Background to the QUT Student ePortfolio Project:
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a highly successful Australian university with an applied emphasis in courses and research. Based in Brisbane with a global outlook, it has 40,000 students, including 6000 from overseas and an annual budget of more than AU$500 million. Courses are in high demand and its graduate employment rate is well above the national average for Australian universities.
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. In 2002, QUT made a decision that it would provide an institution-wide, web-based e-portfolio tool, which would enhance the total university experience for students. The broad vision for this e-portfolio tool was to provide a place where students could record, reflect, catalogue, retrieve and showcase their reflections and learning within both curricular and extra-curricular contexts. The QUT student ePortfolio Project was initiated.
Governance
From the outset, there was strong vision and sponsorship by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Technology, Information and Learning Support) which gave visibility to the project across QUT. Design development began on the SeP in February 2003 with a multi-disciplinary team selected from Information Technology Services, Teaching and Learning Support Services, Careers & Employment and the Division Executive.
The journey
Early on in the ePortfolio Project, QUT consciously made decisions about what the nature, scope, design and policy of its e-portfolio solution would be. This has proved an important contributor to its success and refinement of these elements has continued as the project has progressed.
The ePortfolio project built on earlier approaches of student capability profiling. There was already running, a faculty led project to allow students to submit online evidence of successful completion of specific capabilities, as determined by the University. This mapping of evidence against graduate capabilities assisted both students and the faculty to meet professional accreditation. This system required verification by a lecturer. The Student ePortfolio project team was able to build on the work done in this project. The project team worked closely with employers and employing bodies, the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to ensure alignment between the QUT graduate capabilities and the needs of employers. This was necessary also to ensure the expectations of QUT's "Real World" marketing could be met.
The project took into account the myriad of e-portfolio approaches used internationally, and ensured that meeting student needs remained at the centre of the project. With these guiding principles, a number of decisions were made. Key among these were that it be a customised system; be student-centred, student-managed, and student-owned, be flexible enough to cater for all three styles – structural, learning, and showcase – and cater for learning and teaching, employment, and industry-specific needs. These guiding decisions aligned closely with the University’s strategic vision for ICT in diverse learning environments and for equipping graduates with the knowledge and skills appropriate for a rapidly changing world. In keeping with this and the commitment to lifelong learning, QUT has been able, in later refinements, to provide lifelong access for Alumni to their ePortfolio. This has allowed QUT to continue to support and engage with graduates, as active Alumni and returning students.
The ePortfolio project also included design of processes and policy for use. An institution-wide electronic system which provides a flexible mode of delivery, is used for a range of purposes, and in which a student is responsible for his/her work, is easily recognised as a place where controls are required that will allow an appropriate response to any issues. At the same time, QUT was very aware that the aforementioned guiding principles were equally as important. QUT has implemented two streams of solution which work together to effectively solve complaints and issues of use. The first ensures that appropriate technical solutions are in place. Content and actions taken with the ePortfolio system are recorded. These “history” tables are secured, and only accessible upon requirement by a limited number of authorised staff. The ability to remove an e-portfolio from public view or to remove access to update an e-portfolio also exists, and is designed for use where the breach may be extreme and require immediate action. The second ensures that students understand their responsibilities to themselves and others as they interact with ICTs at QUT. Students agree to Information Facilities Rules upon entry to QUT and are reminded at the time they begin building their ePortfolio. They also agree to a terms of use policy when viewing the e-portfolios of others. The policy is readily available to students and staff.
Key guiding decisions: The following key decisions were based on the available literature and ensured clarity of purpose and a focal point for development amongst the project team members.
The QUT student ePortfolio would -
- be a customised system integrated into existing University infrastructure
- be based within the existing QUT intranet (QUT Virtual) which is the management system used by all students rather than through the online teaching and learning site or Careers and Employment or individual Faculty web sites
- support the three styles outlined, structural, learning and showcase
- have its own separate portlet on the front page of QUT Virtual, to have equal importance with all other student management systems
- operate using the same principles and features as other QUT Virtual functionalities
- be student centred and student managed, with each student responsible for their own work
- be flexible enough to be used to undertake a self-audit, to encourage student capability development, to be a teaching and learning tool, to be a reflective tool, to be a showcase tool, to be a career planning and employment-oriented tool with potential employer requirements in mind, and to be tailored to specific faculty or industry profession requirements
- be delivered in manageable and achievable steps with a strict focus on avoiding 'scope creep'
- provide students with the opportunity to identify, reflect on, record and present information about themselves that represented the 'whole person', not just the academic achievement
- adopt a skills areas framework that aligned closely with employer expectations and the QUT student capabilities framework; and be rolled out across the institution gradually so that QUT systems could be tested for load and impact.
