Dharmadeo Luchoomun1 Joe McLuckie1, and Maarten van Wesel2 Prepared By: Aiswarya Gopal Ramya Ravi

Important Terms An e-portfolio is a collection of electronic evidence assembled and managed by a user, usually on the Web.[1] Personal development planning[2] means creating opportunities to think through, in a structured way, questions such as:  What do I really want to achieve from life?  What kind of person do I want to be?  Am I clear about my personal goals and ambitions?  Am I making the right decisions to get me where I really want to be?  Am I in charge of my life and my studies - or am I just hoping it all will work out somehow?

About the paper innovative approach to e-learning move towards collaborative use of PDPs integrated with e-portfolios as mechanisms for delivering such plans addresses the development of the VLE and the use of e-portfolios how collaborative e-learning is achieved at University of Dundee

Background Many universities are in the process of use of e- portfolios PDPs as the main means of students ‟ collaborative learning and assessment reduction in the number of courses formal lecture and written examinations

Three goals for competency assessment with e- portfolios (Tartwijk, Driesen, Hoeberings et al., 2003). :  Selection- Analyze suitability of a student  Diagnosis- monitor the progress of the student's needs through their e-portfolios.  Certification- determined based on the study requirements

PDP and e-portfolio development: policy implementation and practice Table shows the different ways how the e-portfolio can be implemented These artifacts are reviewed and evaluated This reflection exercise precedes the setting of future learning goals This paves the direction for the transformation of e-portfolios for professional development and supports lifelong learning

PDP and e-portfolio development at University of Dundee (UoD) The VLE at UoD “MyDundee” is made up of two servers: Online-course Delivery Server (ODS) and Content Management Server (CMS) e-portfolio is a subset of the CMS It is used to store 1. personal information 2. present personal competence matrix 3. learning plans and evidence of progress 4. achievement and reflection

Figure 1: A sample of the user-interface of a student ‟ s e-portfolio at the University of Dundee

Table: The traditional mode of course delivery and the new course structure that uses the VLE at the School of Education, Social Work and Community Education (SESWCE, 2008) During the faculty based and distance learning time  Students work on a number of research projects and assignments,  Produce both individual and collaborative reports  These are uploaded onto their e-portfolios  e-portfolio then provides evidence of progression, coherence and reflection as the student progresses towards course completion.

Fig: SITE(the Standards for Initial Teacher Education) template to assist students to provide evidence of attaining stated standards Required standards space to evidence of attainment of standards.

Student perception of e-portfolio development At the end of first module a sample of 26 students was issued an online evaluation questionnaire to complete. The aim is to identify which processes they were comfortable & which would require additional support during forthcoming faculty based teaching block 20 out of 26 students responded to the evaluation questionnaire. 6 students did not respond, stated time factor for non completion

This is justified because teaching, learning and assessment has been undergoing a transition from the traditional mode of course delivery to a blended learning format with support of VLE. Remedial support has been in corporate into the course at the introduction stage. More than 50% of students were able to successfully link folders their content area. The process of linking folders rather than files is a second level skill and one that would be required in the final stage of building an e-portfolio.

17 out of 20 students said they have shared their developing e- portfolios with their peers. Out of 20 only 4 gave really commented the development of e-portfolios of their peers and even tutors comments have been limited. So the importance of peer collaborative learning will have to be stressed at the introductory stage of the course and lectures. So encourage students at early stage and give grater emphasis on peer assessment.

Result and analysis We conclude by further interrogating the transition towards collaborative e learning. 1. Is it realistic to expect universities to adopt wide scale implementation of personal development???  Implementing PDP is feasible in the higher education sector.  Require a distinct culture change on both part of students and teachers.  It may possible to implement one year courses.  3 or 4 year degree programmes it will difficult.  Staffing implication are also considerable.

2. Can such implementation be achieved in an online format?  E-portfolio system was developed and its successful application with medical students  In Netherlands, for instance the use of such systems has been incorporated in the study of nursing, medicine and professional education.  The integration of a bespoke e-portfolio system with other system such as existing VLEs, student record system and management information system poses certain issues such compatibility.  Because of this Lancaster university has investigated the possibility of using their bespoke e-portfolio system with their chosen commercial VLE.

3. If an online implementation is chosen what competences will student need to develop, in order to successfully create and refine such plans???  Certain technical competencies among both staff and students.  More difficult is to change a universities assessment culture from one where the tutor is predominantly in control to that where students take more responsibility for the development of their own PDP’s and e-portfolios.  Students need to develop skills in the process of collection, selection, direction, evaluation and reflection.  Tutors develop their own assessment and tutoring skills.

4. What artifacts or resources are needed to be collected in order to demonstrate achievement of the goals set in such plans???  Collection of artifacts such as lesson plans, school placement reports, tutor visit reports, feedback on return assignments and reflection on discussion that take place in appropriate online forums.

5. What effect will such a migration to personal development plans have on the quality of the teaching learning and assessment????  End of the program majority of students have managed to complete their e-portfolios to a satisfactory levels.  Quality of teaching, learning and assessment through enhanced peer learning.

Conclusion We conclude that the move towards PDPs integrated with the use of an online delivery system such as an e- portfolio system would help both students and teachers.

Reference out-personal-development/