Using e-portfolios in legal education

UKCLE funded project

Project team: Patricia McKellar (UKCLE; e-mail: patricia.mckellar@warwick.ac.uk), Karen Barton (Glasgow Graduate School of Law), Jeanette Nicholas (University of Westminster), Liz Polding (Oxford Institute of Legal Practice)
Project summary: an exploration of the use of e-portfolios in legal education, developing guidelines and examples of good practice via three case studies
Completion date: July 2008
Funding: £45,000 (JISC Distributed e-Learning Programme)

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Within higher education there has been a move towards the introduction of processes to formalise reflection. At undergraduate level, as part of the realisation that encouraging lifelong learning is a fundamental tenet of tertiary education, students are gaining more experience with portfolios in individual modules and courses as well as through the introduction of institutional personal development planning schemes.

In many professions the use of portfolios is now commonplace as a route to qualification, revalidation or continuing practice. The benefits of portfolios for professional development include their capacity to look at technical development over time, to reflect on and demonstrate progress and to support the integration of work-based learning and assessment. Both the Law Society of England and Wales and the Law Society of Scotland are looking at implementing some form of e-portfolio into professional legal education.

This two year project considered the place for e-portfolios within both legal education and the professional legal environment, exploring in particular whether there are specific issues about legal education and practice requiring consideration.

Project findings

The project aimed to develop an e-portfolio system students could use through their undergraduate, postgraduate and professional lives, which would be sufficiently flexible to accommodate both students entering a professional legal career as well as those choosing a legally related route or other professional career. During the course of the project it became clear that the aim of providing a ‘one size fits all’ e-portfolio was a trifle ambitious, however we have identified the key themes which should underpin any such development.

We hoped that e-portfolios would prove to be a valuable tool in bringing together all the elements of the academic process and subsequent training into a ‘coherent tale of learning’ for the student, however it is clear that the e-portfolio will not be introduced in a more structured format within the legal education continuum until it is a professional requirement. This would in turn act as a catalyst for law schools to implement e-portfolios more broadly into their curricula.

The use of e-portfolios in continuing professional development is under consultation both north and south of the border, and UKCLE has responded to the consultation process in both jurisdictions. The Law Society of Scotland kept a watching brief on the project and was provided with regular feedback, in particular on experiences in law firms, to help inform their approach to the work-based learning element of the new education and training regime in Scotland.

The case studies

Pilot projects were undertaken in three law schools, including undergraduate and postgraduate legal education in both England and Scotland. Two of the law schools had existing projects into e-portfolios which were extended as a result of this project, while the third piloted the e-portfolio in a work-based learning module:

• Glasgow Graduate School of Law (GGSL)
• Oxford Institute of Legal Practice (OXILP)
• University of Westminster

A further pilot project at the University of Cumbria was awarded funding in January 2008, presenting its findings in October 2009.

The software

The technology used in each of the pilots changed over the course of the project:

• GGSL – initially used an in-house bespoke system running alongside their VLE (WebCT), but found that PebblePad more specifically met the needs of their students, with the ‘form builder’ tool of particular use, and had a clearer interface
• OXILP – used Vmap, a mind mapping tool, alongside their VLE (the open source Moodle) in the first year of the project, but in response to student comments regarding look and feel shifted to Elgg, another open source application, in the second year
• Westminster – initially used the e-portfolio tool contained in their VLE (Blackboard); seeking more flexibility in the second year they switched to PebblePad, but due to cost implications may revert to Blackboard

Project outputs

The following resources have been developed by the project team:

• Using e-portfolios in legal education: key themes – overview of findings from the three case studies
• Evaluating e-portfolios in law: 2006-07 and Evaluating e-portfolios in law: 2007-08 – reports on student reactions to the use of e-portfolios
• Getting started with e-portfolios – advice on the use of e-portfolios in law
• Getting started with e-portfolios: advice for students, staff and employers

The case studies:

• Getting started with e-portfolios: Glasgow Graduate School of Law
• Getting started with e-portfolios: Oxford Institute of Legal Practice
• Getting started with e-portfolios: University of Westminster
• Getting started with e-portfolios: University of Cumbria

Papers and presentations:

• E-portfolios within the professions: experiences from law, medicine and veterinary medicine – paper at UKCLE’s Learning in Law Annual Conference 2007 conference examining e-portfolios from the vocational perspective
• E-portfolios within professional legal training – presentation at the Higher Education Academy’s ePortfolios for the 21st Century meeting on 23 April 2008

Last Modified: 4 June 2010