Scottish Parliament Building by Kim Traynor, on WikiMediaThe political and economic aspirations of a nation are resting on educational reform¹ and investment in technology² but a lack of support in a key area could act to dilute the ambition.

Launched in 2009, the new curriculum (CfE) is aimed at developing the attributes, knowledge and skills needed to flourish in life, learning and work⁴.

Glow, the world's first national educational Intranet³ was launched in 2007. Glow contains a suite of online collaborative tools including an e-portfolio.

The CfE assessment framework, grounded in research, looks to promote high quality interactions between learners and staff; learner involvement in reflection; peer and self assessment⁵ – processes collectively labelled 'profiling'⁶.

Research evidence⁷ indicates that e-portfolios are appropriate tools to support CfE assessment profiling.

Pupil Profiles

Centrally, e-portfolios are being promoted to support the production of the statutory summative statement on pupil achievement - the 'Pupil Profile⁸. Crucially, the potential for e-portfolios to support profiling is being neglected by the pupil, teacher and parental support services.

Stakeholders are in need of support material in order to set a context for e-portfolio use in the day-to-day learning and teaching of a school. The web site resource E-Portfolios and profiling: a new resource for Scottish schools aims to provide that support.

E-Portfolios and profiling: a new resource for Scottish schoolsIan Hoffman B6350914 H818 TMA02 Conference Poster

Conference Theme: Implementation

2. 3. 4.

6. 7.5.

1.

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References

1. Scottish Executive (2004) 'A Curriculum for Excellence - The Curriculum Review Group' [Online]. Available at

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/11/20178/45863 (Accessed 4 January 2014).

2. Scottish Executive (2001) 'Feasibility Study into the Provision Of Broadband Networks for Scottish Schools' [Online]. Available at

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/158307/0042871.pdf (Accessed 4 January 2014).

3. Education Scotland (n.d.) 'What is Glow?: The story so far' [Online]. Available at

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/usingglowandict/glow/whatis/storysofar/index.asp (Accessed 4 January 2014).

4. Education Scotland (n.d.) 'Skills for learning, life and work' [Online]. Available at

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/thecurriculum/whatcanlearnersexpect/skillsforlearning.asp (Accessed 4 January 2014).

5. Education Scotland (n.d.) 'Framework for Assessment' [Online]. Available at

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/assessment/about/framework/index.asp (Accessed 4 January 2014).

6. Education Scotland (2012.) 'CfE Briefing Curriculum for Excellence: Profiling and the S3 profile' [Online]. Available at

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/CfEBriefing3_tcm4-731977.pdf (Accessed 6 January 2014).

7. See for example:

Barrett, Helen (2011) 'Balancing the Two Faces of E-Portfolios' [Online]. Available from

http://electronicportfolios.com/balance/balancingarticle2.pdf (Accessed 6 January 2014).

JISC (2008) 'Effective Practice with e-Portfolios: Supporting 21st Century Learning' [Online]. Available from

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/effectivepracticeeportfolios.pdf (Accessed 6 January 2014).

References (cont'd)

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References (cont'd)

Butler, Philippa (2006) 'A Review of the Literature on Portfolios and Electronic Portfolios' [Online]. Available from

http://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/community/eportfolios-new-zealand/resources/pages/review-literature-portfolios-and-electronic-portfo

(Accessed 6 January 2014).

8. Education Scotland (2013) 'E-portfolios available on the National Assessment Resource' [Online]. Available at

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/newsandevents/educationnews/2013/education/june/news_tcm4809610.asp (Accessed 6 January

2014).

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Transcript

Summary statement

E-portfolios and profiling: a new resource for Scottish schools is the title of a website that will be developed to help Scottish schools

capitalise on the potential of e-portfolios to support the requirements of the assessment framework of Scotland’s new Curriculum for

Excellence.

Problem statement

In setting out their agenda for the future economic prosperity of Scotland, the Scottish Government have looked to reform the school

curriculum and invest heavily in technology in the state school sector. Unfortunately, key support resources needed to maximise the

aspirations and ambitions of the reforms and investment have not been put in place and could thus act to minimise the hoped for effect.

Background

In 2007 the Scottish Government launched Glow, the worlds first national education intranet. Glow is equipped with a number of online

collaborative tools including an e-portfolio tool. In 2009, the reformed curriculum labelled the Curriculum for Excellence was launched.

The new curriculum is aimed at developing the attributes, knowledge and skills needed to flourish in life, learning and work. The

assessment framework of the new curriculum, which is grounded in the research associated with assessment for learning, looks to

promote high quality interactions between learners and staff; learner involvement in reflection; peer and self assessment. These processes

have collectively been labelled as 'profiling' by the assessment framework. Research evidence would suggest that e-portfolios tools are

ideally matched to support the assessment process of pupil profiling.

Issue

E-portfolios are generally being promoted by Education Scotland, the independent agency that provides educational support to schools

and local authorities in Scotland, as a tool to support the creation of a summative document of achievement called the pupil profile. The

production of the pupil profile is a statutory requirement of schools. The potential of e-portfolios to support profiling is being neglected

by Education Scotland and the agencies that support children and parents.

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Transcript (cont'd)

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Solution

A new web site resource that provides school stakeholders – pupils, teachers and parents – with the information they need to

contextualise e-portfolios in the day to day learning and teaching of a school.

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