Ticket to ride Engaging students in personal learning journeys The role of e portfolios Alan Howe Andrea Collins

Structure of the SW Degree Year 1 –two semesters in university Year 2 –semester one in practice 100 days –semester two in university Year 3 –semester one in university –semester two in practice 100 days

Problems we experienced with paper based portfolios Lack of opportunity for formative feedback Lack of personalisation or ownership Poor evidence of use of a practice log Little evidence of development of learning between placements Dull and boring to read leading to possibility of poor decision making Assembly of portfolio stressful for students (2 x A4 copies of pages) Admin time approx 2 days needed Moving and handling –100 portfolios per cohort Printing and postage costs Sustainability

Traditional portfolio – e portfolio

e portfolios on SW Degree pebblePad e portfolio –introduced to students in year one –forms basis for reflecting upon and recording Personal Development Planning (PDP) throughout three years of degree –to be used by students to reflect upon and record their learning journeys Students can take their e portfolios with them, when they complete their SW degree, as the foundation of their Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Year Two Practice Placement We ran a pilot with 8 students and 4 practice assessors/educators 08/09 Students reflected on and recorded their learning experiences in practice Student’s e portfolio (webfolio) shared with practice educators and tutors during placement Assessment was on line

Examples

The student’s voice - Carly

The student’s voice - Paul

The practice educator’s voice - Sharon

The practice educator’s voice - Barbara

Student Evaluation 1 Students welcomed the opportunity to personalise their webfolios Most found the blog tool (practice log) useful in recording their practice experiences Able to link to web sites and make links between blog and National Occupational Standards (NOS) Easier to organise their material compared to paper based portfolio

Student Evaluation 2 Built their webfolio as the placement evolved rather than wait until last few weeks Shared their experiences more readily with practice educators Felt more supported and received more formative feedback For students with dyslexia, easier to organise and to write

Practice Educator Evaluation Access to Blog facilitated Practice Educators’ ability: –to be better informed about the students’ daily activities on placement –to observe continuous development –to monitor student performance They felt the students actually took more responsibility for their own learning on placement Found webfolios saved them time and it was easier to complete their assessment

Problems experienced with paper based portfolios Lack of opportunity for formative feedback Lack of personalisation or ownership No evidence of use of a practice log No evidence of continuity or development of learning Dull and boring to read leading to possibility or poor decision making Assembly of portfolio stressful for students (2x A4 copies of pages) Admin time approx 2 days needed Moving and handling –100 portfolios per cohort Printing and postage costs Sustainability

Advantages of e portfolios Students received formative feedback from practice educators and tutors Greater sense of personalisation and ownership Student learning was recognised to be enhanced and deepened Practice blog used extensively to reflect upon and record practice webfolios were readily shared with practice educators, tutors and others Created a community of learners Assessment was made easier Reduced workload of assessors Webfolios were easier to read and navigate Reduced stress and cost for students Saved admin time Students enjoyed using them and eager to build on their use for year 3 placement

Future Plans Year 2 –Roll out of pebblePad webfolio for all level 2 students and assessors September 2009 Year 3 – Plans to use webfolio for Jan 2010 placement

Post Qualifying Award Opportunities to develop pebblePad for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) beyond qualification as part of life long record of learning

Thank You Questions?

The End Contacts