

 

For example, Europass e-portfolio is a dossier of documents that help citizens to communicate in a clear and easy way their aptitudes, qualifications and certifications adquired along their lifes, not only among countries but also among sectors. The principal aim of Europass is to facilitate the mobility of students and workers through the UE member states. Europass includes a set of five documents, being the Curriculum Vitae its main element and alowing to complete it with the rest of documents (Language Passport, Mobility Document, …)

A PLE might be understood to be an e-portfolio system as it is the main door to the student’s life-long learning and, therefore, it is the best tool for capturing and displaying learning records. The intention is to enable the development of an e-portfolios within the PLE that learners can carry on using throughout life. This approach should include repositories, process tools, and opportunities for both students and teachers to draw out and present e-portfolios at particular times and for particular purposes and audiences.

 

ePortfolio: definitions and benefits

An electronic portfolio, also known as an e-portfolio or digital portfolio, is a collection of electronic evidence assembled and managed by a user. Such electronic evidence may include inputted text, electronic files such as Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF files, images, multimedia, blog entries, and hyperlinks. E-portfolios are both demonstrations of the user’s abilities and platforms for self-expression, and, if they are online, they can be maintained dynamically over time. Some e-portfolio applications permit varying degrees of audience access, so the same portfolio might be used for multiple purposes.

An e-portfolio can be seen as a type of learning record that provides actual evidence of achievement. Learning records are closely related to the Learning Plan, an emerging tool that is being used to manage learning by individuals, teams, communities of interest, and organizations. To the extent that at Personal Learning Environment captures and displays a learning record, it also might be understood to be an electronic portfolio.

E-portfolios, like traditional portfolios, can facilitate students’ reflection on their own learning, leading to more awareness of learning strategies and needs (cf. Moon, n.d.).

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Posted in Wikipedia

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Very simply put, a portfolio is a collection of evidence that is gathered together to show a person’s learning journey over time and to demonstrate their abilities. Portfolios can be specifi to a particular discipline, or very broadly encompass a person’s lifelong learning. Many different kinds of evidence can be used in a portfolio: samples of writing, both finished and unfinished; photographs; videos; research projects; observations and evaluations of supervisors, mentors and peers; and reflective thinking about all of these.

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Posted in A Review Of The Literature On Portfolios And Electronic Portfolios

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We do we need e-portfolios?

In the context of a knowledge society, where being information literate is critical, the ePortfolio can provide an opportunity to support one’s ability to collect, organise, interpret and reflect on his/her learning and practice. It is also a tool for continuing professional development, encouraging individuals to take responsibility for and demonstrate the results of their own learning. Furthermore, a portfolio can serve as a tool for knowledge management, and is used as such by some institutions. The ePortfolio provides a link between individual and organisational learning.

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Posted in Eifel

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The following outlines the benefits for eportfolio user groups:

Student

• increased learning effectiveness
• model professionalism
• gain academic credit for learning beyond the classroom
• reflections on artifacts as well as how they match goals and standards
• help students make connections among their formal and informal learning experiences
• prompt learners to articulate their learning goals from different perspectives
• allow individuals to display learning in ways overlooked or undervalued by other assessment means

Faculty

• leverage student motivation
• align objectives and evaluation strategies
• allow for more fruitful advising
• enable the efficient management of student deliverables in distance courses
• enhance relationships among eportfolio creators and mentors

Institutions

• respond to calls for greater accountability and outcomes-based accreditation
• transportability of credits
• increase transparency for evaluation and benchmarking

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Posted in ePortfolio Portal

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What can e-portfolio do for you?

Students:

• Showcase achievements on individualized Guest pages
• Collect and Reflect on your work
• Share your educational and work experience
• Create dynamic resumes
• Create a plan of study and work online with your Advisor

Instructors:

• Create Portfolio Projects with scoring rubrics
• Create Joint Projects with other Instructors
• Comment and score students’ work online
• Create teaching or promotion portfolios
• Showcase Achievements

Institutions:

• Collect student work for Outcomes Assessment
• Select work randomly and anonymously
• Use scoring rubrics
• Generate reports
• Export raw data for further analysis

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Posted in ePortfolio Platform

 

Categorizing e-porfolio systems

A list of open source ePortfolio systems:

