Future Proofing PDP and Eportfolios Event 18 June Session Details (Update 13 June 2009)

Future Proofing PDP and ePortfolios Event 18 June – session details (update 13 June 2009)

Raising engagement: A Toolkit for Enhancing PDP Strategy, Policy and Practice [University of Dundee]

What constructive alignment is there between the different aspects of PDP: the strategy, policy, design, delivery and outcomes?

This question about ensuring congruency is considered crucial to achieving and delivering, ideally via engaged staff, a coherent, structured and supported process to students. It is posed as one of the self-assessment questions in this newly developed Toolkit, designed to be used by a range of key stakeholders involved in Higher Education PDP strategy, policy and practice.

In this session, we offer a preview of the Toolkit, due to be launched in Scotland at the end of June 2009; touch on the development journey through various iterations and consultations; describe the various components (essentially fourteen ‘Aspects’ of PDP, together with their sets of self-assessment questions and associated commentaries) and give suggestions about with whom and how it might be used. We will do this by selecting a specific Aspect and using this to illustrate the issues arising.

The Toolkit will be freely available to all, in both web and hard copy versions, and directions for accessing it should be available by the end of June.

Kirsty Miller and Stuart Cross are part of the University of Dundee consultancy team, commissioned by QAA Scotland (in association with the HE Academy in Scotland and the Centre for Recording Achievement), to develop a Toolkit to support institutional reflection on the implementation of PDP.

Kirsty Miller is a careers adviser and is actively involved in PDP developments in- house and as part of collaborative projects in Scotland. She co-authored and co-ordinated the consultancy team developing the Toolkit and is currently on the Steering Group for a Scottish Government-funded project on developing PDP for international taught postgraduate students. She was Project Director of ‘Personal Development Planning in the first year’ (QAA 2008), one of the practice-focussed development projects from the Scottish Higher Education Enhancement Theme on the First Year. She is an original member of Dundee University PDP working group, developing much of the support content for a generic PDP resource for undergraduates on the university’s VLE (Blackboard), which has been shared under a licence agreement with a number of universities UK wide. She has also contributed to Dundee’s postgraduate research version. As a practitioner, she is closely involved with student induction to PDP.

Stuart Cross is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Law at the University of Dundee. He has had a long standing involvement at a strategic and operational level with E-learning and PDP development at School, College and University levels. He has been involved in the development of PDP tools to support students both pastorally and academically and this is reflected in the content of the Toolkit. He is an original member of Dundee’s Employability Working Group (funded by the Scottish Funding Council) and has led the development of a range of PDP supported employability initiatives across the College of Arts and Social Sciences at Dundee.

2. Sussex Plus: Experiences running a pilot skills/ PDP project. Future plans using Pebblepad to create webfolios. [University of Sussex]

Many projects at UK universities have looked at pieces of the skills/PDP/employability jigsaw. At the University of Sussex, we wanted to bring together a student’s academic achievements, paid work experience, volunteering, extra-curricular activities, responsibilities and interests. The Careers and Employability Centre is combining all this evidence in one place for students, via ‘Sussex Plus.’ Students can develop their potential from the moment they join Sussex. Just on campus, over 1000 students get involved in initiatives, from establishing a student research project or volunteering for university radio. Many skills and employer-led workshops are on offer, run by the Careers and Employability Centre.

The aim of Sussex Plus is to enable students to reflect on their experiences and document what they have learnt in an attractive webfolio.

This isn’t a paper exercise. Sussex Plus helps them to create an e-portfolio, which is like a CV, but with so much more. They can scan in certificates and links to web pages. Or include photos, details about projects completed, skills developed outside the curriculum or reflective learning. Students thus have the chance to get ahead of the game and stand out amongst the competition to employers and admissions tutors.

This session will cover:

The rationale behind Sussex Plus.
Pilot Phase 1 2008-2009: The range of processes undertaken and lessons learnt.
Pilot Phase 2 2009-2010: Introducing PebblePad and webfolios to students.
Future plans.

Alice Stuart (nee Goddard) was recently appointed as Senior Careers Adviser at the University of Sussex, to lead on the Sussex Plus project. Since the year 2000, she has worked on various skills and employability -related projects as Careers Adviser in four UK universities, as well as freelancing for Graduate Prospects. She presented at the Higher Education Academy Conference in 2006 and the GEES Subject Centre Conference in 2001, and has published careers-related articles in Graduate Recruiter, Pharmacy Education, Careers Adviser, Planet, Ergo (Australian HE careers publication,) numerous articles as editorial committee member for Phoenix, and written several AGCAS booklets.

