Tech-Ed Collisions

ePortfolio 2009 has run its course and participants from all over the world will start heading home hopefully filled with ideas and enthusiasm for moving the eportfolio agenda forward. During the conference Dr. Helen Barrett mentioned that reflection was at the heart and soul of eportfolios and this was a recurring theme throughout the various workshops and presentations that I attended. Reflection is a core process in many types of eportfolios and it is through this process that we come to learn much about ourselves, what we have achieved, what we are capable of, what our hopes and aspirations are.
Another recurring theme during the conference was the personalisation of learning and there was much debate on that. As one keynote speaker noted, ‘learning always has been and always will be a personal experience…it is the organisation of education that is impersonal. The impediment has been economic scalability. Technology is making personalisation achievable at scale.’
Many at the conference also noted the problem of definition for eportfolios ‘ask ten people and you will get ten different answers’. It was interesting to see in the presentation from the University of London’s Computer Centre that they actually offer two eportfolios in the online environment that they provide to their students. One is for assessment and the other is for their learning experience - it is through this one that students are able to reflect.
Speaking of reflection, the closing session offered an opportunity to reflect on the conference, on eportfolios in general and to ponder the future for eportfolios. While there are many outstanding implementations of eportfolios in educational institutions of all sorts around the world and an increasing number of regional or industry specific eportfolios emerging, eportfolio as a concept remains a difficult sell for many. In the business of education, they are often not seen as essential as say a student record system, LMS or accounting system for example. What value do they offer?
Those at the conference obviously have a keen interest in eportfolios and understand the profound impact that reflection can have in learning but is this view more widely supported? Do eportfolios really make such a difference and if so, why aren’t they more widely adopted or appreciated? Eportfolios seem to have gained quite some ground in Europe, the USA, New Zealand and arguably Australia but what about the rest of the world? There would seem to be many more very technologically advanced economies and societies that don’t seem to be pushing the eportfolio agenda much at all when compared with these regions. Is it that reflection is not valued as highly in areas where eportfolios have not been adopted with the same vigor?
In regional or industry specific eportfolios, is the takeup and continued use of eportfolios as high as their providers originally envisioned? If not, what are the reasons preventing such use? What value do users see in them? If they see no significant benefits they are hardly likely to use them. Even in institutional eportfolios strong motivations need to be provided. Do users understand or value reflection? Given a blank page on which to reflect how and where do you start? Are your thoughts/reflections going to remain private once they are in the system and does this matter to you?
So… is the very thing that makes eportfolios potentially so beneficial also a real barrier to their widespread adoption (something to reflect upon)?