• Klahowya (U.S.) (last updated 2005)
• OSPI (UMN-rSmart, U.S.) (partnership with U.S. universities, part of SAKAI): the Open Source Portfolio Initiative
• Mahara (New Zealand) (under development, version 0.9 alpha1 just released)
• Elgg (CurveRider, Ltd., U.K.) (received development capital in August 2007)
• MyStuff (Open University, U.K.) (to be fully functional February 2008)
• Moofolio (SPDC, New Hampshire) (new version about to be released, to be fully implemented fall 2008)
• Open source content management systems that have been adapted to use as ePortfolio systems: Plone, Drupal, Typo3.
• PBWiki – A more developed wiki with the capability of exporting specific pages to PDF, Word or an online presentation. Read my detailed reflections on this 33rd reconstruction of my portfolio in my Online Portfolio Adventure. The screen is a little cluttered with all of the commands at the bottom, but the formatting is more flexible. With a limit of 10MB to store files, this version might be more limiting for schools or individuals who do not have other online storage space, whereas WikiSpaces allows 2GB.
• Carbonmade – an online portfolio for the creative arts community, not really appropriate for education because of the limited number of projects (5 in the free version) and limited space for description/captions/reflection.

I just posted an updated version of My Online Portfolio Adventure, including Categories of ePortfolio tools and services. Links to the services can be found on that web page. I have not included the many services that are emerging in Europe, because I don’t have enough experience with them to classify them. Input from other ePortfolio developers is welcome.

Categorizing e-portofolio systems:

• Individual & Institutional

• Authoring Tools – These are tools that can be used to author portfolios (offline), but require web server space to publish online. Portfolios created with these tools can also be published on CD-R or DVD-R. No Interactivity. [Mozilla Composer; Dreamweaver, FrontPage or any web authoring tool; Apple's iWeb; Powerpoint & Lecshare Pro; Adobe Acrobat; MovieMaker2, iMovie, or any video editing tool]
  
• Static Web Services – These are static web services that an individual or institution may use to create and publish a presentation portfolio – little or no interactivity* (Web 1.0) [GeoCities; eFolio Minnesota; Tripod; Digication; KEEP Toolkit; GooglePages]
  
• Interactive Web Services – These are dynamic web services that an individual or institution may use to create and publish a presentation portfolio AND allows interactivity* (Web 2.0) [WordPress (blog); WikiSpaces; PB Wiki; GoogleDocs - Document and Presentation; ZOHO Writer; EduSpaces (Elgg)]

• Institutional

• Software – Server Required – These are systems that an institution would install on their own server to provide space for hosting portfolios. Interactivity* but NO data management system** [Userland's Manila; Blackboard (old: Content System and new: Vista/CE); Open Source tools: Elgg, Mahara, Moofolio, OSPI, MyStuff (U.K.); open source Content Management Systems: Plone, Drupal; Microsoft SharePoint]
  
• Hosted Services – These are systems that an institution adopts (no server required) that host portfolios. Usually supports interactivity* but limited (or unknown) data management** or reporting systems. [MyEport (Maricopa); Think.com (K12 school accounts only); nuVentive's iWebfolio; ePortaro; Pupil Pages (K12); Epsilen; My eCoach]
  
• Assessment Systems – Hosted Services – These are hosted systems that an institution would adopt (no server required) that will allow hosting portfolios, facilitates interactivity, and includes a data management** and reporting system for assessment [TaskStream; College LiveText; Chalk & Wire; FolioTek; nuVentive's TracDat]

* Interactivity allows dialogue and feedback in the portfolio, either through comments or collaborative editing
** Data management system allows collection of evaluation data about portfolios, and can produce reports aggregating quantitative data.

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Posted in E-Portfolios for Learning

 

Types of e-portfolios

There are three types of eportfolios: developmental, assessment, and showcase.

• Developmental ePortfolios. Demonstrate the advancement and development of student skills over a period of time. Developmental portfolios are considered works-in-progress and include both self-assessment and reflection/feedback elements. The primary purpose is to provide communication between students and faculty.
• Assessment ePortfolios. Demonstrate student competence and skill for well-defined areas. These may be end-of-course or program assessments primarily for evaluating student performance. The primary purpose is to evaluate student competency as defined by program standards and outcomes.
• Showcase or presentation ePortfolios. Demonstrate exemplary work and student skills. This type of eportfolio is created at the end of a program to highlight the quality of student work. Students typically show this portfolio to potential employers to gain employment at the end of a degree program.
• Hybrids. Most eportfolios are hybrids of the three types of eportfolios listed above. Rarely will you find an eportfolio that is strictly used for assessment, development, or showcase purposes. Occasionally, you may come across showcase eportfolios that do not show evidence of self-reflection, rubrics for assessment, or feedback; however, as Helen Barrett, an expert in the field of eportfolios, would say, “A portfolio without standards, goals and/or reflection is just a fancy résumé, not an electronic portfolio” (Barrett, 1999, p.56).

