Thursday 5 th June 2008

1. Telling Stories Conference To (US)B or not to (US)B…? - Portable applications as ePortfolio tools in teacher education Thursday 5th June 2008 Duncan Mackrill d.r.mackrill@sussex.ac.uk

2. USB e-Portfolio - background • Majority are web-based and either: • Institutionally owned • Commercially hosted (by subscription) • Many benefits but what happens when a student leaves an institution? Issues for Stephen Taylor (ex-Sussex) and I: Transferability • An ePortfolio should be transferable into the NQT year and beyond • An ePortfolio for ‘life’? Ownership • Whose data is it anyway? • Transfer of ownership from institution to individual

3. USB e-Portfolio - background Rationale: • Student (trainee) ownership (not institution/commercial) • Transferable i.e. into NQT year and beyond • Ability to use in school as well as on campus • Compatibility with school and university ‘systems’ Result: • USB Drive using portable applications for PC • Pilot eLiPort with PGCE Music e - for everything electronic Li - as in lifelong Port - as in portfolio

4. USB Advantages • Portability • Trainee take responsibility • Transferability from Initial Teacher Training course into NQT year and beyond • School and university work is all in one place • Familiarity – most people have a USB drive already and understand how to manage data e.g. folder structures • Inexpensive (4GB is about £10)

5. USB Disadvantages • If you loose it your ‘e-life’ disappears too! • Needs to be manually backed up regularly (so user needs to be organised) • Must be organised • Less easy to share than web-based • Limited opportunities for tutors to provide feedback • Fewer opportunities for interaction • Potentially a less ‘engaging’ interface

6. Benefits • Include: • significant reduction in the amount of paper/files • a user-friendly portfolio which can be shared electronically with others • use of portable applications (including a web-browser, a calendar/scheduler, back-up facility, audio recorder, media player, WP and Spreadsheet programs) • allows trainees to use their USB drive on any PC without the need to install software or have administrator rights - this has made a big difference to its use in schools.

7. Portable Applications • Include: • Web-browser • Calendar/Scheduler • Back-up facility • Audio recorder • Media player • Word Processor • Spreadsheet • Virus checker • PDF viewer • Available from:http://portableapps.com/

8. Trainee stories… In comparison to life before USB, it is so much easier.  Before I had to carry several folders around and this was highly impractical for a non-driving trainee teacher.  I also felt very bad about the amount of printing and photocopying I was doing especially as I know now that I will not use all of the dead trees in my folders!  The Eportfolio/USB way of doing things is amazing, I only take that to school, and this has everything I will need for the teaching day and my university commitments.  Although, I am slightly obsessive about backing up and where my stick is (it’s become like a child to me)! Basically, I think it's fantastic! I can look at any piece of work, or access any resources I need to any time. Also, as a keen environmentalist I feel I should point out it's a superb way of saving paper! Carbon-neutral e-portfolios next perhaps?!

9. Trainee stories… The applications…have proved most useful in unpredictable situations. By this I mean that when I have had to move classrooms as a surprise from room bookings, videos that I had saved for the lesson could still be used -phew! I do feel a sense of ownership…I prefer the portfolio to be on the memory stick rather than online for various reasons: I have more control over how I organise and structure things, and I can access it on any computer at any time whether there is an internet connection or not. This is really useful!

10. Trainee stories… It's 1.30am…and I have just managed to retrieve my folder from the ePortfolio entitled 'Lesson plans and Evaluations' which in one go when 'copying' and thinking I was backing up my files I managed to hit CUT instead!!!  I know, I can hear your cries, they are nothing compared to my own at 8pm last night!  It is easy to transport but it is easy to misplace As a Mac owner, I was concerned that the EliPort might be more of a hindrance than a help...With the use of a virtual machine, however (in this case 'Parallel Desktop'), I am able to negotiate the applications in exactly the same way as I would if using a normal PC.

11. Other comments… From a trainee, a little resistant at the start of the project: I’ve now become fairly obsessed by it…I now love the eLiPort - that’s progress! Thumbs up/green traffic light flash card to the eliport! For the future… An option of backing it up in cyberspace (would)… allow for another place to put you life as you know it during the PGCE in a 'secure' vault! Pop ups every week telling you to zip and back up all your files would be useful on the ePortfolio.

12. What next…? • All PGCE subjects at Sussex to adopt the eLiPort USB ePortfolio in September 2008 • Trainees to be given a 4GB ‘loaded’ USB stick containing: • Portable Applications • Professional Development Portfolio (PDP) and Record of Evidence of Achievement • Electronic versions of handbooks • Templates and forms for whole year • Calendar – with ‘alarms’ for key dates for year • Website being developed for support, information etc • FTP server to be utilised for trainees to back up their drive

13. Other findings • Trainees are very positive - only 1 has failed to engage. • Audacity, 7Zip (back-up application) and Open Office are the most popular applications • Trainees are keen to use eliPort in their NQT year. • Having all the forms, templates and handbooks in the same place has proved popular. Issues • Sorting out digital (or other) verification of electronic ‘evidence’ e.g. log sheets, targets, assessments • Occasionally an application does not open from the stick on a particular system - to be investigated. • Training and encouraging trainees (and tutors) across all PGCE subjects to adopt and engage with eLiPort.