ePortfolio in Teacher Education and Academic Further Education

Private and professional life is more and more shaped by rapid changes in society and technology. That’s why continuous further education is essential in order to meet the new requirements. In the context of lifelong learning, this article focuses primarily on “learning to learn” as a key competence (European Union, 2018). Therefore, it is essential to develop the ability to self-regulated learning (Zimmerman, 2000) in the first phase of academic training and beyond. Learners must be able to plan, carry out and evaluate their learning process. In order to monitor it successfully, it also requires the ability to reflect. One instrument that can help learners to regulate their learning process is the ePortfolio (McAllister et al., 2008). In an ePortfolio learners can set their goals individually, document and reflect on their progress with the help of artefacts and thus assess their learning strategies and adapt them, if necessary. Futhermore, outcomes of informal learning can be presented within an ePortfolio as well as outcomes of formal learning activities. For example, in the field of teacher education ePortfolios are used quite widely. The ability to reflect one’s actions is an important aspect of professionalism, which helps teachers to improve their teaching (Schön, 1983). Therefore, it is important, as a prospective teacher, to be able to realistically assess one's own abilities and to know how to acquire new competencies. Teachers have to question their actions constantly and adapt them if necessary. In the German State of Baden-Württemberg keeping an ePortfolio is obligatory for students during the practical phases and is continued in the second phase of training, during the internship. A second field, where ePortfolio is gaining importance, is the academic continuing education. The Academy of Advanced Studies at the University of Konstanz offers academic programmes for professionals. A pilot project will be launched next semester in the part-time bachelor study programme in “Motor Neurorehabilitation” for qualified professional therapists in healthcare. Primarily, the implementation of an ePortfolio in this context aims at giving learners the opportunity to manage and personalise their own digital archive (collection of documents). Secondly, it enables the students to reflect more consciously the inputs and outputs collected - particularly during the time they will be attending their practical internships. Thus, the participants should develop a stronger reflective and critical thinking with regard to the acquired new methods and the experiences collected. Furthermore, the ePortofolio should facilitate group work and encourage interaction with other colleagues (peer review) and/or instructors. This paper discusses the possibilities of using ePortfolios in teacher training and in academic further education. Based on a theoretical concept for learning and professionalizing with ePortolios in higher education and life long learning, as mentioned before, the potentials in the different fields of application will be presented. Furthermore, we will point out the difficulties and challenges associated with the introduction of an ePortfolio. Finally, an outlook on what is planned for the further development of ePortfolio at the University of Konstanz will be given.

Editorial: Ireland’s Online Learning Call

The editorial board of the Irish Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning (IJTEL) would like to use this opportunity to thank each and every one of you working through a very challenging time over the past twelve months of the pandemic. It is a significant event, a critical incident, that will take some time to document and reflect upon in future journal editions. So many words have already been written about this past year that try to capture the disruption and change. However, to summarise even a scintilla of what has happened across Irish higher education is a slightly daunting prospect. We have seen various terms used to describe the rapid shift to teaching and learning online, such as milestone, pivot, emergency remote teaching. None of these fully encompass the myriad of ways that those of us working in education have had to become resilient, responsive and supportive of colleagues during this period. Considering the response from members of the educational technology community within Ireland, one could argue that the term overwhelming is a good starting point. For a start, a tsunami of work ensued, that at times threatened to engulf individuals. Education ‘pivoted’ from a position where online was generally a supplementary or complementary activity to one where in an online mode, we became the campus. Systems and processes were hastily altered, modified or expanded far beyond anybody’s expectations. While some of those have creaked and groaned, we have managed to teach classes, run meetings and carry out assessments; run on-campus labs and social distanced teaching; in short, we have kept going. People have been inventive, innovative and extremely hard working. But above all else, they have been generous; generous with their time, their expertise and generous in spirit.

Exploring the potential of digital teaching portfolios to support in/non-formal professional development for those who teach in Higher Education

