In October 2008, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council released the final report for the c... more In October 2008, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council released the final report for the commissioned project 'ePortfolio use by university students in Australia: Informing excellence in policy and practice'. The Australian ePortfolio Project represented the first attempt to examine the breadth and depth of ePortfolio practice in the Australian higher education sector. The research activities included: surveys of stakeholder groups in learning and teaching, academic management and human resource management, with respondents representing all Australian universities; a series of focus groups and semi-structured interviews that sought to explore key issues in greater depth; and surveys designed to capture students' precourse expectations and their post-course experiences of ePortfolio learning. Further qualitative data was collected through interviews with 'mature users' of ePortfolios. Project findings revealed that, while there was a high level of interest in the use of ePortfolios in terms of the potential to help students become reflective learners who were conscious of their personal and professional strengths and weaknesses, the state of play in Australian universities was very fragmented. The project investigation identified four individual, yet interrelated, contexts where strategies may be employed to support and foster effective ePortfolio practice in higher education: government policy; technical standards; academic policy; and learning and teaching. Four scenarios for the future were also presented with the goal of stimulating discussion about opportunities for stakeholder engagement. It is argued that the effective use of ePortfolios requires open dialogue and collaboration between the different stakeholders across this range of contexts.
Division of Technology, Information and Library Services, 2007
The idea for the creation of an electronic portfolio for QUT students was prompted by a 2001 symp... more The idea for the creation of an electronic portfolio for QUT students was prompted by a 2001 symposium at Harvard University which discussed the idea of enabling students to electronically record their university experiences in a repository. QUT's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Teaching, Information and Learning Support), Professor Tom Cochrane, returned from the symposium with a desire to provide QUT students with greater evidence of their achievements than could be displayed by an academic transcript alone . At QUT, concerns had also been raised that exiting students were not clear about the full complement of skills they had developed throughout their university career, which would have direct implications for student transition from university to graduate employment.
Australian journal of career development, Jul 1, 2005
In 2002, a project team was established at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to build... more In 2002, a project team was established at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to build and implement an e-portfolio for each of the 40,000 students. Its success depended on adopting a systemic approach where access was made available to students as a routine part of their life at QUT The project team adopted a comprehensive model, so the system could meet a variety of purposes and audience needs and it was customised to integrate with existing QUT systems. Business requirements were commissioned and the project was implemented in manageable steps interspersed with trials and feedback. The underlying philosophy, decisions made, steps taken, feedback and future developments are outlined. he concept of a folio of work where people, T particularly artists, collected together samples of their work to promote to others has existed for some time. 'Folio' suggests a means of packaging evidence though photographs, documents, work samples and the like in print, audio, video and other formats. This concept has evolved to 'portfolio', with a more portable version existing for convenience, ease of transporting and management . A portfolio could be defined as a systematic and purposeful collection of work and achievement (Temple, Allan & Temple, 2003). As an example of the use of portfolios on a large scale, in the early 1980s, the then Queensland Department of Education issued a three-fold maroon plastic folder with a range of clear plastic pockets to l of C a r e e r D e v e l o p m e n t V O L U M E 14, N U M B E R 2 , W I N T E R 2005 Articles AWL% ' ! lntroducllon ! Experiences ArtefodS Resume Academic History
Division of Technology, Information and Library Services, 2010
Buzzetto-More, N.(Ed.).(2010). The E-Portfolio Paradigm: Informing, Educating, Assessing, and Man... more Buzzetto-More, N.(Ed.).(2010). The E-Portfolio Paradigm: Informing, Educating, Assessing, and Managing With E-Portfolios. Santa Rosa, California: Informing Science Press.(pp. 289-319). Chapter 15 The Development of Strategies to Drive Government and Academic Policy to ...
... D. Emmett, Teaching and Learning Support Services QUT W. Harper, Information Technology Servi... more ... D. Emmett, Teaching and Learning Support Services QUT W. Harper, Information Technology Services QUT K. Hauville, Information Technology ... and more universities explore their use for teaching and learning, and enhancing employability (Truer & Jensen, 2003; Barrett). ...
... The AeP Project Team is grateful for the assistance and support provided by QUT colleagues an... more ... The AeP Project Team is grateful for the assistance and support provided by QUT colleagues and associates: Bergita Shannon, Geoff Gillan, Kim Manning, the QUT Corporate Communications team, QUT TALSS Media Development team and the QUT TALSS Programs and ...
Australian ePortfolio Project ePortfolio use by university students in Australia: Informing excel... more Australian ePortfolio Project ePortfolio use by university students in Australia: Informing excellence in policy and practice
Funding Support for this project has been provided by the Australian Learning and Teaching Counci... more Funding Support for this project has been provided by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the ...
, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council released the final report for the commissioned pro... more , the Australian Learning and Teaching Council released the final report for the commissioned project 'ePortfolio use by university students in Australia: Informing excellence in policy and practice'. The Australian ePortfolio Project represented the first attempt to examine the breadth and depth of ePortfolio practice in the Australian higher education sector. The research activities included: surveys of stakeholder groups in learning and teaching, academic management and human resource management, with respondents representing all Australian universities; a series of focus groups and semi-structured interviews that sought to explore key issues in greater depth; and surveys designed to capture students' precourse expectations and their post-course experiences of ePortfolio learning. Further qualitative data was collected through interviews with 'mature users' of ePortfolios. Project findings revealed that, while there was a high level of interest in the use of ePortfolios in terms of the potential to help students become reflective learners who were conscious of their personal and professional strengths and weaknesses, the state of play in Australian universities was very fragmented. The project investigation identified four individual, yet interrelated, contexts where strategies may be employed to support and foster effective ePortfolio practice in higher education: government policy; technical standards; academic policy; and learning and teaching. Four scenarios for the future were also presented with the goal of stimulating discussion about opportunities for stakeholder engagement. It is argued that the effective use of ePortfolios requires open dialogue and collaboration between the different stakeholders across this range of contexts.
The Australian ePortfolio Project, funded by the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in H... more The Australian ePortfolio Project, funded by the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, has revealed that a significant number of people in Australian universities are interested in and are exploring the use of electronic portfolios in academic programs, in transition into employment and in career development. As an area of emerging practice in Australian universities, the importance of further capturing their interest in ePortfolios as a process and a tool to reflect on and provide evidence about student learning should not be overlooked. The paper introduces the landscape of ePortfolio practice in higher education in general and describes the Australian ePortfolio Project in particular. The concept of communities of practice in academic life is discussed, with specific attention paid to a number of successful communities of practice internationally that encourage and support ePortfolio practice. The paper concludes by considering some options for establishing a community of practice that will benefit the higher education sector in Australasia.
(IUPUI)? Thirty-two representatives of 16 varied ePortfolio projects in degree programs, campus-w... more (IUPUI)? Thirty-two representatives of 16 varied ePortfolio projects in degree programs, campus-wide high-impact practices, and single courses participated in 27 hourlong, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews and provided supplemental documents for review. Qualitative data analysis software enabled collaborative data coding and analysis. Researchers adopted procedures to support reliability, trustworthiness, and transferability of findings throughout the research process. The nine findings cut across stereotypical ePortfolio distinctions, revealing widely shared purposes, practices, successes, and frustrations with reflection in ePortfolios. Reflection was seldom the primary motivator for ePortfolio adoption, but its importance was quickly recognized and valued. Students' limited abilities to reflect typically surprised their instructors, who then pursued a range of strategies to help students improve their reflection skills. Faculty and student understandings of reflection had multifaceted effects on ePortfolio practice and experience. Though not easy to achieve, effective reflection practice appeared to be multi-dimensional and rewarding for students and instructors alike.
The ePortfolio Project at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) exemplifies an innovative... more The ePortfolio Project at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) exemplifies an innovative and flexible harnessing of current portfolio thinking and design that has achieved substantial buy-in across the institution with over 23000 active portfolios. Robust infrastructure support, curriculum integration and training have facilitated widespread take-up, while QUT’s early adoption of ePortfolio technology has enabled the concomitant development of a strong policy and systems approach to deal explicitly with legal and design responsibilities. In the light of that experience, this paper will highlight the risks and tensions inherent in ePortfolio policy, design and implementation. In many ways, both the strengths and weaknesses of ePortfolios lie in their ability to be accessed by a wider, less secure audience – either internally (e.g. other students and staff) or externally (e.g. potential employees and referees). How do we balance the obvious requirement to safeguard students f...
A blueprint for enhanced transition: Nelson, Kift, Humphreys & Harper – Reviewed Paper 1 a bluepr... more A blueprint for enhanced transition: Nelson, Kift, Humphreys & Harper – Reviewed Paper 1 a blueprint for enhanced transition: taking an holistic approach to managing student transition into a large university.
In 2002, a project team was established at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to build... more In 2002, a project team was established at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to build and implement an e-portfolio for each of the 40,000 students. Its success depended on adopting a systemic approach where access was made available to students as a routine part of their life at QUT. The project team adopted a comprehensive model, so the system could meet a variety of purposes and audience needs and it was customised to integrate with existing QUT systems. Business requirements were commissioned and the project was implemented in manageable steps interspersed with trials and feedback. The underlying philosophy, decisions made, steps taken, feedback and future developments are outlined.
