Theory+and+Pedagogy

**How can E-Portfolios be used to support and enhance learning?**


 * Section One** contains definitions, the psychological principles of learning and the characteristics of effective learners.
 * Section Two** looks at how the use of E-Portfolios in a learning environment is congruent with current theory about how people learn.
 * Section Three** looks at the implications of learning theory for current teaching practice and the puspose of learning.

**Section 1: How do people learn?**

Learning is the process of constructing knowledge and developing new understandings. The proces of learning is complex but it involves the cognitive construction of knowledge by each individual.The relationship between the knowledge being constructed, the environment and the learner is central to the learning process.

“Learning is an active, dynamic process that requires effort and energy that is both individual and social …… Learning in the fixed analysis is change. It is a sophisticated process that requires high level thinking, conceptual understanding and thoughtful decision making, liberally peppered with reserving judgement, self monitoring and humility and courage to accept the discomfort of uncertainty, reflect and re-think and continue the pursuit of clarity in understanding.” Stoll and Fink (2003) “…learning is nonlinear, recursive, continuous, complex, relational, and natural in humans….. learning is enhanced in contexts where learners have supportive relationships, have a sense of ownership and control over the learning process, and can learn with and from each other in safe and trusting learning environments …” (McCombs, 2003; McCombs & Whisler, 1997).
 * Definitions of Learning**

** Learner Centred Psychological Principles of Learning **


 * Characteristics of Effective learners: **** Add NZ Curriculum **


 * curious, adventurous and questioning
 * resilient, determined and focused
 * open-minded, flexible, imaginative and creative
 * critical, skeptical and analytical
 * both methodical and opportunistic
 * reflective, thoughtful and self-evaluative
 * keen to build on their products and performances
 * collaborative but also independent
 * have a disposition to learn

**Section 2: How can E-Portfolios support the process of learning?**

"Web-based technologies now make it possible to support complex nonlinear learning in ways that connect individual learners in meaningful dialogue, learning, and change across traditional boundaries of teachers, students, schools, classrooms, and individual communities.” McCombs 1997

Using E-Portfolios in teaching and learning programmes is congruent with the **APA Learner Centred Psychological Principles of Learning.**

** Every Learner Has a Zone of Proximal Development That Defines the Space That a Learner is Ready to Develop into Useful Knowledge **// http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=54 // Knowing the state of a learner's knowledge structure helps to identify a learner's zone of proximal development.

A student's zone of proximal development (ZPD) is. . . the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers. (Vygotsky 1978, 86)

When students say they are totally lost, sit back and obviously disengage they are probably expressing the feeling of being outside their zone; they have probably lost the link, the relationship of one idea to the other.

Digital communication technology can help teachers maintain an accurate sense of a learner's ZPD through

** Concepts are Organized and Intricate Knowledge Clusters **// http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=54 // Concept formation is a series of intellectual operations including the centering of attention, abstracting, synthesizing, and symbolizing (Vygotsky 1962).
 * student discussion forums
 * periodic mentoring with individual students via chat,
 * formalized online quizzes that assess student retention and comprehension of course material at smaller intervals
 * creating a safe environment for student questioning, comments and participation
 * consistently embedding student feedback and demonstrations

Activities that make **thinking visible** stimulate the student's growth from concept awareness to concept acquisition, by building in a series of intellectual operations that Vygotsky believes is required for concept acquisition.

** Making thinking visible **

Digital communication tools including blogging, journals and discussion forums
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">requires students to create, talk, write, explain, analyze, judge, report, and inquire.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">clarify to the learners, teacher and fellow students what the learners know or do not know, what they are puzzled about, and what they might be curious about with regard to the course material.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Reflection is the heart and soul of a portfolio, and is essential to brain-based learning (Kolb, 1984; Zull, 2002). We need to develop strategies that better support reflection in the learning process, supporting different types of reflection to improve learning. (Helen Barrett, Ph.D. 2009)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">enable learners to
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">enlarge their mental models,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">clarify concepts,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">establish meaningful links and relationships
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">provide a public forum in which the cumulative, step-by-step process of concept formation, refinement, application, and revision is fully visible to student peers as well as their mentors.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">provide a comprehensive record of how concepts take form through multiple clusters of knowledge
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">promote more complex and lasting retention of course material among students.
 * Reflection on the learning process**

