Developing an e-portfolio for the Consolidation Module (PQ)

Description

Paper presented at 2009 JSWEC Conference. The School of Social Work at Kingston University/ St George's University of London and North West and South West London Skills for Care sub regions were awarded a Skills for Care Post Qualifying (PQ) Innovation Fund project in January 2008 for the development of a pilot system for an electronic portfolio for the PQ Module ‘Consolidation'. The aim of this piece of work was to develop and pilot a web-based e-portfolio, which, if successful, could be shared with other universities across London providing 'consolidation'. It was also aimed to promote line managers’ engagement in PQ studies, by enabling them to access and track their staff member’s progress on the portfolio and requiring them to contribute to the assessment of their work. The e-portfolio was designed by a steering group of the partners, including representatives of Kingston University’s Service Users and Carers Advisory group. A company, VIS, which had previously worked on Skills for Care projects in the Midlands, was commissioned by the group to develop the electronic portfolio as a web-based system. The pilot has now been completed and evaluated (February 2009). This presentation will report on the outcomes of this pilot, its evaluation, some of the challenges experienced, lessons learnt and consider the potential of e-portfolios for PQ levels - a suitable medium or not?