Facilitating Independent Learning using e-Portfolios and Associated Support Systems
Lead Contact: Paul Mahoney (pmahoney@uclan.ac.uk)
JISC Programme: DeL Regional Pilot Projects
Lead Institution and Partners: University of Central Lancashire - UCLAN (L), Blackburn College, Burnley College, Carlisle College, Cumbria Institute of the Arts (now part of the University of Cumbria), Furness College, St Martin's College (now part of the University of Cumbria)
Project Dates: April 2005 - March 2006
Case study tags: online learning, e-portfolios,university of central lancashire, e-portfolios for application, e-portfolios considerations - identity management, e-portfolios for collaboration, e-portfolios considerations - customisation, e-portfolios considerations - implementation, e-portfolios considerations - interoperability, e-portfolios considerations - it skills, learner perspectives on e-portfolios, e-portfolios considerations - legal, lifelong learning drivers for e-portfolios, e-portfolios considerations - open source, e-portfolios for cpd and pdp, e-portfolios for reflection, practitioner perspectives on e-portfolios, widening participation drivers for e-portfolios, e-portfolios for supporting learning processes
Background & Context
What is the background to the e-portfolio initiative?
The FILE-PASS project was a collaboration between Higher Education institutions (HEIs), Further Education Colleges (FECs) and other related organisations in the Lancashire and Cumbria sub-region of the North West of England. It is based on the identification of a particular category of learners (or non-learners) who are 'isolated' from the educational opportunities offered in further, higher and related education. Access to these learners is often problematic. However, many are making tentative steps back into learning through a recognition that they need to develop their skills, either for work or personal reasons. The FEC partners, in particular, make extensive efforts to reach out to these learners through their college and outreach programmes. Such access to these learners offers clear opportunities to encourage them to reflect on their learning needs and to advise them on the many opportunities that exist to progress in areas relevant to their work and personal needs.
The project centred on the trialling and evaluation of e-portfolios with "isolated learners" from across the partner institutions in a variety of situations as a tool to enable this personal reflection and the identification of progression opportunities.
What were the aims andobjectives of the initiative?
The project set out to develop, deliver and evaluate an e-portfolio service to learners who may in some way be 'isolated' from Further or Higher Education with the aim of helping them to engage with the lifelong learning agenda and to gain access to the opportunities available for personal and work-related development.
In order to achieve this, the project sought to:
- Encourage and raise awareness of educational opportunities for isolated learners who make initial steps back into education through locally-led IT courses
- Trial and evaluate e-portfolios as a way of encouraging isolated learners to reflect on their educational needs and aspirations and to advise them on opportunities for progression into and through higher education
- Identify e-portfolio software that is suitable to the needs of the isolated learner and incorporates information on how to access and apply for HE
- Share existing e-tools among partners relating to personal development and to assess their relevance to developing e-portfolio tools
- Train tutors working with the isolated learners in the use of e-portfolios and how learners can be helped to benefit from them
How was the initiative implemented?
Choosing cohorts
Each partner chose their own cohorts based on agreed definitions of isolation. Decisions were affected by the timescale of the project as it relied on the ability of the supporting tutors to build the project activities into their curriculum in a very short space of time. The groups of learners were:
- Hard-to-reach adults (on probation/with visual impairments etc)
- Mainly mature female Psychology undergraduates
- Adults seeking IT upskilling
- 16-19 ICT Certificate and Diploma students
- Foundation Degree (FD)/HND Engineers/Computing Engineers
- Access Art and Design students
- FD students in Performance, Festivals and Events
- Masters students in Contemporary Fine Art
- Mature female Health Sciences (Complementary Medicine) undergraduates
- Various ethnic groups and non-native English speakers on Foundation Certificate in English for University Study
Evaluation
The initial part of the project sought to evaluate four aspects: the learner experience, the tutor experience, the impact on the institutional policy of each partner and the project as a whole. The initial learner evaluation was based around a series of 4 'jottings' sessions. The 'jottings' (a repeated questionnaire) were designed as an easy way for students to note down their thoughts on using the e-portfolio as they encountered it. The sessions were themed by tasks:
- Entering data into the portfolio
- Finding and using resources
- Building and sharing a presentation
- Reflecting and improving
Support requirements
The project team provided training both on-site and in a group session to the partners in the use of the software. Due to time restrictions, an 'unadapted' version of the software was used for training tutors. Although it did not allow for a full understanding, it did give tutors the opportunity to feedback ideas as the software to be used was being adapted.
Technology Used
What technologies and/or e-tools were available to you or did you seek to develop?
Choosing and adapting software
The project team reviewed various e-portfolios available both commercially and as open source software. It became clear that a major consideration in the choice for this project was the ability to be able to adapt any chosen software to the needs of all the partners involved in the project. This included the 'field list' which constituted the sections of the portfolio under which the learners would record their achievements.