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Posted in ePortfolios Portal

 

e-Portfolios: when the work is organized

It can be helpful to think about ePortfolios in terms of when the work is organized relative to when the work is created. This results in three types of ePortfolios:

1. The showcase ePortfolio: organization occurs after the work has been created.
2. The structured ePortfolio: predefined organization exists for work that is yet to be created.
3. The learning ePortfolio: organization of the work evolves as the work is created.

Showcase ePortfolios

With so much material in digital form, a common starting point for ePortfolio thinking is to organize and present work that has already been created. A showcase ePortfolio enables the author to share specific examples of work and to control who can see these collections. Although a showcase ePortfolio may look like a personal Web page, it is much more than that. The ePortfolio author should be able to organize and manage documents stored on the Internet and to control access without knowing how to use HTML or build Web pages.

Providing templates for organizing work into different categories and perspectives can also help to scaffold the student showcase ePortfolio. At Elon University (http://www.elon.edu/students/portfolio), ePortfolios use templates as a starting point for presenting examples of students’ work, highlights from their nonacademic experiences, resumes, and reflections on their campus experiences. Students decide how much of the template they want to use, and they control what is actually shared and who can view it.

Ideally, showcase ePortfolios should go beyond simply sharing work that has been completed. They should provide a stimulating context for reflecting on a body of work in order to make new connections, personalize learning experiences, and gain insights that will influence future activities. Without supporting reflection, a showcase ePortfolio can be reduced to merely a collection of artifacts.

Structured ePortfolios

Another approach is to use a structured ePortfolio to establish a predefined organization in anticipation of work that will be completed. In a structured ePortfolio, demonstrating accomplishments for certification or fulfillments of specific requirements is a common goal.

By clearly articulating requirements, a structured ePortfolio can effectively focus a student’s time and attention. Furthermore, the predefined organization of a structured ePortfolio can make it easier for work to be systematically reviewed, evaluated, and compared. Because meeting a requirement or demonstrating a skill is not necessarily the same as taking a specific course, structured ePortfolios provide opportunities for developing new approaches to assessment.

Supported mentoring can significantly enhance structured ePortfolios. Guiding and encouraging students through a sequence of experiences will better enable them to develop the skills they need to demonstrate required competencies. Without support for mentoring, a structured ePortfolio can be reduced to a set of directions that students follow to meet seemingly arbitrary requirements.

Learning ePortfolios

Whereas a showcase ePortfolio is used to organize and present accomplishments and a structured ePortfolio can ensure that specified work will be done, the organization of a learning ePortfolio is dynamic. The organization of work evolves over time as tasks are identified, worked on, and completed in response to the author’s changing interests, requirements, and understanding. The ePortfolio author can reach back in time across official and unofficial projects to make new connections. This ongoing reorganization of work can be well-thought-out and clear, or it can be spontaneous and messy.

Because learning ePortfolios are ongoing, extend beyond the time frame of specific courses, and involve reorganizing work and dynamic interactions among changing communities of people, they are probably the most challenging resource to develop and maintain. Catalyst, developed by the University of Washington Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT) (http://catalyst.washington.edu) begins to address this challenge with a collection of Web-based tools to support learning and collaboration. Students can use the Catalyst Portfolio to collect, annotate, organize, and share work for courses they are taking, for career development and planning, or for reflecting on their learning experiences. The Portfolio Project Builder can be used by instructors to guide participants (students) through the process of creating an ePortfolio.

Perhaps the greatest challenge in supporting learning ePortfolios is enabling the necessary communication services. Because ePortfolio thinking is document/work-centric, the history of discussions and interactions is as critical to the learning process as is the evolution of the work itself. Current models of bringing work to discussions as attachments to e-mail, discussion forums, or chat sessions fragment the ongoing evolution of ideas. The result is that making connections is difficult and stepping back to see histories of interactions is almost impossible. Using ePortfolios to expose the learning process through comments, discussions, feedback, and reflection holds perhaps the greatest promise for advancing student learning and achievement and supporting new models for learning.

Lifelong ePortfolios

Maintaining an ePortfolio beyond the college and university years can have long-term personal and professional benefits, supporting both formal and informal lifelong learning. Given the changing economy and job market, a ePortfolio can play an important role in redefining oneself for new career opportunities. When certification and a demonstration of skills are needed for career advancement, an ePortfolio can be an important way to present and maintain information about accomplishments for professional accreditation.

