An e-portfolio as empowering tool to enhance students' self-directed learning in a teacher education course: A case of a South African university

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore Economics student teachers' views on the usefulness of an ePortfolio as an empowering tool which can enhance self-directed learning in a teacher education course at an open distance learning university. For the sake of this article, an interpretive bricolage research analysis was employed for data collection and a purposive convenient sampling was selected to collect data. Only PGCE (Senior Phase/Further Education and Training) SDEC00N students (n=367) which were registered students per module on myUnisa were targeted. Multiple pieces from the ePortfolios that were considered for the purpose of this study were their written assignments for creative writing, a research project, lesson plans, reflective journals entries, podcasts, blog postings, PowerPoint presentations and digital video clippings (DVDs) of classroom lessons. Data were collected and analysed on a weekly basis to create a bricolage of information from the data. Several themes emerged from the bricolage of information and practical implications were highlighted for higher education.

Self-directed Learning in Music Teacher Education: Perspectives from Pre-service Music Teachers in South Korea

“…Teachers are responsible for their own learning process and outcomes in SDL (Bullock, 2013;Seo, 2010). A positive SDL learning environment enhanced the teachers' teaching practice (Haidari et al, 2019;Slavit & McDuffie, 2013;Tillema, 2000;van Garderen et al, 2017;van Wyk, 2017). Teachers who have successfully achieved fruition in their teaching practice through SDL will eventually impart the similar approach to their students (Lai et al, 2013).…”

Developing consensus on content & format of e-portfolio for MHPE students: a Delphi study

“…Alongside the traditional methods of assessment, the use of eportfolio for evaluation and training of MHPE graduates will empower MHPE students to achieve personalised competencies by fostering critical thinking and reflective practices. Reflection has been emphasised over artifacts so that the e-portfolio may not become an electronic scrapbook (5,6).…”

Reflection on the Use of E-Portfolios During Teaching Practicum at a University of Technology in South Africa

“…It involves teaching in an authentic and simulated classroom environment (Department of Higher Education and Training, 2015). First, TP includes aspects of learning from the practice of teaching in the form of observations and reflecting on lessons taught by others, as well as learning in the practice of teaching which involves preparing lessons, teaching, and reflecting on lessons presented by oneself (Van Wyk, 2017). During this period student teachers who are registered full-time for a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.…”

“…Portfolios have been broadly recognized and applied to develop prospective teachers' reflection competencies in the last two decades (Carl & Strydom, 2017). It is a media that facilitate student-teacher's reflections on their knowledge building and complex realities in their teaching practices (Van Wyk, 2017). They are given guidelines within which reflections about their knowledge and teaching practices are scaffolded.…”

“…It can provide opportunities for reflective practices and provide a potential for collaborative learning (Pallitt, Strydom & Ivala, 2015). E-portfolios can promote immediate feedback from both peers and lecturers (Van Wyk, 2017, Pallitt, Strydom & Ivala, 2015.…”