Moving from e-personal development to e-portfolios for

lifelong learning

Janet Hanson, Dr Barbara Newland, Ken BissellPDP4Life

www.bournemouth.ac.uk/pdp4life

Lifelong Learning for all: e-learning from concept to practice 5th June 2006

“Lifelong and personalised learning policy drivers propose that all learners should be able to develop, record, repurpose and transfer a wide range of information about themselves electronically as they progress through different levels and episodes of learning, training and employment.”

Supporting learners across the educational landscape. JISC Briefing Paper, 2006.

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=pub_lifelonglearningbps

Support for lifelong learning: the vision

The HE sector is invited to “prepare for a world in which an online learner record accompanies learners throughout their career in education and work, a world in which that record could be used to support personal reflection and development through life” eg: Susie’s Journey.Supporting learners across the educational landscape. JISC Briefing Paper, 2006. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=pub_lifelonglearningbps

Support for lifelong learning: the vision

Central to this vision is the recognition of the value of personal development planning and the use of e-portfolios to support learners moving across the learning landscape and to transfer their learner record from one institution to the next.

E-portfolios are owned by the learner, independent of any one institution and require standards and specifications for interoperability (UKLeaP).

e-Portfolios: What institutions really need to know. JISC Briefing Paper, 2006.http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=pub_lifelonglearningbps

E-portfolios and personal development planning (PDP)

South West Regional e-learning project

Bournemouth University (Lead institution)Arts Institute at Bournemouth College of St Mark & St John Dartington College of Arts

Open University in the South West University College Falmouth

University Centre Yeovil University of Bristol

University of Gloucestershire University of Plymouth

Weymouth College

PDP4LifeProject Activities

• Developing a specification for an extended Learner Record (LR) that includes formal qualifications and learner-generated records of informal learning from local PDP systems;

• Testing the secure transfer of learner records between institutions using ioNode technology (http://www.phosphorix.co.uk/around/ioNode/);

• Identifying user views on PDP records, in particular from the Creative Industries, using focus groups of students, academic staff and employers to inform the LR;

• Sharing PDP practice between 11 HEI/FEI partners in the South West;

• Contributing PDP processes to ioPortal suite.

• Some stand-alone web-based PDP systems to support students in developing and recording their achievements;

• Some paper-based systems;• One HEI piloting PebblePAD;• One piloting PROFILE;• Some embedded in programmes;• Little clarity about PDP outputs to take

forward to inform the Learner Record.

Partners’ PDP systems and approaches

Schematic diagram of the accumulating Learner Record and staged inputs from the formal qualifications records & PDP

University A

Break in formal education

College B

Secondary school

Learner inputsfrom work place

learning, own blogging etc

Post foundation input from College B PDP

Post AS/A2 inputfrom College A PDP

Ongoing PDP inputs from local PDPs

Post GCSE inputfrom secondary school

PDP

Honours Degree results

GCSE results

GCSE registration

Registration for “Top-up” Honours.

Degree

Foundation Degreeresults

Foundation Degree registration

AS/A2 results

AS/A2 registration

Post honours input from

University A PDP

Accumulating Learner Record

Formal Qualifications

StrandTime Line

PDP strand.

College A

Yellow items covered by SHELL

Blue items covered by revised PDP4Life specification

Developing the Lifelong Learner Record

Personal details

Delivery institution at

which registered

Qualification

Module

e-PDP Cycle Learning support

Career to date

Skills attainm’t

Learning styles

CVs Personal qualities

Interests, hobbies

Skills action plan

Career goals

Data cannot be edited by the learner

Multiple entries

Reflection on formal qualifications and progress

Identification record

Previous personal details

Employer/ sponsor

Challenges for the vision: The views of Creative

Industries students, academic staff and employers on PDP,

e-portfolios and lifelong learner records:

Creative Industries• emerging sector in the South West of

England

• “Those industries that have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property.” http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/sectors/creative/index.shtm

Creative industries

• Advertising • Architecture • Art and antiques market • Crafts • Design • Designer Fashion • Film and video• Interactive leisure software • Music • Performing arts • Publishing • Software and computer services • Television and Radio

Creative industries - PDP research

• research into the perceptions and needs of creative industries students and employers in relation to PDP is very limited

• the nature of the creative arts disciplines might merit a specific approach to PDP on the strength of their unique educational practices (James, 2004)

• students in the creative disciplines are able and willing to engage actively in the process of assessing, and reflecting on, their own learning experience using an online PDP tool (Malins & McKillop, 2005)

• Identify existing PDP practice amongst students;

• Use students’ ideas and experiences to help develop extended learner record;

• Identify positive and negative issues and priorities for extended learner record;

• Contribute to understanding of issues and challenges of a lifelong e-portfolio.

Our focus group objectives

• Difficult to see far ahead-very focused on CV for first job-often know what want they to do.

• Only want to present best work, do not need to keep past work, especially from school;

• Physical portfolio very important to CI, tactile, visual, audio;

• Vary as to wanting to include non-academic skills, voluntary work; some say Yes, some No;

• More self-evaluation and reflective practice for CI students, often built into the course;

• Not clear to them that the learner record was in their control, to choose to share it or not, ‘Big Brother’

Student Views

Students – portfolio

Digital

“Quite a lot of my work becomes throwaway work, you can't keep it so it is essential for me to have slides and pictures.”

