ePortfolio: a UK perspective on European developments

1. ePortfolio: a UK perspective on European developments Peter Rees Jones JISC-CETIS “…this is a really important point; we will have to re-engineer the data so that wherever you are in the education system the individual learner can demonstrate to another institution, an employer or to a parent, what they have done, how they are succeeding and who they are.” (Michael Stevenson head of DfES Technical Group, 6 January 2006)

2. Presentation Outline In this presentation I will: - • Review the background to current ePortfolio developments • Exemplify the use of ePortfolio in education & employment • Identify some of the key issues for research

3. PART 1 UK Overview • “By 2008 every pupil should have access to a personalised online learning space with the potential to support an e-portfolio.” • “In terms in the secondary school sector 79% of secondary schools reported that they encourage use of e-portfolios in 2006. In most cases this use was said to be encouraged for ‘some pupils’ (55% overall) rather than ‘all pupils’ (23%) (Kitchen et al., 2007).” Harnessing Technology Review 2007: progress and impact of technology in education, see: publications.becta.org.uk/download.cfm?resID=33979 The Harnessing Technology Review draws on a longer report: Scoping and evaluating E-Portfolios, April, 2006, an unpublished report by 3 Square Solutions for Becta and JISC: -

4. Defining ePortfolio • “ We define four broad purposes or forms of e-Portfolio: Transition, Assessment, Presentation, and Learning. The first three of these are developing quickly and are the focus of considerable effort… • The last is the most challenging to define and develop, but holds the promise of significant transformation of teaching and learning, and of yielding benefit to the individuals engaged in teaching, learning and development.” Scoping and evaluating E-Portfolios, an unpublished report by 3 Square Solutions: 5.2 findings Winkley et al 2006

5. ePortfolio & the Lisbon Agenda • “Whilst there is a supposition that e-Portfolios are a central tool for improving life-long learning, there is little evidence of their use (or demand for them) outside of formal education institutions.” (Winkley et al 2006) • True in the UK in early 2006? Only if we discount HR recruitment agencies providing simple ePortfolios for over 7% of the market. • Untrue of the public employment services in NL and Be • Untrue of the UK in 2007 engaging in employability through FP6 and FP7 projects. • And some of the largest projects are employer led, see: http://eduexchange.kennisnet.nl/attachments/session=cloud_mmbase+999325/3Portfolio_The_Nedcar_Employability_Challenge.pdf;jsessionid=4AFBA838DF5E6EB8C195957D19CD71D5 Key issues for research: The Relationship between the use of ePortfolios for education & HRM; The different approaches to ePortfolio of the private and public sectors

6. A key Problem: • Although unemployment is low, the workforce in England has significantly fewer skills than other comparable European states. Before taking office the new British Prime Minister commissioned a strategic report which recommends major initiatives to improve the skills of existing workers and the next generation of workers currently studying in school, college and university. One of the Market Failures in skills identified by the Leitch Report is Information Failure: “This occurs when the information available to individuals or firms is incomplete or imperfect, or when some have more or different information to others” For the Report of the Leitch Review of Sills in the UK see: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/leitch_review/review_ leitch_index.cfm

7. ePortfolio Europe and US • In the UK, as in NL, the emphasis is increasingly on “employability”: not just the transition from education to employment but also education in employment. • Within Europe national Governments and the Commission are setting policies requiring ePortfolio and funding delivery. • By contrast, in the US the federal Govt is not engaged although there are state initiatives focused on personal ePortfolios, such as Minnesota. • There are similar initiatives around portfolios for Vocational Education and Training by the Department for Education and Science in Australia. • Australia is reviewing the use of Europass: is this an opportunity to set a global agenda for the policies required to enable individual workers to benefit from the opportunities the new web is opening out? Key issues for research: The different approaches to ePortfolio within Europe and the contrast with US and China

8. PART 2 The Research staff ScenarioePortfolio for employment & education • Archaeologists discover a Viking City under a new shopping mall. • The Queen of Denmark gives your University the funds for a Conservation Lab • But it proves impossible to recruit a Research Assistant with the necessary expertise in a key area. • What is the role of e-Portfolio in supporting application for a job? • How can an e-Portfolio support a Masters Graduate develop her knowledge and skills to qualify for the Research Post? • And how in the longer term can e-Portfolio support the long term professional development of that individual? The Scenario is loosely based on a true story!

9. Scenario: recruitment A student at another University downloads the specification setting out the essential and desirable requirements for a Research Assistant job that leads to a D.Phil. 1. A web service calls the “person specification” for a particular job into a blank Structured Personal Statement.

