MyWorld e-Portfolio Project A case study and usability study

1. MyWorld e-Portfolio Project A case study and usability study George Roberts Oxford Brookes University Ellen Lessner Abingdon and Witney College 22 June 2006

2. With thanks to… Ellen Lessner Irmgard Huppe Rhona Sharpe Jim Hyndman Nick Jeans Dave Pickersgill Seb Schmoller Julia Duggleby Alan Dibble Anne Jones Ruth Hilbourne Alice Fox Cherie Woolmer John Lidgey Glenis Lambert Adja Cici and many many more • Richard Francis • Fawei Geng • Neil Smith • Zack Wragg • Liam Kilgarriff • Ian Ibbotson • Rob Tice • Stan Stanier • Joe Rosa • Sasha East • Shirley Borrett • Chris Foss • John Webber • Bonnie Ferguson • Edwina Bell • Artie Vossell-Newman Abingdon and Witney College

3. Brookes: Certificate Teaching in HE Brookes: Social Care Travel required CMALT Access to HE in FE Professional CVs for Recruitment BLITZ CV Builder Professional Pathways HND Multimedia Access to Art Refugees in HE Arts Foundation Wine Studies PGCE Primary Abingdon and Witney College

4. myWORLD Project Aims • Implement the Petal ePortfolio Software and pilot up to 10 case studies in post compulsory education • Evaluate these case studies and their impact on learners and institutions • Develop a stable installation configuration of the Petal ePortfolio tool and pilot this installation on at least four servers • Enrich the eportfolio experience for the learner by integrating Web Services Abingdon and Witney College

5. e-Portfolio Programme Abingdon and Witney College

6. Abingdon and Witney College

7. Key scaling issues • installation • localisation of the hierarchy • localisation of the presentation template(s) • localisation of the UI (principally as regards data input) Abingdon and Witney College

8. Evaluation OSP1.5 not good enough (but we knew that) • Wait for 2.1 on Sakai - out now • But, only suited for institutions with high IT readiness factors • Develop “simple” appropriate technology solutions for smaller institutions • e.g. php “CV Builder” as a Moodle activity to be run in a Moodle module • Learner centred? • less so than some e-portfolio systems • but, are any? Abingdon and Witney College

9. MyWorld Scenarios • Higher Education • Oxford Brookes University, Health and Social Care: “Fit for Practice” – E-portfolios as tools in competency assessment for future social workers • University of Brighton, Arts and Music Degree • Further Education • Abingdon and Witney College: Tutorial process on an Access to HE course • Plumpton College, Wine Studies: Mature students HND – BA/Sc level • Sussex Downs : HND Media studies • Adult Community Education • CUPP: Refugees: Variety of literacy levels plus ESOL • CUPP: Community Arts: Entry level literacy • Oxon CLSU: CV creator • Professional Institutes • CILIP: E portfolios for practical use by a professional body • CMI: e-portfolio for Chartered Professionals • CIPD: ePortfolio alternative to CV • ALT: Learning Technology Professionals Abingdon and Witney College

10. Access to HE – Tutorial module • The plan was… • Use the ePortfolio to begin the reflective process needed to produce a good personal statement for a UCAS application • Make the ePortfolio available to the interviewing tutor at the university • Be a third type of CV – part of the criteria for tutorial credit Abingdon and Witney College

11. What the students (both IT novices) said… • “I wish this worked better. It is really useful to put all your experiences and qualifications in one place.” • “When I went for my interview, I was the only one there who knew what an e-Portfolio was! I was really chuffed to be able to hold my own with the tutor who interviewed me.” Abingdon and Witney College

12. What happened in reality… • The software didn’t work until October so the students didn’t use it to reflect on their ‘life’ experiences to develop their UCAS statement. • Graphic guides needed designing for each step of using PETAL. • Customising the software to suit the students was not straightforward. • I had help from others but PETAL was located on the ALT server and I’m not technical! Abingdon and Witney College

