Evaluating a transition ePortfolio
Phil Harley 14-19 Transition Strategy Manager
City of Nottingham Local Authority, UK
ePortfolio CETLs & DeL projects seminar University of Nottingham–July 20th 2006
Functional Definition
A collection of authentic and diverse evidence (drawn from a larger archive)
Representing what a person/organisation has learned over time (after reflection)
Designed for presentation to one or more audiences for a particular purpose
Process and Product
Key priorities for Passportfolio Improving transition Personalised Learning Improved advice and guidance Improving and tracking progression Encourage partnership working Recognising all achievement
PassportfolioLearnersAchievement Zone
Reviewing Zone
Presenting Zone
TeachersInformation ZoneStudent Zone
Achievement ZonePersonal dataWork RelatedCurriculumWork ExperienceAchievementTranscript
Reviewing ZoneStudent Self ReviewCEG ProgrammeSkills AssessmentIndividuallearning plan
LIF
LONG
L I F E W I D E
Presenting ZoneApplication formsTranscriptCurriculum Vitae
Enquiry Application Induction
Passportfolio Messaging service Work – a multimedia online
space Diary – personal reflection
area Research space Reminders of targets Ask Aardvark advice &
support function
Reviewing Zone
STEP 1: About Me
STEP 2:
My Skills
STEP 3: My
Learning Styles
STEP 4: My
Ambitions
STEP 5: Getting Started
STEP 6: Getting There
STEP 7: Setting Goals
Individual Learning Plan
A checklist for schools and colleges Technical capabilities e.g. storage Interoperability with other services Usability e.g. navigation Possibilities for social interactions Differentiated materials Links with MIS Can impact be measured
What could we evaluate? Quality of applications Effect on induction & retention Social interactions What it adds to the curriculum Usability Enjoyment, engagement & motivation Raising self-esteem, self-awareness &
empowerment Its effect on learning
What we did evaluate? Meeting stakeholder needs Usability Reviewing zone activities The process of writing a personal statement The personal statement Levels of enjoyment Levels of self-awareness
How did we evaluate? (1)
Methods Focus groups Observation Questionnaires
Pre activity Activity Post activity
How did we evaluate? (2)
Four institutions
11-16 city school – year 9 11-18 county school – year 10 11-18 city school – year 12 FE college - level 2
Findings (1)
Perceived usefulness 93% said e-portfolio would be useful and gave
reasons
Usability 88% felt confident with software
Findings (2)
Activities 84% said they were enjoyable and 88% said they
helped in writing a personal statement
Enjoyment 86% enjoyed using Passportfolio whilst 57%
found it stimulating!
Findings (3)
Self-awareness 76% learned more about themselves using the e-
portfolio
Personal statement 91% were happy with personal statement and
95% felt it reflected the kind of person they were. 84% wanted examples
What they said (1) “I like this because no one has ever asked
me what I’ve achieved before” “I realise that I have achievements even
though it isn’t in school” “It would be good for jobs, colleges and
university applications” “It would be useful to keep track of all my
work and what I want to do”
What they said (2) “I get to look over what I’ve achieved in life” “It will store all my information I’II need for
jobs or college” “I’ve written down things about myself that I
usually wouldn’t have thought of” “I liked writing about myself because I never
realised how much I have achieved” “It made me look at myself”
Some difficulties in evaluation Evaluation as part of the design process Many other factors influence a personal
statement Impact will need to be determined by
longitudinal studies Decide what to evaluate, incorporate in
project before use
Success factors
Identifying institutional priorities and offering to solve problems
Recognising cultural differences Championing and enabling partnership and
collaboration within an independent framework Supporting the varying levels of awareness and
technical knowledge
Issues around future developments Students need ULN early E-portfolio as private and public document Moving portfolio across and around institutions Single sign on Accessing qualification databases/verification Links with e-assessment Ownership issues Transition data e.g. reports from schools and
progression data back to schools Linking to other web services
References The original e-portfolio can be found at
www.cityofnottinghampassport.com Details of the Centre for International e-portfolio
Development at Nottingham at www.nottingham.ac.uk/eportfolio
An article giving more detail on Passportfolio ferl.becta.org.uk/
www.becta.org.uk National policies at www.dfes.gov.uk Definition at www.eife-l.org