After a small-scale pilot of Sakai e-portfolio system and Chalk and Wire for a larger scale pilot; there was a recommendation not to implement an e-portfolio solution at this time. Cornell is now looking at what technologies are already in place (blogs) that can support e-portfolio practices; there are also some of the piloteers who have invested in Chalk and Wire accounts for their students. Myself and Pam have been chatting about the potential of blogs as portfolios during our time here.
Learning lessons from pilot:
• New vocabulary - artefacts, assets
• New pedagogic practices – reflection
• New assessment approach - learning outcomes and rubrics
• So many tools! Staff confused and think that the e-portfolio is another VLE
• e-portfolios = another place where students upload assignments.
Two key challenges of using e-portfolios are that they require a new frame of reference: student centred vs course centred and the value of e-portfolios emerge over time and across courses which can make it very difficult to evaluate in a pilot.
When thinking about a pilot it is important to understand who is driving the demand. Is it?
- Institutional leaders want a tech e-portfolio solution, but haven’t checked that there is interest – From a show of hands this seems to be the case for lots of people in the room.
- Faculty inquiries
- Student interest
- Accreditation/assessment
Lots of feedback from the group on usability of e-portfolios which creates a barrier to engagement (so it is not just PP). Also feedback that e-portfolios which are student centred have a business model that is costed per student which is an expensive model. Because e-portfolios are being used to support different processes - reflection, feedback, synthesising, planning, showcasing and assessment the tools become difficult to manage and master. However having an e-portfolio pilot does have benefits in terms of engaging staff in articulating portfolio practices that they already use.
Hi Olivia - I like the final point you make - I think that in many cases when we try to implement new practices and learning technologies we have to base these on contexts and practices that are already working well to enhance these, rather than coming from the angle of 'you don't do this or this isn't working for you, here's a solution - use an e-portfolio etc'
ReplyDeleteTO some extent this seems to me like a version of the institutional control/ free to choose your own technology dilemma much aired in TEAP this week. The vision behing e-portfolios can be to develop towards personal learning spaces for lifelomng and lifewide learning. Remains to be seen whether or not governments get behind this and introduce them early in the school career.
ReplyDeleteYes, it ought to be about the processes, not the tools :-)