Special educational needs, e-learning and the reflective e-portfolio: implications for developing and assessing competence in pre-service education

Abstract

This article reports on the use of e-portfolios to assess aspects of a one year, post-graduate pre-service teacher education programme in Northern Ireland within the specific context of special needs education. The rationale for using an e-portfolio for programme assessment and the potential it offers in demonstrating a range of teaching competencies is examined, with participants in the study challenged to develop their individual e-portfolios by selecting and presenting evidence for assessment drawn from a wide range of sources. In so doing they were asked to reflect upon their personal, academic and pedagogical learning and development across the pre-service year. The article also reports on the individual student experience of building an e-portfolio and attitudes towards its use for assessment purposes within pre-service education and beyond. Finally, it considers the potential for using e-portfolios across all phases of teacher education.

Diverse delivery methods and strong psychological benefits: A review of online formative assessment

“…For the purposes of delivering OFAs, four primary methods have been employed in the research (Bälter et al, ; Benson, ; Lambe et al, ; Vonderwell & Boboc, ). These include multiple‐choice tests, the one‐minute paper, e‐portfolios and Web 2.0 tools (e.g., blogs, wikis and discussion boards).…”

Students’ perspectives on e-portfolio development and implementation: A case study in Taiwanese higher education

“…Western students tend to regard e-portfolios as learning tools for self-reflection and learning evaluation since teachers emphasise active and evidence-based learning, and such students customarily update their e-portfolios without prompting. Although Taiwanese students display obvious concern for the practical value and benefits of developing e-portfolios, most perceive e-portfolios to be useful for showing capabilities (Lambe et al, 2013). This study reveals attitudinal factors, such as perceived usefulness, affect Taiwanese students' intended use of e-portfolios.…”

“…Guideline 5 helps students recognise the value of developing an e-portfolio (R to M) and realising their responsibility for maintaining an e-portfolio (A to M). In other words, once the culture of e-portfolio use for learning and teaching exists, authors gain inspiration to include a variety of representative artefacts in their e-portfolios (Hart Research Associates, 2009;Lambe et al, 2013).…”

“…In this learning context, the electronic portfolio (e-portfolio) represents an active and creative learning tool consisting of both authentic learning and reflective thinking (Barrett & Carney, 2005; Buzzetto-More & Nicole, 2010;Lambe, McNair, & Smith, 2013;Zubizrreta, 2009). The notion of using e-portfolios on campus for learning, teacher training, and as tools for performance assessment began to flourish in the early 1990s, particularly in Western countries (Clark & Eynon, 2009;Hart Research Associates, 2009;Mason, Pegler, & Weller, 2004).…”

Reflection for Action: Designing Tools to Support Teacher Reflection on Everyday Evidence

“…There exist proposals to support written reflection using digital journals (e.g., Lindroth, 2015), as well as e-portfolios (e.g., Winberg & Pallitt, 2016), with a variety of purposes, from teacher assessment (Lambe, McNair, & Smith, 2013) to the creation of professional learning communities (e.g., shared through social media, Kennedy, 2016).…”