Friday, July 24, 2009

International Development of ePortfolio Model

In response to my blog posting yesterday, I received a link to a blog entry of an educator in Spain who adapted Derek Wenmoth's model (from New Zealand). International collaboration at work! I think the tools on the left side are only a few of the many tools that are used, and the NZ model saw the need for a database to manage the PLE "collection of atifacts" process. Keep up the conversation!

5 comments:

roy said...

Helen, great model.

I recently attended the Eifel/ London Learning Forum conference on e-portfolios, and wrote up some responses and thoughts on a wiki/blog, at: http://learning-affordances.wikispaces.com/Instrumental+and+Ontological+Reflection.

The issue is simply this: I think growth of reflection and e-portfolios has become over-instrumentalised in Higher Education, at the expense of more ontological reflection. There is a powerpoint at the bottom of the page which outlines the disctinction.

StephenP said...

Hi. It is probably worth noting that these ideas first surfaced (as far as I can tell) in the work of CETIS in the UK in 2005.

Look at this diagram linked belo and replece the VLE with PLE or portfolio...

http://zope.cetis.ac.uk/members/scott/blogview?entry=20050125170206

Ray Tolley said...

Helen,

I've been wrestling (in my mind) with this diagram for some time now.

I assume that it is taken as read that 'Moodle' represents any one of scores of different VLEs. Similarly, the list of 'input tools' must surely also include generic apps such as wordprocessors, spreadsheets etc?

However, the generic 'PLE' should surely include 'share' in terms of what I call 'closed collaboration' ie with selected peers?

Thirdly, in terms of looking for a generic map, I wonder if the three different portfolios should really be grouped together (ie encircled by a dotted line) so as to indicate that it is possible to have these three 'purposes' and others as all outputs from ONE e-Portfolio tool using a pool of common artefacts?

As much as I have criticised HE as assuming the role of 'Judge, Jury and Executioner' of all things related to e-Portfolios - I wonder if there is a danger of being similarly biassed in terms of e-Portfolios for formal education? I'm thinking about the very wide range of other potential users as identified in my recent blog:
http://efoliointheuk.blogspot.com/2009/07/forgotten-learners.html

Kindest Regards,
Ray T

eportfolios said...

This diagram is one educator's interpretation of Derek Wenmoth's diagram in my prior blog entry. It is important to separate the specific tools, shown in these diagrams as examples...not a comprehensive list... from the different presentations that a learner would develop for different audiences and for different purposes. There is no single presentation portfolio... a learner creates different presentation portfolios for different purposes at different times in their lives. What the diagram emphasizes, though, is the need for an online database to store artifacts or links to documents stored anywhere on the Web. Such a database could be used to organize all of the artifacts for use in a presentation portfolio (regardless of the tool to be used to construct it). Too often, the structure of the technology tools that are used to construct e-portfolios influence how this process is viewed. Commercial vendors have their own viewpoints, and motivations, to push a specific paradigm that matches the model of their tools. The Wenmoth model, which is very similar to the models I have been discussing for years, is not a necessarily a commercial tool, but a conceptual framework that mostly uses the online tools being used by many people today.

The database storage model is the one missing link in making the e-portfolio feasible in all phases of the lifespan, in and out of formal education. There are a number of examples available (Amazon S3, box.net, skydrive, divshare, etc.) that give us early versions of what will eventually be available. All we need is EMBED codes!

Being Faiz said...

Great article! It’s true the whole industry has a ‘if I build it,
they will come’ mentality; most aren’t lacking good ideas, but good follow-through.
I think I always knew this, but have always had trouble articulating it, especially to some of the start-ups I’m working with.

Also, I love your diagrams. You can explain things to me anytime :)
web development london