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Pamela Cowan 1 , Jill Dunn 2 , Siobhan O’Doherty 3 and Victor McNair 4

E-merging experiences of tutors in the transition from paper-based to e-portfolio use in teacher education. Pamela Cowan 1 , Jill Dunn 2 , Siobhan O’Doherty 3 and Victor McNair 4 1 Queen’s University Belfast 2 Stranmillis University College 3 St Mary’s University College

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Pamela Cowan 1 , Jill Dunn 2 , Siobhan O’Doherty 3 and Victor McNair 4

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  1. E-merging experiences of tutors in the transition from paper-based to e-portfolio use in teacher education. Pamela Cowan1, Jill Dunn2, Siobhan O’Doherty3 and Victor McNair4 1Queen’s University Belfast 2Stranmillis University College 3St Mary’s University College 4University of Ulster.

  2. Where do we live our lives? • Mobile phones - texting • Social networking • Blogging • A connected society transforming how we operate…can education join the frenzy of living online?

  3. Starting point…. • Is there a role for educationalists to adopt the latest ‘social gizmo’? • What benefits could be accrued? For whom? • How could students’ existing skills and expertise be honed to current requirements of award-bearing courses? • How do tutors react to such a change?

  4. This paper reports on the use of e-portfolios in the context of ITE focusing specifically on the compulsory assessed elements of the school-based placement and the production of the Formative Profile Report (FPR) and Career Entry Profile (CEP).

  5. What the literature says… • Harnessing Technology: Next Generation Learning 2008-2014 (Becta, 2008, p. 11) • “making the learning experience more dynamic” • Allowing “education and learning professionals to engage effectively with learners”

  6. E-confident systems require e-maturity • E-confident systems emerge from an ‘enabled’ infrastructure, ‘capable’ uses of technology and ‘confident’ user base receiving personalised learning. • E-maturity – “the capacity of a learning institution to make strategic and effective use of technology to improve educational outcomes” (Becta, 2008, p. 20) • 4 Levels of E-maturity: • beginning; • developing; • performing; • outstanding (Becta, 2009). • Reflection - looking at ourselves first!

  7. Reflective Teacher emPowering Schools Strategy PQH Chartered Teacher Review of (Early) Teacher Education PRSD GTCNI Teacher Competence Model The ‘Big Picture’ Te-PNI

  8. Early Teacher Education (3 Years) Continuing Professional Development (Career-Long) Education Phase Initial Teacher Education Performance Review Staff Development Early Professional Development Accredited Courses Teacher Leadership UPS and Thresholds Induction How Learning is Recorded (Milestones) Professional Development Activities PRSD Portfolio (Annually) Evidence of Competence Assessments and Certificates Professional Qualification for Headship NI Formative Profile Report Induction Portfolio Career Entry Profile Teachers’ Career Progression Lead Agency HEIs Education and Library Boards (CASS) Schools Schools Schools HEIs Regional Training Unit Overview of Teacher e-portfolio project: Professional context

  9. Potential benefits of TeP • Increase students’ motivation; • Empower students as learners; • Enhance access to tutor support; • Immersion in process of reflection; • Sustainability over time; • ‘E-confidence’ of users; • ‘E-maturity’ of institution.

  10. Theoretical framework • Social constructivist view; • Reflective practitioner; • Online community of practice evolving; • Tutors • Peer group • (Teacher tutors in schools)

  11. Sample • Approximately 60 PGCE student teachers from the 4 participating institutions; • Variety of subject backgrounds: ICT, Technology & Design , Early Years and IME. • 4 co-ordinating tutors training students and colleagues (9 supporting tutors)

  12. Methodology • Mixed methods • student and tutor questionnaires and • focus group interviews. • Statistical analysis of questionnaire data; • Thematic analysis of interviews. • [Activity – complete Action Plan(s), FPR and CEP at key stages in PGCE year.]

  13. Action Plan Completed prior to commencing the first school placement

  14. Action Plan Completed at the end of the first school placement.

  15. Formative Profile Report Personal details and placement school information National Teaching competence headings Aide-memoires for each area of competence Student-tutor collaboration

  16. FPR – evidence attached Supporting evidence – click to view

  17. FPR – evidence attached

  18. Instrument – student questionnaire • Questionnaire sections: • Teaching and Learning • Action plan • Formative Profile report • Career Entry Profile • Attitudes to TeP • Technical • Role of tutor • My personal experiences of using TeP • 4 point Likert scale

  19. Findings - students 74% of students felt the FPR was time-consuming to complete, 51% thought it was valuable and 25% felt it was a core part of their competence development as a teacher 67% of students felt the CEP was time-consuming to complete, 57% thought it was valuable and 37% felt it was a core part of their competence development as a teacher • Internal consistency of each scale > 0.9 apart from Technical issues (a = 0.74)

  20. Findings – tutors • Internal consistency > 0.9 on scales • 5 point scale from Poor/no use to Very useful • 53.8% of tutors stated the TeP should continue into Induction and EPD only, 23.1% said it should be career-long. • Tutors requested training on areas such as using thoughts/blogs, accessing/navigating different facilities and responding to shared work from students. • More time was spent giving online feedback by over 50% of tutors. • Over 50% of tutors favoured using the TeP to support professional development only – not for assessment purposes – and almost 80% supported the inclusion of evidence to support reflections.

  21. Conclusions - students • No major difficulties experienced by students in TeP; • Some evidence of experimentation with other features – sharing with peers for feedback was most frequently used; • Students positive about role of tutors and completing FPR and CEP; • Less positive about overall experience of TeP; • In interviews they agreed that TeP work had focused their attention on reflective practice and competences; • Students valued the e-FPR in directing them towards key areas requiring development and use of action plans for goal setting and its links to CEP.

  22. Conclusions - tutors • Tutors felt the TeP assisted students in self-reflection, goal setting and familiarising themselves fully with the competence model. • They agreed that the TeP encouraged students to develop an evidence-based approach to their professional development and to start to engage in professional dialogue with peers and tutors. • Tutors were in favour of the supportive role of the TeP for the early years of teaching rather than a career-long commitment. • They were split around 50% for the time spent in various supporting roles both F2F and online and preferring the e-portfolio to its paper-based equivalent.

  23. Future study • Limitations • sample size • range of tutors involved • Areas to be developed • roll out to wider ITE group and more tutors • range of built-in features used • range of multimedia embedded as evidence.

  24. Final comment • Very pleased with the pilot study and students keen to continue working in the TEP during Induction and EPD; • Interest growing from other tutors keen to try the TeP. For additional information p.cowan@qub.ac.uk

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