Identity and e-portfolios A short stimulus presentation JISC-CETIS conference Simon Grant JISC-CETIS Portfolio SIG joint coordinator

Identity... Discussion between Scott and myself dwelt on:  Some people like to have a unitary identity  Other people like to keep different identities apart  Tools should not make it easy for one of these groups while neglecting the other

... and e-portfolios E-portfolio services are all to do with personal information management & presentation If people like to keep identities separate then they will want to manage their e-portfolio information in line with these separate identities In this way, they will (easily) be able to present appropriate information to different groups of people

Presentation of self in everyday life What we want to present to different audiences typically varies along with the identity we wish to project while with that audience (Goffman: playing “parts” in various “performances”) Several things often go together  the typical kinds of setting one is in  the people one is with, along with their values  the role(s) one takes on  the values one expresses by words or deeds  one's clothing, grooming, posture, manner, etc.

Personal appearance can be an indicator of a change of context, in a sense that relates to identity  would we be “presentable” to that audience? “I wouldn't want them to see me like this...” Formality – informality is just one dimension Conformance to values and expectations is closer to the point

Personal identity context This is a link concept to focus this area of work Meaning: all those things which often go together  setting, group, role, values... Together with a sense of “propriety”  proper in one context may not be proper in another What information, about oneself, in one context, would one not want people in another context to know? People may have some choice about the granularity of distinction between contexts

Personal ethical development (1) Proto-identity rooted in family / carers & upbringing  Perry: dualism Exposure to other contexts with different values, e.g.  School, official activities  Peer group, playground, “locker room”, gangs, crowds  Back channel interactions in formal settings  Work (with wide internal variety of contexts)  Perry: multiplicity and relativism Actual and potential conflict of values  but this may only be slowly recognised  Perry: danger of “retreat” or “escape”

Personal ethical development (2) Working towards things like...  Core values extending gradually across contexts  Integrity, purposefulness  Making choices in line with core values  A positive learner identity across contexts  Choice of educational institution / employer by values  Ethical alignment leading to better engagement  Using ethical profile to find congenial others Perry: commitment within relativism Jourard: courage to be oneself with others (Need to check all this against Erik Erikson)

Technical implications Information relating to personal identity contexts (or whatever term is used) needs to be stored and communicated  by e-portfolio-related services  if using tags, the tags need to be powerful Personal identity context is very strongly implicated in permissions and presentation Infrastructure is necessary for common terms when referring to values (as it is with competency) Identity services could take personal identity context into account

Suggested questions to discuss Can e-portfolio services and techniques help clarify and manage values, in this way, relevant to identity? What infrastructure could support implementation?  and what is needed for the e-Framework? Are these identity issues related to other identity concepts, such as the technical ones? Should personalisation include taking into account people's personal identity contexts? Which issues merit being discussed further at a meeting on identity in April?