e-SirinSoyoz

A report on eLearning Innovation
Collaborative Innovation in Education

Introduction
This report investigates the current e-learning practice across the Higher Education sector in the UK. The report mainly draws on case study collection, Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-learning: Does Investment Yield Interest? (2008) which includes 37 case studies presented by the JISC eLearning Programme answering a set of research questions to gather evidence that investment in e-learning is delivering benefits for learners, teachers and institutions. For this report, key examples from case studies are provided from two main areas: ePortfolios and technology-enhanced learning environments. It is concluded that a collaborative team and an inclusive partnership strategy lead to improvement in innovative project initiatives.

Purpose
The act of innovation is often described as a new way of doing something, whether that is a new ‘way’ of doing things or by using of a new tool/technology that suggests a new way of working (Bradbury, 2010). Jonathan Vernon (Vernon, 2010, a) states that for something to be innovative in the context of e-learning it should solve a problem and create an opportunity while using e-technology. Rose Logue (Logue, 2010) mentions that the test of innovation in e-learning is the added value to the learning process rather than the tool itself. Likewise, key examples stated in this report illustrate best practice in using technology and collaborative practice that have resulted in positive change in the sector.

EPortfolios
The ePortfolio was implemented in the undergraduate medical program of Newcastle University to in order to develop a reflective approach. Cotterill (2008) suggests that 80% of the students found it to be a useful learning experience and 72% said it influenced their approach to learning. Elena Kondyli suggests that “In this case it was something innovative rather than just adopting e-portfolios” (Kondyli, 2010). Also, there have been significant benefits to the wider institution that the use of ePortfolios could be applied to support other curricula.

Sheffield Hallam University introduced ePortfolios in the first year of learning in Social Sciences to enhance group work and peer and tutor support. As an ePortfolio tool, PebblePad was chosen because of its potential and technological sophistication. Bufton (2008) states that “for the innovation to be successful, ePortfolio should be embedded on as many modules as possible at all levels of the degree course”.

The University of Wolverhampton also used ePortfolios and blogging in teacher education. They set up an e-portfolio research group and provided training sessions for staff and student union to help teams adopt ePortfolios. The main drawback was “the lack of institutional support or recognition of the value of e-portfolios as a reflective, learner centred tool” (Lomax, 2010).

Technology-enhanced Learning Environments
The University of Birmingham in partnership with Coventry University used a technology enhanced learning environment called WinEcon for interactive learning between lecturers and students in 18 HE institutions. Ryan (2008) states that the dissemination has been a major strength of their project. They trained up a team of seven people and the team approached new contacts with a view to implementing the project.

The University of Derby introduced formative e-assessment for students in Economics. Powell (2008) says that most of the students find time to use e-learning materials if they can see a direct and obvious benefit; therefore he suggests that “getting the students to discuss these benefits in tutorials acts as a good method of promoting and disseminating the information to other students through social networks”.

Swansea University launched Learning Lab as an informal collaboration space between departments. They hold regular e-learning and cakes gatherings where people can meet face to face to discuss topics of interest related e-learning. Hall (2008) states that, “a community of practice is about relationships, sharing, support, sometimes collaborating, openness of opinions and being social. Most importantly, it’s about people, not the technology”.

A participatory decision making process in the planning of a project has proved to be a good practice. For instance, The University of Derby firstly asked students to provide informal feedback on the materials. In addition, each student was asked to complete a skills audit questionnaire before and after the module. Students also provided formal feedback which could be compared to previous cohorts on the module (Powell, 2008).

Swansea University used collaborative teaching through video-conferencing to support modules for their MA in Ancient History in cooperation with the University of Wales and Cardiff University. This project allowed the development of parallel MA schemes to be taught collaboratively across three institutions. Gill (2008) states that “the pool of lectures in three institutions allowed the syllabus to be enriched in such a way that each institution acting on its own strengths could not”.

Tangible Benefits work from 16 universities illustrates the effectiveness of a range of approaches and encourages institutions to exchange knowledge. Key examples provided in this report display clear evidence that innovative practices in e-learning can be very beneficial with collaborative planning and coordinated team performance. As illustrated in this report, a commitment to communicating about the ePortfolio initiative in progress facilitates the adoption for all stakeholders and builds external innovation networks for the future.
Open University
 H807 – Innovations in eLearning’ (2010)

References

Bradbury, A. (2010) H807 Anne Bradbury’s Tutor Forum, 12 February 2010

Bufton, S. (2008) ‘Use of e-portfolios in Social sciences’, Tangible Benefits of e-Learning Case Studies, pp. – 156

Cotterill, S.J. (2008) ‘Use of e-portfolios to develop a reflective approach in medicine’, Tangible Benefits of e-Learning Case Studies, pp. – 134

Duncan-Pitt, L. (2008) ‘Use of e-portfolios to support nursing and midwifery’, Tangible Benefits of e-Learning Case Studies, pp. – 197

Gill, D. (2008) ‘Collaborative teaching and video-conferencing i Classiscs’, Tangible Benefits of e-Learning Case Studies, pp. – 175

Hall, C. (2008) ‘Learning Lab staff development initiative’, Tangible Benefits of e-Learning Case Studies, pp. – 181

Hughes, J. (2008) ‘Use of e-portfolios and blogging in Teacher Education’, Tangible Benefits of e-Learning Case Studies, pp. – 204

JISC (2008) Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning: Does Investment Yield Interest? [online],  HYPERLINK “http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/publications/publications/info/tangible-benefits-publication” http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/publications/publications/info/tangible-benefits-publication (Accessed 21 March 2010).

Jones, S. (2008) ‘Use of summative computer assisted i Applied Technology and Finance’, Tangible Benefits of e-Learning Case Studies, pp. – 117

Kondyli, E. (2010) ‘Case Study: Newcastle University, Use of e-portfolios to develop a reflective approach in medicine’, Blog entry comment posted 22 February 2010;  HYPERLINK “http://learn.open.ac.uk/mod/oublog/viewpost.php?post=27218″ http://learn.open.ac.uk/mod/oublog/viewpost.php?post=27218 (Accessed 22 March 2010)

Logue, R. (2010) H807 Anne Bradbury’s Tutor Forum, 13 February 2010

Lomax, N. (2010) ‘Use of e-portfolios and blogging in Teacher Education – Wolverhampton’, Blog entry posted 23 February 2010;  HYPERLINK “http://nlomax.wordpress.com” http://nlomax.wordpress.com (Accessed 21 March 2010).

