Effective practice with e-portfolios: How can the UK experience inform implementation?

Abstract

This paper introduces the background to the JISC work within the e-portfolio domain in the UK and presents an overview of past and current activities and the drivers for these developments. This is followed by a review of JISC's approach to drawing out the learning and implications for e-portfolio practice from this extensive collection of work and its dissemination. The analysis of twenty one recently funded projects involving the use of e-portfolios in the UK is introduced. The findings suggest that eportfolio implementation is particularly complex in part due to the number of stakeholders involved, the contexts in which e-portfolios can be applied and the number of purposes they can have. This research suggests that there are threshold concepts related to e-portfolio implementation and that developing an understanding of effective practice is not straightforward. However a means of supporting this understanding is suggested. IntroductionThe JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) is a UK-based organisation which enables colleges and universities throughout the UK to benefit from the use of digital technologies. JISC invests in research and development in the innovative and appropriate use of emerging and existing technologies, and shares expertise through a range of specialised services providing information, advice and training, a trusted technical infrastructure and access to a wealth of digital resources.Within the JISC e-Learning program (JISC, 2009a), funded projects and activities are working towards a vision where UK further and higher education are enabled to create a better learning environment for all learners, wherever and however they study. This program incorporates five main areas of activity -e-assessment, e-portfolios, learning resources and activities, e-administration for learning and teaching, and technology supported learning environments. In the area of e-portfolios, JISC aims to explore and develop effective practice in the use of e-portfolio systems and tools through the codevelopment of standards and piloting of e-portfolio related technologies and standards. They work in partnership with other sectors and bodies to develop and provide guidance to institutions on effective practice in the use of e-portfolios to support lifelong and lifewide learning. 16Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2010, 26(1) JISC work in the e-portfolio domain, the drivers for this and the approach used to disseminate effective practice are discussed below. The later part of the paper discusses research into the outcomes of projects implementing e-portfolios and the approach used to enable projects to capture evidence of benefits, user experiences and issues. The evidence captured reveals tangible benefits for users but the lessons emerging from projects have also revealed a number of common and often unhelpful preconceptions about e-portfolios by those introducing them. We then suggest an approach to supporting the implementation of e-portfolios that explores the notion of threshold concepts ...

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