Barrett suggests three types of reflection. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Contemporaneous
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">when the piece of work (an artifact) is saved in the digital archive
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Reflections completed in a blog format would focus on a specific piece of work or learning experience, and what has been learned while the experience is very fresh or immediate.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Summative
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">written at a later point of time providing a much broader perspective on a body of work that represents the author's goals for a showcase portfolio.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">More retrospective as well as developing an argument, providing a rationale that a collection of work meets specific outcomes or goals (related to the goal of the portfolio).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Looking Forward
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">setting a direction for future learning through goals

Digital communication and research tools help learners become **more engaged and active in their learning.** //http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=54//

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Tools are changing the communication patterns and relationships between learners and the faculty/teachers.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Learning networks
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">wireless and Web-enabled cell phones, mobile and hand-held digital tools.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Personal laptop computer and other mobile tools such as iPods and PDAs transforms teaching and learning experiences.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">community-building and networking power of instant messaging, discussion boards, online forums, blogs, wikis, e-mail….


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Teacher moves from the center to the periphery of the class communication pattern
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">anywhere/anytime access to communication tools enable students to go outside the organized course structure and content.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">students can customize their own learning experiences as the content boundaries of a course dissolve.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">mobile tools support information access and flow in real time, enabling immendiate access to current events, global perspectives, and far-flung resources


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Every learning experience occurs within an environment in which the learner interacts with the content, knowledge, skill, or expert. ** //http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=54//

By ensuring multiple channels of communication, engagement, and collaboration within the design of a course, faculty members provide a richly textured environment that can accommodate a full range of student needs and learning styles.

Examples of Learning Environments

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A well-planned course provides a variety of interaction choices and activities for students.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">one learner with one resource at home,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">several learners with many resources in a classroom, library or media center.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">a synchronous virtual meeting place, such as when several students collaborate online with many resources in different locations.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">** More Time-on-Task Equals More Learning **// http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=54 // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Time-on-task helps students to make knowledge their own. Learners become more proficient, accomplished, and confident, and learning is intrinsically rewarding and enjoyable.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">faculty-to-student
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">student-to-student
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">student-to-resources
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">individual activities
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">small group activities
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">large group activities

Engaging, inviting, stimulating content and experiences encourage students to spend more time interacting with the course content and developing more complex, networked knowledge structures and efficient learning behaviors.

Digital communication tools with interactive qualities can provide infinite variety. The more dynamic and interactive the learning experience, the more likely students will invest greater amounts of time in the learning process. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">** Every Structured Learning Experience Has Four Elements with the Learner at the Center **// http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=54 // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This principle can be captured by envisioning a learning experience featuring the //learner// "on stage" actively learning under the direction of the //mentor/faculty// member using a set of resources containing the //knowledge/// //content/skills// to be learned within an //environment.//


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Element One – The Learner
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">may be an individual student or a group of students
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Element Two – The mentor/faculty member/teacher/inanimate learning object providing instruction and support to the learner.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">may be physically present
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">may only be present implicitly by virtue of having designed the instructional event. May be an inanimate learning object such as a text or video component that provides instructions and guidance from the faculty member.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">** Learners Bring Their Own Personalized Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes to the Learning Experience //h// **// ttp: //www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=54 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">By knowing what students already know at the outset of a course, teachers can design more effective learning experiences that facilitate the growth of that knowledge over time.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Element Three - the knowledge, the content, or the problem that is the focus of the instructional experience.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Element Four – The time, participants, setting and resources associated with the learning event

One of the ways faculty can tap into students' existing knowledge or mental model is simply to begin a learning experience by asking students about what they already know—or think they know. In traditional classrooms instructors have typically solicited this information at the beginning of a course through

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Technological tools provide instructors with a wider range of avenues for gaining information about their students.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">in-class discussions
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">informal writing assignments