By providing the framework for both formal and informal learning, ePortfolios can encourage ongoing personal and professional development long after an official course of studies has been completed. An important benefit of ongoing ePortfolio participation is the opportunity to maintain connections with peers and mentors throughout one’s professional career.

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Greenberg, G. 2004. The digital convergence: Extending the portfolio model. Educause Review 39 (4): 28-37. http://www.educause.edu/apps/er/erm04/erm0441.asp (accessed January 23, 2007).

 

E-portfolio as Life-Long Learning Passport

The following is one of the possible definitions for e-portfolio: a life-long learning passport. It is difficult to find real and practical evidence of life long learning passports apart from Europass.

Europass is a dossier of documents that help citizens to communicate in a clear and easy way their aptitudes, qualifications and certifications adquired along their lifes, not only among countries but also among sectors. The principal aim of Europass is to facilitate the mobility of students and workers through the UE member states.

Europass includes a set of five documents, being the Curriculum Vitae its main element and alowing to complete it with the rest of documents depending on the records of each one:

• Europass curriculum vitae
• Europass lenguage passport
• Europass mobility document
• Europass supplement to qualification/certification
• Europass supplement to higher qualification

The Europass curriculum vitae is a model to present abilities, competences, qualfications and certifications in a systematic, chronological and flexible way.

The Europass lenguages passport allows to present the linguistic knowledge adquired or not along the formal education.

The Europass mobility document is a personal document that contains the learning periods of the titular in a european foreign country, in order to communicate its experiences and aquired competences.

The Europass supplement to qualification/certification is a informative and institutional document to promote the transparency of qualifications and professional certifications, extending information about a qualification and facilitating the comprehension of a certification to other countries’ institutions.

The Europass supplement to higher qualification is an informative and personalized document attached to the university qualification or the occupational training higher qualification. It extends the information about obtained results and about the national higher education system.

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Posted in Europass

 

Components of an e-portfolio system

References to the term in the UK Government’s e-strategy, Harnessing Technology: Transforming Learning and Children’s Services (DfES, 2005), indicate that E-portfolios are part of a personal online space, where learners can store their work, record their achievements (a repository function), and access personal course timetables (an organising function), digital resources relevant to their own study (personalised information) and links to other learners (for collaboration and feedback). The focus is clearly on space for learning. As well as using such spaces in schools, colleges and universities, the intention is to enable the development of ‘electronic portfolios that learners can carry on using throughout life. Broadly, the product (e-portfolio) is a purposeful selection of items (evidence) chosen at a point in time from a repository or archive, with a particular audience in mind.

The approach should include online repositories, planning and communication tools, and opportunities for both students and teachers to draw out and present e-portfolios at particular times and for particular purposes. There is then likely to be substantial impact on learning processes:

• Some learners in all age ranges who find that software that includes structured processes and organisational tools (such as templates for planning, calendars and goal-setting exercises) scaffolds their learning until they are confident enough to progress to working independently.

• Tools that support the important learning process of feedback from teachers and peers, and collaboration within class groups and across institutions.

• There is a great potencial to make connections between e-portfolio processes, such as storing, reflecting and publishing, and learners’ use of emerging social software tools used outside formal education.

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Posted in Becta: impact study of e-portfolios on learning on June 2007

 

E-portfolio = Identity and Persistence

• Identity: learners have existences beyond formal school, that can be used to both help learners contextualize their own understanding and for others to understand their epistemological legacy.

• Persistence: the reflective posting of a blog is a digital record of the learning process. They can be an integral part of the lifelong learning accomplishment. They should not disappear at the end of a course.

Posted in Virtual Canuck on 2006/01/09

 

After reading the following Donald Clark’s words, I am reflecting on the fact that none of the two VLEs of my university covers the eportfolio feature. Furthermore, students profiles (personal folder and assesments) are deleted by system administrator from one year to another…

 

Grazr: creating your identity widget

The number of information sources we all need to follow keep multiplying. There are blogs, news sites, social networks, photos on Flickr, videos on YouTube, and podcasts from all over the world. Reading lists are the solution to this information overload. A reading list is a collection of feeds from multiple sources that have been organized into a convenient package. Grazr makes it easy to create, share and publish reading lists on any number of subjects.

The further we spread our digital identity on the Web, the harder it is to see a complete view of ourselves or our friends. Grazr is a great way to combine all of the feeds that represent a single person. You can combine blog feeds, Twitter posts, Flickr photos, YouTube videos, and even search engine results into a single reading list within a widget. In effect, a person can be captured in a widget.

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Posted in Grazr.com