Andy Howard: appointed in 2007 as PDP and Career Development Adviser at the University of Sussex. Began work with student enterprise and transferable skills development in the early 1990’s as part of the Department of Employment EHE, Enterprise in Higher Education programme. This was followed by experience across the education sectors with a substantial period working in Further Education-based careers development. In 2000 this included work on tutorial and client feedback systems for FEDA, the Further Education Development Agency, mentioned in the RQA (Raising Quality and Achievement) newsletter.

3. Reflections on Blackboard E-portfolio implementation to
support WOW (World of Work) and PDP. [Liverpool John
Moores University]

LJMU is focusing on the enhanced employability of our students through work-related learning and the development of world of work (WOW(tm) skills. The introduction of the e-portfolio system has coincided with this institutional initiative to promote student development of graduate skills. To promote students success in this initiative, engagement in personal development planning (PDP) is actively encouraged and supported using the Blackboard e-portfolio tool (Version 8 currently).

This case study outlines the development, deployment and evaluation of an e-portfolio system throughout Liverpool John Moores University. In this presentation, we will examine the successes and challenges faced at various stages of the project. Positive aspects comprise of themes such as usability, accessibility, transportability, and flexibility. The challenges experienced vary from staff and student engagement, as well as specific technical issues. Towards the end of the first year we set up 3 focus groups for students who had used the e-portfolio, to allow them to tell us about their experiences of the tool in their own words. This feedback is drawn from variety of different subject areas such as Sports Science, Computing and Information Systems and Textile Design.

This presentation will be useful to those considering implementation of an e-portfolio system, and those who have already begun implementation or are considering upgrading. By sharing our experiences we hope to contribute to good practice in using e-portfolios and look forward to a dialogue on whether our findings are transferable to other institutions using the Blackboard E-Portfolio tool.

Alex Spiers and Bethan Hughes are Learning Technology Officers at LJMU. They currently work within the Learning Development Unit (LDU), which promotes, supports, develops, co-ordinates and disseminates learning, teaching and assessment innovations and initiatives. Their particular focus is in staff development and institutional support for the e-portfolio.

4. E-portfolio tools for reflective practice in Initial Teacher
Training - from Blackboard to Web 2.0. [University of Reading,
Institute of Education]

The Primary PGCE Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course was one of the pilots for using the e-portfolio tool in Bb and has for the last three years continued to require trainees to create and develop an e-portfolio in order to enhance the collection of multimedia evidence towards the TDA standards for Qualified Teacher Status. Tutors at the IoE have refined the expected content of e-portfolios and have identified examples of best practice. Informal feedback from trainees when they move into the workplace strongly suggests that newly qualified teachers (NQTs) do not continue to maintain their e-portfolios despite the TDA providing teachers with an e-portfolio tool in the Teacher – Net website. TDA research funding has allowed the IoE to work with CDOTL to explore and identify web based e-portfolio tools that are appropriate for teachers, some of whom need to gain experience of e-portfolios before 2010 when all schools will be required to support children’s learning with an e-learning platform that has an e-portfolio tool.

Dr. Judith Davies pioneered the use of Bb in Initial Teacher Training in the I.o.E. at Reading University and was also a pilot for the Bb e-portfolio tool. The design of “e-tasks” and the development of e-portfolios aimed to encourage reflective practice underpinned by a secure pedagogy. Current interests have focused on the transfer of e-portfolios and web based e-portfolio tools that can be used by teachers in their professional development.

Robyn Drinkwater is an e-Learning Development Officer in CDoTL at the University of Reading. She has been working on a project to create areas for School’s to disseminate information to students within Blackboard. She has also worked on a number of smaller projects mainly focusing on web 2.0 tools and it was this work that has led to her being involved in the TDA project to explore the use of Web 2.0 tools for e-portfolios.

5. PebblePad and PDP – what have we learnt from our pilot?

[University of Surrey]

At the University of Surrey we are coming to the end of a two year pilot of PebblePad, and are making plans for full implementation across the University. This session will consider the experience of the pilot, and whether or not the introduction of PebblePad has reinvigorated PDP across the University. We have recently been engaged in an extensive evaluation and will present the results of this together with lessons learned. One key emerging lesson we are already aware of is that careful curriculum planning together with staff awareness and/ or upskilling are key elements in contributing to a successful outcome.

