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Rethinking ePortfolios

Developing lifelong digital capabilities

www.leedsconservatoire.ac.uk

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ePortfolio use at Leeds Conservatoire

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Leeds Conservatoire is a small specialist HEI, formerly Leeds College of Music.

Offers comprehensive training for 1,400 students in music, drama, and voice.

From 2011 we began using Mahara ePortfolios for assessment

Including mixed media is core to our assessments, given our subjects

Ruth Clark

Head of Learning Enhancement

Al Ross

Digital Learning Manager

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Why we rethought our ePortfolio platform

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MyPortfolio (Mahara) was unpopular with students

Some teaching staff struggled to see value in using MyPortfolio

Students and tutors couldn’t identify transferable skills from MyPortfolio

Charge introduced for a previously free product

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Looking for an alternative solution

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Product scoping exercise

Affordability and/or not fit for purpose

Similar issues to MyPortfolio

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Our solution

Created a bespoke WordPress submission method for Moodle
Built by in-house learning technology developers at Leeds Conservatoire
Customised built-in functionality, and WordPress plug-ins to fill the gaps
Enables students to develop transferable skills using a leading CMS
Branded internally as “Show”

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This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

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Implementation

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Review of existing assessments

2024-25 Pilot at Level 3 & 4

Consultation with academic management teams

Creation of “patterns” as assignment templates

In-class demonstrations

How to guides & screencasts

Responded dynamically to technical issues

Targeted user survey for feedback

- Learning Technology Developers created a plugin which allowed WordPress posts to submitted to Moodle in much the same way as Mahara pages.

- Learning Technologist identified existing assessments which could be adapted to a WordPress post submission; as a pilot group only assessments which would not impact on degree classification were selected: Foundation Year L3, and L4.

- Consultation with the module coordinators and school faculty for WordPress assessments, demonstrating the new platform and accommodating requirements, e.g. using “patterns” to produce structured assessment templates.

- Scheduled in-class training with students completing the new assessment with illustrative demonstrations of how to use the new platform to present their work.

- Developed series of guides including screencasts, written instructions, and annotated screenshots for student reference.

On the platform, sign-posted the support within the platform.

- Responded dynamically to any technical issues as they arose, identified by digital learning team and escalated to developers who could rapidly implement fixes: E.g. untitled posts weren’t accessible once submitted in Moodle.

- Conducted a targeted experience survey for students who used the platform for one of their assessments, not only assessing their experience using the platform, but also rating the support they received or accessed, and if learning web publishing skills was important to them or not.

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Student feedback

14.5% of level 3 & 4 students responded
Representation from all our programs
Slightly positive sentiment analysis: +0.16
Themes identified:

Desire for more training
Clarity on why Show is used
Some errors reported and feature requests

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What happens next

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Rolled out to Level 5, 6 and 7 assessments in 2025-26

Full Rollout

More in-person workshops, refresher sessions, and starter tasks will be introduced

Enhanced Training

A campaign will clarify the purpose of Show and promote digital skills

Improved Communications

Feedback will inform updates to guides, bug fixes, and feature enhancements.

Technical Improvements

Teaching staff will also be included in training and awareness efforts

Staff Engagement

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Our thoughts

Digital competencies and skills development embedded within our new curriculum
Creating more authentic assessments with “real world” digital tools
We hope that use of WordPress can help address these concerns.

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Students’ digital capabilities are decreasing

Students struggle to identify transferrable skills

Is “friction” always a bad thing?

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Thank you