The first principle of an e-Portfolio is that the owner has access, anywhere and at anytime whether that is from within a VLE or independent of any VLE (as I would insist is better!) However, Becta’s mandate that all schools should have a Learning Platform with the potential for an e-Portfolio up and running by Spring 2008 causes me some serious concerns.
Preparedness:
Despite the fact that some schools have been steadily developing their learning platforms over a number of years and have moved almost seamlessly to a VLE environment, my research indicates that many schools have not. However, over the last few months in particular there has been a massive surge by many schools to try and meet the 2008 deadline. Research, advice and an appropriate period of consultation might have been in short supply, but ‘Never-mind, we now have our VLE installed – and they do say that there is the potential for an e-Portfolio, somewhere. However, teachers are often unprepared as to how they might use the VLE/e-Portfolio and certainly many have not had the opportunity to think through how these tools might change the whole business of teaching and learning. Following on from that, rather than importing ‘old’ teaching and learning materials and their embedded strategies, few have been given the opportunity to prepare, test and develop new materials appropriate to 24/7/365 and Web2.0 thinking.
The Digital Divide:
The so-called Digital Divide is, I believe, seriously underrated. It is not only about ICT competencies and the ownership of a PC. Nor is it about culture – some families do not wish to own a TV, never-mind a computer. The ownership of a ‘sub£200’ mini-portable might not be appropriate for the advanced applications we often use in school. The principle of the Government demanding that pupils do homework at home on a PC and connected to the VLE through a broadband connection, which all needs paying for, has not been fully thought through. Again, the fact that 3,4 or even 5 siblings could be wanting to use the family PC at the same time to do homeworks or reflectively ponder their e-Portfolio has not been addressed. I wrote a series of articles some 20 years ago entitled, ‘The Computers in Cupboards Syndrome’, highlighting the difficulties of actually using ‘the PC’ in the classroom. Unfortunately, ubiquitous computing is not yet here. Until such times as all families have wifi connections and enough PCs for all the family, probably subsidised by the government, I do not see the demands of Becta have a chance of being met.
Communicating the Vision:
Despite the issues raised above, it is essential that at this stage the RBCs, LAs, Advisors, Becta, Naace and the DCSF really make it a priority to start an evangelistic campaign of disseminating information, case-studies and exemplar materials illustrating how e-Portfolios might be used to the benefit of students and parents. Not only this but the whole concept of VLEs and e-Portfolios needs to be proclaimed via the major public information channels to inform parents and carers. In my own recent survey (Autumn 2007) only 1% of schools had involved parents in the selection of a VLE for their school. I thus doubt that any real information concerning e-Portfolios has been given to parents, despite the fact that the promotion of both VLEs and e-Portfolios requires the co-operation of parents relating to the sensitive topic of the use of family computers at home.