Ndayambaje, I. (2010) H807 Anna Bradbury’s Tutor Forum, 8 February 2010.

Powell, M. (2008) ‘Formative e-assessment in Economics’, Tangible Benefits of e-Learning Case Studies, pp. – 24

Ryan, C. (2008) ‘Facilitating the use of WinEcon for interactive learning’, Tangible Benefits of e-Learning Case Studies, pp. – 6

Stuart, S. (2008) ‘Use of podcasting in Philosophy’, Tangible Benefits of e-Learning Case Studies, pp. – 82
Thomas, R. (2010) H807 Anne Bradbury’s Tutor Forum, 9 February 2010.

Vernon, J. (2010) H807 Anne Bradbury’s Tutor Forum, 9 February 2010, b

Vernon, J. (2010) H807 Anne Bradbury’s Tutor Forum, 11 February 2010, a

PebblePad (2010),  HYPERLINK “http://www.pebblepad.co.uk” http://www.pebblepad.co.uk (Accessed 21 March 2010)

Is it hard to understand or to be understood when one does not have body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice? Is it possible for people from all around the world to interact for a common goal and construct knowledge collaboratively? All these question marks are connected to e-learning in which the shift of focus is from teaching to learning. There are discussions on the current state of a good online pedagogy. It is not only content delivery anymore. Research suggests that for a successful collaboration in an online course, three things are needed: common objectives, strong commitment of participants and a professional online tutor. In this podcast, I would like to reflect on good online tutoring skills, competencies and online socialization tools.

I. Facilitating
An online learner is not born. While taking technological challenges into consideration, a good online tutor should make sure that everyone is familiar with online reading, the interface and mechanics of, for example, how to post, how to upload a photo, how to edit profile. Tasks and games like “Who Is Who” quiz and “Send a message to the tutor and one participant” are ways to help participants explore the technology in an enjoyable way.

II. Constructive
A good online tutor must be tolerant to lurkers. “In Internet culture, a lurker is a person who reads discussions on a message board or other interactive system, but rarely participates. According to some surveys, a relatively high percentage of the course participants may be lurkers, if they are working adults. Therefore, the very first skill needed for effective online tutoring is maintaining patience. Participants might not be familiar with online culture or they need time to digest information.  Online tutors should offer support and encouragement for lurkers.

III. Confident
Ground online rules, which are also known as netiquette must be established to make sure that everyone feels respected and free to contribute. For example, writing short and sweet messages, avoiding flaming, respecting privacy are some netiquette guidelines. In case of flaming, a good online tutor does not give negative messages on board; rather sends a personal message. Making the environment non-embarrassing is essential. In that sense, it is good to use a conversation tone that is friendly, inviting and encouraging.

IV. Creative
In the first introduction to an online course, people can be bored by usual “Hi..My name is…I am from….” types of messages. Instead, sharing anecdotes, a funny situation or a favourite object or a favourite web link are better ways of ice breaking and capturing participants’ imagination. Having an online Social Forum or “Any Questions Forum” would help increase peer-to-peer response. It cannot just be assumed that online students will start to share views and collaborate etc. It is necessary to create an environment facilitating online cooperation. Pair work, group work, jigsaw reading, a treasure hunt, web quest are some creative activities that can be played online.

V. Developmental
Sometimes participants might have unrealistic expectations, for example communicating with the tutor for 24 hours. “A goals and Expectations Pre-questionnaire” might help an online tutor identify needs, expectations and fears of learners before the course starts. If there were more than one online tutor, they need to have a common understanding and policy to reply posts. Advising learners to read other posts at the very beginning, providing summarizing and wrap-up each week and scaffolding learner’s motivation by offering useful web links, online books, reports and articles are some other ways for learner development.

VI. Technical help and support
It is important to send a pre-course information including log in details, what materials are needed and who to contact for technical assistance. Technical support is crucial especially in the first weeks. It is also important to contact missing students to encourage participation. Also, it is important to make the course open for learners at least one week before the course starts and check all media for dead or broken links.

VII. Knowledge sharing
A good online tutor has the ability to convince learners of the importance and benefits of this training. A Reflective Journal as a learning record of experience is a way to do that. Participants posts one entry at the end of every week and replied by tutor. That way, learners’ learning process throughout the course is documented. Self-assessment, peer feedback and sharing online learning tips are some other strategies to empower learners.

To summarize, online learning is all about learning and motivation. It is a real life situation that brings people from different places together to share real life experiences and learning in a flexible way. Online tutoring requires related skills and strategies. Being an online tutor is not only mobilizing participants through the subject matter but also recognizing their capabilities and taking care of them. If commitment to work together and authentic conversation are achieved, nothing much is needed.

Review of my podcast: http://blog.voorneman.eu/?tag=unit-8

The Pros and Cons of E-portfolios

It is widely recognized that emerging technologies and practices associated with learning and teaching have had a big impact on education. There have been broad discussions in the education sector on the nature and diversity of e-learning plus the specific uses of ICT to achieve better student learning and teaching models in schools. Therefore, it is appropriate to shift our focus from e-learning to whole learning systems and uses of ICT, particularly electronic portfolios, also known as e-portfolios in education. The intention of this paper is to explore the pros and cons of e-portfolios in pre-service teacher training to support the process of personal development and assessment for student teachers in Higher Education.

It could be argued that, newly qualified teachers have skills, enthusiasm and motivation for their work but they need support, ideas and training before they come into the profession. Using Turkey as a reference, EFL teachers who are at the final year of training have little experience in the classroom and need evidence to support their qualification when they move into the workplace. An e-portfolio initiative which is embedded into the Higher Education curriculum would support their development as EFL teachers, help them become efficient ICT users and increase their employment opportunities while the developed ePortfolio system would bring innovation to the teacher education system at Universities. However, the ePortfolio implementation process has several pedagogical and technical drawbacks along with the advantages.

Becta, the organization responsible for co-ordinating strategic approaches to the use of technology across the education system in the UK, reports in ‘Emerging Technologies for Learning’ (2008) that, today’s students use technology to be connected with more people, in more ways and more often. Their learning styles are influenced by the visual richness of the television and the internet; they are more interested in visual media and they prefer to learn by doing rather than reading. The Internet is a major channel for socializing and Web 2.0 is no longer a way to receive information but a space to collaborate, comment and create. Therefore, use of technology can no longer be purely course-based but more varied ways of expression using learning technologies should be investigated, such as e-portfolios.