It is broadly recognised that professional development (PD) to enhance academic practice amongst those who teach in Higher Education (HE) encompasses a range of approaches; while there is an established culture of accredited PD provision – particularly for early-career academics – literature points to a preference among more established faculty for non-accredited or informal PD activities such as workshops, projects, conferences, professional dialogue, experimental approaches or activities related to the scholarship of teaching and learning (Ashgar and Pilkington 2018; Kálmán et al. 2019; Spowart et al. 2017). The provision of accredited PD is now commonplace in the Irish context and many Irish HE Institutions offer programmes in academic practice at Graduate Certificate, Diploma or Masters Level (Maguire et al. 2017; Maguire et al. 2015). However, evidence also points to a long-standing culture of engagement in in- and non-formal PD activities among Irish HE teachers (Kenny et al. 2015). This has been recognised in the Irish National Professional Development Framework which is underpinned by an ‘acknowledgement of the spectrum of activities that could be considered under the umbrella of PD’ (National Forum 2016a; National Forum 2016b). Thus, a considerable amount of the professional learning that is undertaken to enhance academic practice takes place through experiential or work-based practices including communities of practice, conversations with colleagues and practice-based innovations (Knight et al. 2006; Nerantzi 2015; Warhurst 2008). Furthermore, there is a growing body of literature highlighting the use of portfolios to support academic professional learning activities and reflective practice in Higher Education (Costelloe et al. 2019; Hamilton 2018; Hoekstra and Crocker 2015; O'Farrell 2007; Pelger and Larsson 2018). Described as ‘a purposeful collection of evidence, consisting of descriptions, documents and examples of what is good teaching for the teacher’ (de Rijdt et al. 2006, p.1086), portfolios are being used in multiple ways to support PD: to provide evidence of a quality approach to professional development, to document teaching practices for the purposes of promotion, to showcase and reflect on academic practice and to provide evidence of engagement with PD activities. An eportfolio adds an extra dimension to the affordances of a more traditional portfolio through the potential inclusion of multimedia artefacts such as audio, video and text to capture, share and reflect on academic practice. Bearing in mind the Irish HE context and the recent introduction of the National Professional Development Framework, this paper will explore the potential of eportfolios – and specifically digital teaching or professional practice portfolios – to support, document and evidence the wealth of non-accredited and in/non-formal professional learning undertaken by HE teachers to enhance academic practice. Drawing on semi-structured interviews carried out with Irish HE teachers in three institutions in the Mid-West region, this paper will consider how digital teaching portfolios offer a space to capture, evidence, reflect on and share the wealth of practice-based and in/non-formal PD in which HE teachers engage.

Eportfolios as Reflective Assessment of Social Justice

This article explores the potential for eportfolios to contribute to the development of student critical awareness of social justice, including the role of the university as a social justice actor, through module assessment. It will critically address how eportfolios were introduced in 2019-20 to assess student reflection on social justice in a first year law module ‘Critical Approaches to Law’ at DCU. To date, there has been a slow adoption of eportfolios in Irish higher education (Farrell 2018). Although there is some evidence of reflective assessment in comparative legal education, especially in schools with an emphasis on socio-legal approaches to law, and in clinical legal education, there is limited analysis of eportfolio assessment in classroom-based or blended legal education, (Waye and Faulkner 2012) and none in the Irish context. The article will discuss the motivation to use eportfolios; the benefits, challenges and lessons learned in the design of the assessment, and the first time experience for the educator of marking and student experience of eportfolios. It assesses eportfolios as a mechanism for prompting student reflection and the development of critical thinking, (Farrell 2019) with a particular reflective focus on social justice and university education as a social justice experience. (Connell 2019). It queries the extent to which eportfolios enable students to incorporate prior learning experiences to their reflection, (Chen and Black 2010) and for students self-determine the parameters of their personal interaction with social justice questions raised by the experience in the module and their lived experience. (Brooman and Stirk 2020)

Lessons from reflective journaling in undergraduate eportfolios

Although eportfolio practice has become almost ubiquitous across higher education, only a small body of empirical research exists in relation to the practice in Ireland (Donaldson 2018, Farrell 2018). As Chen and Black (2010) pointed out, eportfolio is a multifaceted concept and the eportfolio can be used to fulfil many functions. Some limited research has demonstrated its use as a tool for reflection, including exploring broader aspects such as developing self-reflection and self-regulated learning, and exploring identity (Alexiou & Paraskeva 2010, Bennett et al 2016, Slepcevic-Zach & Stock 2018, Farrell & Seery 2019). This article explores and critically reflects on the use of the eportfolio as a space for student reflection within individual modules, demonstrating its utility as a T&L tool for both students and educators. It draws on the author’s experience of using eportfolios for assessment purposes, incorporating a reflective component, over a four-year period. Particular emphasis is placed on the experiences and outcomes of two groups of approximately 35 students each who undertook undergraduate modules between February and May 2020. The discussion develops three aspects of the eportfolio experience. First, asking how eportfolio can be most effectively used to encourage reflective learning within a module, the article discusses both highs and lows of student engagement, evidence of critical thinking and necessary tweaks in order to enable meaningful learning to occur. It also shows how the reflective journals can provide a feedback mechanism to assist educators in enhancing their modules. Second, the role of eportfolio-based reflections for weaker students is examined. In some cases, these reflections help to show the ways in which less-academically-able students have benefitted from their experiences in the module, such as building skills or enhancing their knowledge base. Typically, the learning achieved by weaker students is not reflected in their overall grade, as grading scales tend to reward students of greater academic ability. Careful reading of student reflections can demonstrate their progression in a way that may not be captured by the final product (exam or project). The author asks how best to capture and assess this evidence of progression over the course of a module. Third, the unanticipated outcomes of student reflective journaling during the Covid-19 crisis are tentatively explored. This section specifically draws on the experiences of students who began their modules in face-to-face mode and completed them online. During lockdown, their journals served an additional purpose, offering a ‘safe space’ for students to work through their experiences of the pandemic and its impacts on their lives. The article asks how these positive engagements can best be replicated in the future. The conclusion draws together the larger implications of the three elements explored in the main body of the article, suggesting ways in which these experiences can be integrated into future module design.

