Lead Contact: Sandra Winfield (sandra.winfield@nottingham.ac.uk)
JISC Programme: Distributed e-Learning programme
Lead Institution and Partners: University of Nottingham (L), Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham Passport, Ufi/learndirect (East Midlands), Nottingham LEA FE institutions, Connexions Nottinghamshire, Local employers
Project Dates: January 2005 - December 2006
Case study tags: online learning, e-portfolios,university of nottingham
Background & Context
What is the background to the e-portfolio initiative?
This project built upon work completed for the University of Nottingham-led JISC MLEs for Lifelong Learning project, 2003-2005,Specifying an ePortfolio. The earlier project trialled interoperability between online personal development planning (PDP) systems in 14-19 education and HE, demonstrated by transferring sample data from the City of Nottingham Passport (CoNP) and University of Nottingham ePARs system. This was carried out in conjunction with work with UCAS on interoperable data transfer between post-16 education providers, UCAS and HEIs to facilitate learners' application to HE, with special reference to the need for enhanced Personal Statements in the context of the Schwartz recommendations for fair admissions.
RIPPLL was designed to build on this work by studying the requirements of a much wider range of users, including learners on vocational pathways and work-based learners, in order to inform the ongoing development of technical specifications. The existing CoNP-University of Nottingham partnership was extended to include the second Nottingham HEI, Nottingham Trent University (NTU).
With strong track records in Progress Files, widening participation and student inclusion, the partnership felt that it had the potential to establish in Greater Nottingham a national demonstration site for cross-sector collaboration in PDP technology to support widening participation and retention, with outcomes which would be transferable regionally and nationally. Nottingham's early practice in linking school-based learning (from Key Stages 3 to 5) into and through HE was identified by European SchoolNet as being of prime interest in the European context.
The project sought to build on earlier work on interoperability standards developed through the Specifying an e-portfolio project by extending its use and application between different institutions and for transitions between study and employment. As an early adopter of Shibboleth, the project wanted to explore the important implications for verification and authentication issues inherent in e-portfolio work.
What were the aims and objectives of the initiative?
The aims of the project were:
- To support progression to HE for widening participation by making all major existing electronic systems in use in the Nottingham area for study-based Progress Files interoperable, using the UK LeaP interoperability standards
- To pilot the transfer of data directly from the main post-16 PDP system (City of Nottingham Passport - CoNP) into HE PDP systems (University of Nottingham ePARs; Nottingham Trent University PDP) to support learner admissions and transitions, thus joining up successive phases of study, pre-HE and HE
- To develop understanding of further transition processes between study and employment (in both directions) and consider connections with issues of graduate retention in the region
- To contribute to the building of interoperability specifications for systems supporting lifelong learning by providing further development of the UK LeaP open standards and proving their applicability in a number of different environments
For the extension phase we identified the following aims:
- To extend our successful data-transfer model of lifelong learning to begin to build a sustainable knowledge architecture across the region, accommodating as far as possible the principles of a service-oriented architecture within the e-Framework
- Through continuing regional collaboration, to build consensus and capacity in the pedagogy and technology of interoperable e-portfolios across representatives of education and employment, improving understanding of transition to and from employment in the region
- To offer a reference point for national policy development and implementation
How was the initiative implemented?
Scenarios and use cases
This work built on the experience and expertise of key project staff in the 'Specifying an e-portfolio' project, which made use of the scenario and use case building resource pack produced by Peter Rees Jones as part of the Lifelong Learning Support Project of the JISC Managed Learning Environments programme. We used this resource as a basis for a series of workshops to gather information from those with knowledge and expertise in specific areas, beginning with academic project staff at NTU, who were inducted into the methodology through a 'learning-by-doing' approach, guided by University of Nottingham staff, and produced scenarios and use cases on progression from HE to part-time work and to work placement. The development of scenarios and use cases was a major activity on the pedagogic side of the project.
Interoperability
Mapping and transfer work within the project used the methodology developed and tested by University of Nottingham technical staff in earlier interoperability pilots. This uses the following stages of development:
- Research systems at both ends
- Map proposed outputs from generating system to UK LeaP
- Produce mapping document
- Generate source XML
- Produce XSLT file to convert output data
- Load into destination system using transformation code
In parallel with pedagogic work, technical staff from both HEIs conducted site visits to partner institutions to draw on local expertise about systems and infrastructure in order to scope possible data transfers and to build mappings between systems as a basis for writing code.
Mappings and transfers
As a training and familiarisation exercise, the technical team at NTU carried out an initial test transfer of data from the Nottingham Passport, replicating earlier work to move this same data from the Passport into the University of Nottingham system. This was a valuable experience which exposed a number of misunderstandings about the nature of the work and requirements of UK LeaP, and established the necessary level of dialogue between team members.
FE applications process
The project team collaborated with the City of Nottingham Passport team and representatives from FE colleges in the region to progress the implementation of the electronic application to FE via an agreed common application form to be located within the Passport's successor, Passportfolio. The FE Admissions Working Group of the Greater Nottingham 14-19 Strategy Group identified criteria for admissions to FE colleges and devised a common application form, supported by Principals of all FE colleges in the Greater Nottingham area, thus giving a major political drive to the development.
