Effective Practice with e- Portfolios

Early last week at the ALTC conference in Leeds the Jisc Effective Practice with e-Portfolios was launched. Having had time to read some of the guide I feel that this is worth a mention as it has really useful information regarding both product and process.

The guide provides a brief overview of the benefits of e-portfolios, however Jisc infoKit gives a more detailed account of e portfolios. What I really like about this guide is that process of learning is discussed in different scenarios such as a case study from a learner at Wolverhampton University, a practitioners view, a managers insight and the institutions focus.

One of the key messages from the guide is that Senior Management support is required for any e-portfolio system to be successful. Teaching and learning practices are discussed in the guide, again the key message seems to be senior manager support is must to change the way deliver and support learning.

I would be interested to her any comments from practitioners who are using e-portfolio's. Or anybody who uses the guide any comments would be useful for feedback

Oxford Paper Show

This morning in our team meeting we had a demonstration for the PaperShow. This is really an interesting idea, which could help in education. It is basically interactive paper which is designed with a unique pattern to enable transmission of your handwritten notes. It will all low to make annotations in PowerPoint and act as a digital flip chart.

The pack comes complete with the Bluetooth Digital Pen Bluetooth USB and the digital notepads and printer pens the package starts from about £117.00 paper can be purchased extra.

You will need Bluetooth either on your PC or Laptop to use this equipment. However there advantages to education are vast. This could help with the classrooms which have very little in the way of IT. It may be useful to leaner's who prefer to write rather than type or for visual learners.

There is a cost implication for the paper refills however the advantages have in my opinion would far way the cost of the paper.

Take a look at there website http://www.survivingmeetings.com/en/blog/index.php/papershow

Case Studies QIA

Kirsty Hill, our Information Officer for the QIA has been gathering e-learning case studies from the West Midlands area for the past six months. The focus of the case studies is best practicee for e-learning in the context of the main three strands of the

National Improvement Strategy:

Improving teaching and learning

Improving responsiveness to learners

Improving institutional effectiveness

What I like about theses case studies is that they seem to show a cross section of e- learning. Some can be easily replicated and seem to have made a difference in the classroom.

One of the ideas is from New College Worcester who have developed the use of MP3 in Science. Take a look a the case study http://excellence.qia.org.uk/page.aspx?o=161649.

We seem to have a wealth of good practice in the West Midlands area which remains hidden. During my time in the classroom, I realised that the simplest ideas were usually the most successful. I can remember thinking at the time that the Ferl database was really useful. E-learning has progressed since then but having a resource to draw on to show good practice was often the inspiration i needed to try out new ideas.

If you have a project which you would like to share with the community please let me know. Kirsty would be pleased to publish your case study. All other case studies can be found at http://excellence.qia.org.uk/page.aspx?o=161649