Engaging new students in tertiary study, amidst the storm of their adjustment to university life,... more Engaging new students in tertiary study, amidst the storm of their adjustment to university life, should harness conventional physical as well as new virtual spaces to ensure (as urged by McInnis 2003, p.9) learning opportunities are maximised inside and outside of the classroom. When ubiquitous information, merged technologies, blurred social-study-work boundaries, multitasking and hyperlinked online interactions epitomise generational routines (Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005); positive, rewarding interactions through virtual space "portals" may establish the mode and intensity of on- and off-campus student experience. Conventional modes of curriculum delivery and learning support that hinge on presentation of material according to (for example) scheduled topic sessions, contact times and administrative office hours, do not necessarily fully accommodate these new social realities (James, 2002, p.81), contemporary learning practices or transition-informed curriculum design (Kif...
This study reports on a sequence of iterative redesigns of a graduate-level foreign language teac... more This study reports on a sequence of iterative redesigns of a graduate-level foreign language teacher education course. The study describes the interplay between technology and pedagogy that resulted in important curricular changes, from a focus on individual to social and then holistic reflection. Using a team-based design model, instructional experts worked collaboratively over multiple redesigns, sparked by the unique affordances of emerging technologies such as video, video editing, and electronic portfolios, as well as shifts in pedagogical approaches and changes in course goals.
Recognizing the importance of meaningful reflective writing as an integral component to the portf... more Recognizing the importance of meaningful reflective writing as an integral component to the portfolios used in the first-year program (FYP), faculty questioned whether a newly developed electronic portfolio offered any pedagogical benefits over the existing traditional paper portfolio. Of particular interest for this work was whether the use of ePortfolios might positively impact students' metacognitive skills. A study conducted with students and faculty in the FYP evaluated student understanding of purpose, significance, and relevancy in their reflective writings. Findings indicate that while both types of portfolios, electronic and traditional paper, contribute positively to students' learning related to "connections to the course," students completing an ePortfolio show heightened levels of metacognition in relation to "connections to learning" and "connections to career or personal goals."
In October 2008, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council released the final report for the c... more In October 2008, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council released the final report for the commissioned project 'ePortfolio use by university students in Australia: Informing excellence in policy and practice'. The Australian ePortfolio Project represented the first attempt to examine the breadth and depth of ePortfolio practice in the Australian higher education sector. The research activities included: surveys of stakeholder groups in learning and teaching, academic management and human resource management, with respondents representing all Australian universities; a series of focus groups and semi-structured interviews that sought to explore key issues in greater depth; and surveys designed to capture students' precourse expectations and their post-course experiences of ePortfolio learning. Further qualitative data was collected through interviews with 'mature users' of ePortfolios. Project findings revealed that, while there was a high level of interest in the use of ePortfolios in terms of the potential to help students become reflective learners who were conscious of their personal and professional strengths and weaknesses, the state of play in Australian universities was very fragmented. The project investigation identified four individual, yet interrelated, contexts where strategies may be employed to support and foster effective ePortfolio practice in higher education: government policy; technical standards; academic policy; and learning and teaching. Four scenarios for the future were also presented with the goal of stimulating discussion about opportunities for stakeholder engagement. It is argued that the effective use of ePortfolios requires open dialogue and collaboration between the different stakeholders across this range of contexts.
Division of Technology, Information and Library Services, 2007
The idea for the creation of an electronic portfolio for QUT students was prompted by a 2001 symp... more The idea for the creation of an electronic portfolio for QUT students was prompted by a 2001 symposium at Harvard University which discussed the idea of enabling students to electronically record their university experiences in a repository. QUT's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Teaching, Information and Learning Support), Professor Tom Cochrane, returned from the symposium with a desire to provide QUT students with greater evidence of their achievements than could be displayed by an academic transcript alone . At QUT, concerns had also been raised that exiting students were not clear about the full complement of skills they had developed throughout their university career, which would have direct implications for student transition from university to graduate employment.
