PebblePad was trialled in 2008/09 with fourteen groups of students varying from 12 to 214 participants, with all pilot groups reporting positive overall experiences. Testers included students from the MSc Management Research & Development, Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice, MSc International Animal Health, MSc Advanced Nursing Practice, and MSc ELearning. The University had previously experimented with WebCT's ePortfolio and the Open Source Portfolio (OSP).

The University's Robert Chmielewski explains, "We strive to be innovative in our teaching methods and introduced PebblePad as a leading-edge online learning space, the educational equivalent to MySpace or Facebook - tools with which students are already very familiar. Students are successfully transferring the collaborative skills gained through social networking to an educational context."

Students are encouraged to use PebblePad for reflection and to share work and thoughts with peers and tutors. The presentational e-portfolios, called Webfolios, allow learners to represent their skills and achievements in very flexible and creative ways - or according to a tutor's particular requirements. With Action Plans, users can follow a template to describe what they want to achieve and to plan out how to get there. PebblePad also has a "MyEdGE Graduate Attributes profile'" and a research-student-skills profile that students can use to help develop their skills outside their core academic subject.