10. Person specifications & e-Portfolio The applicant creates a Presentational ePortfolio within her Personal ePortfolio. She asserts how she meets the requirements and identifies the activities that led to these achievements 2. A WS helps the applicant link assertions and activities to create a Personal Profile in terms of the entry requirements

11. Person specifications & e-Portfolio 3 A WS3 allows the applicant to link her assertions to authentic evidence, such as a Masters Project 4 A WS 4 allows a referee to assess the application and provide a reference.

12. Scenario: recruitment • The 4 web services in this part of the scenario form a Profiling Service within the “e-Framework” (a UK, NL, AUS, NZ initiative) • The post is for an archaeologist with specialist expertise in bird bones • The best candidate is a zoologist with no archaeological experience. • She is offered a I year post as a technician with guidance, training in higher skills & education in archaeology • The e-Portfolio will allow an expert, advisors and work supervisors to advise and assess progress • The external expert from another University helps identify gaps in the profile and how they can be filled. He develops an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) with the technician for her to fill the gaps. • (an e-Framework Learning Planning Service is currently being developed) • The technician can apply again for the Research Assistant Post a year later.

13. Service Flow 1. The student discovers the opportunity. 2. She profiles herself against the opportunity 3. Her profile is assessed against the opportunity. 4. She develops an individual learning plan with the external expert to fill gaps Over the next year she learns through work (she develops a physical & digital repository) acquires specific skills and knowledge and applies them through a series of short reports integrating her zoological and new archaeological expertise

14. Service Flow 5. As she learns the technician can get on-line advice from the external expert & other advisors.

15. Service Flow 5. As she learns the technician can get on-line advice from the external expert & other advisors. 6. She is assessed on the higher skills + the repository of evidence + reports he has created

16. Service Flow 6. She is assessed on the higher skills + the repository of evidence + reports she has created 7. She creates a new profile of herself in terms of the requirements of the opportunity. 8. She gets the Research Assistantship and registers for a D.Phil

17. Service Flow If she wishes to take an Academic Trajectory the University Staff Development unit is likely to require the new Research Assistant to evidence her teaching, within an assessed e-Portfolio. A formal teaching qualification is then awarded

18. ePortfolio & the New WebIssues for research Many current ePortfolios are either VLEs or locked into VLEs. This is a dynamically generated view of distributed data that is often co-owned. Issues of ownership, trust and security of personal data emerge as key issues

19. PART 3 Some issues for research The scenario covers a formal process, but the rapidly increasing use of informal social software is a key issue for research : “Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all connected devices; Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an "architecture of participation," and going beyond the page metaphor of Web 1.0 to deliver rich user experiences.” Tim O'Reilly 2005 10 01 See:http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2005/10/web_20_compact_definition.html

20. Some Research Issues • Does the replacement of paper Portfolios by ePortfolios offer evidence for O’Reilly’s proposition? • Are ePortfolios limited to a VLE less effective than ePortfolios “using the web as their platform”? • Does the use of informal social software enhance the use of a formal ePortfolio? • And is there a logical distinction to be drawn between these worlds? • (For example the development of semi-formal social software either branding existing offerings such as Face book or copying their approach)

21. Some Research Issues:Personal Data for Policymakers • ePortfolio will provide intimate personal data in addition to other current developments: - • IN UK HESA collects data about all UK HE staff and students which articulates with school and college data & a new information model opens the way to the tracking of individuals throughout life. • The social status / income level of individuals can be derived from Mosaic data • By 2010 national IDM solutions should be federated at European level so that the information about me in England can be accessed in any member state. • These developments offer great potential for streamlining administrative processes and for assisting groups in danger of being left behind by the dynamic growth of a knowledge based economy. Will European Citizens take advantage of the opportunities that these developments offer them if they cannot exercise control of who can access their personal data and for what purpose? What are the key research issues for the Trust, Security and Identity Management (IDM) services individuals require?

22. TRUST & SECURITY • ePortfolios in education or employment need to be trusted by the owner if they are to be of use • Dirk Van Rooy, responsible for the security of Personal Information for the Commission, spoke recently on this key need at Maastricht. • This is part of a broader social contract between the individual and the employer or the educator. • The FP7 Trusted Architecture for Securely Shared Services TAS3 Project is addressing the technical issues of Trust and Security. • But this requires input from researchers on the wider social context

23. ePortfolio & Research • The JISC e-Portfolio Reference Model focused on services within the e-Framework: http://www.e-framework.org/ • JISC would like to make the services we are developing available to other countries and adapt the services they have developed for use in the UK (e.g. NL & Be work on competency services for employment) • Repositories are a key element for future ePortfolio architectures, but UK has limited expertise in the use of repositories for Personal Information and could learn, for example, from the current work of the University of Koblenz-Landau. • How can JISC (and other bodies) best engage with the Research Community. • And what value do you offer JISC and other stakeholders? • Are there any messages from this meeting that I can report back to the JISC consultants meeting on 26 November?