The session will conclude with a brief examination of our planned next steps in moving to full-scale implementation, and discuss the implications for resourcing in terms of support and staff development needs. What are the anticipated benefits that full implementation will bring, and what are the potential risks in terms of sustainability?

Helen Sterne is PDP Coordinator at the University of Surrey. With a background in learning development and supporting the use of technology in teaching and learning, she took up her current post in 2006. Based in SPLASH, a flexible student-centred learning space in the Library, she works mainly with academic staff to embed PDP processes in the curriculum. She is a member of the PebblePad pilot project management group, and has provided training and support for both staff and students during the pilot.

6. Experiencing EXPO: Current developments at York to support
PDP. [University of York]

This presentation will provide a brief overview of PDP implementation at The University of York and how it articulates with the well established York Award. There will be a brief description of the rationale for the development of PDP York, a tab within Blackboard that provides support for students and staff engaged with PDP. Key to PDP York is the EXPO tool, which is providing a dynamic portfolio, accessible by both a student and his/her supervisor.

PDP York is currently used by eight departments at the University, with varying success. However, many more departments are interested in using the system as a way of improving staff and student engagement with PDP. This session will not only explore the strengths of PDP York; identifying which aspects are working at the University and which are most useful to staff and students, but it will also review the limitations of the system and the areas for development that have arisen from recent evaluation.

Heather Richardson is the Manager of The York Award, The University of York’s internationally renowned programme of employability skills and personal development. The York Award now has over 700 students involved in the course programme each year. Over the last three years Heather has also supported the implementation of the University’s policy on Personal Development Planning (PDP), providing training and briefing sessions for staff, developing workshops for students and co-designing a support tool within the VLE.

Alongside her experience in supporting and rewarding experiential learning and skills development, Heather also has an interest in internationalisation, including; how to support the orientation of new international students and how to encourage students to prepare for working in a global market.

7. Pastoral and Academic Support through PDP (University of
Dundee]

Can PDP be used to support students both pastorally and academically in a combined approach?

In this session we will consider how PDP may be used as a mechanism to support students both pastorally and academically. We will assess the effectiveness of embedding and voluntary approaches in relation to student engagement and the differing design and engagement strategies and approaches which may be deployed at differing levels of undergraduate study.

8. Student Stories: An online reflective learning resource
capturing detailed graduate reflections of their university
experiences [University of Reading: CCMS]

CCMS is developing an innovative web-based reflective learning resource, Student Stories, that will offer students and other young people access to authentic accounts of university life from those who have experienced it firsthand. The resource will be free and nationally available and is due to be launched by the end of 2009. The website will comprise hundreds of audio clips, searchable by theme, generated from interviews with recent graduates from a range of UK HEIs about their undergraduate experience. They will explore students’ learning, thoughts, conflicts and changing feelings in rich and candid detail. Each clip will focus on a core aspect of student life covering themes such as the transition from adolescence into adulthood, developing self confidence, adapting to a new academic culture, juggling work and study, and planning and thinking about the future. The site will also feature reflective exercises for students to promote active enagagement with the audio material, as well as staff resources which will highlight potential ways to incorporate clips into teaching, tutorial, induction and other relevant sessions.

We invite colleagues to come and discover more about the site, listen to some sample audio clips and consider suggestions for the site’s practical application. Please give us your feedback on the resource and/or register your interest in the project by completing the ‘Student Stories comments’ form in your conference pack. If you are unable to attend this session but would like to keep up to date with project developments please email

Joy Collier is Research and Development Officer at the Centre for Career Management Skills (CETL) and is currently managing the Student Stories project. Joy trained to be a teacher in the post 16 sector before taking up a post as Study Support Officer at the University of Reading which combined the provision of study skills guidance with research into student retention and support for student learning. Joy is currently involved in a range of CCMS projects relating to reflective learning, the FE-HE transition experience and learning and teaching for international students.

Laura Brown is the Student Stories Project Officer at the Centre for Career Management Skills. She graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2006 and with a Masters from the LSE in 2007. Since then she has worked in the private sector and subsequently draws on her experience as a recent graduate to support the design and research of Student Stories.