As a result it was decided to use open source software in the form of Open Source Portfolio Initiative (OSPI) version 1.5. UCLAN was responsible for installation making the software available to all partners. All partners used the UCLAN-served version apart from Carlisle College who installed and served their own version. The Carlisle College experience gives a useful 'real world' insight into the practicalities of an FE institution adopting such a piece of software.
Success Factors
What are the key outcomes of the initiative?
The Learner and tutor experience
The evaluation process highlighted some interesting results in terms of student engagement with the e-portfolio. Whilst tutors reported informally a general level of cynicism in the classroom, personal feedback was more positive. The most notable success of the project's first phase was with mature learners at a variety of levels who were more receptive to the benefits of e-portfolio in helping to identify skills. In the continuation phase where greater attention was placed on the appropriateness of the interface, an increased number of younger learners were engaged. The hardest group to engage with the concept of e-portfolio were 16-19 year-old males.
There was a mix of preference for the 'reflective journal' approach and the 'recording evidence as CV' approach. Although there was some developmental work on the presentational templates for the portfolio these aspects were never fully explored due to the timescale. Many would have liked a more 'attractive' user interface although definitions of this vary between user groups. All parties stated further adaptation of the software would be required for their institution, with the inclusion of subject specific skills high on the list.
The student-centred approach rather than the module-centred focus of traditional VLEs appeared to be a factor in increasing students' motivation. The social networking aspects of the e-portfolios (blogs/share tools) were regarded as a beneficial tool, especially in helping to engage 'isolated' learners.
Shaping institutional policy
In some cases the project has highlighted challenges for the partner institutions' respective business processes to accommodate an e-portfolio into the provision for students. This may be as complex as joining up the e-portfolio with other business systems or it may be as straight-forward as the need to provide e-mail accounts to students to establish initial points of contact.
Evaluation Methodology
The evaluation methodology provided useful information on the opinions of a range of people connected with the project. The emphasis on the qualitative rather than the quantitative aspects of the evaluation and the number of partners involved did mean that the logistics were difficult, especially in establishing cohorts and delivering the activities.
What follow-up activity will be/has been carried out as a result of the project?
The partners involved in the continuation phase considered the implications of encouraging wider scale use of e-portfolios in their respective institutions. This involved learning more about the workload implications for staff, the effectiveness of different software and the effectiveness of encouraging staff to become early adopters. Specific areas of interest were in following up on students as they progressed with e-portfolios, integration with PDP, recognising skills through audit/support, encouraging learners to become more independent and using e-portfolios to support possible 'transitions'.
Lessons Learned
What are the lessons learned from the project?
Isolated or Independent Learners?
Discussion took place throughout the project on the term 'isolated' and although it was felt to be valid in terms of the different types of situations learners may be in, it was also considered to have negative connotations. An alternative suggestion may be 'independent learner'. No learners who took part in the project were directly referred to as 'isolated'.
Resource implications
A project such as this not only requires a multi-layered approach in terms of the roles involved (to best discuss the production and delivery of a learning technology), but must also have access to multi-skilled teaching staff who can understand the aim of the project, be able to build such a pilot scheme into the curriculum and learn to understand the technology within a short timescale. Relevant support within their institution at a senior level as well as relying on the goodwill of colleagues is critical. Institutions adopting e-portfolios should not underestimate the amount of teaching needed to support learners in their use of the tool. Clearly most partner institutions had put in extra resources to help learners engage with the e-portfolio.
The experience of the project for UCLAN led to the conclusion that considerable human resource needs to be allotted for any open source development, perhaps outweighing any financial advantage over commercially available software.
User Perspectives
The evaluation showed that few students find reflection easy. An e-portfolio tool can provide some support for reflection but is not, on its own, the answer to the problem. Most students are motivated by the presentational function of e-portfolios. This needs to be realistic, which implies that users need to be able to publish their presentations outside of the system itself. More mature students were generally easier to engage with the e-portfolio tool and its potential than younger learners needing more external motivation and structure.
Ownership of data was not as much of an issue with learners as anticipated as far as the project was concerned. This could reflect the expectation, particularly in FE, where the tutor has freer access to certain elements of portfolio for the purposes of assessment.
Language Barriers
Language barriers were a significant difficulty in terms of differences in FE and HE approaches to personal development planning. There were also 'cultural' differences in the Americanisms used in open source software which caused some interpretation difficulties.
Regional Partnership
The project showed how a regional partnership such as this can be successful. The partners welcomed the inclusive way the project was run and all have expressed interest in continuing to build on the links forged through formal project work and informal networking. The project team has drawn parallels in approach with the CAMEL project and commend it as a model.
Further Resources
Stories from the regional pilots
FILE-PASS Final Report
FILE-PASS Final Report Appendix A
FILE-PASS Final Report Appendix B
FILE-PASS Final Report Appendix C
FILE-PASS Final Report Appendix D
FILE-PASS Final Report Appendix E