Students – portfolio

Non-digital

“it is actually a portfolio and I have my designs that I've done in there and also the costumes or garments that I've made they can't be done on a computer”

“what I'm doing here is model-making and anything that isn't model making I don't need”

“maybe for other subjects like science or something maybe it's good to keep a record of things but sketchbooks are that for us”

Students - portfolio

Text/visual

“I thought you were encouraged too much to write. I think some people write better visually, some people would have preferred to present a DVD”

“My portfolio is completely art-based, it doesn't have anything written in it.”

Students - portfolio

Academic only?

“Going through some of my old CV's there's lists and lists of all the little jobs I had and every time I do that again I always think back in my head and where was I and what job was I doing. I wish I did have something that I could throw it all in and it's always there.”

• Potential to be a really useful tool but how to get students to see the value? Students want a ‘quick and easy’ fix;

• Must be a resource for students-has to be meaningful to them;

• Students need encouragement with course work & learning process, without adding the need to complete PDP;

• Role of personal or subject tutor crucial;• Often seen as additional role/work for tutors.

Academic staff views

Points for Employers

• Employers won’t be interested in the detail in the record-won’t have time to read it;

• Employers need proof of management and ‘people’ skills as much as academic work;

• How to change industry ideas?-many employers have old-fashioned approach to selection;

• Evidence needed depends on job: references, character refs. application form, personal statement, creative work;

• SW Region- a special case-low pay, scarcity of jobs-many students do not realise.

How to change academic and student views?

One of our academic staff: “How long is this portfolio useful to someone? Once you’ve got a job do you then go back and review that in order to go forward, or is it that you're actually into the market and you’re off. Surely we’re not going to keep this hanging around for 20 years after getting a job, surely you’d let it go”

One of our employers:“Some artists send CDs, but there isn’t enough time to view these, so they tend to be overlooked”

Questions for Group Work

1. How can you motivate students to keep an e-portfolio going after they leave the institution?

2. How can you persuade academic staff to see PDP as something other than just more work?

3. How can you persuade employers to value students’ PDP evidence?

AND What questions would you ask of each group?

• Staff say students would not be interested and would need help to complete their PDP record;

• Many students not interested, thought it all a bit ‘big-brother’;

• Creative Industries are different and need a different structure- ‘creativity’ to get away from ‘records’;

• Useful for recording achievements all in one place;

• Security and protection of personal information of concern;

Extended Learner Record

ioHUB ioAgent

ioDatabase holding formal

records

ioAgent

Student record

database

Student record

database

Bournemouth University

UC Yeovil

University of Plymouth currently

Portal presenting an interface with

the data for learner and

administration

Testing the ioNode: building on the SHELL legacy

ioAgent

Student record

database

Weymouth College

ioHUB ioAgent Extended

ioDatabase holding formal and

informal records

ioAgent

Local PDP system and repository

Local PDP system and repository

Bournemouth University

Open University

University of Plymouth currently but could be

anywhere

ioPortal presenting multiple user

interfaces with the data (learner,

employer, F/HEI

Contributing PDP processes to the ioPortal suite

ioAgent

Local PDP system and repository

Weymouth College

Repository

Issues raised: Technical• Interoperability and lack of consensus on

standards;• PDP-related records potentially unlimited;• Categorising the record information- by data

structure or purpose;• Accessibility;• Key role for the portal offering unsupported

PDP processes, but needs clear rationale;• System-level requirements, eg; Web Services

interfaces to institutional PDP systems;• Security and authentication.

Issues raised: Pedagogic

• Variety of approaches to PDP and E-portfolio use among PDP4Life Partners;

• Learner motivation generally;• Learners in the Creative Industries sector;• Motivation to access lifelong learning

records;• Purpose of PDP records not clear.

Issues raised: Political, Legal, Organisational

• Location and management of independent storage;

• Security and privacy, allowing third party access;

• Is there a role for a regional approach?

PDP4Life: Where Next?

• Three month extension from April to June;

• Working with Phosphorix to contribute PDP processes to ioPortal suite;

• Further analysis of user views gathered through the focus groups;

• Possibility of further JISC funding for embedding and piloting for one more year;

• Follow-up SW PDP conference in 2007.

Thanks to our 11 PDP4Life Project Partners

• Arts Institute at Bournemouth• Bournemouth University (Lead Institution) • College of St Mark & St John (Marjon)• Dartington College of Arts• Open University • University of Bristol • University of Gloucestershire• University of Plymouth• University College Falmouth • University Centre Yeovil (UCY)• Weymouth College

References• Cambridge, D. (2005). A US Perspective: Self-Directed Lifelong Learning with ‘eFolio

Minnesota’ Through Facilitating Audience and Ownership. PDP-UK Newsletter, 6, December 2005, pp7-8.

• Gough, D.A., Kiwan, D., Sutcliffe, K., Simpson, D., & Houghton, N. (2003). A systematic map and synthesis review of personal development planning for improving student learning. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit.

• Higher Education Academy HEA (2002). Guide for Busy Academics No.3. Using Personal Development Planning to help students gain employment.

• James, A. (2004). Autobiography and narrative in personal development planning in the creative arts. Art Design and Communication in Higher Education, 3 (2) 103-118.

• Lorenzo, G. and Ittelson, J. (2005). An overview of institutional e-portfolios. Educause Learning Initiative.

• Malins, J. and McKillop, C. (2005). Evaluating GraysNet: an online PDP tool for use in an art and design context. Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education 4(1) 31-47.

• Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education. (2000). Policy statement on a progress file for Higher Education, Retrieved 16 January 2006 from: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/progressFiles/archive/policystatement/default.asp

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