1 E-Portfolios & Student Blogs Duncan Gillespie and Robert Brown

E-Portfolios & Student Blogs  Introduction o Dumfries and Galloway College has developed this tool to support students and assist them to develop employability skills and integrate work in other areas of their course. They maintain the e-portfolio and can include photographic evidence from practical workshops, and use the e- portfolio to shop window for self promotion and employment.  Aims o The e-portfolio helps the learner gain skills which will have a long lasting and positive impact on their learning, improve learner retention, progression and achievement. It supports lifelong learning and encompasses the concepts of personal development planning and evaluation. 2

The aims re-iterated:  Help learners acquire skills which will have a long lasting and positive impact on their learning  Improve learner retention, progression and achievement rates  Support lifelong learning and wider participation by meeting the diverse and individual needs of learners in an efficient and effective manner. 3

At its heart:  is the belief that the ability to offer individualised support for learning is enhanced through personal development planning using an e-portfolio.  is that learner groups are supported in the PDP activities by an academic member of staff. This is achieved by: o Incorporating PDP activities into the learner tutorial hour OR o Incorporating PDP activities into a suitable unit(s) that is part of their existing programme e.g. employability skills, personal development planning, career planning, freelance working skills, personal awareness and development. 4

E-portfolios & Student Blogs - Examples  Blank eportfolio as created. Blank  Blank eportfolio Stevenson College Blank  Blank eportfolio Angus College. Blank  HND Computing Student. HND  Int 2/Higher Engineering Student. Int 2/Higher  Int1 Engineering Student. Int1  Pre-Apprenticeship Construction Student. Pre-Apprenticeship  Construction Student progressed to apprenticeship.apprenticeship  Motor Vehicle Student. Motor Vehicle  Sport Student Sport  Sport Student progressing from Access to BTEC level 3 Sport 5

E-portfolios & Student Blogs - Examples  Support blogs are used to support whole class activity.  They provide the learner with access to lesson plans and lesson material without the need for logins and therefore breakdown barriers.  The global translator plug-in is used to support learners who’s first language is not English.  Used to support inhouse, external and school classes.  Examples o Dumfries High School Hospitality School Provision Dumfries High School Hospitality o Media Studies School Provision Media Studies o HE and professional qualifications in Computing HE and professional qualifications in Computing o Sport Sport 6

Staff Training  Specific training with individual staff members or programme area cohorts.  Generalised initial lesson plan to get new staff started.  Requests to train class groups where their tutor is also present.  Development of Staff Development online course.Staff Development 7

HELP  Changing our mindset to include and accept that evidence can be used from an e-portfolio.  How do we know what is acceptable in demonstrating evidence?  Will External Verifiers accept e-portfolio evidence?  Do External Verifiers know what an e-portfolio is? 8

9 Thank You – Any Questions?