Blossom
Lead Contact: Sarah Chesney, sarah.chesney@cumbria.ac.uk
JISC Programme: JISC Users & Innovation Programme
Lead Institution and Partners: University of Cumbria
This case study illustrates tutor perspectives; continuing professional development (CPD); application to education; institutional perspectives; technologies; employability
Background & Context
What is the background to the e-portfolio initiative?
The Blossom project grew out of the JISC funded Flourish project.
Blossom looked at similar practices of using e-portfolios to support staff continuing professional development (CPD) across the HE sector.
Blossom contacted a number of UK HE institutions for information. Key practitioners from the institutions were filmed talking about their work in this area. The approach would, it was hoped, give others who might be interested, a chance to see how e-portfolio are being used for CPD and how other institutions are embedding this approach to recording CPD electronically.
Use of e-portfolios to enhance staff CPD is still in its infancy and the interviews allow the viewer a peek into how this innovative way of recording and reflecting on practice is being used in the sector.
What were the aims and objectives of the initiative?
The case studies aimed to get a picture of the use of e-portfolios for the purpose of supporting staff CPD, gauging the climate and current scale of implementation for this.
It was originally envisaged that the study would encompass a wide range of technologies that support this but the project was unable to establish a full range of e-portfolio systems to investigate.
It was anticipated that the video case studies conducted would demonstrate a broad view of the use of e-portfolios for CPD in higher education; viewers of the project outputs should be able to build an informed perspective of current use of e-portfolios for CPD based upon the collection of testimonies collected.
The likely beneficiaries of the project were thought to be those considering using e-portfolios for CPD within their organisations. It was hoped that they would be able to use the resource to inform them of the benefits or otherwise of the approaches used.
How was the initiative implemented?
The project was managed by within the Centre for the Development of Learning and Teaching at the University of Cumbria.
The project was closely linked to a number of projects. It was able to draw information and expertise from the Flourish project.
The overall approach was based on questions that were being asked during the implementation of the Flourish Project at Cumbria. The collation of questions was carried out by collecting responses from prospective interviews via email.
Collaboration with a wide range of partners allowed this project to obtain a wide range and focus for the use of e-portfolios for CPD.
Interviewees were filmed in situ at their respective places of work. Each interview was undertaken in a similar way with the same questions and structure.
Permission was granted by all involved for the material to be disseminated online and in the form of DVD.
