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Students, like myself, are often faced with the task of creating a portfolio or as of late, an e-portfolio. Unfortunately many instructors give out a strict format to follow and fail to incorporate or even allow requests for use of different methods. Your article will aid in revisions to my current e-portfolio. Would you care if I send a link to an instructor who may be interested in your article?
| In comparing the use of three discrete ‘knowledge management’ technologies to develop student reflective learning, which include e-portfolios and concept mapping, Zuo, Yi et al. (2007) recommend greater integration of such methods. Several studies suggest the content created through the use of concept and other mapping processes is not only a useful addition to e-portfolios, but that it can become an integral part of the e-portfolio as a structural component. The use of both individual and collaborative mind or concept maps can support deeper learning and the development of metacognitive skills, reducing cognitive load and improving retention. In an e-portfolio environment, mapping artefacts can help students construct meaningful mental models which demonstrate learning trajectories and gestalt thinking, enabling conceptual links with and between the other artefacts that are dynamic and evolving (Labissiere & Reynolds, 2004; Kim & Olaciregui, 2007). Tolley (2008) describes the instinctive nature of flow diagrams, mind-maps and concept maps in planning, recording and reflecting on student development: “The digital nature of an e-Portfolio lends itself to linking to a range of illustrational media some of which may be personal and highly informative… mapping can be a powerful tool for the visualisation and enhancement of thinking skills.” In a response to faculty members, who found that many students struggled to develop a thorough and critical understanding of the interdisciplinary context of their studies, Lithgow and Holbrook (2007) introduced concept mapping into the instructional design of a Kinesiology programme at University of Waterloo, resulting in a positive impact on student understanding and retention of key concepts. Placing the maps in e-portfolios has encouraged their students to take responsibility in making connections between the other digital artefacts which reside within the portfolios rather than perceiving them as modular and disconnected. Mapping technologies have the ability to incorporate multimodal artefacts such as graphic images, videos and textual information through drop-down or expandable boxes, and can provide links to Web-based and repository-based resources. Yet studies in the use of mapping content in e-portfolios is largely restricted to maps that are stand-alone, static artefacts which reference rather than interactively link to other content within the portfolio, or external information. This may be partly dictated by restrictions in e-portfolio design and content limitations imposed by the technological platform, institutional or assessment requirements. In reconceptualising the Electronic Portfolio, Cohn and Hibbetts (2004; 9) envisage how a Lifetime Personal Web Space (LPWS) "would be structured according to the user's unique concept map and learning style, not by predetermined institutional or commercial templates." Included in their wide ranging essay, Steiner, Albert et al. (2007) describe using concept mapping as the main representational interface of an e-portfolio as an alternative to text-based approaches. They highlight the potential pitfalls of ambiguity in presentational mapping approaches, advocating the need for clearly defined vocabulary and standardised grammar of representation. With a focus on institutional e-portfolio systems, they also point out the potential machine readability affordances that concept mapping technologies can provide. The last decade has seen a tentative shift in extending mapping from mere knowledge representation towards mapping as graphical interface; exploiting its semantic and topological characteristics for browsing and aggregating multiple knowledge and resource domains. Keller and Tergan (2005) and others have described such processes as evidence of an emerging synthesis between knowledge visualisation (of which mapping is an established method) and information visualisation (a mature interdisciplinary field which describes the visual representation of abstract data and data mining processes). Kim and Olaciregui (2007) admit that “empirical studies investigating the possible benefits of integrating concept mapping as an interface to manage knowledge and digital content is insufficient at the present time.” Yet mapping-based digital displays and interfaces have been developed and demonstrated in a wide range of pedagogical applications. Weideman and Kritzinger (2003) describe a visual interface integrated in a standard web browser to enable the user to construct concept maps with multimedia components, as an alternative knowledge repository. VisSearch is a web search environment combining concept mapping and data mining techniques (Lee, 2004). Carnot, Dunn, et al. (2001) look at students using concept map-based interfaces for information searching and web browsing. Results show them to be more effective search performance and knowledge retrieval in comparison to using standard page-based web browsers. Shen, Richardson et al. (2003) explore visualisation tools for knowledge representation in digital library applications, with the potential for collaborative learning. Ruffini (2008) takes a teachers perspective on the usefulness of computer-generated mind maps as a graphical interface for presenting, organising and navigating web-based course content and files. Responding to the rapid rise of freely available educational content, Conole and Weller (2008) recognise it is becoming increasingly important to develop methodologies to guide the adaptation and reuse of Open Educational Resources (OERs). They adopt Compendium. a mind mapping and argumentation tool, to develop a graphical ‘pick and mix’ learning design toolbox of different OERs and Web 2.0 tools to enable teachers to create, adapt and share learning activities. In Kim and Olaciregui’s (2007) own study, on information processing and retention in a fifth-grade science class, students using a concept map-based information display in a web-integrated e-portfolio system were shown to be more effective in organising digital content and understanding the aggregated content than those using a system based on traditional display methods of web pages, hypertext and hierarchical folder structures. The authors draw heavily on Mayer’s (2001) cognitive theory of multimedia learning, which describes the cognitive processes of selection, organisation and integration of visual and verbal mental representations with the existing knowledge. Applying Paivio’s (1986) dual-coding theory to multimedia to develop what has become known as the modality effect or principle, Mayer (2001; 57) suggests: “Perhaps the most crucial step in multimedia learning involves making connections between word-based and image-based representations.” Labissiere and Reynolds (2004) reference the dual coding principle of learning (Levie & Lentz, 1982) which describes learning enhancement through the multiple representation of knowledge, along with a range of multimedia design theories. Similar initiatives include VMAP (http://vmap.gold.ac.uk/) an open source tool developed by Goldsmiths College as part of the JISC Developing E-learning Tools Programme, enables the learner to plan, construct and update an e-portfolio through a visual mapping interface, either from ‘scratch’ or around tutor facilitated templates (Phelps, 2005). A more recent JISC training and support initiative under development by the JISC Regional Support Centres (RSCs) is currently trialling the use of a concept map as an e-Portfolio solution in the area of e-Assessment (Lamb & McLaughlin, 2007). Designed around constructivist learning theories and learning strategies, BrainBank Learning (BBL) is a web based learning tool for visual models of the learners’ knowledge constructions. BBL has been shown to be effective in the support of e-portfolio construction and lifelong learning. Concepts (topics) described by a student or tutor are connected to each other by creating or reusing meaningful associations, allowing each student to construct her own personal network of concepts and associations in the form of a topic map to provide a holistic representation of the pupil's knowledge (Lavik & Nordeng, 2004). Similarly, PLExus is a prototype Personal Learning Environment developed by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim and based on the semantic technology of topic maps (Kolås & Staupe, 2006). It provides the student with a customized interface of learning objects and learning activities based on factors such as pedagogical method, media type, learning objective type, and level of proficiency. General mapping attributes, such as visual-spatial layouts, semantic paths, labels, colour-coding and image previews are effective methods for selecting, organising, internalising and presenting multimedia learning content (Kim & Olaciregui, 2007). Roberts, Aalderink et al. (2005; 3) highlight the new digital literacy skills required in making visual connections between “disparate items and to classify a heterogeneous collection." |
