TY - BOOK

T1 - e-Portfolio assessment in networked learning based communities

AU - Avery, Barry

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - There is a substantial body of research suggesting the advantages of using e-Portfolios in higher education assessment, where work is collated by individualsto record their learning. The use of learning communities in this context is anunder-researched area, despite the number of e-Portfolios that implement asocial component.This work develops an alternative e-Portfolio approach by using a networkedlearning based pedagogy, which brings richer descriptions of both artifacts andthe structure of the underlying community. Action research and free/opensource development principles have been aligned over two cycles, wherestudents have participated as both co-researchers and co-developers. Evolvingthe nature and presentation of assessment artifacts, participants havedetermined how these are best shared and reused, and the ways in which largercontextual information about the community can improve both the learning andthe knowledge of the learning taking place.A multi-method research framework is used to show what artifacts are created,who is interacting with whom and why participants act as they do. Data has beencollected using interviews, focus groups and from analytics from the e-Portfolioitself.The findings suggest that the types of artifacts created are influenced by both thecommunity and by the nature of the material being learnt. Artifacts reveal thesources that students use for their work and although participants can bereluctant to reveal incorrect or incomplete work to the community, this can beencouraged by a carefully constructed induction, reinforcing the importance ofthe role of teacher as tutor. Expertise is quickly associated with someparticipants by the quality and regularity of their artifact construction, whobecome more central and influential to the community, with their workbecoming increasingly visible through search activities.This work presents the framework, an analysis of the results, conclusions andrecommendations along with a reference implementation.

AB - There is a substantial body of research suggesting the advantages of using e-Portfolios in higher education assessment, where work is collated by individualsto record their learning. The use of learning communities in this context is anunder-researched area, despite the number of e-Portfolios that implement asocial component.This work develops an alternative e-Portfolio approach by using a networkedlearning based pedagogy, which brings richer descriptions of both artifacts andthe structure of the underlying community. Action research and free/opensource development principles have been aligned over two cycles, wherestudents have participated as both co-researchers and co-developers. Evolvingthe nature and presentation of assessment artifacts, participants havedetermined how these are best shared and reused, and the ways in which largercontextual information about the community can improve both the learning andthe knowledge of the learning taking place.A multi-method research framework is used to show what artifacts are created,who is interacting with whom and why participants act as they do. Data has beencollected using interviews, focus groups and from analytics from the e-Portfolioitself.The findings suggest that the types of artifacts created are influenced by both thecommunity and by the nature of the material being learnt. Artifacts reveal thesources that students use for their work and although participants can bereluctant to reveal incorrect or incomplete work to the community, this can beencouraged by a carefully constructed induction, reinforcing the importance ofthe role of teacher as tutor. Expertise is quickly associated with someparticipants by the quality and regularity of their artifact construction, whobecome more central and influential to the community, with their workbecoming increasingly visible through search activities.This work presents the framework, an analysis of the results, conclusions andrecommendations along with a reference implementation.

M3 - Doctoral Thesis

PB - Lancaster University

ER -