An e-portfolio “is a collection of electronic evidence assembled and managed by a user, usually on the Web” Wikipedia. Penn State University describes an e-portfolio as a dynamic and developmental space of professional presence on the Web. According to JISC InfoNet, an e-portfolio is the digital collections of documents related to a learner’s progress, development and achievements. A learner creates an e-portfolio by using an e-portfolio tool or system and supported by digital skills such as “collecting, selecting, reflecting, sharing, collaborating, annotating and presenting” in the e-portfolio development process.

The JISC report, Learning Literacy in a Digital Age (2009) suggests that the nature of knowledge, the texture of social life, and literacy practices are changing. According to the JISC report, “the future demands skilled, digitally-aware learners with the capacity to participate in learning throughout their life, using technologies of their own choosing” (2009). HEFCE strategy for e-learning (2009) also focuses attention on the transformative potential and benefits of learning technologies, recognizing the changing student needs and connections between the higher education and the workplace. However, while new technologies have a fundamental part over the next years, they can also become a barrier if key strategies are not carefully implemented.

Evidence suggests that beyond basic digital skills, complex ranges of digital capabilities are needed to ensure that learners are engaged with the current Web 2.0 technologies. The JISC report, ‘Responding to Learners’ lists these skills as “communicating in different media, collaboration, self-organization, self-presentation, managing identities”. Young people are especially good at using the computers yet they tend to use the most basic search tools without assessing information across disciplines (HEFCE: Enhancing learning and teaching, 2009). The JISC e-learning programme studied the perceptions and participation of learners in the digital age and found that “Age is not the main determining factor in technology confidence and capability: a supportive context is far more significant. Therefore, e-portfolios can be a challenge as an educational change if introduced without a central educational concept and supervision.

There are institutional concerns regarding the use of e-portfolios in education, such as the difficulties of persuading staff of the potential benefits of e-portfolio and deciding on an ePortfolio system which best suits the educational goals. It is widely agreed that e-portfolios are better formed if they are fully integrated into the curriculum; however, the time factor for staff involved in the program of study, changing the mind-set of faculty to manage e-portfolio development process and finding the most appropriate system with desirable features are the striking issues that arose as a result of case studies in the e-portfolio implementations.

The link between personal development planning (PDP) and e-portfolios have also gained attention in efforts to support student learning. QAA (The Quality Insurance Agency for Higher Education) defines Personal Development Planning (PDP) as ‘A structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and career development’. It is therefore strongly advocating a whole-curriculum approach where most of the program activities are linked to the PDP process. At that point, research suggests the need for Heads of Departments and other line managers to understand the concepts of PDP, e-portfolio and reflection, with a key question: “Does the Institution practice what it preaches with respect to valuing the concept of a portfolio as a tool to support reflection on practice? (Stefani, L: 2005).

E-portfolios are also mentioned as slowing down learning and requiring a lot of time for learners to reproduce ideas as a result of reflections in their learning journals. The controversial question of “Should student learning journals be assessed?” is discussed in academic contexts. Phyllis Crème (2005) describes learning journals as pieces of “writing that is done progressively and regularly by students during a course, as record of their learning. Learning journals tell a story about the student writer’s engagement with the course material and process” (Crème, P: 2005). From this point of view, whether student learning journals should count towards formal assessment and graded by tutors within the framework of e-portfolios is a controversial question because of the fact that students are assumed to write them with the sense that they would not be judged in the same way as an essay or an academic report.

On the other hand, Moon (2001) contends that “just asking students to write a learning journal may bring benefits, but they will be haphazard. A purpose and an idea of the kind of outcome of reflection are required (Moon, J: 2001). According to Phyllis Crème (2005), “one solution is to submit a learning journal as course requirement but not to assess it separately (Crème, P: 2005). Another is to use a learning journal as a basis for an assessed piece of reflective writing. Crème’s model for assessment means that “another process and product is being assessed than the learning journal itself”. In other words, the course values the process of reflective activity as a means for something else rather than for itself.

Apart from the challenges of implementing e-portfolios within the curriculum, e-portfolios offer significant benefits to learners. According to Trent Batson, “We seem to be beginning a new wave of technology development in education. There is a push to free student work from paper and to make it organized, searchable, and transportable. This opens enormous possibilities for re-thinking whole curricula and allows for the evaluation of faculty, assessment of programs, certification of student work, and how accreditation works. (Batson, T: 2002).

An e-portfolio initiative indicates that learners can store their work, record their achievements, access personal course timetables, digital resources and cooperate with other learners on their online space for learning. The aim is not only to produce an end product but to develop electronic portfolios that learners can build on throughout their life. Portfolios are not isolated; they can be a part of the system involving students, teachers, parents, experts and across institutions. When used effectively, e-portfolios provide a means to know more about learners’ skills, knowledge and needs. Therefore, it is worth noting the fact that the potential of e-portfolios is very high and is appreciated by many learners and teachers.

In teacher training and development, e-portfolios might be used as a showcase of teachers’ work, skills, competencies and creativity. Having an online space might help teachers plan their development, use ICT tools effectively, and have a positive impact on their learners. Teachers might include digital representations of their skills and competencies, online records of achievements, action research presentations, personal development plans, reflective journals, certificates of attendance at seminars, example lesson plans, feedback from supervisors, advisors and peers, materials that they have created, observation reports, reviews of development plans and lesson activities, samples of student works, plans for training sessions delivered and self-assessment grids in their e-portfolios.

Finally, it can be suggested that e-portfolios are going to be the biggest thing of the education system in the forthcoming years and new technologies are going to play a fundamental role in meeting this challenge. In particular, considering e-portfolios in initial teacher training increases the variety of training opportunities in the higher education. However, supporting new technology adoption might become a barrier if education strategies are not designed to harness technology to the needs of the learners and teaching staff because a digital divide still exists in many communities in different levels. For this reason, e-learning practitioners have a critical role to play in e-portfolio development initiatives in order to turn the disadvantages into advantages in the long term.

References:

Batson, T. (2002, December). The Electronic Portfolio Boom: What’s it All About? Syllabus. Available from: http://campustechnology.com/articles/2002/11/the-electronic-portfolio-boom-whats-it-all-about.aspx (accessed 31 October 2009).

Becta (2008), ‘Emerging Technologies for learning’, Becta, March 2008.

Crème, P. (2005) ‘Should student learning journals be assessed?’, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 287–96. Available from: HYPERLINK “http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602930500063850″http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602930500063850 (accessed 31 October 2009).

