1. EXPLORING SELF AND PEER ASSESSMENT WITH EPORTFOLIOS AND BADGES STYLIANOS HATZIPANAGOS, KING’S LEARNING INSTITUTE CHARLES KASULE, CENTRE FOR TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING

2. EPORTFOLIOS FOR SELF- ASSESSMENT AND REFLECTION

3. EPORTFOLIOS…...offer students/staff a digital technology that is both a personalised learning space owned and controlled by the learner along with a presentation tool for formative assessment purposes. Some Key Uses: Self-Assessment purposes (reflection and personal development) Peer-assessment (encouraging dialogue, sharing, e.g. facilitate the replacement of email by some more substantial form of communication) Demonstration of Achievements (Academic/Professional developments and Career planning)

4. SELF ASSESSMENT Has been used for assessment as an alternative to exams and assignments. Seek to address criticism that conventional assessment fails to take account of context in which teaching practitioners perform. Reflective statements with supporting evidence have become the core of the portfolio in many academic development programmes.

5. DEMONSTRATION OF ACHIEVEMENTS Allows for thematically organised portfolios (focused on position requirements) Focus of reflection: Suitability for position Tools: multiple digital options available for inclusion Choice of portfolio owner/contributors – Personalised webpages Creation of unique digital footprints Personal online branding

6. EPORTFOLIOS IN KING’S Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in Higher Education (King’s Learning Institute) Targeting novice lecturers/tutors, PhD students with a teaching role, librarians and information specialists who have chosen to study a ‘Supporting technology enhanced learning’ module. Jack’s ePortfolioJack’s ePortfolio Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery Teaching and Learning for Healthcare Professionals - This is designed to enable students to further develop their knowledge and skills as educators of health care practitioners and provides the Practice teacher qualification. Teacher Compendium - This module enables students to draw together the learning across the Postgraduate Certificate of Clinical Education in order to meet the NMC Teacher standards. Modern Language Centre Used to support 10 hours of online independent learning on term one modules across French, Italian, German, Spanish and Portuguese modules. King’s Experience Used as an assessment option for demonstration of experiential learning for various King’s Experience Awards (Global, London, Enterprise, Interdisciplinary). Carly’s ePortfolioCarly’s ePortfolio

7. SOME EVALUATION OUTCOMES – STEL MODULE Overall a positive experience : o ePortfolio system is easy to access, navigate and use o appreciation of portability and adaptability of the portfolio and opportunities to use it as a career development tool A tension moving away from an evidence free academic essay format Theory informed and reflective, not and anecdotal account Positive comments from Programme external examiners However… Safe approach of producing content and communication aspect underused A significant distance from the paper-based version?

8. KING’S EPORTFOLIO SYSTEM

9. PEER FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT WITH OPEN BADGES

10. PEER ASSESSMENT DEFINITION Peer assessment is to be understood as an educational arrangement in which students assess the quality of their fellow students’ work and provide one another with feedback. Dochy et al., 1999

11. PEER ASSESSMENT Peer assessment is frequently underused in online learning environments. Its informal learning value is not exploited by peers as it is not explicitly linked to summative assessment activities. There is a reluctance to participate in such peer review activities and an ambivalence of tutors in relation to their value. Informal aspect is not clearly or meaningfully embedded in the learning process.

12. RATIONALE Use of digital badges to support peer feedback and assessment in higher education. By the use of open badges in encouraging and rewarding competences, knowledge and skills acquired in digital learning spaces, we aimed to reinforce the value of peer assessment and by extension peer feedback and review activities in supporting student learning.

13. METRICS Assigning badges was a semi-automated process. Use of the learning environment triggered automated assignment of badges for metrics associated with use of the learning environment e.g. in the context of computer mediated communication, learning behaviours were monitored and examined when students used discussion fora and the social media communication. Metrics such as number of posts to a discussion forum, number of log-ins, response to other posts, sharing content and reflections were used. Other badges were deployed by application and evidence of achievement, moderated either by the module tutors, the project team or by peers on the course. A protocol for awarding a badge was developed by the project team in collaboration with the module tutors and learners e.g. we specified the group of users who could approve or reject badge awards. Evaluation of the project activities was carried out by collecting data from the online learning environment, using focus group interviews and by end of module and programme evaluation questionnaires.

14. PROJECTIONS By rewarding positive behaviours the participants would feel more motivated to complete learning activities. The aim of this approach was to manage any motivational drops that can commonly be experienced in online/blended courses. Participants were encouraged to push their practice beyond the central learning design journey and engage in the more challenging aspects of the activities provided. For example, in terms of their engagement with a wider community, and development of their identity and responsibilities within, across and beyond that community. The project would provide a mechanism for self-reflection by the academics engaged in the study. They would be able to evaluate the benefit of using a badging system within their own course designs.

15. CONCRETE EXAMPLES For example, the ability to award a badge to your peer evaluator if they provide good constructive advice on your work.

16. CONCLUSIONS: DIGITAL BADGES Motivation is not a key driver in using badges, at least for teaching practitioners Establishing professional identity using badges is linked to generational attitudes; Perception of value of badges for summative assessment; promotion; recruitment and employability Badges as a ‘Trojan horse’ for recognizing and embedding transversal skills in university curricula