Summary
The PrPl e-portfolio is an application of the personal-cloud computing infrastructure being developed by PrPl Research Group led by Professor Monica Lam. The PrPl e-portfolio harvests data that is distributed on a wide range of cloud services to create a collection of artifacts (such as photos, documents, and other representations of one's learning and experiences) that can be selected and represented in different views for specific audiences. Issues of storage and security are addressed by the Personal-Cloud Butler (PCB) system that is used by the PrPl infrastructure to manage the user's personal cloud of information.
Background
Interest in the concept of an electronic learning portfolio (or e-portfolio)
has increased significantly in the last decade in primary and secondary
education and all institutions of higher education, from community colleges
to private and public colleges and universities, nationally and internationally.
E-portfolios have been implemented to support the documentation of knowledge,
skills, and abilities, tracking development within a program or course,
program and institutional accreditation efforts, and personal and professional
development for careers and lifelong learning (Lorenzo
& Ittelson, 2005 ).
While there is a wide range of open-source, commercial, and home-grown e-portfolios currently available, a significant number of individuals and institutions are turning to social media services and applications such as Google Sites, Facebook, You Tube, Flickr, and LinkedIn to store their data. Collectively, these websites comprise various pieces of an individual's evolving "e-dentity", stored in data silos. The PrPl e-portfolio is the means as well as the environment to connect these data through the development of a user-centricas opposed to website-centric, representations of an individual's learning and digital identity.
| PrPl ePortfolio Service Architecture | PrPl ePortfolio Structure |  |
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Demonstration
Opportunities and Next Steps
We continue to work closely with the PrPl Research Group, and remain involved
in advances being made in developing the PrPl Semantic Index and interface
that will be used to track the data in the personal cloud as well as facilitate
retrieval of relevant information.
We are also concurrently developing a model and a process for the PrPl e-portfolio
to be used as a tool to document small group work such as photos and video
of design-
based learning activities. As part of this effort, we are developing
an interface to capture formative peer feedback to support the assessment
of collaborative work and the development of skills related to teamwork,
problem-solving, communication, and creativity. Summaries of this formative
feedback will be provided back to the individual team members in real-time
and also archived for the instructor to view later.
A third PrPl e-portfolio application is being designed in conjunction with
the WeClick
project. While most classroom and personal response systems focus primarily
on providing feedback to the instructor or presenters, we propose capturing
the individual’s responses to the “clicker” questions.
Statistics representing the individual’s scores relative to the rest
of the class would be used as a tool for self-assessment and mapped over
the course of the class in an individual PrPl learning e-portfolio.
Publications
Publications- When cloud computing meeting with Semantic Web:
A new design for e-portfolio systems in the social media era
Kim, Paul, Ng, Cheng Kee, and Lim, Gloria
British Journal of Educational Technology, doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01055.x, 2010 - The Current Status of ePortfolio Research & Development
Kim, Paul
Engineering Education, Korea. 16(1), pp.1-4.,2009
- E-portfolios, Accreditation, Institutional Accountability
Korea Engineering Education Association Annual Forum, Seoul, Korea, July, 2008
People
| Faculty | Former Member |  Dr. Paul, Kim |
Dr. Helen Chen Aditi Goyal |
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"PrPl E-Portfolio: An E-Portfolio" is the subproject of POMI in Education.