ECER 2008 - E-tutoring of e-portfolio’s: a feasible alternative for face-to-face contacts?

Live blog from a session at ECER 2008.

Presentation from Ann Maria Deketelaere, Faculty of Medicine, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

Report of work in a medical school. Found e-tutoring to be effective in improving student learning. Use an e-portfolio to support learning and stimulate reflection. The portfolio includes CV and reflection on clinical experience. Eportfolio and ementoring useful because of medical students being on placement. It is time and place independent and easier to set up than face to face.

The tutors had two different interpretations of the eportfolio. One group saw it merely as a way of providing professional guidance to students. Others saw it as a means of stimulating reflection. This led to different approaches to giving feedback. Some tutors found it time consuming and didn't see the impact. However the second group saw the benefits of the portfolio feedback for them and their students.

The students: Most saw the eportfolio as a way to document of experiences rather than as a a tool for reflection. However students who received lots of feedback saw it as less of an administrative burden, were more satisfied with the experience and ... [missed next bit but there were five aspects where the second group was significantly hapier with the portfolio. Happier educationally and practically. - DM] Point is that more feedback from tutors has a positive impact even though the tutors may be unaware of this positive effect! Furthermore, the feedback has an effect that is independent of the quality! The presence of feedback has a significant positive impact on student perceptions. [Somebody is listening! :-) - DM]

The researcher concluded that to encourage tutors to give feedback, thereby creating a more positive experience for the students, give them feedback on the impact of their interventions. :-)