RAPPORT
Volume 3 Issue 1 (2018)
portfolio ‘on the go’, perhaps making plans
in their lunch break at work or reviewing
progress while taking time out between
modules to raise a family, in addition to
being able to take their portfolio with them
after completing their studies, meant that
Kim et al.’s (2010) recommendation of a
cloud-based approach for ePortfolios
caught our attention, encouraging us to
think beyond tools that are specifically
called an ‘ePortfolio’.
Learning Design has long been a key
element of OU pedagogy with regard to
the design of modules and activities (Open
University, 2018d). Outside the OU, the
importance of Learning Design in
supporting student engagement with
ePortfolios and PDP has been researched
by many. For example, one approach,
taken by Hush (2012), was to create entire
PDP modules as ‘bookends’ to a degree.
A different approach proposed by Baker et
al. (2014) was to provide PDP resources
within a course; yet another approach from
Howes at al. (2011) involved a structure
being put inside the ePortfolio.
However, as these studies do not result in
an obvious single recommendation, the
authors needed to investigate the best way
to structure the ePortfolio-type tool and
provide guidance to their students.
The Three-Layered PDP Model
The particular challenges we faced to
implement PDP in our modules was to
communicate with students – at a distance
– the complex concept of PDP, what it was
for and how to work with it in a user-
friendly and motivating manner.
We ran two pilot studies with volunteer
students on undergraduate language
modules. The results from the first pilot fed
into the second one. Not having the
possibility to have face to face sessions
with students to explain how to work with
PDP, we created a ‘bridge website’ where
all the information, templates and activities
were accessible. The website also
contained support forums and a video
conference facility using Adobe Connect.
As a result of the pilot studies we propose
a new model to support students in PDP –
the Three-layered PDP model as shown in
Figure 1.
Figure 1: The Three-layered PDP model
Learning ePortfolio
Scaffolding activities
PDP process
The Three-layered model comprises
three closely interwoven elements:
1. The process of PDP
2. The use of scaffolding activities.
3. The use of a personal learning
ePortfolio
We will take each of these in turn:
The PDP process
According to Gough et al. (2003) the
primary objective for PDP is to improve
the capacity of individuals to understand
what and how they are learning, and to
review, plan and take responsibility for
their own learning. PDP helps students:
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