PebblePad

PebblePad is designed with flexibility and usability in mind. It is a generic system, designed to accommodate the recording of experience independent of place, time or context. It is as relevant to the new student as to the professional with years of work experience. The interface is purposely simple and friendly, making the system accessible even... to those with minimal IT skills. There are, however, many options for customisation and personalisation for the more advanced and confident users. While PebblePad has its origins in the university environment, its design philosophy is one of learner ownership and control: It is a space for personal learning that belongs to the learner not the institution; it is populated by the learner not their teacher; it is primarily concerned with supporting learning not assessment; it is for life-long and life-wide learning not a single episode or a single course; it allows learners to present multiple stories of learning rather than being a simple aggregation of competencies; and, importantly, access to it is controlled by the learner who is able to invite feedback to support personal growth and understanding. To facilitate the use of PebblePad in an organisational context, additional 'institution' tools have been designed to enable submission of PebblePad tasks for feedback and/or assessment without compromising the privacy of the learner's personal space. A core component of the PebblePad design, and the factor that sets it apart from other 'eportfolio systems', are the inbuilt wizards that support the process of personal learning. These wizards prompt the learner to consider diverse aspects of their experience and provide a step-by-step process for the creation of assets (experience records) within the system. This scaffolded creation of assets, as distinct from uploading existing files, encourages the learner to make sense of and reflect on their experiences to a much deeper level.Read More