HEFCE (2009), ‘Policy Development Statement of Policy: Enhancing Learning and Teaching Through The Use of Technology’, HEFCE, March 2009.

JISC InfoNet ‘e-Portfolios: An overview’. Available from: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/eportfolios.aspx (accessed 31 October 2009).

JISC (2009), ‘Learner experiences of e-Learning: Responding to learners’, available from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/learnerexperience (accessed 31 October 2009).

JICS (2009), ‘Learning Literacies in a Digital Age’, JISC, September 2009.

Moon, J. (2001) ‘PDP working paper 4: reflection in higher education learning’ (online), The Higher Education Academy. Available from: HYPERLINK “http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/resources/resourcedatabase/id72_Reflection_in_Higher_Education_Learning.rtf”http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/resources/resourcedatabase/id72_Reflection_in_Higher_Education_Learning.rtf (accessed 31 October 2009).

Penn State University ‘e-Portfolios at Penn State: Creating an Electronic Portfolio’. Available from: http://portfolio.psu.edu (accessed 31 October 2009).

QAA, ‘Guidelines for HE Progress Files: Personal Development Planning, available from http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/progressfiles/guidelines/progfile2001.asp#pdp (accessed 31 October 2009).

Stefani, L. (2005) ‘PDP/CPD and e-portfolios: rising to the challenge of modelling good practice’, Association for Learning Technology.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia ‘Electronic portfolio’, Category: Educational technology. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_portfolio (accessed 31 October 2009).

Sirin Soyoz
H808 – The eLearning Professional

Introduction

According to EPICS Final Report (2009), “Personal development planning (PDP) is essentially a process, PDP is a student opportunity to reflect plan and review learning, PDP is related to the development of transferable skills, PDP can and should result in a range of useful products and ePortfolios can play a part in the process and be a medium for products”. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the integration of personal development planning for student teachers enrolled in the Department of Foreign Language Education at Bogaziçi University through educational technology. Newly qualified teachers have skills, enthusiasm and motivation for their work but they need support, ideas and training before they come into teaching profession. Personal development planning through electronic portfolios in the undergraduate curriculum would support their development as English teachers, help them become efficient ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) users and increase their employment opportunities, while the ePortfolio building system would bring innovation to the teacher education system in the Department of Foreign Language Education at Bogaziçi University.

Description of context
The Department of Foreign Language Education at Bogaziçi University offers a B.A. program in English Language Education. The four-year undergraduate program consists of professional courses including methodological and pedagogical approaches to foreign language teaching as well as courses related to linguistics and second language acquisition. “The overall objective of the program is to provide students with knowledge and sufficient practical skills for teaching English as a foreign language”. (Bogaziçi University, 2010). The department also organizes practice teaching in cooperating schools. During their senior year, student teachers are given opportunities to engage in peer teaching, peer observation, self evaluation, class observation and finally actual teaching. The student teachers also develop pen/paper portfolios as one of the requirements of the program.

Discussion of the purpose of PDP in that context
Growing evidence supports the argument that personal development planning supports individuals’ capacity to become autonomous learners as it is an active learning process undertaken by individuals. Especially student teachers who are at the process of building their professional identity feel the need to identify their weaknesses and improve their practices. Therefore, a small PDP initiative in cooperation with course tutors would assist student teachers in their transition to their professional career.

Guidelines for the Higher Education Progress File (2001) defines PDP as “a structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement plan for their personal, educational and career development”.  In the guidelines for HE Progress Files, a variety of terms are used for the process of reviewing and recording learning, e.g. Progress File, which is the totality of the documentation owned by the student; a Transcript, which is an authenticated record of learning and achievement including details of the modules or units students have taken throughout a particular course; a Personal Development Record, which is a written record of PDP including reviews and plans to be presented a potential employer.

There are several factors to start a PDP initiative with senior students at the Faculty of Education, EFL Department at Bogaziçi University. The first factor is the increasing need to encourage higher education representative bodies to support and implement innovative ways of student recording. A structured PDP initiative has never been undergone on English teacher education in Turkey. Second factor is the emerging use of Web 2.0 tools in education in recent years. Therefore, a PDP initiative through electronic portfolios would improve student teachers’ digital and learning literacies for future. The third factor is to give student teachers a meaningful opportunity to reflect on their teaching practice; help them make connections between theory and practice and enhance their self-confidence before they step into their professional career.

PDP process in that context
Structured framework is required for an effective PDP integration in that context. First, sessions would be arranged to inform and encourage student teachers and instructors about PDP as it was suggested in the Guidelines for HE Progress Files (2001) that “An important factor in the successful introduction of policy on PDP will be the winning of hearts and minds of those who will be responsible for implementing and using policy”. Sessions would include sharing information with students, academic staff, departments and institutions on the benefits of PDP process.

According to these guidelines (2001), PDP will help students:

• integrate their personal and academic development and improve their capacity to plan their own academic programmes
• be more effective in monitoring and reviewing their own progress
• be more aware of how they are learning and what different learning and teaching strategies are trying to achieve
• recognise and discuss their own strengths and weaknesses
• identify opportunities for learning and personal development outside the curriculum
• be better prepared for seeking employment and self-employment

PDP will help academic staff:

• help students to be more independent and autonomous learners
• improve the quality of experience for tutors and tutees when it is linked to personal tutoring systems
• make more effective use of off campus opportunities for learning
• by creating a mechanism through which career-related skills and capabilities can be recorded
• by improving their understanding of the development of individual students and their ability to provide more meaningful employment references on their behalf

PDP will help departments and institutions

• facilitate more effective monitoring of student progress
• result in effective academic support and guidance systems

That process would help those of involved understand the value added through PDP that is beyond attainment in the subjects that exist in the course books.

Consideration of systems, tools for the PDP process
The sample for this paper includes a small initial project that provides senior level teacher candidates at Bogaziçi University with an opportunity to develop ePortfolios for their personal development planning. Several education policies touch upon the e-portfolios in the policy making arena. Especially, the HE institutions in the UK have encouraged students to record, reflect and build on their achievements more systematically. The UK Government’s e-strategy indicated that (Becta, 2007) “Technology will be supportive of personalised learning, and encourages every institution to offer a personal online learning space to store coursework, course resources, results and achievements”. JISC report on Learning Literacies in the Digital Age (2009) argues that an institution-wide policy for progressing learners’ skills is required in higher education as “The future demands skilled, digitally-aware learners with the capacity to participate in learning throughout their life, using technologies of their own choosing”.

