e- Portfolio News By Duncan Gillespie and Robert Brown
Introduction
We are now more than halfway through session 2008/9 and there have been many more developments since the last edition of e-portfolio news.
We now have over 1200 active student e-portfolios covering full and part time students as well as school pupils and also nearly 80 support community blogs running across the college, as well as a few externally.
Several e-portfolio events have taken place over the session to date with several other events planned as outlined in the following news items.
SQA E –Assessment conference Edinburgh November 2008
Following on from previous work with SQA Duncan and Robert were invited to attend this event under “Best Practice” to showcase work on live student e-portfolios and support blogs and the changes made since they last presented at SQA.
Following on from this event they also were invited to deliver a presentation in SQAOptimaBuilding to a management team as part of on going development links with SQA.
Angus College January 2009
Duncan and Robert attended Angus College to showcase the DAGCOL e-portfolio model at the request of the college through the recently established partnership links. Stephen Baxter also attended the event to work with IT staff from the college.
The format of the event consisted of a presentation and workshop in the morning followed by a technical workshop in the afternoon. As a result of this development visit Angus College are now piloting the DAGCOL e-portfolio model with their students.
JISC e – portfolio conference Strathclyde University February 2009
As a result of presenting at last years JISC conference and participating in a case study and e-portfolio infokit work with JISC, Duncan and Robert were invited back this year by JISC to show the changes made, the progression of the e-portfolios and developments since the last showcase.
For this event, after the presentation, delegates had individual e-portfolios set up for an afternoon workshop so they could work through the DAGCOL model.
A publication on the conference and video clips of the presentation can be viewed on the JISC website.
Also JISC North and East have also invited the college to become members of an e-portfolio forum.The first meeting of this forum is at Queen Margaret University on March 27th.
Presentation to Board Of Management February 2009
Duncan and Robert delivered a presentation to the Board of Management on e-portfolio progress and developments across the College, as well as an update on planned future developments at their recent meeting.
Visit to Stevenson College March 2009
A recent visit Stevenson College to showcase the College’se-portfolios and support blogs to a team of senior management and academic staff has resulted in Stevenson looking into possible set up of Dagcol’s e-portfolios model.This will be the second college to buy into the college e-portfolio model.
FENC Conference Birmingham April 2009
As a result of previous submissions for the Beacon Award the College has been invited to present and showcase at this annual conference. Duncan and Robert will be in Birmingham for two days in April, showcasing our system as well as marketing the College. The format of the conference is more a hands on approach to showcase the journey travelled to date with our e-portfolios.
Local Showcase events and discussions
Other activities have taken place locally. Duncan and Robert delivered a showcase session to BaronyCollege staff in January. Duncan has also recently set up a batch of e-portfoliosfor Castle Douglas High School pupils and has also met with a representative from the council to discuss the set up of using e-portfolios in line with the new “Looked After Children Strategy”.
Robert has been overseeing the development and maintenance of the new hospitality blog which has been set up to support the delivery of the Int2 practical cookery course the college is delivering at Dumfries High School over this academic session.
The high school has also expressed interest in our e-portfolio and support blogs and a meeting will be arranged with the school over the next couple of weeks to discuss this further.
Queens Anniversary Prize College Submission
The college has decided to submit an application for the above award based on the success and development of the e-portfolio system and this has been agreed by SMT.
Duncan and Robert recently met with Carol Turnbull and Andy Wright to outline criteria for the award and work is being undertaken in putting the proposal forward to meet the award criteria backed up with testimonies from all the presentations and showcases and work with external agencies. A submission will go forward on April 1st.
Submissions and applications and publications
Duncan has recently put together a paper and a presentation submission on behalf of the college for selection at an e-portfolio conference in London. If successful the team will then participate in the conference.
Also a piece on the College’s e-portfolio system will be appearing in the e-Assessment Association’s newsletter as a best practice link
Other E-portfolio news and developments
- New e-portfolio users guide learners and staff
Duncan and Robert have recently compiled an integrated e-portfolio users guide which has recently been launched live on LearnNet and can be accessed by this link.
This was devised to showcase suggested resources and their SCFC levels, lesson plans relating to employability activities along with detailed reference points on how to use the e-portfolio and what to use it for. The guide also includes narrative video links for extra user reference. So whether you are new to e-portfolios or are looking for extra guidance the new user guide is worth a look.
- Future showcase events
Discussions are taking place with Cardonald, James Watt and Carnegie College’s for short showcase events. The College are creating a short course to meet with demand.
- Changes made so far and What’s next
e-ILP’s are now fully embedded as part of tutorials and reflection on team building, showcasing work and learners progress are now actively encouraged through the e-portfolio tool. E-portfolios are also being used as part of the job application process and also for work experience and placement. So what is next on the cards in development?
Mobile Phone Plug-in
This means learners can use mobile phones to capture data and then upload straight to their e-portfolio.
Assessment marking on-line
This is already happening in the computing area.
Epmanager changes 2009/10
A few changes will be occurring to epmanager as part of on-going development work.
Back up facilities have been improved to shorten time taken and to make restore easier.