PDP & e-Portfolios

event
Originally uploaded by YSJU e-Learning Department.

I spent most of Wednesday at an event in Leeds entitled 'E Portfolios, a beginner's guide', hosted by the RSC-YH.

The format of the event was a combination of speakers and workshops. Opening the day was Professor Peter Hartley from the University of Bradford. The presentation have an introduction to e-Portfolios and an overview of the current position in relation to their development. One of Peter's main messages was that in order to engage the digital learner, as educators we must also engage with technology. This point was highlighted when the audience was asked which of them owned an e-Portfolio, to which very few responded positively. Peter also commented on the trial of PebblePad at Bradford and was impressed with this as an e-Portfolio tool.

A lot of discussion was had throughout the day, but one of the main themes was how institutions intend to use e-Portfolios. It was decided that they can either be a voluntary tools, allowing students to document their achievements, reflect on their learning asess their own skills gaps and perform their PDP. Students can then invite people to view certain areas of their portfolio, be this a potential employer, or their parents checking up on them. The alternative is the same tool, which still allows the students to perform all their Personal Development Planning, but which is formalised by being assessed/monitored in some way by academic staff. Neil Currant (Bradford) and Chris Murray (Leeds Uni) have been working on a project called 'Enhancing Learner Progression' (ELP), which seeks to answer issues such as the one above.

Workshops on the day examined two different e-Portfolio tools:

• Elgg (Terry Wassall - Leeds)
  Elgg is an open source e-Portfolio type tool. It is largely a social networking web application, which allows users to create and share reflections through blogging tools, participate in discussion forums through 'community memberships' and manage resources, such as files. An example of elgg in use can be found at http://eduspaces.net/ which is a really useful resource/community for people interested in e-Learning.
  
• Pebble Pad (Colin Dalziel - Wolverhampton)
  This is a commercial e-Portfolio tool, developed at the University of Wolverhampton. The interface is very slick and is developed in flash. The design is customisable and there are a plethora of features allowing users to record all types of achievements. Users can also set up their own 'Web Folios', which are basically websites, on which they can put information about whatever they want. Other Pebble Pad users can be invited to share/comment on resources. This is a very polished tool and a mobile interface is also in development, which I have seen in action on a colleagues mobile device. www.pebblelearning.co.uk

Some website links here:

• JISC e-Portfolio Guidance Website
• Pebble Pad
• RSC-YH Website