Australian journal of career development, Jul 1, 2005
In 2002, a project team was established at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to build... more In 2002, a project team was established at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to build and implement an e-portfolio for each of the 40,000 students. Its success depended on adopting a systemic approach where access was made available to students as a routine part of their life at QUT The project team adopted a comprehensive model, so the system could meet a variety of purposes and audience needs and it was customised to integrate with existing QUT systems. Business requirements were commissioned and the project was implemented in manageable steps interspersed with trials and feedback. The underlying philosophy, decisions made, steps taken, feedback and future developments are outlined. he concept of a folio of work where people, T particularly artists, collected together samples of their work to promote to others has existed for some time. 'Folio' suggests a means of packaging evidence though photographs, documents, work samples and the like in print, audio, video and other formats. This concept has evolved to 'portfolio', with a more portable version existing for convenience, ease of transporting and management . A portfolio could be defined as a systematic and purposeful collection of work and achievement (Temple, Allan & Temple, 2003). As an example of the use of portfolios on a large scale, in the early 1980s, the then Queensland Department of Education issued a three-fold maroon plastic folder with a range of clear plastic pockets to l of C a r e e r D e v e l o p m e n t V O L U M E 14, N U M B E R 2 , W I N T E R 2005 Articles AWL% ' ! lntroducllon ! Experiences ArtefodS Resume Academic History
Division of Technology, Information and Library Services, 2010
Buzzetto-More, N.(Ed.).(2010). The E-Portfolio Paradigm: Informing, Educating, Assessing, and Man... more Buzzetto-More, N.(Ed.).(2010). The E-Portfolio Paradigm: Informing, Educating, Assessing, and Managing With E-Portfolios. Santa Rosa, California: Informing Science Press.(pp. 289-319). Chapter 15 The Development of Strategies to Drive Government and Academic Policy to ...
... D. Emmett, Teaching and Learning Support Services QUT W. Harper, Information Technology Servi... more ... D. Emmett, Teaching and Learning Support Services QUT W. Harper, Information Technology Services QUT K. Hauville, Information Technology ... and more universities explore their use for teaching and learning, and enhancing employability (Truer & Jensen, 2003; Barrett). ...
... The AeP Project Team is grateful for the assistance and support provided by QUT colleagues an... more ... The AeP Project Team is grateful for the assistance and support provided by QUT colleagues and associates: Bergita Shannon, Geoff Gillan, Kim Manning, the QUT Corporate Communications team, QUT TALSS Media Development team and the QUT TALSS Programs and ...
Australian ePortfolio Project ePortfolio use by university students in Australia: Informing excel... more Australian ePortfolio Project ePortfolio use by university students in Australia: Informing excellence in policy and practice
Funding Support for this project has been provided by the Australian Learning and Teaching Counci... more Funding Support for this project has been provided by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the ...
, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council released the final report for the commissioned pro... more , the Australian Learning and Teaching Council released the final report for the commissioned project 'ePortfolio use by university students in Australia: Informing excellence in policy and practice'. The Australian ePortfolio Project represented the first attempt to examine the breadth and depth of ePortfolio practice in the Australian higher education sector. The research activities included: surveys of stakeholder groups in learning and teaching, academic management and human resource management, with respondents representing all Australian universities; a series of focus groups and semi-structured interviews that sought to explore key issues in greater depth; and surveys designed to capture students' precourse expectations and their post-course experiences of ePortfolio learning. Further qualitative data was collected through interviews with 'mature users' of ePortfolios. Project findings revealed that, while there was a high level of interest in the use of ePortfolios in terms of the potential to help students become reflective learners who were conscious of their personal and professional strengths and weaknesses, the state of play in Australian universities was very fragmented. The project investigation identified four individual, yet interrelated, contexts where strategies may be employed to support and foster effective ePortfolio practice in higher education: government policy; technical standards; academic policy; and learning and teaching. Four scenarios for the future were also presented with the goal of stimulating discussion about opportunities for stakeholder engagement. It is argued that the effective use of ePortfolios requires open dialogue and collaboration between the different stakeholders across this range of contexts.
The Australian ePortfolio Project, funded by the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in H... more The Australian ePortfolio Project, funded by the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, has revealed that a significant number of people in Australian universities are interested in and are exploring the use of electronic portfolios in academic programs, in transition into employment and in career development. As an area of emerging practice in Australian universities, the importance of further capturing their interest in ePortfolios as a process and a tool to reflect on and provide evidence about student learning should not be overlooked. The paper introduces the landscape of ePortfolio practice in higher education in general and describes the Australian ePortfolio Project in particular. The concept of communities of practice in academic life is discussed, with specific attention paid to a number of successful communities of practice internationally that encourage and support ePortfolio practice. The paper concludes by considering some options for establishing a community of practice that will benefit the higher education sector in Australasia.
