Where Do I start work-based learners first experiences

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

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

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 workbased learners, tutors and institutions work.

Project Strands Colleges and Technologies • City of Sunderland College : Blackboard and PDAs • Gateshead College : e. PET • South Tyneside College : Blackboard/LX Tools • All partners : Student driven Web 2. 0 technologies

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.

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.

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 e. PET (support by University of Newcastle EPICS team) • Both a reflection tool (Learning Autobiography) and Professional Development file – log of teaching, tutorial records, action plans,

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

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.

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.

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.

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. ”

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”

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”

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. ”

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.

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

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…

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 Pebble. PAD. 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

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)

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

Will People Blog?

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.

Emerging Themes & Issues

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 ‘Com. Port’ 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