E-Portfolios for ABE program: meeting update

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to update you on a meeting today hosted by BCCampus with the intended purpose of exploring the potential for e-portfolio development in the Adult Basic Education world.

BCCampus’ stated interest in this project is specific to application and implementation rather than research – so the group is leaning toward a commercial product or simple development from an open source project.

We discussed the key activities in portfolio development: compiling, selecting, reflecting, evaluating and presenting.

We spent a most of our time reviewing sites (both commercial products and open source) but kept coming back to some basic questions:

Who “owns” the portfolio (or who is it for)? – learners? instructors? insitution?
What’s in it for the learner?
How can we ensure that the portfolio is flexible enough to build on and portable?
Is it a portfolio or a CMS?

Many issues were discussed that will inform the direction of the project including:
– the importance of a clean, simple interface
– the requirement for how to’s and orientation to portfolios (what are they and what’s in it for me?)
– the value in a design that supports simplicity in the beginning, yet allows for creativity in presentation and additons as the user’s comfort level increases.
– how to provide the necessary scaffolding for portfolio development.

We left the meeting with a shared view that the portfolio should be for the learner and (with that in mind) next steps include getting some ABE learners involved in the process.