Policy development: A number of policy considerations were made to allow the project to proceed with full institutional backing. These included:
- Individual students had the freedom to include any material in their e-portfolios, yet it was to be marketed as a QUT endorsed product. Consequently, a disclaimer was placed at the bottom of each Student ePortfolio and a process was developed to enable a system administrator to have access to every student ePortfolio, as well as the capacity to cancel an instance if it contravened the QUT IT rules
- The Student ePortfolio needed to draw key information from the authorised student system, so there could be assurance that the information was valid
Influential projects led by institution staff (internal and externally funded):
Australian ePortfolio Project (AeP)
Carrick Institute (now ALTC) awarded funding for the Australian ePortfolio project in 2007. QUT led the project which looked at the use of e-portfolios by university students in Australia.
ePortfolios Australia Conference
Following the success of the ePortfolio Symposium 2008 and 2009, which were held as part of the Australian ePortfolio Project, QUT was instrumental in planning for the ePortfolios Australia Conference held in November 2010 (EAC2010). In collaboration with the Australian Flexible Learning Framework and Curtin University, once again, planning is underway for the EAC2011.
QUT Career Development Modules
The ePortfolio team worked closely with the Careers and Employment office to develop the QUT Career Development Modules. The QUT Career Development Modules received an ALTC program award in 2010.
References made to e-portfolios in institutional strategy docs: QUT’s vision of the future is “to provide outstanding learning environments and programs that lead to excellent outcomes for graduates, enabling them to work in, and guide a world characterised by increasing change.” The QUT Student ePortfolio contributes to the vision and goals of the institution. The ePortfolio remains coherent with the QUT Blueprint 2011-2016. ePortfolio use is supported by the Manual of Policy and Procedures and the QUT IT Rules.
Implementation journey milestones
Date |
Event |
Description and links to documentation |
2001 |
Pro-Vice Chancellor - Tom Cochrane puts forward the concept of an ePortfolio for QUT students |
|
2002
|
Formation of Project steering committee |
|
2003 |
Pilot phase - QUT Student ePortfolio is tested with the Master of Information library students to support transition to professional practice |
|
2003
|
Review and alterations based on pilot |
|
2003 |
Further release to specific units across other discipline areas in order of 1000 students |
|
Nov 2004 |
Approval of ePortfolio policy in MOPP |
http://www.mopp.qut.edu.au/C/C_04_03.jsp |
2004 |
Implemetation across the University |
|
2005 |
Increase to storage space from 128MB to 512MB |
|
2006 |
February - Alumni access to ePortfolio |
|
2007 |
February - Nursing Council of Australia Nursing and Nurse Practitioners competencies released in ePortfolio. |
ePortfolio Skill sets - all students have access to 'Portfolio Capabilities'. Based on enrolment details students may also access Nursing or Nurse Practitioner sets. |
2007 |
March - The decision is taken to submit a proposal to the Carrick Institute to lead the Australian ePortfolio Project |
|
2007 |
May 24 - Professional Staff ePortfolio is released across the institution. A series of practical workshops was held to acquaint interested staff members with the ePortfolio. Feedback from participants was very positive. |
Professional Staff ePortfolio website |
2007 |
June/July - QUT chosen to lead the Australian ePortfolio Project |
|
2007 |
September - Nursing Council of Australia Midwifery competencies released in ePortfolio. During October, workshops were conducted to introduce these to students as appropriate. |
ePortfolio Skill sets - all students have access to 'Portfolio Capabilities'. Based on enrolment details students may also access Midwifery Competencies. |
2009 |
Formatted export function added |
|
2009 |
February - Professional Standards for Queensland Teachers skill set released in ePortfolio. |
ePortfolio Skill sets - all students have access to 'Portfolio Capabilities'. Based on enrolment details students may also access the Professional standards for Queensland teachers |
2009 |
May - Engineering skill set released |
|
2009 |
July - ALIA Core Knowledge and Skills set released |
ePortfolio Skill sets - all students have access to 'Portfolio Capabilities'. Based on enrolment details students may also access the skill set for the Australian Library and Information Association |
2010 |
The QUT Student ePortfolio receives an ALTC Programs Award |
http://www.altc.edu.au/award-enhance-learning-recipient-2010-5 |
2010 |
November - Reflections field increased from 1500 to 3000 characters |
|
2011 |
From Project to Programme - the QUT Student ePortfolio is formally recognised as an institution-wide learning and teaching approach
|
|
2011 |
February - Australian Association of Social Workers Practice standards released |
ePortfolio Skill sets - all students have access to 'Portfolio Capabilities'. Based on enrolment details students may also access the AASW Practice Standards |
2011/12 |
Academic Staff ePortfolio - Pilot |
A group of early and mid career academic staff will be trialling an ePortfolio to support their career development in 2012. The pilot is intended to inform a wider roll-out of ePortfolio for Academic Staff across the institution. More information about this pilot will be made available later in 2012. |
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