(IUPUI)? Thirty-two representatives of 16 varied ePortfolio projects in degree programs, campus-w... more (IUPUI)? Thirty-two representatives of 16 varied ePortfolio projects in degree programs, campus-wide high-impact practices, and single courses participated in 27 hourlong, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews and provided supplemental documents for review. Qualitative data analysis software enabled collaborative data coding and analysis. Researchers adopted procedures to support reliability, trustworthiness, and transferability of findings throughout the research process. The nine findings cut across stereotypical ePortfolio distinctions, revealing widely shared purposes, practices, successes, and frustrations with reflection in ePortfolios. Reflection was seldom the primary motivator for ePortfolio adoption, but its importance was quickly recognized and valued. Students' limited abilities to reflect typically surprised their instructors, who then pursued a range of strategies to help students improve their reflection skills. Faculty and student understandings of reflection had multifaceted effects on ePortfolio practice and experience. Though not easy to achieve, effective reflection practice appeared to be multi-dimensional and rewarding for students and instructors alike.
The ePortfolio Project at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) exemplifies an innovative... more The ePortfolio Project at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) exemplifies an innovative and flexible harnessing of current portfolio thinking and design that has achieved substantial buy-in across the institution with over 23000 active portfolios. Robust infrastructure support, curriculum integration and training have facilitated widespread take-up, while QUT’s early adoption of ePortfolio technology has enabled the concomitant development of a strong policy and systems approach to deal explicitly with legal and design responsibilities. In the light of that experience, this paper will highlight the risks and tensions inherent in ePortfolio policy, design and implementation. In many ways, both the strengths and weaknesses of ePortfolios lie in their ability to be accessed by a wider, less secure audience – either internally (e.g. other students and staff) or externally (e.g. potential employees and referees). How do we balance the obvious requirement to safeguard students f...
A blueprint for enhanced transition: Nelson, Kift, Humphreys & Harper – Reviewed Paper 1 a bluepr... more A blueprint for enhanced transition: Nelson, Kift, Humphreys & Harper – Reviewed Paper 1 a blueprint for enhanced transition: taking an holistic approach to managing student transition into a large university.
In 2002, a project team was established at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to build... more In 2002, a project team was established at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to build and implement an e-portfolio for each of the 40,000 students. Its success depended on adopting a systemic approach where access was made available to students as a routine part of their life at QUT. The project team adopted a comprehensive model, so the system could meet a variety of purposes and audience needs and it was customised to integrate with existing QUT systems. Business requirements were commissioned and the project was implemented in manageable steps interspersed with trials and feedback. The underlying philosophy, decisions made, steps taken, feedback and future developments are outlined.
Engaging new students in tertiary study, amidst the storm of their adjustment to university life,... more Engaging new students in tertiary study, amidst the storm of their adjustment to university life, should harness conventional physical as well as new virtual spaces to ensure (as urged by McInnis 2003, p.9) learning opportunities are maximised inside and outside of the classroom. When ubiquitous information, merged technologies, blurred social-study-work boundaries, multitasking and hyperlinked online interactions epitomise generational routines (Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005); positive, rewarding interactions through virtual space "portals" may establish the mode and intensity of on- and off-campus student experience. Conventional modes of curriculum delivery and learning support that hinge on presentation of material according to (for example) scheduled topic sessions, contact times and administrative office hours, do not necessarily fully accommodate these new social realities (James, 2002, p.81), contemporary learning practices or transition-informed curriculum design (Kif...
This study reports on a sequence of iterative redesigns of a graduate-level foreign language teac... more This study reports on a sequence of iterative redesigns of a graduate-level foreign language teacher education course. The study describes the interplay between technology and pedagogy that resulted in important curricular changes, from a focus on individual to social and then holistic reflection. Using a team-based design model, instructional experts worked collaboratively over multiple redesigns, sparked by the unique affordances of emerging technologies such as video, video editing, and electronic portfolios, as well as shifts in pedagogical approaches and changes in course goals.
Recognizing the importance of meaningful reflective writing as an integral component to the portf... more Recognizing the importance of meaningful reflective writing as an integral component to the portfolios used in the first-year program (FYP), faculty questioned whether a newly developed electronic portfolio offered any pedagogical benefits over the existing traditional paper portfolio. Of particular interest for this work was whether the use of ePortfolios might positively impact students' metacognitive skills. A study conducted with students and faculty in the FYP evaluated student understanding of purpose, significance, and relevancy in their reflective writings. Findings indicate that while both types of portfolios, electronic and traditional paper, contribute positively to students' learning related to "connections to the course," students completing an ePortfolio show heightened levels of metacognition in relation to "connections to learning" and "connections to career or personal goals."
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Papers by Wendy Harper