What's in the ePortfolio?
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Example of tools available
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| Blogs or online journals/diaries |
A blog is an online diary or learning journal. You can use it on a regular basis to record your experiences. You might be asked to do this when on placement or when working on a project. You can also share your blog, or selected parts of it (thoughts), with tutors and colleagues so they can comment on your experiences and on what you are learning. The blog is a single web page that lists entries (thoughts) made in date order. You can either post entries directly to the blog or can post existing thoughts and files to them. A blog can also be added as a section to a webfolio. At QMU, we want you to include elements of reflection in your blogging which can help your future learning development and can be used as evidence of your learning achievements.
An example of a blog
Why keep a blog?
By writing things down not only will it help you record an event, but also it will help you to clarify your thoughts and emotions. It can also help you to work out strategies for coping in the future and to think about what training or further development you require. You may use an entry in a blog as evidence of learning, in preparation for tutorials, or as a basis for discussion with tutors especially your Personal Academic Tutor (PAT).
What should I write in my blog?
You can blog about a learning experience or an achievement in your ePortfolio, but basically anything that helps you to reflect on:
- Your emotions and feelings about your studies;
- Things you find challenging;
- How you can do things differently in the future;
- Yourself and how you learn and don’t learn;
- Your studies and how they relate to your life and your life outside of your studies;
- How different ideas in different modules relate to each other.
What style should I write in my blog?
Some of you will be very familiar with blogging as a style of writing whereas for others blogging will be a new experience. Blogging provides the writer with a degree of freedom as blogs are written accounts of personal experiences, almost like keeping a personal diary. Remember, however, as you are a member of QMU not to abuse our systems and to conduct your writings in an appropriate manner, which includes taking care to avoid plagiarism or the use of inflammatory or libelous writings. Please remember that as a QMU student you have agreed to adhere to the IT acceptable use policy which you will find on the Information Technology Regulations page.
| Also, be extremely careful if you are writing about clients or patients – make sure that this is anonymised. |
Who reads my blog?
Your blog is for you: it is individual and personal. You should write the blog for yourself unless you have been specifically requested by your tutor to share your blog. It can be quite daunting writing a blog, but you do not share it and it gives you a space to try ideas without necessarily letting anyone know about them.
Why would I share my blog?
Your blog can be shared with fellow learners or tutors, perhaps to seek reassurance about thoughts and feelings while experiencing new learning or to share experiences in preparation for a new learning experience.
Blogging is very personal and remember, very private, so it is only you who can release your blogs for others to read. Don’t forget: you may not wish to release all of your blog - only particular sections of the blog. This is possible by sharing specific ‘thoughts’ which are sections of a blog. Alternatively, you can remove certain areas of a blog (thoughts) and then share the blog.
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The Webfolio is an area within the ePortfolio where you can bring a number of your records together to form one record. Webfolios are websites that are used to present evidence of your learning achievements, knowledge and experiences. You can create several webfolios from the assets stored in your ePortfolio and tailor them for different purposes, for example, for professional bodies or for interview preparation. Your webfolio can contain your blog (or more than one if appropriate) and any other assets you choose. Also you can link webfolios.
An example of a webfolio
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The CV tool will help you to create an online CV; it will already contain some information about you and your studies here at QMU. As you work through the tool, it will ask you to add further information about your previous studies, your work experience and references. You can even add a photo (if appropriate) and a personal statement.
Guidelines for creating an online CV have been developed by QMU's careers service. |
Cv tool
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Further information and advice can be found on the QMU careers service web page, where there are a variety of resources.
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| Recording abilities and achievements |
The ePortfolio can help you record and reflect on your abilities and achievements. You can record specific skills and knowledge that you have gained whilst at QMU, provide evidence of them and then return to them regularly to reflect. For example, you can reflect on your presentations and how they have improved.
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| You will often work in study groups at QMU. You can record these meetings in the ePortfolio and reflect on who did what and perhaps who did not contribute to the group. The ePortfolio is there to help you reflect on your group working experiences; this is an important transferable skills that you will need in your future career. |
Meeting tool |
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Action plan tool |
The ePortfolio has a special tool to help you plan for your future learning. The action plan will ask you about what you would like to improve and prompt you to think about how you can achieve this. For example, if you want to improve your writing skills, it will ask you to think about the resources available to you to develop these skills. |
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The QMU ePortfolio includes a tool called the ‘learning profile’. This allows you to monitor your progress in a selection of learning skills. When you open a ‘learning profile’ you will find a list of skills. You can then rate your current knowledge and skill on a scale from 1 (less) to 5 (more). Once you have completed a learning profile, your results will be saved. You can then repeat the learning profile in the future, when you feel you have improved your skills. Completing the ‘learning profile’ will make you aware of the skills required and help you to think about your current skills level.
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Assets, blogs and webfolios can all be shared with friends, tutors and possible future employers inside and outwith QMU. You can allow others to:
- View the contents;
- Comment on all or parts of the content;
- Copy into their ePortfolio in PebblePad;
- Collaborate, in which case they can edit it;
- Cascade, which allows the person that you have shared your asset with to pass the asset to others. However, the asset will retain details of the originator as author.
Sharing will be initiated and controlled by you. Remember that within the blog area of the ePortfolio you can remove some of the blog postings (thoughts) before sharing. However, the postings that you have removed will still be retained in your list of assets as a “thought”. It is possible to keep track of what you have shared through PebblePad and how often it has been accessed.
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| ePortfolio for collaboration |
QMU’s ePortfolio can be used if you want to collaborate with someone who may be involved in your learning, e.g. a supervisor or facilitator in a practice placement, or maybe a fellow learner who may be working with you on a collaborative project. Remember you can collaborate on any of your assets as well as your blogs and your webfolios.
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