Barrett (2005) suggests that “If a decision still needs to be made about the specific tools to be used for electronic portfolio implementation, a minimum of a semester is recommended for the initial project, if not a full academic year”.  Therefore, ePortfolio process for teacher candidates would be implemented during the second semester at the final year of higher education. A blog would be a feasible way for ePortfolios as most of the students already have an email account to create a free a blog using Blogger, Edublogs or WordPress. They can customize the settings quickly and will have no difficulties showing their creativity, collecting their work, reflecting on their school practice and presenting it to a range of users for comments and feedback. By creating a student-centred platform for learning and sharing, e-portfolio blogs can also improve the process of continuing professional development for student teachers even after initial teacher training in a number of ways, such as creating a digital CV, using evidence for job employment and presenting evidence for accreditation in their future career.

The power of blogging as an ePortfolio tool brings the issues of use of technology and Web 2.0 tools across curriculum into discussion. Barrett (2005) argues that effective implementation of electronic portfolios is an indicator of effective implementation of technology across the curriculum, as well as an indicator of an effective portfolio culture within the college, school or district.  Brown (2002) in Growing Up Digital contends that with the Web, we suddenly have a medium that honours multiple forms of intelligence-abstract, textual, visual, musical, social, and kinaesthetic”. Blogs can therefore be used for reflection and development of transferable skills, which are the essential elements of PDP. The question echoes in mind whether publishing to a group affect the nature of the reflection? Cotterill SJ, White A, Currant B (2007) answer that question that probably for many, but not necessarily for the “Net Generation” who have grown up sharing their thoughts and experiences online. For that reason, using the Web 2.0 tools for the newly qualified teachers would assist their professional development in a variety of paths.

An action plan should be implemented in PDP development process through ePortfolios. The six steps in Cooper’s portfolio-building process (1997) could be followed as a model for program-wide initial implementation in the Department of Foreign Language Education at Bogaziçi University. Accordingly, technology skills would be assessed in advance and short training seminars on Web 2.0 tools would be provided for student teachers including topics such as using the interactive web, using blogs, collaborative online writing, evaluating and selecting websites, using online video and audio, social networking, safe searching, copyrights, as well as on competencies for portfolio development such as collecting evidence of learning, creating digital resources, converting artefacts into digital format and setting goals for future learning.

Steps for portfolio building process 1 in Cooper’s portfolio building process suggest that:

1.    Identify the areas of skills that the students are intended to develop and needs

2.    From these skills areas and needs, agree on specific learning outcomes and PDPs

3.    Identify appropriate learning strategies for students to realize PDP

4.    Identify performance indicators and evidence that students need to collect

5.    Collect evidence that students has met the performance indicators

6.    Organize this evidence in a portfolio and review how the personal development plan relates to the performance indicators

Moreover, it has been noted in Barrett’s paper (2005)  that a clear vision should be provided for the role of electronic portfolios in the overall program to reduce confusion, anxiety and frustration. This could be achieved by means of providing adequate training opportunities, information and resources for all parties and stakeholders involved in the process as well as modelling ePortfolios across the institution. Involving learners in the decision-making process would reduce stress and pressure and learners would feel ownership for their ePortfolios not for the sake of getting it done or because the program and course tutors required them to do so but for their professional development.

Discussion of implications of assessment
Personal Development Planning (PDP) provides students’ learning plan with identified goals and learning outcomes, therefore clear assessment criteria and guidelines are required for assessment validity and reliability. Cooper and Love (1997) suggest that “The use of portfolio-based assessment is now well established as a valuable assessment tool. Portfolio based assessment is beneficial pedagogically because the format can encompass evidence from a wide variety of sources, it can help educators overcome many assessment difficulties and it provides a richer picture of the student”. According to Becta (2006) E-portfolios – Process Model, “A well-designed e-portfolio should be able to offer the facility to record informal assessment outcomes as well as provide the opportunity to open up work in progress to self, peer and practitioner assessment”.

A variety of assessment strategies would be used to facilitate the process of reviewing and recording professional development of student teachers, to illustrate, an assessment guide; learning contracts; technical skills and competencies checklists; peer feedback form; ePortfolio final evaluation review and exhibition. These strategies would help students for self-evaluation, reflection and critical thinking in measuring and achieving their learning goals. Student teachers would be expected to demonstrate their best work and a collection of resources by including different types of media and materials in their ePortfolios by the end of the academic term at the University. Some examples that address some of these criteria would include items listed below:

MY PORTFOLIO
PROFILE
Personal information
Pedagogical manifesto
Membership to teaching associations, unions…etc
Attendance Certificates
Research interests

2.  DEVELOPMENT
Personal Development Record
Technical skills and competencies checklists
Classroom observation reports
Feedback (Peer feedback, tutor feedback)
Self-assessment

3. TEACHING
Example lesson plans
Action research (if applicable)
Reflections on the learning log
Course assignments (if applicable)
Teaching ideas
Useful Web links
References

The following assessment criteria would be specified for PDP:
Documentation on career profile
Documentation on development goals and reviews
Concrete examples from practice teaching

The most important point is the fact the process should promote a positive attitude towards learning and development. The concentration on building ePortfolios would be enhanced by making content richness as a graded requirement so that student teachers would attach importance to their ePortfolio evidences. Guidelines for HE Progress Files (2001) states that the key lesson from institutions that have already implemented such policies in higher education is that PDP should be integral to learning. Students should not participate in that process for altruistic reasons: they have to perceive the investment they will be making. For that reason, it is important to combine PDP process with the content and objectives of the program as an academic activity. Furthermore, tutors would create a cooperative learning environment by creating their own e-portfolios in order to set a model for their students.

Discussion of improvement for learning outcomes
Use of electronic portfolios to support PDP would have a great potential for improvement in student teachers’ performance; however there are some concerns and challenges regarding systematic integration of the PDP process into the curriculum. The system-wide introduction of policy on PDP will require a cultural change and changes to the curriculum, student support and guidance systems, and quality assurance procedures (Guidelines for HE Progress Files, 2001). For instance, while some learners might be considerably below the best available practice and need scaffolding, some others would like to be more flexible. Without effective systems for sharing and evaluating practice, PDP would also result in expensive duplication of effort. Therefore, investment in staff development to support student teachers is required to meet the challenges in that cultural change.