Technology Used
What technologies and/or e-tools were available to you or did you seek to develop?
The project built on the standards and tools developed during the Specifying an e-portfolio project which included the use of UK Leap and web services as well as testing Shibboleth. The Shibboleth work explored two models of data transfer, both the cummulative 'pass-the-parcel' idea, where whole chunks of data move on with the learner and the 'thin model' where the data remains in the originating system and is referenced from a single point, which fits far more with the current e-portfolio thinking.
More detailed information regarding the technical approach are available in the final report. A summary of the technical approach taken at NTU is included in the team's technical report. The University of Nottingham work is documented here.
Success Factors
What are the key outcomes of the initiative?
Successful pilot data transfer to support lifelong learning
This project has demonstrated the feasibility of using web technology to support lifelong learning. A limited set of personal data (identification data plus a personal statement) has been transferred between several different systems across a range of institutions in the Nottingham region, using the UK LeaP interoperability standard. Data has been exchanged between different administrative and e-portfolio systems so as to support the continuity of individual career journeys across transitions between episodes of lifelong learning, specifically episodes of study or work provided by schools, colleges, universities and an employer.
At the same time, through the development of a range of scenarios built in practitioner workshops, the needs of certain learners at specific stages of 14-19 education/training have been identified, together with the priorities of a wide range of stakeholders, to inform and contribute to the development of specifications of full sets of data required for transition processes, including admission to FE. Scenarios on undergraduate to postgraduate study, part-time study and work placement have been developed by the project. However, direct work with employers has proved much more difficult to take forward within the timescale of the project than work with education providers.
Implications for policy
The Nottingham demonstration was also cited by the then DfES as a reference point for the implementation of national policy on e-portfolios and e-learning for personalisation.
Successful regional collaboration
The project has shown the great potential for collaboration that exists between technical ICT staff in HEIs and their opposite numbers in colleges in the same region, focused by the issue of interoperability for student progression. Site visits, training sessions and regular technical team meetings, bringing colleagues from all the institutions involved in the project together, face-to-face, have proved highly productive in terms of achieving the project outcomes and also in forging a unified regional team with significant combined strengths and expertise. The cross-institutional team collaboration modelled by the project is now to be implemented on a larger scale by Leap-Ahead, the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire Lifelong Learning Network.
Data standards
The JISC-CETIS Portfolio SIG undertook discussions to take this work forward, aiming to achieve a community-based 'bottom-up' definition of LeaP 2.0.
The project extended the previously-accepted boundaries of Shibboleth technology, deploying it on a Microsoft platform as a basis for using web services to access distributed PDP data from a remote site.
Web services for FE admissions
A common web services based application form has been developed and embedded in the Passportfolio system which is operated across the Nottingham area. Data is drawn automatically from the individual's e-portfolio data and transmitted electronically to the FE colleges. A test version was trialled with one FE college where data was tranferred into the MIS system. This will be expanded and explored more in the new Passportfolio being developed now. Connexions plan to make this their preferred method of application for learners using the system.
The next step would be to develop further and test the data-transfer work supporting the new FE admissions process in Greater Nottingham within the Passportfolio system and with real students. This electronic application service is supported by Connexions, now custodians of the Passportfolio system, as potentially the main accepted route for application to Nottinghamshire FE.
What follow-up activity will be/has been carried out as a result of the project?
Aspects of the project have been presented at a number of events and through a range of publications. (See Final Report)
Lessons Learned
What are the lessons learned from the project?
We found education staff easier than representatives of employers to engage in this work. Difficulties with engaging employers arose through changes of personnel and competing internal agendas. We found that we needed to allow more time to build relationships and to obtain buy-in at a senior level, not relying on an excellent relationship with an individual employee, since their role could change at very short notice. It has been useful to identify influential intermediaries to facilitate collaborations: the Nottingham LA Passport team has facilitated work with FE colleges very helpfully. Scheduled discussions with regional organisations, including the RDA, looked promising in terms of opening up greater access to employer partnerships in future but failed to come to fruition. We expect to pursue these leads again through the work of the LLN and as part of future project work; however our assessment of timescales and resources required will be affected by our experience in this project.
We became aware of the need for careful consideration of location for meetings. While we felt it was important to hold major project meetings, including meetings of the Advisory Board, at the University of Nottingham, we found it was valuable for key staff to visit other locations for particular purposes. University of Nottingham development staff worked on site at both NTU and local FE colleges, which allowed them to work directly alongside local staff and develop greater insight into the local technology and its use. Similarly, we found it easier to engage pedagogic staff by holding meetings in their institutions rather than expecting them to visit the University. Conversely, we found that for certain groups of staff the offer of a meeting room and hospitality made meetings easier to arrange as there is so much pressure on their local arrangements. For cross-institutional meetings of technical staff the opportunity to get out of their local environment for meetings allowed them to engage more readily with discussions without fear of interruption. We will carry these lessons forward into future collaborative project work.
Further Resources
RIPPLL Project Website - www.nottingham.ac.uk/rippll
RIPPLL Final Report
Stories from the Regional Pilots projects
