Finland
- eportfolios for teachers - goal?
to refresh teaching methods
2 prong strategy for teaching teachers
- training given in use of ICT for educational purposes (general education?)
- training also given on content specific issues, prof. applications, learning objects, development of communities (context specific)
Norway
- eportfolios for students - goal?
- for assessment
- for improved school / parent review
- major tool for reform in HE
Italy
- portfolios for students
- for formative assessment
Catalonia
- eportfolios for students - language focus
for assessment .. of lang learning development
- record competencies
- promote management of lang learning on a life long basis
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Policies on Portfolio use
Netherlands
- eports for
- assessment
- competency development
- employability
- lifelong learning
UK
- eports for students
- assessment .. with student involvement
- identify key stage development
- personalized tool for learner use
- eports for HE students / workers
- focus on good practices
- pdp
Switzerland
- eports for personal training in ICT related teaching competencies
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Case studies
- 4 types of portfolios
- assessment
- showcase
- development
- reflective
TieVie portfolio structure - schematic of what it looks like
Students
perceived benefits
- feedback from real users
- improved motivation / fellowship
- improved interaction / sharing of knowledge
- personalizable
perceived negatives
- labour intensive
Teachers
perceived benefits
- same as students +
- promotes new learning processes w/ theory & practice integrated better than previously
- increase S metacognitive skills
- personalize activities more
- more parental support
- Ss reflect on their learning goals more
- Ss more autonomous
perceived negatives
- privacy may be an issue
- time demands
- tendency to see summative evaluation take over
- increased work load for both T & S
limitations also noted
- technology - concerns about interoperability / scalability / transferability
- impact of culture on implementation (ie. Italy vs Norway) ...
the change must be viewed as meaningful .. to justify the commitment to training, review, reflection by both student and teacher
issues
- degree of standardization to use
- use of a new tool = need for new competencies / training (i.e. new ways to work together)
- privacy rights
- access rights
- portability
- parental access (can be negative if no training given to parents)
key themes of the paper
- competencies
- assessment
secondary themes
- personal development
- self reflection
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1 comment:
My observations from this article?
There appears to be a tremendous focus on assessment and competencies in the use of eportfolios. To a lesser extent reflection and personal development are also seen as being important.
There certainly is a sense of general excitement about the prospect of finding new assessment methods .. or types of assessment (opportunities for easier more detailed, longitudinal review of student work; presonalized, reflective student work?)
It's also interesting to see how culture impacts on the take up or success of eportfolios (i.e. Italy vs Norway). Like any other change, it must be seen as meaningful if it is to be accepted .. if one is to justify the commitment to training, review, and reflection by both student and teacher.
This reminded me so much of Petit's work (H807 - Innovations in eLearning) and the need for a form of cost / benefit analysis by teachers, students & administrators to really understand how an innovation such as eportfolios could be successfully implemented. His short checklist also sprang to mind.
Whatever the innovation.. it's successful implementation will largely be determined by
- its relative value (what is the value proposition of the idea ...does it more than offset its costs. There is almost never a simple benefit without cost)
- ease of use /of uptake by others (its transferability, trialability / observability - how easy it for others is to "see" and "try" .. and realize these same benefits being espoused by others)
- cultural compatibility (is the introduction of eportfolios culturally appropriate .. will it fit into the working culture of our society, our work environment, our department)
There are also a number of obstacles to overcome before one can realize successful implementation. Just a few of these include
- clarity of purpose (why do we want to use eportfolios? are we clear as what we hope to gain by using them?)
- degree of standardization / support integrated with eportfolio development (increased standardization - offsets lower freedom of choice & personalization)
- privacy - clarify who has access to what? (reflective comments can reach beyond the scope of "formal" education to include other personal development issues. Should teachers have access to this? If they do, what then?)
- interoperability - transfer of work (how easy will it be for a student to transfer their months or years of effort into another system once they choose to or have to leave?)
- high training overhead (training for students, but also for teachers and even parents to maximize benefits & minimize costs)
- increased workload for teachers & students (time required to review, reflect, develop, assess)
In short, while the eportfolio has tremendous potential and opportunites, it presents some equally formidable obstacles that need to be considered if any organization of any signifcant size is going to have success in realizing full implementation of an eportfolio program.
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