ePortfolios beyond pre-service teacher education: a new dawn?

Abstract

The context of this paper is the final phase of a longitudinal action research project investigating whether an ePortfolio, created as a pre-service teacher to evidence a digital story of developing professional identity, could transition into employability, ie the first year as a newly qualified teacher. Thus this paper focuses on a new area of ePortfolio related research in teacher education; the transition from university into employment. The research findings indicate a changing purpose of the ePortfolio from training to the workplace, along with an increasing strength of ownership as part of the transition, and empowerment in becoming a teacher. Key outcomes are discussed and arguments presented for an ePortfolio to support professional development from university to employment.Keywords: ePortfolio; technology; secondary; pre-service teachers; newly qualified teachers; continuing professional development; employablity. IntroductionThis paper presents the findings of a research project focussing on ePortfolios in pre-service teacher education from university into employment and is therefore of interest to teacher educators both in the United Kingdom (UK) and internationally. This paper thus builds on existing research into ePortfolios in pre-service teacher education and explores a new area of development by examining how and if the ePortfolio, created as a pre-service teacher, can be extended into the NQT year. The research draws on key theories of: identity, self-regulation leading to self-efficacy, and situated learning; these are discussed in more detail later in the paper. The project was part funded by the Training Development Agency, UK.The context is the final phase of a longitudinal action research project spanning four years at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), United Kingdom (UK), focussing on the evaluation of ePortfolios for pre-service teachers to present evidence of their digital journey to becoming a teacher. This final phase aimed to identify whether the e-Portfolio, developed as a pre-service teacher, could create a space where a newly qualified teacher (NQT), working in a 'situated' context could reflect on teaching and plan targets for future action.Two key aims were identified for this phase: to pilot the use of ePortfolios beyond teacher training, initially into the NQT year; and to identify if whether an ePortfolio tool could continue to support the professional development for NQTs during their continuing teaching career. The focus for this phase was NQTs employed in the secondary sector (11-18 years) who had completed either a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) 1 or a Graduate Teacher Programme 2 (GTP) in the previous year within the School of Education at NTU. This paper thus builds on existing research into ePortfolios in teacher education and explores a new area of development by examining how and if the ePortfolio can be extended into the NQT year. The research draws on key theories: identity, self-regulation leading to self-efficacy, and situated learning; th...

Impact of Electronic Portfolios on Prospective Teachers’ Participation, Motivation, and Autonomous Learning

“…Along these lines, the portfolio provides a focus for development of e-learning skills, as it facilitates use of new technologies in compiling the portfolio (Spendlove & Hopper, 2006). In addition to these studies, extensive research has analysed the use of the electronic portfolio in training future teachers (Boulton, 2014;Ntuli, Keengwe & Kyei-Blankson, 2009;Ritzhaupt, Parker & Ndoye, 2012;Tochon, 2012;Trent & Shroff, 2013), and studies centre on the electronic portfolio as a learning tool in teacher education.…”

“…In fact, this tool might help students to articulate their learning through the process of reflection and communication it promotes. Whereas some studies of reflection are oriented to professionals in the fields of school counsellor and school psychology education (Wakimoto & Lewis, 2014), most address pre-service education professionals (Boulton, 2014;Lopez-Fernandez & Rodriguez-Illera, 2009;Tochon, 2012).…”

Time for a new approach to prepare future teachers for educational technology use: Its meaning and measurement

“…Nevertheless, previous research indicates that on-going and process-oriented feedback is beneficial to build pre-service teachers' abilities to use technology in the classroom (Authors, 2012;Boulton, 2014).…”

Adults and Children Engaging With Eportfolios in an Early Childhood Education Setting

“…Samardzija and Balaban (2014) also suggest that they can be used to help academics design their career aspirations, and for institutions to support this development. For students, ePortfolios have the benefit of allowing them unlimited storage space (Ledoux & McHenry, 2006;Ntuli, Keengwe, & KyeiBlankson, 2009), assisting them in becoming reflective practitioners (Chambers & Wickersham, 2007;Ledoux & McHenry, 2006), and as a possible tool for future employment (Boulton, 2014;Goldsmith, 2007;Heinrich et al, 2007). Ledoux and McHenry (2006), however, have identified some barriers and challenges to implementing ePortfolios in a tertiary setting.…”

“…These advantages include the ability to link entries, ease of access and opportunities for contributions which could include "collaboration and feedback" (p. 656). Heinrich et al (2007) concluded that ePortfolios are a valuable tool for on-going reflection (a key component of life-long learning), that they are valuable to industry regarding whom to employ (Boulton, 2014;Goldsmith, 2007), and as a tool for on-going professional development and as evidence for professional bodies (such as the Education Council of New Zealand).…”