Considering Dissemination

The use of e-portfolio is becoming more widespread as an established practice in higher education with a growing body of research supporting the inherent deep learning benefits. It is espoused as an ideal pedagogical tool, conducive to student-centred learning where engagement and investment in the learning process are key. The recognition of learning beyond the classroom and appreciation of diverse, personalised approaches to learning are fundamental to this medium, and as such, the very basic premise of an e-portfolio functioning as a place to host information has been surpassed significantly. This is a report on the use of e-portfolio as a multifunctional tool for the music degree programme at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT). While the primary purpose was the use of e-portfolio to create a collaborative yearbook for final year students, ultimately this expanded into the areas of marketing, recruitment, and staff professional development as a direct result of dissemination pathways. While the promotion of e-portfolio as a valuable pedagogical tool remains a priority, the specific possibilities for maximising the potential of the e-portfolio beyond the purposes of student-centred learning that emerged in this case gave rise to further thought on future creative applications.

Pedagogy empowered by technology

With the increasing ubiquity of web-based tools to facilitate learning and teaching, educators across universities worldwide are now required to prepare and deliver online programs. This requirement may be part of, or in addition to their face-to-face delivery workloads, or as part of migrating programs to be delivered ‘purely online’. In moving towards these new approaches to teaching and learning, there are a number of competing and significant challenges facing staff: There is no one universal definition of online learning; Existing workload models represent traditional forms of content delivery; Prestige of research over teaching still largely exists across the sector (Bradwell, 2009; Keengwe & Kidd, 2010; HEA, 2014; OECD, 2005; O’Connor, 2009; Woodley, Funk & Curran, 2013). With digital skill-building very much on the Irish national agenda for higher education (National Forum, 2015), institutions are now facing important decisions around how best to support staff and foster cultural change towards new technologically-enhanced learning paradigms. This position paper draws on research undertaken at local, national and international levels and is focussed around providing an underpinning for the following: a) Working definitions of what constitutes various forms of online delivery b) Policy documentation around workload models c) Recommendations for future directions. This paper aims to provide a reference point for academics, sessional staff and heads of school regarding current best practice and recommendations for online teaching and learning in higher education.

Hybrid Java: The creation of a Hybrid Programming Environment

This article details the creation of a hybrid computer programming environment combining the power of the text-based Java language with the visual features of the Snap! language. It has been well documented that there exists a gap in the education of computing students in their mid-to-late teenage years, where perhaps visual programming languages are no longer suitable and textual programming languages may involve too steep of a learning curve. There is an increasing need for programming environments that combine the benefits of both languages into one. Snap! is a visual programming language which employs “blocks” to allow users to build programs, similar to the functionality offered by Scratch. One added benefit of Snap! is that it offers the ability to create one’s own blocks and extend the functionality of those blocks to create more complex and powerful programs. This will be utilised to create the Hybrid Java environment. The development of this tool will be detailed in the article, along with the motivation and use cases for it. Initial testing conducted will be discussed including one phase that gathered feedback from a pool of 174 first year Computer Science students. These participants were given instructions to work with the hybrid programming language and evaluate their experience of using it. The analysis of the findings along with future improvements to the language will also be presented.

Prediction of student academic performance using Moodle data from a Further Education setting.

Increasingly educational providers are being challenged to use their data stores to improve teaching and learning outcomes for their students. A common source of such data is learning management systems which enable providers to manage a virtual platform or space where learning materials and activities can be provided for students to engage with. This study investigated whether data from the learning management system Moodle can be used to predict academic performance of students in a blended learning further education setting. This was achieved by constructing measures of student activity from Moodle logs of further education courses. These were used to predict alphabetic student grade and whether a student would pass or fail the course. A key focus was classifiers that could predict likelihood of failure from data available early in the term. The results showed that classifiers built on all course data predicted student grade moderately well (accuracy= 60.5%, kappa = 0.43) and whether a student would pass or fail very well (accuracy= 92.2%, kappa=0.79). However, classifiers built on the first six weeks of data did not predict failing students well. Classifiers trained on the first ten weeks of data improved significantly on a no-information rate (p<0.008) though more than half of failing students were still misclassified. The evidence indicates that measures of Moodle activity on further education courses could be useful as part of on an early-warning system at ten weeks.

Enhancing the Administration of an Early Intervention Educational Programme Through Technology; Exploring Usage, Acceptance and Attitudes

The study aimed to investigate information technology use, attitudes and acceptance before and after the introduction of technology-based work practices in a community-based educational initiative. A convenience sample of Home Visitors was recruited, and a composite survey was used to collect data on participant use, attitudes and acceptance of technology prior to and following the implementation of the new system. Correlations and paired sample T-tests were used to analyse data. A total of 21 Home Visitors completed the survey at baseline and again at one academic year follow-up. Several factors were identified as potentially important in relation to Home Visitor use of technology which included aspects of both attitude (anxiety dependence) and acceptance (needs satisfaction, support availability and use intention). Paired-sample T-tests revealed little change in participant use of technology, which was high from the outset. Anxiety dependence, a component of attitude, was significantly greater at follow-up in comparison with baseline levels. No significant differences were observed in pre-post self-reported acceptance of technology. These findings serve as a guide for community-based organisations considering a move toward technology-mediated work practices.