Reimagining and redefining portfolio practice with PebblePad

Why eportfolio is rapidly transitioning from 'nice-to-have' to 'must-have' EdTech in Higher Ed.

InstructureCon 2021 Speaker Session

Sam Blyth (facilitator), PebblePad; Anita Hamilton, University of the Sunshine Coast; Andrew Lawrence & John Montgomery, Portland State University; Richard Dando, PebblePad

I think the most interesting aspect of the conversations at InstructureCon for me was how diverse people’s opinions were of what an ePortfolio should be and what it should do. Many in the HE community think of PebblePad as a portfolio platform, and for good reason. But PebblePad is, without question, more than just an eportfolio; PebblePad is a Learning Journey platform built by educators to support student-centred education at scale, and as such it supports a whole raft of teaching, learning and assessment ambitions. So one of the definite highlights – and a privilege - for us was the opportunity to hold a panel session with three PebblePad super-users discussing how PebblePad, Portland State University and the University of the Sunshine Coast are redefining eportfolio practice. 

Sam Blyth, PebblePad

Connecting with the Profession: Using PebblePad to map learning activities against professional standards.

Presentation delivered at 2021 ePortfolios Australia ePortfolio Forum and 2021 ECUlture conference

Jennifer Masters & Jacqui Patten, PebblePad

Most professional qualification programs are aligned with a set of competencies or professional standards formulated by the relevant national body for that particular occupation. In Australia, this includes medicine, engineering, nursing, teacher ducation, social work, exercise and sport science, and others. While it is usually mandated that these standards are used for program design for professional qualifications, it is less defined that students in these programs are required to have an in-depth knowledge of the standards to guide their progression through the course and for their professional life in the future.  

This presentation proposes that learning activities and professional requirements should be systematically woven throughout a professional program to raise students’ awareness of the expectations of their chosen profession.  The session will draw on examples from Nursing and Teacher Education to show how PebblePad is used to create mappable workbooks for the students to systematically connect their work to the relevant standards and record their progression along their learning pathway.