Other concerns about PDP include the resistant nature of stakeholder regarding the lack of understanding for ePortfolios at the given context. Tolley’s (OU, 2009) concerns are “the ‘transition’ or portability of ePortfolios; the lack of clarification as to what is ‘owned’ by the institution and the e-Portfolio as ‘learner-owned’ and he adds that “It would be a shame if the e-Portfolio was only used to reinforce didactic teaching styles and summative assessments”. Cubel’s (OU, 2009) states that the main problem is teachers’ being unaware of the potential use of this tool. Most of them are afraid to use it for the simple reason of not knowing how to use it and the benefits. She also believes that teachers are having and will have more workload than never before (visiting all the ePorfolios, correcting, deadlines, reminders. For the anticipated difficulties, Guidelines for HE Progress Files suggests that “Involvement of all the institutional stakeholders, including stakeholders, including the student body and the administration could prevent a number of difficulties arising” (2001).

Conclusions

This paper is to investigate the integration of personal development planning for student teachers enrolled in the Department of Foreign Language Education at Bogaziçi University. It has been suggested that personal development planning could be implemented through ePortfolios for the final year program student teachers in the EFL department of the university. A small PDP initiative in cooperation with course tutors was proposed to support student teachers’ career development. That initiative would help student teachers improve their capacity, digital skills and teaching strategies, and course tutors improve the quality of tutoring and assessment systems. ePortfolio blog as a free application is proposed for keeping reflections and storing evidences. A clear vision should be presented for student teachers and tutors along with training opportunities. Student teachers would be expected to demonstrate their evidences in their ePortfolios during their practice teaching. Properly implemented, an ePortfolio practice would have a big impact on student teachers’ personal development in their transition to their professional career.

References

Barrett, H. ‘Professional Development for Implementing Electronic Portfolios’  Available from:  HYPERLINK “http://electronicportfolios.com/teachers/profdev.html” http://electronicportfolios.com/teachers/profdev.html (accessed 21 January 2010)

Becta (2007) ‘Impact of e-portfolios on learning’, Becta, 5 June. Available from:  HYPERLINK “http://emergingtechnologies.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=etr&catcode=ETRE_0001&rid=14125″ \t “_blank” http://emergingtechnologies.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=etr&catcode=ETRE_0001&rid=14125 (accessed 21 January 2010)

Becta (2006) ‘E-portfolios – Process Model’, Becta, March 2006, Available from:  HYPERLINK “http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=pv&catcode=_pv_ep_02&rid=13627″ http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=pv&catcode=_pv_ep_02&rid=13627 (accessed 21 January 2010)

Boğaziçi University Faculty of Education (2010), Available from  HYPERLINK “http://www.fed.boun.edu.tr/” http://www.fed.boun.edu.tr/ (accessed 21 January 2010)

Cooper, T., Love, T. ‘Online Portfolios: Issues of assessment and pedagogy’Available from:  HYPERLINK “http://www.aare.edu.au/01pap/coo01346.htm” http://www.aare.edu.au/01pap/coo01346.htm , (accessed 21 January 2010)

Cotterill SJ, White A, Currant B. ‘Using Web 2.0 to support PDP PDP-UK’ Available from:  HYPERLINK “http://www.eportfolios.ac.uk/web2.0/?pid=177″ http://www.eportfolios.ac.uk/web2.0/?pid=177 , 2007, 12: 7-8 (accessed 21 January 2010)

Cubel, E (2009), Core Activity 3.4, Available form  HYPERLINK “http://learn.open.ac.uk/mod/forumng/discuss.php?d=221″ http://learn.open.ac.uk/mod/forumng/discuss.php?d=221 (accessed 21 January 2010)

Guidelines for HE Progress Files (2001), Available from  HYPERLINK “http://www.qaa.ac.uk/students/guides/UnderstandProgFiles.asp” http://www.qaa.ac.uk/students/guides/UnderstandProgFiles.asp (accessed 21 January 2010)

Hicley, K (2009), Core Activity 3.4, Available from:  HYPERLINK “http://learn.open.ac.uk/mod/forumng/discuss.php?d=223″ http://learn.open.ac.uk/mod/forumng/discuss.php?d=223 (accessed 21 January 2010)

JISC (2009) ‘Learning Literacies in a Digital Age’, JISC, September 2009, Available from:  HYPERLINK “http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/bpllidav1.pdf” http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/bpllidav1.pdf  (accessed 21 January 2010)

Epics Final Report (2009), Available from  HYPERLINK “http://www.epics.ac.uk/EPICS/” http://www.epics.ac.uk/EPICS/ (accessed 21 January 2010)

Progress Files for higher education (2001), Available from  HYPERLINK “http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/progressFiles/default.asp” http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/progressFiles/default.asp (accessed 21 January 2010)

Tolley, R (2009), Sirin Soyoz’s blog, Available from:  HYPERLINK “http://sirinsoyoz.edublogs.org/2009/09/19/impactofeportfolios/comment-page-1/#0″ http://sirinsoyoz.edublogs.org/2009/09/19/impactofeportfolios/comment-page-1/#0 (accessed 21 January 2010)

Sirin Soyoz
OU – H808 The eLearning Professional

The case study was presented by the University of Wolverhampton under the “e-Portfolios” activity area from a collection of case studies produced and disseminated in the UK by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).

The paper journals were static and lacked learner interaction and engagement between students therefore the author, Julie Hughes, decided to present an e-portfolio system in a School of Education to increase self-esteem of student teachers in the transitions into and our of the University.

The e-portfolio system, pebblePAD was used with students in a full time programme to encourage a deeper engagement between theoretical understanding and teaching practice for three years. Students created action plans, recorded experiences, edited learning profiles and created their webfolios.

Students submitted e-portfolios for assessment. In the part time programme, e-portfolios were used for submission of ongoing journal blogs and summative assessment. Students received no feedback on their reflections until the return of the summative essay.

As PebblePAD was designed by educationalists, it has structured writing frames; however, the author also provided students with writing frames, such as learning autobiography, sample journal entries.

The students were encouraged to write weekly therefore mentoring is required. Some students also e-mentored and student union sessions were realized on e-portfolio use.

Workshops were provided for students and colleagues; however, as there were no clear instructions and a clear strategic vision from the institution, the e-portfolio was not perceived as a serious subject use and was seen as an add-on rather than an integral part of learning progress.

The author contends: “I have learnt that early online socialization and the expectation of reflection and analysis will continue beyond the real classroom has helped support the development of engaged and vibrant cultures able to sustain themselves beyond the end of the module/course”.

JISC (2008) Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning: Does Investment Yield Interest? [online], http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/publications/publications/info/tangible-benefits-publication (Accessed 20 February 2010).