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">**Section 3: Implications for teacher pedagogical practice**
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">discussion boards,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">student response systems,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">online testing modules


 * Different Instruction is Required for Different Learning Outcomes ** http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=54
 * What** a teacher **does** makes a difference in what students **do, learn,** and what concepts students may or may not **develop.**

This principle encourages us to answer the instructional design question of what knowledge, skills and attittudes you want your students to develop and grow and then to design the teaching and learning events to accomplish those goals and determine what evidence will illustrate student accomplishments. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Faculty/Teachers are the Directors of the Learning Experience **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;"> http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=54 The role of the faculty is to design and structure the course experiences, direct and support learners through the instructional events, and assess the learner outcomes. One goal in designing effective and efficient learning environments is to get the students to work this intensively with the content.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">students moderate discussion forums, prepare concept summaries and examples for other students,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">through online forms of communication students can support other students
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">allows teacher to monitor student learning and facilitate discussions from anywhere there is a high bandwidth wireless connection.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">new instructional options will provide faculty with more effective ways to leverage their expertise. Using technology to encourage peer-to-peer learning enables students to make better use of the faculty member as a source of specialized guidance and feedback.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Pedagogy should at its best be about what teachers do that not only helps students to learn but actively strengthens their capacity to learn. (David Hargreaves, Learning for Life //, 2004) Need to get this // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">**Learner Centred Learning** //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ….. e-Portfolios are about people, rather than technology …. tools have to be unobtrusive, supportive and flexible enough to accommodate the diverse needs and preferences of learners…….. Learners may also benefit from being able to integrate their own choice of tools into an e-portfolio system – for example, social networking websites for discussion or mobile devices for capturing evidence occurring in the workplace.

Being able to customise is especially important when the purpose behind the e-portfolio activity is reflection and personal development ……. e-Portfolio systems and tools must form part of a strategic approach to learning and teaching – it is the pedagogy, not the tool, that comes first…… Users are at the centre of their e-portfolios… and without tight integration with and concern for their uses and needs, e-portfolios will not be used.’ [|www.jisc.ac.uk/eportfolio] //



Develop the disposition to Learn (Claxton 2007) ** A disposition is an ability that you are actually disposed to make use of. Developing the disposition to learn involves two kinds of learning in addition to mastering the skill.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> broaden and refine the sense of when it is appropriate to use this particular ability (i.e. to become more ready).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">strengthen their inclination to make use of the ability regardless of whether other people are encouraging or supporting them (i.e., to become more willing).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Make Thinking Visible (Perkins 200?) Click to see my diagram **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Establish a culture of thinking
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Use the language of thinking
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Model thinking for one's students
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Use and teach thinking routines
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Develop and encourage questioning


 * Learning about Learning enhances performance Watkins (2001) **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">a focus on learning can enhance performance, whereas a focus on performance can depress performance
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">promoting learners as active and collaborative constructors of meaning with autonomy and self-direction can enhance performance
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">learning about learning is a necessary element for learners to select and use appropriate strategies and to be effective learners in a range of situations

//**<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Diagram showing the relationship between the learning of content and learning about the process of learning (Watkins 2001) **//



<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Course content is the means of learning the core concepts to be acquired and developed by individual students. All content is not equal; only a portion of the content of any course is core concept knowledge, and the remaining content arises through increasingly individualized domains of application, practice, and skill acquisition by the learners. As students develop expertise at each level of course content, they increasingly direct and customize their learning according to their own respective needs and priorities.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">//Learners Need to Learn Core Concepts NOT Course Content// **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">[] //


 * Using E-Portfolios we can provide this level of content flexibility and customization by:**
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Using blended and online learning environments to enable linking to an expanded set of resources to support a wide range of problem analysis and customized experiences.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Encouraging students to use materials and experiences that match their zones of personal proximal development.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Designing courses providing access to rich databases of content and experiences.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Encouraging students to develop metacognitive awareness of how they learn and what strategies and materials work for them.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Design activities that incorporate discussion and dialogue about how and why students process information and "come to know" what they know.