Creating an e-portfolio to evidence your language learning.

This guide should be read in conjunction with the other information available in the e-portfolio support course (EPSC) in Languages@Warwick. You will find
a forum there to ask questions and share information.
Using the e-portfolio for assessment.
You will build up content in your e-portfolio as you go through the first two terms of your course. Those who have to create an e-portfolio assessment view
will then have to think carefully about the aspects of that content relevant to telling the story of your language learning to your assessor. Think of the
assessment view as a showcase of your learning journey. It needs to be concise and engaging. Use the assessment criteria to help you to build the best
view for the assessor. Remember your intended audience, some aspects of your e-portfolio may be personal to you and not suitable for the assessor to
see.
Help and support.
An e-portfolio help group exists in Mahara and we recommend that anyone who is required to submit an e-portfolio should join it. You will be able to share
ideas and benefit from easy access to support. There is also an e-portfolio support course (EPSC) in Languages@Warwick and you will be enrolled on this
automatically if your course includes assessment by e-portfolio.
Assessment rationale.
Assessed e-portfolios at the Language Centre are used to evaluate the learners awareness of and engagement in the language learning process. We are
interested in how you have acquired transferable skills and insights into your learning. The level of your language skills is already adequately assessed
elsewhere in our summative language testing regime. To do well you will need to demonstrate that you have identified areas of strength and weakness and
make explicit the steps you took to support your learning. We hope that producing an assessment page will also extend your digital literacies and further
enrich the learning process. We accept that this is a challenge, but we believe it to be one worth rising to.

Important components of the e-portfolio.

When you start your course you will be asked to identify your learning objectives. These may be modified as you go through the learning process, which is
fine. Before you submit your e-portfolio assessment view, you should write a short rationale document (see below), insert it clearly labelled into your
assessment view.
Rationale document for e-portfolio assessment view.
Purpose of document:
Students are asked to put together a short document making explicit their rationale for the decisions they have made about their assessment view. This will
help the assessors to understand your approach. Furthermore, this will ensure that you have made explicit the reason/s for including your chosen content.
Nature of document:
The document should be no longer than 300 words and should be produced in English. It must be your own work. It must be submitted in text form. (e.g.
word doc/.pdf/journal entry) and included in your assessment view, clearly labelled Rationale document.
What the document should include:
The document is to provide an overview of the e-portfolio assessment view that you are submitting. It should include:

how the page meets the assessment criteria.

important decisions made about selection of material for inclusion.
a reflection upon the process of language learning from an individual perspective.

Timeframe:

Students may wish to get started on this document in draft form during the second term. There should not be input from your language tutor but
you may discuss with each other. Review the document and include it in the e-portfolio assessment view to ensure that it is a coherent summary,
when you are ready you will then upload your e-portfolio assessment view in your Languages@Warwick course as an assignment.
2

You will submit your assessment view through a course assignment set up by your tutor towards the end of term 2. Please allow sufficient time for
the submission process, do not wait to submit at the last minute. The deadline for submission is: Term 2 week 9, Thursday 9th March 12 noon.

The software.
Included within the moodle-based virtual learning environment (VLE) Languages@Warwick there is a system called Mahara. You can see a link to Mahara
in your dashboard page under network servers. You can customise that page and drag and drop the link to an easy to find space on your screen.

Mahara is an open source e-portfolio fully integrated within Languages@Warwick. We suggest that you try out all these possibilities:

set up interest groups to share and network with other language learners (maybe a Russian speakers learning French group for example)
export your contributions to fora or assignments directly into your personal space for reflection, blogging and planning of your learning.
upload your own files or link with your external networks such as YouTube.
create pages of your language learning experience to share with a prospective employer or your tutor to showcase your progress.

As Mahara is fully integrated it will automatically contain your profile information from Languages@Warwick, you can edit this or make it more detailed if
you wish. You will also see links next to work you have submitted in your course (assignments/forum posts) which allow you to submit a copy into your
mahara area as possible evidence for your e-portfolio assessment view.
This facility is available to all users of Languages@Warwick and we hope that you will find it useful. By default, it is a private space where you control your
content. You can create pages for other purposes as you try out the potential of mahara. All your mahara content is private to you unless you choose to
share it by adding permissions to other viewers. View permissions can be added to your pages for external viewers (prospective employers or friends),
groups or tutors and these views can be time limited (see the sharing tab).

Technical details.
Mahara has a control dashboard and you will soon find your way around if you experiment. You will also find some short video guides on our
WarwickLanguage channel of YouTube or in the tutorials shared in the Languages@Warwick EPSC course. Bear in mind that making good use of digital tools
such as this will be useful for your professional development in an age where learning to manage your online identity is an important skill.
Exporting your Languages@Warwick content to your mahara area:
When you submit a thread to a forum or an assignment to your Languages@Warwick language course, you will notice a link next to it export to eportfolio. Perhaps this discussion was really helpful or you felt that your contribution was a key learning moment by exporting it to your e-portfolio you
will be able to use it as evidence of your ability to reflect upon your learning and take appropriate action. Maybe you will refer to it in a blog post, or it will
lead you to explore an area further. Was this the point where you realised you needed to work on tenses? How did you go about that? You could also add
to your e-portfolio links to the websites you found useful or mp3/mp4 files of you applying what you have learned in a recorded discussion. You dont need
to export everything you do to mahara, just those moments that you think illustrate your progress through your language learning. It is best to make a habit
of adding to your e-portfolio as you go along, dont try to do it all at the end of your course.
During the first term you should focus on collecting evidence of your learning through the Mahara interface, capturing your thoughts and aspects of your
work. These will then be available for you to reflect on and display during the second term when you put your collection together for assessment. There are
drop-in sessions to support your use of Mahara, these are advertised through the EPSC course. You can also post to the help forum in EPSC or email
techsupport.languages@warwick.ac.uk if you need advice.

Assessment criteria.
This is the e-portfolio assessment form. It will be completed and returned to you by your tutor when the assessment process is complete. Each aspect
assessed carries equal weighting.
Audience awareness, focus
Appropriateness to task

Effective use of e-portfolio

assessment view for conveying the
learning process

Analysis & Reflection

(Why?, So what? Now what?)

student has clearly selected relevant

materials for the purpose of
assessment, shows understanding
of criteria. Page has a suitable tone,
student has articulated and
evidenced their language learning
persona. Assessment view presents
a coherent narrative of the learners
journey.
good use of mahara, some
creativity, enhanced with good use
of range of media. Highly authentic,
personal, engaging and thought
provoking, gives the right amount of
detail, assessor can see students
personal engagement with language
learning process and efforts made
to address difficulties.

2.1 2.2 3

2.1 2.2 3

extensive reflection and critical

analysis, develops a clear personal
narrative, shows understanding of
experiences and gives plans for
future language learning.

2.1 2.2 3

little/no evidence of selection, poor

understanding of the purpose of
page created for assessment, page
does not have suitable tone for task,
no real insights into students
language learning persona.
Assessment view does not present a
coherent narrative of the learners
journey.
minimal use of technical
possibilities, evidence and
presentation do not enhance the
narrative, difficult for assessor to
follow, seems contrived/ superficial.
Not very engaging and has little
impact, story rambles and seems
too long/too short or disjointed.
Little or no evidence of the
application of learning strategies
little reflection and analysis and,
mostly descriptive, lacks explicit
personal awareness to apply to
future language learning.