The case study was presented by the Swansea University under the “Learning resources and activities” activity area from a collection of case studies produced and disseminated in the UK by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).

The aim of the project is to support learning and to allow students to see the images of the archaeological sites while listening to an expert comment on the field. Some of the students showed lack of awareness in recognizing the key monuments and sites. Podcasting was added to the existing modules that were prepared by the lecturers and were aimed to fill in that gap. That is to say, digital recordings were used alongside the digital images. Audio and images were combined using Mac iMovie Software and audio files were transfered to iTunes. Alternatively, Moviemaker for Windows could be used. The podcasts were then linked from the topic folder so that students could easily find the relevant material.

The author reports that “Students felt that they were engaging with the fieldwork of the lecturer concerned” rather than a black and white article. Moreover, podcasts provided students with visual access to the sites which they might be unable to visit.

Tutors have also benefited from this experience by making audio notes and taking photographs of the archaeological sites to explain issues to the students. The online discussion forum within Blackboard was used to enhance the specific queries coming from the students.

Time investment was reported to be the main concern as a three minutes podcast was prepared in an hour. Technical requirements, providing transcripts for disabled learners and transferring the podcast onto an iPod are other issues.

In conclusion, the author adds that podcast helps to maintain a learner centered approach, embed excellence in e-learning, enable students with disabilities access materials equally”. Staff would also like to encourage students to prepare their own podcasts during visits to archeological sites a part of their studies and prepare weekly podcasts to summarize responses to students questions.

JISC (2008) Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning: Does Investment Yield Interest? [online], http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/publications/publications/info/tangible-benefits-publication

The case study was presented under the “Learning resources and activities” activity area from a collection of case studies produced and disseminated in the UK by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). The aim is to encourage quiet students in the higher education to engage through the virtual learning environment. The instructor, Susan Stuart recorded her lectures using an iPod and made the sound files available to the students using iTunes on the university website after class. Students were given the URL for the site and a password to let them download the MP3s into podcasts. In the same year, a Moodle learning space was also introduced for all classes as an online database of electronic texts and podcasts.

“I have no formal training in learning pedagogy and design. I think a great deal of my success with students is a result of watching their reactions and responding to them in real time”.

Students were reported to have been extremely motivated for the learning support and additional resources they had. “The students enjoyed being able to replay the lectures and seminars to catch bits they’d missed or felt they hadn’t understood the first time”. After the success of podcasting, the University has decided to invest in podcasting for the future.

The author adds, “My plan for next year is to take snapshots of the chalk/whiteboard throughout the class and put them up as images to accompany the recordings”

JISC (2008) Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning: Does Investment Yield Interest? [online], http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/publications/publications/info/tangible-benefits-publication (Accessed 20 February 2010).

I work for the British Council and people who work for the British Council are committed to work for international understanding. There are five values mentioned:

1. Valuing people (treating people with courtesy and respect)
2. Integrity (being honest and consistent)
3. Mutuality (putting effective relationships at the heart of our work)
4. Creativity (being resourceful and innovative in our approach)
5. Professionalism (being true to our values, listening to other’s values and accepting responsibility to deliver work to a high standard)

When I look at the ALT website, I see the core values are:

1. A commitment to exploring and understanding the interplay between technology and learning.
2. A commitment to keep up to date with new technologies.
3. An empathy with and willingness to learn from colleagues from different backgrounds and specialisms.
4. A commitment to communicate and disseminate effective practice.

I have seen the Professional Standards Framework by the University of Sunderland, as an e-learning benchmarking exercise to design, implement, plan and evaluate effective e-learning programmes. The core professional values listes are:

1. Respect for individual e-learners
2. Commitment to incorporating the process and outcomes of relevant research scholarship and/or professional practice in e-learning
3. Commitment to development of communities of e-learners
4. Commitment to encouraging participation in higher education using e-learning, acknowledging diversity and promoting equality of opportunity
5. Commitment to continuing professional development and evaluation of practice in e-learning

I see that  organizations have different approach for professionalism. The underlying belief is the notion of excellence and the transperancy in their service. My own professional values would be a combination of customer service which underlines a learner-centered approach, equal opportunities in terms of accessibility and committment to keep up to date with technology and the related educational research.

Sirin

Information society as the successor of industrial society has to do with the society we live in and the role of information technologies play in this society. According to research, there is a tendency for economy to be based on knowledge, information, information services, images, symbols and symbols rather than material goods and muscle power. It has been argued that information society is linked to capitalist economy to a great extent as the services, circumstances and practices serve to the exclusively digital citizens, who are described as people who participate in a society using information technologies, such as creating blogs, buying goods online and using social networking sites. While in developing countries, information technologies enable people connect with the rest of the world, in developed countries, even the government systems are digital. That gap between the digital and non-digital citizens are called digital-divide.

It has also been mentioned that societies are now networks or “networks of networks” in the information society; therefore the impact is one of the key words as the key activities are taken, managed and maintained through circle of networks. Manuel Castells (2000) contends that, “A new communication system, increasingly speaking a universal, digital language, is both integrating globally the production and distribution of words, sounds and images of our culture, and customizing them to the tastes of the identities and moods of individuals. Interactive computer networks are growing exponentially, creating new forms and channels of communication, shaping life and being shaped by life at the same time “. Perkin’s point of view about the modern world is quite skeptical. It is a fact that professional expertise matters in today’s world. It is also known that professional domination of society by professionals hold risks as they have the potential to destroy as well as bring peaceful resolutions to create, construct and distribute. There is a very valid point in Perkin’s argument that gives a lot of food for thought:

Technology does not invent, install or maintain itself, but needs human beings to bring it into production. It is thus not the technology that matters but the human skill and social organization which lie behind it. In other words, it is the professional experts who have constructed the system, which in turn has created them”. There is the impression that we have entered a new society which brings a new sets of distinctions.

(Perkins: 1996)

Isn’t it the same with what was 100 hears ago or will it not be the same in the future? Marc Prensky mentions in his article, From Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom, that,

Technology alone will not replace intuition, good judgement, problem-solving abilities and a clear moral compass. But in an unimagnably complex future, the digitally unenhanced person, however wise, will not be able to access the tools of wisdom that will be available to even the least wise digitally enhanced human.

(Prensky: 2009).

Given that technology is not wise itself but it is the human thinking and organization which makes it meaningful in the 21st century. Although professionalism was reflected as holding risks in Perkin’s article in 1996, it is a fact professionals who make use of digital technologies will be able to make wiser decisions by means of the opportunities; therefore it is high time to embrace digital enhancement and encourage others to do so.

