Naseem

What exactly are ePortfolios? How are they used?

Well, in my opinion, ePortfolios can be anything you want them to be.  In very basic form they are merely a way of presenting information to a wider audience or to a specific audience, just like a traditional portfolio that you might build if you were media student and take along with you to an interview.  These have been around for quite some time; in fact I remember creating an ePortfolio while I was a student.

To the other extent an ePortfolio can be use to build and improve your skills by way of critical thinking.  There's saying that I think fits quite well; "there's always room for improvement".  Critical thinking helps identify these areas for improvement.  Have you ever created something that you truly believe could not be better in any way at all?

It is this form of ePortfolio that is becoming more and more popular.  As learners we are becoming more independent.  Information is readily available, books, peers, internet etc, and we are being encouraged to make use of it.  As independent learners we need to take responsibility for our learning.  This means being able to identify our own areas for improvement and knowing what to learn and how best learn it, this process is known as reflection.

By no means is this an easy task.  It can be difficult to adjust to a new way of learning, especially the higher education stage of a student’s life.  By this time the average student is around 18 years old and has followed the traditional A-Level method of content deliver, i.e. you talk, I'll write it down and memorise it for the exam!  Perhaps this is why there is talk of the government scrapping A-Levels and moving to a wider application of NVQ style of further education???

·         The image of looking at oneself in a mirror, suggested by the word, means that it has implications of being conscious of what one is doing. Because of this it is a word that is widely used but not always understood. Rowntree (1988), for example, praises the reflective student who thinks about her own experience of studying and decides what changes of approach might be most suitable.

Rowntree (1988) says reflection is studying one's own study methods as seriously as one studies the subject and thinking about a learning task after you have done it. Unless you do this, he says, the task will almost certainly be wasted.

In any learning situation, he says, you should prepare for it beforehand, participate actively during it, and reflect on it afterwards.

He applies these points to working in small groups, suggesting note taking in the group as an aid to reflection afterwards, and also suggesting reflection on how the group operates. It is important, therefore, that reflection is on what is happening in the workplace and why the learning is different or unique because it is happening in the workplace
http://www.practicebasedlearning.org/resources/materials/docs/Reflection%20Work%20Based%20Supervisors/page_04.htm

·         http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=210891 

"Why can't you just tell me what I need to know to pass my exams, that's all that matters, I need a 1st with honours, I just want to know what I need to know.!?"

This is common reaction from students encountering reflective learning.  Indeed a number of students at my institution have implied that they chose to study here as it was one of the few places that didn't have and reflective/independent study on their course.    Well the truth is that yes they will get a good grade if they're fed parrot fashion.  However, when it comes to working, they need to take responsibility for their own learning and this where a lot of graduated will find it difficult to adjust.

It's a sad fact that there seem to be more graduates out there that graduate level jobs, and because of this employers are becoming ever more selective about their candidates.  Having to go through apprentice style tasks as part of an interview process is quite daunting, especially if you're not quite confident in yourself.  To use an example, (this is a slightly extreme end of the scale but you'll get the picture) IBM is the world’s largest IT company. Every year they recruit graduates into all areas of the business, available positions usually range around 50 per year in the UK.  For these 50 places you'll usually about 30,000 graduates applying from all over the world!

Ok so it's a lot, but like I said, it was at the extreme end of the scale, but you get the picture right?  You have to make that extra effort to stand out from the crowd, being able to identify the skills you need to do just that involves reflection. 

I think you know where I'm going with this rant...

Employability!

I’ll save this for my next blog...