Australian ePortfolio Project - Final Project Report (August 2008)

[kev.brace]

http://www.eportfoliopractice.qut.edu.au/information/report/index.jsp


The overarching aim of the Australian ePortfolio Project was to
examine the current levels of ePortfolio practice in Australian higher
education. The research findings revealed that there was a high level
of interest in the use of ePortfolios in the context of higher
education, particularly in terms of the potential to help students
become reflective learners who are conscious of their personal and
professional strengths and weaknesses, as well as to make their
existing and developing skills more explicit


Some very interesting recommendations in here, that relate to UK
potential use , eg.

Recommendation 3
It is recommended that the higher education sector acknowledge the
role of the Australian
Higher Education Graduation Statement as an authenticated document
reporting student
achievement, compiled and verified by the academic institution at the
time of graduation,
while further acknowledging the value of the ePortfolio process to
articulate the integrative
aspects of student learning.
* * *
Learner mobility within and between education, training and employment
sectors requires processes that will allow data about individuals to
be both exported and imported across different systems and services
with the assurance that the data is both secure and accessible.
Technical standards and interoperability issues developed through
international collaboration (for example, the eFramework for Education
and Research, and the IMS Global Learning Consortium) represent a key
aspect of ePortfolio practice, supporting the exchange of information
and data across institutional, sectoral and jurisdictional boundaries.

[Ray Tolley]

Kevin,

I read this report (all 175 pages) at the end of last year and cannot
express how frustrated I was at the time - and still am! It reminds
me of a lonely goldfish, smimming round in circles, chasing its own
tail.

Here are a few points that I have issue with:

1. It only addresses a few of the aspects that a full-blown e-
Portfolio can offer;
2. The research questions remind me of the blind asking the blind
where to go next;
3. It only looks, introspectively, at what HE can do for HE and not
beyond;
4. It does not address issues of individuality or how a learner
might want to present their e-Portfolio;
5. It appears that they want the e-Portfolio to be institutionally
owned and therefore raises issues of portability;
6. Implicit in the above is that their EP is in actual fact their
content delivery and assessment tool;
7. I could not see any costings analysis against other modles;
8. They have an inherent problem with interoperability and importing/
exporting data;
9. They do not recognise that mobility is more than the issues in
#8
10. One of the most powerful aspects of the EP ie formative
assessment was rarely addressed (table 6.1)
11. I did not see any references as to how the EP would provide links
to RAPEL.
12. Figure 2.1 sums up bureaucratic thinking - cannot, for instance
see Web2.0 as within an EP.

I could go on if you want me to!