The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project The Teacher e-Portfolio for Northern Ireland (Te-PNI) Project Issues and Challenges Catherine Gormley RSCni Victor McNair University of Ulster

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project 2 The Project To develop the concepts and specification for a career-wide and career-long teacher e- portfolio. (06-07) To trial e-portfolio processes and to test software platforms. (07-08) Test and refine processes Development and dissemination 09-10

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project 3 Te-P Group GTCNIRTUCASSSchoolsC2KUCETNIBECTADE Partners

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project 4

5 A collection of authentic and diverse evidence of teaching competence that has been the subject of reflection, synthesis and selection for presentation to a professional audience for a specific purpose Definition

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project 6 UPS and Thresholds Performance Review Staff Development Evidence of Competence PRSD Portfolio (Annually) HEIs GTCNI Continuing Professional Development (Career-Long) Education Phase How Learning is Recorded (Milestones) Lead Agency Teachers Career Progression Formative Profile Report Initial Teacher Education Career Entry Profile Induction Portfolio Professional Development Activities Induction Early Professional Development Teacher Leadership Accredited Courses Professional Qualification for Headship NI Assessments and Certificates: Chartered Teacher Status Education and Library Boards (CASS) Regional Training Unit SchoolsHEIsSchools Early Teacher Education (3 Years) Scope

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project 7 Rationale

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project 8 1.E-portfolios develop through a process of reflecting, selecting and presenting evidence of development 2.Based on GTCNI teacher competences/ National Standards for Headship (NI). 3.New forms of evidence need to be agreed across the whole profession. 4. User ownership of all e-portfolio content. 5. Organisational provision must conform to the Te-PNI specification. 6. E-Portfolio processes must be commonly understood across the profession. Principles

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project 9 A Regional 5 Board Project 21 Schools NI Wide 24 Beginning Teachers 21 Teacher Tutors All Sectors Represented Primary Post Primary Special Controlled Maintained Voluntary Irish Medium Integrated Induction Project Partners

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project 10 Teaching & Learning E-portfolios must produce real improvements in innovative practice that have the support of all professionals. Technology and Standards E-mature teachers need software that is fit for purpose, robust, adaptable and which can provide benchmarks for learning. Strategy and Policy The Te-PNI project seeks to integrate with and inform professional development and e-learning policy initiatives Partnerships A fully integrated and portable career- long and career-wide Teacher e-Portfolio Relationships have been established with key UK agencies and our aim is to develop these into real working partnerships where learning is shared and joint projects are developed.

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project 11 Software

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project 12 BMC Presentation Outcomes

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project Key Findings from the evaluation 1.E-portfolios had a positive impact on teacher development across a range of the mandatory professional development milestones that teachers undertake. 2.Student teachers and their tutors gave a positive endorsement to e-portfolio-based processes of Action Planning and Formative and Career Entry Profiling. 3.Students expressed a range of concerns including technical problems, duplication of paper-based and online activities and having to operate the software. 4.PGCE students had positive views towards their personal experience, whereas B.Ed. students were more cautious, suggesting that B.Ed., students, at the initial stages of their career are still developing their awareness of the importance of the plan-teach-reflect cycle.

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project Key Findings from our evaluation 5.Beginning teachers and their tutors were exceptionally positive about the benefits of e-portfolio-based professional development. 6.School-based tutors largely mirrored the views expressed by beginning teachers and focused on the effectiveness of the technology to support more strategic and long-term benefits. 7.There was a strong positive correlation between users engagement in e-portfolio-based reflection and their identification and development of areas for improvement. We have distilled this correlation into a three-stage model of e- portfolio use, Reflect-Identify–Develop illustrated on the next slide

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project Reflect Identify Develop Model of e-Portfolio Application Developmental Model

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project Main Issues Project - Strategic Vision Inform and where appropriate changes to the teacher professional development milestones submit recommendations for policy to DE/DEL/ESA Identify implication for infrastructure development

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project Main Issues Te-PNI – to date – a pilot of e-portfolio process within current professional development milestones Much more CPD activity than these milestones – need for the development and maintenance of a central database of CPD activity linked to the database – (CPD Find a Scottish Online Support System)

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project Main Issues Valued links with C2K have provided much needed guidance on the interface between technology and policy and have highlighted the need for more coherent provision in relation to: –Advice on procurement issues and strategies; –Coherent Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs); –Expertise on technical and infrastructural standards and protocols; Need for discussions around hosting, management and maintenance of a centralised e-portfolio system Licensing model with Pebble Pad – business model unsustainable in the long term or numerically – DE?

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project Other Issues How each region and or sector (HEIs, CASS, Schools) would organise its provision including proformas, resources, guides etc.; How separate sectors would organise access to the e-portfolio software (for example through GTCNI Registration); How different groups would identify different needs for specific users such as FPR, CEP Induction, EPD PRSD; - training issues Helpdesk support and Gateway system from PebblePad Working Group looked at open source, embedded software and single licence embedded software and single licence met compliance and interoperability requirements for pilot Need for comprehensive review be undertaken as a precursor to any business plan for procurement.

The Teacher e–portfolio (NI) Project 20 Contacts