13. Lessons learned • The learners really liked the idea of the e-Portfolio and were disappointed that it didn’t work better. • The software has to work from the start of the year. • It must be easy to customise to suit the group and easy to use by the individual. • Too many logins were involved for the IT novice – the network, the VLE, remote access if off site and the PETAL login • Use of the e-Portfolio had to be linked to a credit or there wouldn’t have been any incentive for them to use it in its current state. • A considerable amount of time was needed to demonstrate it and to sit with those who were not IT competent. Abingdon and Witney College

14. Petal and Accessibility Meetings • June 05 with George Roberts and Ellen Lessner • Initial look at what accessibility tools worked and what needed further consideration • 13 October with TechDis, K-Int, selected Case Study partners • Agreed to produce an accessibility report using TechDis expertise • December 2006 with Alistair McNaught and Ellen Lessner • Looked at the practical issues of accessibility (accessibility statement) • Commissioned Peter Rainger to do an accessibility audit (now completed) Abingdon and Witney College

15. Accessibility and usability • Formal ‘accessibility’ testing might show Petal is ‘accessible’ • Is it usable by the range of people included in the case studies? • ‘Wish’ list contains features which cross the boundary • “…the concept of needing helpsheets is a bit of a dead giveaway regarding usability…. I don’t see many helpsheets on Amazon!” Abingdon and Witney College

16. Accessibility statement link here (first in line) on all pages. Statement to include link to TechDis tool download plus how to customise browser options Examples from the ‘wish’ list • Accessibility statement to include how to customise browser views for font/size/colour and a link to free TechDis toolbar Abingdon and Witney College

17. Back button needed on all pages or browser back button will be used (also back to Welcome page) • Key to what the symbols mean on each page (information/delete/add/edit) Key to symbols 1. delete back Back button on each page plus symbol explanation • If you use the browser back button, you can get thrown out of the portfolio Abingdon and Witney College

18. If possible to customise setting or choose a different look of PETAL, option here. • ‘Enter’ ‘Share’ on centre page should be hyperlinks as well as menu on the side (usability/accessibility) Customise settings before or on entering Petal • User preferences could be available on the Welcome page with links, including back to the Welcome page, on all other pages Abingdon and Witney College

19. No comment pop up to say ‘edit element (as it does with ‘add’ and ‘delete’) Pop up comments • Used on some areas – ‘add’ and ‘delete’ – but not on ‘edit’ Abingdon and Witney College

20. The ability to manage what displays on a screen is fundamental to accessibility • Management of the data structure • Publishing and then being unable to edit or hide various elements • Template output • Setting user preferences as part of PETAL instead of relying on browsers, Windows/Mac interface or independent software Abingdon and Witney College

21. Was it worth doing? • We have said ‘yes’ to participating in the extension to the project if the software upgrade increases usability. • Everyone has seen the value of it in the long run. A colleague who used it decided to apply for a management position. • For more information: ellen.lessner@abingdon-witney.ac.uk 01235 216276groberts@brookes.ac.uk • 01865 484871 Abingdon and Witney College

22. Continuation OCSLD Blitz AWC Plump ALT Brookes Joe Rosa K-Int Interoperation Abingdon and Witney College

23. Continuation project aims • Implement OSPv2.1 software • Repeat a cycle of trials with three successful case studies • Abingdon and Witney College, access to HE in FE • Plumpton College, career planning in Wine Studies • ALT, Certified Member of ALT scheme (CMALT) • Run a CPD trial with academic staff at Oxford Brookes University • Implement PHP-based CV builder, in a Moodle course and trial • Blackbird Leys Community IT Hub • To test interoperability between • the CV Builder and the ALT CMALT system • the Brookes CPD system and the ALT CMALT system Abingdon and Witney College

24. Abingdon and Witney College

25. Thank you! George Roberts Oxford Brookes University groberts@brookes.ac.uk +44 (0) 1865 484871 +44 (0) 7711 698465 Ellen Lessner Abingdon and Witney College ellen.lessner@abingdon-witney.ac.uk +44 (0) 1235 216276 Abingdon and Witney College