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symposium at higham hall, lake district, england, 23-25 february 2005

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Mhairi McAlpine
Scottish Qualifications Authority

E-portfolios and digital identity: issues for consideration

As awarding bodies modernise their procedures and incorporate elements of e-assessment into their qualifications, e-portfolios are emerging as a popular method of allowing candidates to display their abilities (Smith and Grant, 2004). All major UK awarding bodies now accept evidence from e-portfolio products for at least some of their qualifications.

E-portfolios are defined in different ways by different people (e.g. Barrett, 2001; Truer and Jenson, 2003); however they would appear to have five key features in common. E-portfolios are:

  • An organised collection,
  • Comprised of digitised artefacts,
  • Seeking to provide an authentic record,
  • Related to an individual's status,
  • Particularly associated with learning although may cover other areas.

Most of the research looking at these developments has been to evaluate the quality of the evidence (Tillema, 2001), the need to ensure validity and reliability (Moss et al., 2004), and the technical infrastructure required to facilitate this migration (Gill, 2003). Beyond these however, there are questions of control and ownership over the content of the e-portfolio; issues of access to the data and questions of identity and privacy. Several researchers have highlighted the potential for an e-portfolio to become a "virtual identity" (e.g. Truer and Jenson, 2003).

Awarding bodies have a pivotal role as gatekeepers of access to both Higher Education and the vocations (Dearing, 1997) and an arbiter of enhanced social and economic status they have an ambiguous relationship to the State (QCA, 2002; Tomlinson, 2002). Most are publicly funded - at least in part, but are not directly accountable to the public, but to government departments, and receive their funding indirectly through examination fees rather than block grants. In a time when the relationship between the government and the individual is the subject of some debate awarding bodies must consider their responsibilities to keep protect the privacy of their candidates, particularly in the current legislative context.

Furthermore, security of candidates' personal information is something which must be considered high on the list of priorities - considerable amounts of personal information may be included in an e-portfolio, including small and personal details and photographs which may locate the candidate geographically. When concerns have already been expressed by LEAs about the availability of multimedia images of pupils (Scotland on Sunday, 15th December, 2002); assessment authorities must ensure that appropriate mechanisms are in place to ensure candidates' personal safety and anonymity.

This paper examines how moves towards assessment through an e-portfolio might impact on these issues and should be considered to protect the rights of the individual; how it can be ensured that e-portfolios are a tool for empowerment and how issues of identity, beyond those of mere identification, can be addressed.

References

Barrett (2001) Electronic Portfolios Educational Technology; an Encyclopedia ABC-CLIO, available at http://www.electronicportfolios.com/portfolios/encyclopediaentry.htm

Dearing (1997) 'Report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education', HMSO, London

Gill (2003) 'E-portfolios: scrutinised and valued'. Report for the Learning and Skills Council.

QCA (2002) Memorandum of Understanding between the DfES and the QCA.
Available at http://www.qca.org.uk/about/3657_6247.html

Moss, Sutherland, Haniford, Miller, Johnson, Geist, Koziol, Star, Pecheone, (2004). 'Interrogating the generalizability of portfolio assessments of beginning teachers: A qualitative study', Education Policy Analysis Archives, 12(32).

Scotland on Sunday (15th December, 2002) 'Paedophile fears lead to nativity camera ban'.

Smith and Grant (2004) 'From evidence to e-moderation - the centre and providers perspectives', The Challenge of the Electronic Portfolio Conference, Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester 21st October.

Tillema (2001) 'Portfolios as developmental assessment tools'. International Journal of Training & Development, Jun2001, Vol. 5 Issue 2

Truer and Jenson (2003) 'Setting Standards for Educational Portfolios: A broader vision for an Educational Revolution', EDUCAUSE; Vol 26 No 2.

Tomlinson (2002) 'Inquiry into A Level Standards', HMSO, London