Abstract
The inclusion of PDP (personal development planning) is a University of Bolton requirement for all programmes and normally embedded through a visual journal in Art and Design. This poster presents the results and challenges faced during the implementation of two pilot studies of an ePDP exercise in the School of Arts, Media and Education (SAME). The experience has provided sound information to inform full implementation of ePDP and to further explore the optimum process, infrastructure and research that needs to be undertaken to support future implementation more effectively. Description of Approach Used The results of piloting an ePDP resource within the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) informed a second pilot using a more flexible and open source VLE (Moodle). Art and Design undertook both pilots as there is experience of working visually in a PDP context. Through the experiences of two staff and 150 students from the SAME, minor adjustments were made based on their recommendations and findings. The Poster will describe the process using Cowans’ reflective diagram to underpin the approach.
While Moodle resulted in a more flexible VLE for ePDP, cross platform and cross browser issues were apparent particularly the compatibility with Apple Macs. The specificity of the university PDP approach emphasised the unique approaches used in Art and Design which has required richer applications not normally used in text based approaches, making this development more complex. Conclusion The culture of ePDP is slowly changing due to the greater involvement of students and staff with technology. The challenge is to ensure that the change is fully understood and embedded through training for staff & students, within the agreed VLE platform the university is progressing to.