Functionality of an ePortfolio

ePortfolios and Functionality

I was recently asked to suggest what are the functionalities that one should expect of an ePortfolio for Vocational Education and Training. The following pages attempt to outline my expectations of any ePortfolio for a reasonably able VET or FE student.

R J Tolley September 2010

Ownership Firstly, and most importantly, I see the ePortfolio as generating ‘Pride of Ownership’. The ePortfolio is a student directed self-representation and as such is a selection of those artefacts, reflections and opinions that the learner chooses to share. The ePortfolio is NOT therefore the totality of all learning experiences, resources and scrap exercises that one amasses in college. – Those are best stored for the duration of the course within the MLE. In terms of functionality, therefore, the ePortfolio allows the learner to select what they choose to present.

Organisation Secondly, and related to the above, the student should be capable of organising the layout of pages in a logical order, of providing links to external repositories. Sometimes a recording of a dialogue as in an extended blogpost with comments might be in a linear or chronological order or sometimes by topics.

Tagging should be appropriate to the learner’s needs.

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ePortfolio Functionality

R J Tolley September 2010

Formatting Related to #2, the templates, colour schemes, fonts and graphical features should be capable of being selected by the owner to further reflect the learner's style or self-image.

Rich Media A good ePortfolio system should be capable of displaying any media type. If 'a picture is worth a thousand words' - how much more a video or an audio recording? The number of quality media formats increases almost week on week and thus the ePortfolio system should not be limited to conventional 'Office' stereotypes. The ePortfolio may not be allowed unlimited storage capacity for every single media-file that the student may possess, but these can always be linked from external repositories.

Widgets Well,

any

lightweight

tools

that

might

assist

productivity, such as a calendar or RSS feeds etc are useful. They also indicate something of the learner's approach to technology.

R J Tolley September 2010

ePortfolio Functionality

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Security Some VET students on some courses may be minors or at least ‘transitional’. It is therefore necessary for minors, and in some cases for ‘adults’, that the ePortfolio is capable of security and easy selection of audiences. It should be possible for different parts of the ePortfolio to be seen by different audiences and at controlled times.

Personal Data Related to ‘Security’ is the whole matter of how much personal data the learner chooses to record within their ePortfolio. Certainly there is seen to be a great advantage if the student is encouraged to keep their own personal data up-to-date within their ePortfolio.

Typically, change of address, contact numbers, change of name or next of kin, external qualifications etc can all be easily and immediately updated within their ePortfolio

and

appropriately

exported

to

the

institution’s MLE or MIS. Other background information about family commitments, travel arrangements, previous academic progress etc are also useful for a tutor or mentor to see – if the student chooses to give those permissions.

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Collaboration As part of the learning process, the ability to work in teams, to share ideas, and to benefit from peerreview and thus reflection, it is essential that, as above, the learner can choose who has access to pages within their ePortfolio for the purpose of mutual stimulus.

Feedback Feedback should be at times fun, stimulating and yet at other times supportive. It is therefore essential that a number of feedback tools eg for polls, surveys, comments or Likert Scales are embedded within the ePortfolio.

Audit Log Traceability or the possibility of tracking ‘who said what and when’ is a useful tool within the educational process. Not only should tutors be able to see the record of their feedback to the learner – and how they have responded to the comments - but similarly, learners should be capable of evidencing the actual comments from peers, warts ’n all, and record how they have reacted to advice given.

R J Tolley September 2010

ePortfolio Functionality

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Scaffolding The ePortfolio should be capable of scaffolding in terms of the degree of guidance tutors may wish to give their students. Admittedly a larger proportion of guidance, resources and assessment tools etc should be held within the MLE. However initial guidance and links to the MLE so as to get the student started can be embedded with the ePortfolio. As ‘scaffolding’ this can be dismounted as and when the student feels able to do without it.

A PLE (Personal Learning Environment) ?

For some students the functionality of the ePortfolio can be more closely related to their learning styles.