Castells, Manual, The Rise of the Network Society, Second Edition, Blackwell Publishing: 2000
http://books.google.com/books?id=hngg4aFtJVcC&dq=manuel+castells+network+society&pg=PP1&ots=N83cznWst4&sig=mBhRZtRgPT4Bh9XNvM0-OsHjBwc&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dmanuel%2Bcastells%2Bnetwork%2Bsociety%26btnG%3DGoogle%2BSearch&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Prensky, M (2009). H. Sapiens Digital: From Digital Immigrants Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom. Available from:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CAcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uh.cu%2Fstatic%2Fdocuments%2FTD%2FH.%2520Sapiens%2520Digital.pdf&ei=lGv8SqWYC5KN_AaL9rT9Aw&usg=AFQjCNHX_l77bOH23os7iYNs_HKbneREEg&sig2=MtDmtKRz2JEs7z3kHN0_pA>
(Accessed 14 November 2009).

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Digital citizens. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_citizens
(Accessed 14 November 2009)

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Network Society. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_society
(Accessed 14 November 2009)

What are ePortfolios?

“An e-portfolio is a learner driven collection of digital objects demonstrating experiences, achievements and evidence of learning. E-portfolios provide learners with a structured way of recording their learning experiences…and can include a range of digital evidence such as audio, video, photographs and blogs” Barret, Hallen. E-Portfolios have the potential to turn learning, teaching and assessment into a learner-centred and personalized model of education through effective use of e-learning tools and technologies.

In this report, first of all I would like to mention the key drivers of e-Portfolios in the UK and Europe. Secondly I would like to summarize the benefits and potential of e-portfolios in teacher training and development. Finally, I would like to recommend Google Applications as user-friendly e-Portfolio systems to be implemented at the British Council online teacher training courses.

Key Drivers in the UK and Europe

Key drivers in the educational institutions in the UK and Europe regard e-Portfolio activity as the priority in national educational policies. UK’s Department for Children, Schools and Families (2005) proposes “a personal online learning space for every learner, building a record of achievement for lifelong learning”. HE institutions in the UK attach great importance on personal development planning and the learners’ habits of recording and reflecting on their progress.

Finland has been one of the pioneering countries on the implementation of e-portfolios with its focus on competency-oriented education model, emphasizing student development through digital portfolios as an interactive assessment tool. In Norway, a white paper proposed portfolios to be used in primary education for learning, assessment and parent-student contact in 2003. From 2003 on, portfolios have been integrated in teacher education and are considered as a powerful tool of a major educational reform in the higher education policy. In Italy, portfolios are part of school reform by MIUR (Italian Ministry of Education) including the progress throughout the school year.

Benefits of e-Portfolios

In teacher training and development, e-portfolios might be used as showcase of teachers’ work, skills, competencies and creativity. Having an online space might help teachers plan their development, use ICT tools effectively, and have a positive impact on their learners. Teachers might include digital representations of their skills and competencies, online records of achievements, action research presentations, personal development plans, reflective journals, certificates of attendance at seminars, example lesson plans, feedback from supervisors, advisors and peers, materials that they have created, observation reports, reviews of development plans and lesson activities, samples of student works, plans for training sessions delivered and self-assessment grids in their e-portfolios.

Choosing an e-portfolios system

While choosing an e-portfolio system, it is beneficial to involve stakeholders and students in the decision making process and evaluate the functionality of the system carefully before it goes live. There are a lot of commercial products in the market. Having spent vast amount of time over functionalities and use of e-portfolios on the market, I would like to propose Google Applications as the most appropriate e-portfolio system for the British Council as Google applications are free, very user-friendly, and customizable. Furthermore, there are lots of tutorials available in different social media.

I would especially recommend Google Sites for building e-portfolios. Google Sites can be integrated into online teacher training and development course syllabus and enable teachers to create e-Portfolios to showcase their career profile, achievements and personal development plan. It is very easy to create a Google Sites once the person has a Google account. There are options to choose from during the creation of the site, such as, site description, theme and share with options.  It is possible to create sub-pages to keep the content organized and gather the following Google Applications in one central site.

Gmail: Teacher trainees have email accounts
Google Doc: Teachers create, save and share word processing documents (i.e. career profile, a lesson plan) and presentation files in collaboration with others. All GoogleDoc files can be shared for collaboration with other students or with teachers for feedback
Google Calender: Teachers can organize their calendar and share events with each other
Google Notebook: Teachers have a tool to keep notes throughout the online course
Blogger: Teachers set up their own blogs as reflective journal. Maintaining reflections and commenting other blogs could be the part of reflective activities.
Google Reader: Teachers can follow each other by subscribing other blogs. It is also possible to subscribe to other RSS feeds. Google Reader can be well integrated into iGoogle and makes it easy to keep oneself up-to-date
iGoogle: This is a portal with links to all of Google files, applications plus other tools, enables users to combine all features under the same umbrella while functioning as a search engine. Teachers have a private portal with all links of all other Google Applications as well as external tools.

TeachingEnglish development portfolio http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/transform/teachers/teacher-development-tools/create-development-portfolio/what-can-you-put-your-port

Harnessing Technology: Transforming Learning and Children’s Services http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=DFES-1296-2005

Eportfolios policy context http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/eportfolios/policycontext.aspx

JISC – Effective practice with eportfolios http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/effectivepracticeeportfolios.pdf

Electronic portfolio boom http://campustechnology.com/articles/2002/11/the-electronic-portfolio-boom-whats-it-all-about.aspx

Commercial Eportfolio vendors http://routes.open.ac.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?_IXDB_=routes&_IXSPFX_=g&submit-button=summary&%24+with+res_id+is+res21638=.

Electronic portfolios http://electronicportfolios.org/ Europortfolio http://www.europortfolio.org/

Vuorikari, R. (2006) ‘National policies and case studies on the use of portfolios in teacher training’ (online). Europortfolio 2005, Cambridge, UK. Available from: http://insight.eun.org/shared/data/insight/documents/e_portfolio_teacher_training_final_10_05.pdf (accessed 10 July 2009).

Electronic portfolios in the Netherlands (2004) Surf Stichting, Netherlands. (accessed 07 October 2009) http://www.surf.nl/en/download/Electronic_Portfolio_Netherlands.pdf ICT in Finland (accessed 07 October 2009)
http://www.ficom.fi/ict/