Abstract
E-portfolios constitute a dynamic research topic in e-learning, since they foster a new philosophy for learning and personal development, which is characterised by open, participatory, self-directed, reflective and collaborative processes. This paper presents an investigation on students’ learning presence in a blended post-graduate course, designed to promote self directed learning through e-portfolio activities. The theoretical foundations and the key dimensions of e-portfolio learning activities are outlined, i.e. students’ construction, reflection and collaboration. Following are presented the organizational and the analysis framework of students’ self-directed learning and constructive activities within the e-portfolio. Combining both, descriptive analysis and Social Network Analysis of the research data, we have revealed important information regarding individual performance and students’ learning presence, interaction and collaboration among participants as well as the overall operation of the e-portfolio community.
Highlights
The rapid growth of Web technologies, during the last decade, has challenged and enabled educators and educational institutions, around the globe, to consider new ways of delivering their educational programs
Based on our previous theoretical approach [15], this study considers that e-portfolio learning refers to both, the product and the process of learning
The aim of this study is a) to extend previous research findings concerning self-directed learning in collaborative on-line learning environments, like e-portfolios, by revealing and analysing critical indicators of students’ learning presence, and b) to apply a combined analysis schema using descriptive and Social Network Analysis (SNA) methods, in order to shed light into the different ways of individual contributions, social interaction, and the dynamics of the eportfolio self-directed learning processes
Summary
The rapid growth of Web technologies, during the last decade, has challenged and enabled educators and educational institutions, around the globe, to consider new ways of delivering their educational programs. With the increasing emphasis on learners’ interaction, there is a shift in pedagogy from individual to more collaborative approaches to learning within a community of people who share the same interests and goals [10,24,35,41]. Web 2.0 applications offer enhanced opportunities to the educators to consider new ways of designing and delivering their educational programs by a) extending learning environments from time and space bound classroom places, b) promoting openness and dynamic emergence of the courses, which are determined by students’ needs, interests and individual learning initiatives, and c) adopting new forms of pedagogy which offer authentic learning opportunities through self-directed, participatory, collaborative and social learning processes [16,24]
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