How do you use PebblePad?

Moira Savage: I have been using PebblePad for three years, and in 2008 the University purchased PebblePad as a personal learning system. We use it as part of the initial professional training course for primary school teachers so that they can demonstrate that they're qualified to teach to the required standards.

The first-year students use PebblePad as a blogging tool and then more structured activities are introduced in years two and three. Students can collect digital content (text, graphics, video and audio) as case study evidence in schools and present case studies to their peers and tutors through PebblePad. They can also reflect on the work they've carried out and receive feedback online. PebblePad does this in a secure manner to comply with the strict controls on photographs and video of children.

The digital portfolio is ideal for our ICT students, as they can demonstrate how they've developed content and include rich examples such as audio podcasts and digital graphics that the pupils have developed. The assessors can get a real sense of what the students are doing in the classroom with the pupils; they can even hear the children and students talking about it, which gives us a more accurate picture of trainees' ability in the classroom.

Julie Hughes: I started using ePortfolios six years ago when I took part in the PebblePad pilot. I've always used them as an integral part of reflective practice and conceptualization, and ePortfolios help this approach to become more integrated. I also used it to showcase my professional credentials for IfL before it was a requirement to do so.

Terry Mayes and Sarah DeFreitas' work urges us to think about new models of education for the digital era, and PebblePad has helped me to think about and incorporate different ways of teaching -activities that our student learners use are focused on the impact of learning on them as learners and group learners. Our PGCE M (Diploma) for the Post-Compulsory Sector now has 100% submission by ePortfolio.

How is your use of PebblePad developing?

Moira Savage: There is a lot of enthusiasm at the University for using PebblePad. A core ICT team of three currently uses PebblePad, as do three other colleagues in the music department, who are now working on a music ePortfolio. I am using it to lighten the student workload: students can tag pieces of work and send them off to different lecturers. We also want to get PebblePad built into modules and key assessments.

I've developed a one-hour introduction for our virtual learning environment and a one-hour introduction for PebblePad; they cover the mechanics of how to get on and what it looks like. Future plans include using PebblePad to audit students' ICT skills and to make more use of PebblePad's feedback features.

Julie Hughes: We only wanted to use PebblePad if it would actually enhance learning, and the developers, Pebble Learning, have always sought views of students and teachers, the result being a responsive piece of software. For example, emoticons were introduced as a result of our feedback, making online communication less open to interpretation and sentiments clearer.

My use of PebblePad has evolved over six years. I now gather learners' experiences and students' stories of their experiences, and some students have featured in JISC's eLearning publication In Their Own Words. Listening to students' voices and learning from this helps to develop students' and lecturers' use of technology for learning. Our use of PebblePad is developing in line with emerging theorized practice, and through working as a team, we can support colleagues through the pedagogic shift and be open to new possibilities.