EPICS-2: North East regional collaboration for personalised, work-based, and lifelong learning
Lead Contact: Simon Cotterill, S.J.Cotterill@newcastle.ac.uk
JISC Programme: JISC e-Learning Programme
Lead Institution and Partners: Newcastle University, Durham University, Northumbria University, University of Sunderland, University of Teesside, Gateshead College, CETL4HealthNE
Project Dates: September 2007 - March 2009
This case study illustrates Work-Based Learning (WBL); Lifelong Learning; Community of Practice; Blogs; Interoperability; Employability; Transition; Assessment; PDP/CPD
Background & Context
What is the background to the e-portfolio initiative?
EPICS-2 was a collaborative project, based in the North East of England, which took place over the 18 months leading up to March 2009. The project built on the considerable success and deliverables of the EPICS project around technology, pedagogy and governance relating to e-Portfolios and Personal Development Planning (PDP), and made a significant impact on the development of support for personalised learning, work-based learning (WBL) and lifelong learning.
What were the aims and objectives of the initiative?
Develop expertise and capacity through partnership and collaboration: to support the uptake and effective use of PDP/e-portfolios across the region by:
- Building on the Regional Forum established in the first EPICS project, recruiting further subject areas in each of the existing partner sites
- Engage with new partners from the Further Education (FE) and other sectors, as appropriate
Develop and improve support for personalised learning and work-based learning by:
- Large-scale pilots to evaluate the use of e-portfolio to support personalised learning pathways, including use and extension of software developed in previous JISC projects
- Undertaking a review of technologies and associated pedagogy used to support Work-Based Learning in the North East, to share and promote good practice regionally and nationally
- Large-scale pilots to evaluate the use of e-portfolios, blogs and social networking to support learning and PDP
Support mobility and lifelong learning by:
- Embedding personal learning with mobile technologies, including the development of solutions for mobile portfolio/blogging with asynchronous connection to Web-based portfolios, complementing existing work with mobiles undertaken by CETL4HealthNE projects
- Embedding the transfer of real data from undergraduate to postgraduate e-portfolio using methodologies developed in the first EPICS project
- Pilot the transfer of real e-portfolio data between FE and Higher Education (HE), working with the JISC-funded ComPort project
- Producing e-portfolio exemplars using 2 or more identity management systems (OpenID, Liberty Alliance, and Shibboleth/CAS)
- Engaging with emerging specifications and standards to facilitate the robust and efficient flow of e-portfolio and PDP data between institutions
Evaluate the impact of the project: evaluate the impact of e-portfolios and PDP in the region by:
- Evaluating the impact of the project with new partners
- Evaluating the efficacy of e-portfolios with the new pedagogic areas (personalised learning pathways, blogs, WBL, etc)
Maximise the impact of the project: documenting and disseminating the outcomes of the project and its evaluation and engagement with other high impact projects within the region and beyond:
- Developing and delivering a detailed dissemination
- Making an updated version of the ePET portfolio freely available to the JISC community
- Adding value to institutional and other initiatives (including CETLs) in the region by ensuring that this project complements institutional requirements
How was the initiative implemented?
The project was divided into a number of work packages (WPs) and case studies:
- Project management and set up (WP1)
- Developing expertise and capacity through partnership and collaboration (WP2)
- Large-scale pilots of e-portfolios, blogs and social publishing (WP3)
- Review of technologies and associated pedagogy used to support Work-Based Learning (WP4)
- Supporting personalised learning pathways for postgraduate students in a regional context (WP5)
- Supporting lifelong learning (WP6)
- Identity management exemplars (WP7)
- Personalised learning environments - mobile technologies (WP8)
- Evaluation (WP9)
- Dissemination and documentation (WP10)
- Updated version of the ePET portfolio freely available to FE/HE community (WP11)
The project employed Case Study methodologies and mixed methods for evaluation (questionnaires and focus groups).
