What is PebblePad*?

Langara is currently in the pilot phase of implementing the online portfolio platform, PebblePad. Digital portfolios, or ePortfolios, are powerful tools for learning, assessment, and career development because they enable users to document their skills, learning, and creativity, as well as reflect on what/how/why they learn. Using PebblePad, students can create portfolios, blogs, basic webpages, online collections of files, formal and informal reflections, action plans, and more.

Why Use PebblePad?

PebblePad is student-owned. Once a student takes a course using PebblePad, they will be issued a PebblePad account that they will have for their entire time at Langara and beyond.  This makes it a great tool for them to make connections across their learning journey, and it can support the transition to further studies or employment.

Research indicates that using digital portfolios like PebblePad within courses and programs also seems to advance student retention and success (Eynon, Gambino, & Török, 2014). Proponents theorize that ePortfolios are beneficial because they support learning in the following ways:

• learning can be made visible, including through reflection activities
• connections can be made across and between academic (course, program), extracurricular (work experience, volunteering), and personal (family, community life) learning
• personal, academic, and professional identity construction can be supported
• social pedagogies can be employed, supporting group work, peer feedback, mentorship, etc.
• competencies – within and outside of formal academic courses – can be documented and assessed

How Might it Be Used Within a Course or Formal Learning Experience?

Instructors interested in using PebblePad have many options in terms of assignment type. Classic portfolio assignments are often used for students to document and showcase their creative work, or to create individual or group presentations.  This type of assignment empowers students to design and collate content ranging from text and hyperlinks, to images and video. In addition to portfolios, instructors can also create more guided learning activities by building templates, workbooks, and other resources for students to complete and share for assessment. We hope to be able to share some Langara examples soon, but in the meantime you can go to the PebblePad Community Learner Showcase to explore some of the work being done at other institutions.

Want to Learn More?

If you are interested in learning the basics of PebblePad, a workshop series is starting the first week of November that will run for 7 weeks (there is a morning or afternoon option — please don’t sign up for both):

Mondays: 4:00-4:30 Sign Up | PebblePad (Afternoon Series)

Thursdays: 9:30-10:00 Sign Up | PebblePad (Morning Series)

If you are unable to attend these synchronous sessions, a self-directed asynchronous option will also be made available concurrently.  If you would like to do the asynchronous option, please email edtech@langara.ca for more information.

*PebblePad is now the preferred ePortfolio technology of BCNET.

References

Blake Yancey, K. (Ed.). (2019). ePortfolio as Curriculum: Models and Practices for Developing Students’ ePortfolio Literacy. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Eynon, B., & Gambino, L.M. (2017). High-Impact ePortfolio Practice: A Catalyst for Student, Faculty, and Institutional Learning. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Eynon, B., Gambino, L. M., & Török, J. (2014). What difference can ePortfolio make? A field report from the Connect to Learning Project. International Journal of ePortfolio, 4(1), 95-114. https://www.theijep.com/pdf/IJEP127.pdf

Penny Light, T., Chen, H., & Ittelson, J. (2011). Documenting learning with ePortfolios: A guide for college instructors. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Watson, C. E., Kuh, G. D., Rhodes, T., Light, T. P., & Chen, H. L. (2016). Editorial: ePortfolios – The Eleventh High Impact Practice. International Journal of EPortfolio, 6(2), 65–69.

Yeo, N., & Rowley, J. (2020). ‘Putting on a Show’ Non-Placement WIL in the Performing Arts: Documenting Professional Rehearsal and Performance Using Eportfolio Reflections. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 17(4).