Where Do I start? work-based learners' first experiences of online reflective journals

1. Where Do I start? work-based learners' first experiences of online reflective journals

2. The COMPORT Project • A collaborative project involving three FE Colleges in North-East England • Piloting the introduction of different e-portfolio systems within HE in FE programmes with work-based learning components. • Establishing a standard framework of metrics to collect data consistently • Other key outputs: evaluation report, case studies

3. Focus of Project Outcomes • Comparison of the use of e-portfolios across different courses and institutions • Gain knowledge that will help the HE in FE community make choices about the implementation of e-portfolio/PDP technologies with work-based learners • Gain insight into how e-portfolios may influence the way work-based learners, tutors and institutions work.

4. Project Strands Colleges and Technologies • City of Sunderland College : Blackboard and PDAs • Gateshead College : ePET • South Tyneside College : Blackboard/LX Tools • All partners : Student driven Web 2.0 technologies

5. City of Sunderland College Foundation Degree in Service Management • A programme in its second year, year 2 learners with focus on PDP modules • Learners (mainly school administrators) were issued with PDAs for collecting evidence • Use of Blackboard as a means of collecting evidence, communicating and reflecting, using customisable templates from Dundee University.

6. South Tyneside College Foundation Degree in Marine Engineering • A new programme with a small initial group of learners. • Learners spent part of their course on duty ‘at sea’ : a perceived need to maintain contact and support learning. • Blackboard used with Campus LX tools. – in particular to support reflective blogging. • Potential issues with on-line access whilst on placement.

7. Gateshead College Certificate in Education/PGCE • A large number of first and second year trainee teachers • Reflective learning is central to professional development • Using a customised version of ePET (support by University of Newcastle EPICS team) • Both a reflection tool (Learning Autobiography) and Professional Development file – log of teaching, tutorial records, action plans,

8. Learner Driven Strand • A late addition, responding to growth in learner-driven Web 2.0 approaches • Focus on FD Music students in each partner college • No intervention : collecting data on use to provide comparison for main project

9. What Happened? City of Sunderland College • Smooth implementation. • Well integrated, widely used and appreciated by learners. • High level of support from tutor and e-learning team. • PDA’s : less impact.

10. What Happened? South Tyneside College • On-line access problematical during placement. • Some learners made substantial and valuable use of system, most didn’t contribute. • Staff buy-in was limited.

11. What Happened? Gateshead College • Delayed implementation due to course issues and need for customisation : missed crucial induction period. • Focus on reflective journals (blog), limited use of on-line PDP forms. • Student engagement variable, some highly engaged. • Issues around integration with main programme.

12. Student Comments - Induction and support • “There was not enough initial explanation of the system and how it works.” • “Navigation not user friendly – hard to find way around and didn’t flow” • “I had support from college to master the technology all the way through.” • “Scary for someone not IT literate.” • “As a dyslexic person I need the blue paper on top of a print-out, so the on-screen material isn’t much use for me.” • “When introduced too much at once.. now I can handle it - couldn’t understand it until I’d used it.”

13. Student Comments - Online Journals • “it was great to be able to put down your thoughts without thinking ‘is this academic writing?’. You could just let the thoughts flow” • “We’re complicating something that doesn’t need to be complicated – reflection IS important .. (but) all I need is a diary.” • “It’s a diary and I’ve never had a diary in my life” • “Didn’t always have to come to college to get feedback from tutor....instant feedback was given on the entries. • “Permissions – could control who had access to it” • “It is a good tool for reflection – when I read back over it I couldn’t remember feeling that way, so it was useful”

14. Student Comments - Dialogue/Sharing • “Good to share learning and to voice opinions.” • “Didn’t use it much.. nervous about others seeing it & wasn’t sure it was set up ‘privately’.” • “Comments from colleagues need to be thought through – there were some careless comments that undermined the learner’s confidence in continuing with the blog.” • “I wasn’t ‘brave enough’ to let others read. When others did feed back to me it really worked.” • “It is a good tool for reflection – when I read back over it I couldn’t remember feeling that way, so it was useful”

15. Student Comments - Overall • “Potentially a powerful tool for cross-referencing, uploading resources, lesson plans and for pulling different things together in one place, it’s quite useful but I did not use it to its full potential.” • “Didn’t use it: it seemed a lot of additional work without obvious value.. I assumed we needed a hand copy for assessment.” • “Thrilled with it and proud of it – huge sense of achievement shared to lots of people.” • “Brought out creative aspects of work, more visual with photos, exciting and colourful.” • “Could access it at home or work.”

16. Emerging Issues (1) Learner engagement and feedback • Importance of timely training and feedback. • Tutor contact time • Learner inhibitions about the process. • It takes time to encourage sharing and for it to become natural/common practice Employer and Mentor Engagement • A challenging area – difficult to nurture and sustain.

17. Emerging Issues (2) Staff Buy-in • Time : need to be confident before working with students • Support too often relies on goodwill on part of staff • Managing learner expectations No ‘One-Size fits all’ answer • Must tailor to institutional AND programme needs

18. Conclusions (Implementation) • Not the same as a VLE. • Match the e-portfolio system to the programme • Timing of introduction is significant • Staff buy-in is critical. • Learner inhibitions regarding reflection, means that support, feedback and time are needed. • Success depends on the quality and suitability of support and feedback to learners • Web 2.0 potential not yet tapped…

19. Where are we going next? City of Sunderland College • No single e-portfolio tool for all needs. • Adapt to meet employer needs and particular learner needs South Tyneside College • Using the experience to help introduce the concept to the current cohort. May consider PebblePAD. Gateshead College • Experience has informed the production of organisational guidelines. • No single e-portfolio tool for all needs. • Migrated to system that is standard for specific professional area

20. Contact Details • Project website & contact details: • http://comport.gateshead.ac.uk • Phil Robinson (phil.robinson@gateshead.ac.uk) • Andrew Robson (andrew.robson@gateshead.ac.uk)

21. END Following Slides May be Used in Future Presentations • …..

22. Will People Blog?

23. Initial Learner Views How do you think the e-Portfolio/PDP process can help you achieve your learning goals? • It allows you to capture issues that will affect your development in a real time basis. For example a particular lesson that stimulated thought or an experience with-in ones individual teaching. This will allow the individual to record and then reflect on the situation. • By collating all of my work and being a good referral tool. But I also think it will add to my workload and I think I will struggle to find as much time as I would like to complete all of the sections due to work/college/family commitments. • I can reflect on my practice and maybe learn from others who are posting their blogs too. • This is completely out of my comfort zone and new to me , so the use of this system will hopefully improve my IT skills. • Help better organisation of files. Cross reference against skills and outcomes.

24. Emerging Themes & Issues

25. Emerging Themes & Issues

26. Who we are We are not e-portfolio experts • We are practitioners/managers delivering HE programmes in FE institutions • We think that e-portfolios can actively enhance the HE student’s learning experience. • Hence the ‘ComPort’ Project: a JISC-funded HE in FE project piloting e-portfolio systems in four local F.E. institutions • The focus for this project is implementing and comparing existing technologies: today we will share our experiences