Supplementary report

• Gillian Hallam
• Australian Flexible Learning Framework

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21 February 2011This report provides a comparison of how the higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET) sectors are using e-portfolios.

ePortfolio use by university students in Australia: Informing excellence in policy and practice (Supplementary Report) is now available and provides a valuable comparison of how the higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET) sectors are using e-portfolios.

The report shows that VET is more practical in its use of e-portfolios for assessment and is more likely to use e-portfolios to develop CVs and gain recognition of prior learning (RPL) and employment. HE, on the other hand, uses e-portfolios for reflective learning and demonstrating professional skills.

The study also found that HE staff were twice as likely to develop their own e-portfolio compared with VET staff, and that HE was more likely to use PebblePad as a dedicated e-portfolio system, whereas VET was more likely to use Mahara.

This study is an important contribution to Australian Government policy initiatives aimed at creating one tertiary sector comprising VET, HE and adult and community education (ACE).

The report includes drivers and underpinning philosophies for e-portfolio use, enablers and barriers to implementation and commonly used tools and technologies.

The study built on earlier work by the Australian ePortfolio Project (AeP) around the use of e-portfolios in HE.

The Framework’s E-portfolios business activity supports the development of national e-portfolio standards to improve the portability of learner-collected evidence of learning. This will support a learner’s ability to move between training and other forms of education, learning and employment.

Authors: Gillian Hallam (Project Leader), Wendy Harper, Lynn McAllister, Kim Hauville and Tracy Creagh.