PDP4XL2 - Personal Development Planning for Cross-Institutional Lifelong Learning

Lead Contact: Janet Hanson, Project Director jhanson@bournemouth.ac.uk; Amina Uddin, Project Manager auddin@bournemouth.ac.uk

JISC Programme: JISC e-Learning Capital Programme

Lead Institution and Partners: Bournemouth University: Arts Institute, Open University, University of Gloucestershire, Yeovil College/University Centre Yeovil, South Wiltshire Health and Social Care Academy with Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, Phosphorix

Project Dates: October 2006 - September 2008

This case study illustrates PDP/CPD, Lifelong Learning, Creative Industries, Employers, ioPortal, Transition

Background & Context

What is the background to the e-portfolio initiative?

Interoperability and ease of data transfer are key issues in the successful development of lifelong learning, but equally important is a positive attitude towards personal development planning (PDP) on the part of learners, academic staff, employers and professional organisations, together with a willingness to use technology in the PDP process to generate the transferable records that support lifelong learning.

PDP4XL2 built on the outputs of and achievements of the South West region's distributed e-learning project PDP4Life.

What were the aims and objectives of the initiative?

The aim of the project was to explore attitudes to PDP and e-portfolios, held by health and creative industry students and professionals and to contribute to the knowledge base on interoperability of learner records and data transfer across boundaries in support of lifelong learning in the South West.

The use of employer feedback to inform PDP tools and processes was an important part of the project, as were the information, advice and guidance (IAG) processes of the South West Lifelong Learning Network (SWLLN).

How was the initiative implemented?

The project was led by Bournemouth University in collaboration with other institutions - Arts Institute at Bournemouth; Dartington College of Arts; Open University; University of Gloucestershire; Yeovil College/University Centre Yeovil; South Wiltshire Health and Social Care Academy with Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust and Phosphorix.

There were 2 main strands of development- technical and user studies.

The technical strand involved 3 elements:

• the development of the features supporting PDP within the ioPortal
• an investigation into the structures of other e-portfolio tools, including PebblePad
• the applications within the VLEs Blackboard and Moodle, and the trial transfer of PDP records between each of these and ioPortal

User studies of attitudes to PDP and use of e-portfolios were undertaken with university students and staff, professionals in the workplace and lifelong learners using the methodology of the focus group and the case study.

Feedback from user studies informed the final specification of amendments to the ioPortal.

Each of the partners contributed to a specific aspect within these two strands.

An independent evaluation was undertaken towards the end of the project by an external evaluator with the scope of this investigation being to undertake an impact analysis of participation in the project in order to identify how engagement had affected attainment of project aims, individual participants, their organisations and other stakeholders.