Rory O’Toole MITE 2000

Project Title (25 words limit):

Towards the Development of a Digital Portfolio Aid: Using ICT to Support Reflective Practice & Self-Evaluation in Teaching

Proposed Supervisor:

Dr. B. Tangney & Mr. T. Savage

Project Summary (75 words):

The project is concerned with the use of the Portfolio in professional development through facilitating critical-reflective practice. In particular, the use of a digital/electronic portfolio as a means to enhance portfolio preparation and development will be investigated. A prototype artefact will be prepared to explore the use of digital portfolio preparation by users with limited ICT experience.

Principle Investigator (short biography):

Rory O’Toole is a Deputy Principal in a co-education post-primary school in Leixlip, Co. Kildare. He has completed a B. Tech (Ed.) in Thomond College, Limerick. At NUI Maynooth, he has completed the Higher Diploma in Educational Management and the Master of Education programmes. His interests are in curriculum development and teacher professional development and ways in which these processes can be supported by ICTs.

Potential benefits of the Study:

The immediate benefit is the identification of future avenues of research for the M.Sc. (IT in Ed.) dissertation.

The main area of educational research to which the current study will contribute is that of the use of the portfolio in reflective practice. The rational for the study comprises a number of inter-related strands:

• Meaningful changes in educational practice can only be brought about where practitioners incorporate changes into their day-to-day practices. Research suggests that mandated curriculum changes via exclusively ‘top down’ models of educational change have limited impact on classroom practices.
• Critical-reflective practice is one model of curriculum development that sees the teacher as a key researcher of his or her own practice. Reflective practice is regarded as having the potential to support action research.
• The use of the professional portfolio has the potential to support reflective practice. The portfolio can take many different forms, with the use of ICT-based portfolios considered a potentially useful way to develop and maintain a professional portfolio.
• Based on a relational database, it is feasible to develop, deploy and evaluate an artefact that can assist teachers in the development and maintenance of a digital portfolio. This portfolio can serve as a key aid to professional reflective practice.

Research Aims:

• To undertake a literature review on the use of the professional portfolio to promote reflective practice in education.
• To develop a model detailing the key elements of a professional portfolio used to underpin reflective practice.
• To use this model as the basis for the development of a relational database, the database to act as the central element of a digital portfolio aid capable of being deployed in a networked environment.
• To assess the use of the digital portfolio aid is a practical school setting.

Methodology:

1.       Undertake a review of literature on the use of the portfolio in supporting reflective practice.

2.       Modelling the portfolio: Developing a model of the professional portfolio.

3.       Developing a prototype artefact (digital portfolio aid) and testing the effectiveness of the prototype in the promotion of reflective practice in teaching.

4.       Evaluating and reviewing the model.

Module 101: Theories of Learning in the Information Age

The proposed project will be contribute to current theories of professional development in teaching, reflective practice, and how reflective practice and professional development may be enhanced through the use of ICTs.

Module 102: Information Technology Practice and Principles

The project will necessitate the design, development, deployment and evaluation of a digital artefact. It is envisaged that the artefact will be necessitate (a) the design and development of relational databases and (b) the use of a ‘rapid development’ application (such as Visual Basic) to create the interface and reporting elements of the artefact. In addition, the design of the artefact should allow for future deployment into a local area network or the Internet.

Module 103: Information Technology in Education

An important element of the research undertaking is the development of an artefact that will encourage teachers with limited ICT experience to use IT in the area of lesson preparation and evaluation.

Module 104: Curriculum and School Management in an IT Context

The research on the use on portfolio in professional development and the possible role of a digital portfolios will be set in a context of national and international research in these areas. In particular, the project literature review will examine the use of the portfolio as an aid to professional development. The study will have particular regard to ‘reflective practice’ as a model of professional teacher development.

Time scale:   

Connections to other projects

Will your project be connected to other existing work or work in progress in the M.Sc.? If so please outline the larger study, those involved in the work and your expected contribution.

Related projects:

1.   ‘A Study of Ireland’s Participation in the European Union Pilot Project on Evaluating Quality in School Education at Second Level’ ( Department of Education & Science: Dublin: 2000)
2. ‘Portfolios: The Plan, The Purpose, A Preview’ by Christensen, V, Gegelman, P., Grooters, L. and Holcomb, L. (SITE 2000 Proceedings)
3. Doolittle, Peter (1994). Teacher Portfolio Assessment. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 4(1). Available online: http://ericae.net/pare/getvn.asp?v=4&n=1.

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