ePortfolios in Practice Dr John Couperthwaite

Learning Consultant, PebblePad

How is technology transforming our use of ePortfolios ?   - Benefits, Challenges and Possibilities

Example Systems

Example Systems

Types of ePortfolios (Presentational) Portfolios fall into two main categories and (at least) eight sub-categories: Me-Portfolios §  Personal §  Professional §  Promotional T-Portfolios (task portfolios) §  Process §  Project §  Placement §  Production §  Pedagogical.

Tend…tofocusontheauthor

Tend…tofocusonanac.vity

Some ePortfolio requirements (in healthcare)

Organisa.ons Purposes

Loca.ons Ac.vi.es

Organisa.ons•  Medical/Dental

Schools•  AlliedHealthcourses•  RoyalColleges•  Hospitals•  Charitablebodies•  Trainingproviders

Loca.ons•  Workplace•  Wards/labs/

theatres•  Surgeries•  Home•  Social•  Business

Purposes• Skillsdevelopment• Workplace-basedassessment• Annualreviewofcompetenceprogression• PDP/CPD• 360degfeedback• Revalida.on

Ac.vi.es•  Recording/

documen.ng/evidencing

•  Valida.on•  Feedback/Assessment•  Sign-off•  Presenta.on•  PDP/CPD

ePortfolio touchpoints

ePortfolio touchpoints

ePortfolio touchpoints

Making it fail!!

In this session you will pretend to be an inept project manager. Your job is to implement an ePortfolio in

the least sensible way. In other words, what things would you do to make the

‘project’ most likely to fail?

“What can I do to make the implementation of my ePortfolio a complete and miserable failure?”

Howdidotherpeoplescrewup?1.  Not getting key people on board 2.  No academic leadership 3.  Not emerging beyond the champions 4.  System too complicated, unusable, in- or not-

accessible 5.  Insufficient training for staff and students – poor

internal support (technical and pedagogical)  6.  Getting the levels of ownership wrong 7.  Lack of long term strategic commitment 8.  Technical infrastructure not suitable 9.  Don’t have (or articulate) an understandable and

acceptable purpose 10.  Insufficient time for planning and preparation 11.  No planning for growth 12.  Poor support from the supplier 13.  No back-up strategy 14.  Product costs escalate 15.  Poor introduction, induction. Bad messages 16.  Bringing in too many new tools at once 17.  Relying on good will 18.  Not having a common understanding of

eportfolio 19.  Have no link to strategic initiatives 20.  No communication or sharing between users,

implementers, stakeholders... 21.  It’s the cure for all your ills 22.  Make sure it’s not embedded in the curriculum...

Layer it on top. 23.  Do a ‘short’ trial or use the word Pilot

24.  Ignore and exclude the middle managers 25.  Ignore the needs of the academics 26.  Tell everyone that it’s easy “it will reduce your

workload” Honest!! 27.  Don’t articulate the differences between the LMS

and the PLS 28.  Train, expose or promote all aspects at once 29.  Don’t have a project champion, leader or

manager. No focal point. 30.  Make it optional 31.  Introduce it at the end of a course or

programme 32.  Don’t value (or even view) the work of the

learners 33.  Choose a tool that isn’t fit for purpose 34.  Provide no support – technical or pedagogic 35.  No single sign on 36.  No clear learning purpose 37.  Make sure you have no central support (no

budget, no training, no resources...) 38.  Design your curriculum around the features of

the tool 39.  (Regular) Institutional change 40.  Poor admin procedures

Making it fail!!

Challenges

Capture (user)

Presentation (user)

Assessment (reviewer)

How do we record the right information in a timely and accurate manner ?

eg: Access across devices; Offline / online;

How do we present our ‘artifacts’ as ePortfolios to different audiences ?

eg: Ability to repurpose or export Acceptance by other professional bodies

How do different individuals give appropriate validation and feedback ?

eg: Use of digital signatures Robust validation from distributed ‘tutors’

CAPTURE

•  Web / Mobile / App

•  Granular recording of activities

•  In-practice, on-practice reflections

•  Open, adaptive designs vs structured forms

•  Network access: offline vs online

•  Standalone / integrated / Single Sign On

How do we record the right information in a timely and accurate manner ?

PRESENTATION

•  Skills / competencies / learning outcomes

•  Adaptive vs rigid designs

•  Multi-use presentational formats

•  Integrated assessor fields and feedback

•  Prescriptive vs contextualised

How do we present our ‘artifacts’ as ePortfolios to different audiences ?

ASSESSMENT

•  Role management across academic and health

professionals

•  Skill- and competency-level approvals

•  Digital signatures for validation

•  Aligned to Curriculum and Frameworks

•  Feedback as closed / open / video / audio

•  Feedback and feed-forward

How do different individuals give appropriate validation and feedback ?

Ac.vity2,MakingitSucceed

•  A clear vision •  A clear timetable with milestones •  A project team and a project plan •  A thorough understanding of who your users are •  Different kinds of support for different users •  A good communication strategy •  Appropriate training •  Clear roles and responsibilities •  A thoughtful plan for reviewing and evaluating the implementation •  Appropriate training and support for end users •  Appropriate training and support for teachers, mentors and assessors •  Engagement with the wider community •  Policy and Strategy aligned to the vision •  Opportunities for reflection and re-visioning

Future trends •  personalisation, life-long / life-wide learning

•  analytics for progress management

•  micro-credentialing through ‘badges’

•  integrated professional data and systems

Dr John Couperthwaite, Learning Consultant, PebblePad Email: john@pebblepad.co.uk LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/johncouperthwaite Twitter: @johncoup