Some may see the ePortfolio as a 'Planner', their 'todo' lists or a 'scrapbook'. Others may be skilled enough to provoke and record multiple conversations related to different subjects within their course. Yet others will use the ePortfolio as a mobile desktop with all their favourites, links or family photos. In each case, the ePortfolio is their comfortable 'friend' or 'butler' (to quote from Helen Barrett's Metaphors).

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R J Tolley September 2010

Longevity If the ePortfolio is to take off then there needs to be engendered some sense of ownership and purpose. Not only ‘showcasing’ whilst on a course of study, but also capable of being useful to the owner in years or decades to come. 'Lifelong Learning' is not just something lecturers talk about, it's something that students actually do! The collection and collation of artefacts lend themselves to building up an everexpanding life-story which is an invaluable aid to reflection.

Flexibility It is logical that a class, cohort or whole school would use the same ePortfolio - and yet any such scenario will include students having a range of abilities and needs. If the ePortfolio is to be truly 'Lifewide' it should meet the needs of all abilities, from the potential PhD student, to those with accessibility requirements or to the shop-floor assistant with special learning needs. Technically, therefore the ePortfolio should be simple to use and yet capable of 'advanced' features that the more curious can access.

R J Tolley September 2010

ePortfolio Functionality

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Portability Related to Longevity is the whole business of Portability, ie the ability for a student to ‘take their ePortfolio with them’ from one institution to another, and sometimes attending two or more institutions at the same time, moving on from one job to another and even ‘between jobs’.

Evolution Well, it’s an easier word than ‘metamorphosis’ ! If ‘portability’ is added to ‘ownership’, ‘organisation’ and ‘formatting’, it therefore becomes obvious that the efforts and self-image of the owner will mature with age. – Certainly the ambitious imaginations of a teenager will mature into the more professional selfrepresentation of an experienced adult. Another aspect of 'metamorphosis' that I sometimes use is that of the chameleon, not so much for 'camouflage' but rather

that

of

adjusting

to

circumstances

and

audience. The 'view' I might present to a junior audience would inevitably be quite different to that which I might present to a professional interview panel.

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Multiple Personas Any learner has more than one side to their life. The student may choose to represent themselves to their friends as a fun-loving musician. To others, as a serious and sensitive craftsman. To others, a healthy sportsman and energetic worker. To others, a budding theologian or conservationist. Although there may be several areas of overlap, the way one chooses to represent him/herself to a selected audience is important. There is no value in throwing everything at a potential employer, for instance, who only wants to see a certain selection from the above list. The ePortfolio should therefore be capable of displaying these different ‘personas’ or ‘views’ using appropriate pages from the one bank of resources within the ePortfolio.

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Support Over and above educational support, a good ePortfolio system will have a range of support services including context sensitive help, on-line help, forums, hot-desk technical support and, where required, progressive upgrading without the usual demand to buy extra addons etc.

Interoperability As yet this is not a realistic function in terms of all the above requirements. Far too many vendors of ‘in house’ systems claim that their product will export through IMS or Leap2A. However, such promises leave much to be desired. The export/import function only transfers a zip-file of pre-configured artefacts which are then dumped to the new system and the learner then has to start from scratch and re-build their new ePortfolio

to

‘cosmeticisation’

the that

standards the

of

owner

layout

and

believes

best

represents themselves.

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R J Tolley September 2010

About the Author: Ray Tolley has been a teacher of Design & Technology and problem solving since 1963 and of ICT since 1981. Since retiring his company (Maximise ICT Ltd) has continued to supply staff support and more recently has developed eFolio particularly for the UK market. For further information about eFolio check out the links below.

Ray Tolley

FEIDCT, NAACE Fellow, ACIQ, MBILD

ICT Education Consultant Maximise ICT Ltd P: http://raytolley.v2efolioworld.mnscu.edu/ B: http://www.efoliointheuk.blogspot.com/ W: http://www.maximise-ict.co.uk/eFolio-01.htm E: support@maximise-ict.co.uk Winner of the IMS 'Leadership Regional Award 2009'

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