Abstract:

The Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP) has developed an electronic portfolio, called ePEARL, which is based on predominant self-regulated learning (SRL) models. The cyclical, socio-cognitive model incorporates both metacognitive and motivational elements, and provides a life-long foundation for learning and skill development that is driven and sustained by the learner. The process is divided into three main phases: Forethought, Performance, and Self-Reflection.
ePEARL is a bilingual, evidence-based, learner-centered digital portfolio that is available free of charge on the world-wide-web. The three phases are represented in ePEARL as Planning, Doing and Reflecting, and are supported with relevant tasks. They include features such as setting long-term and task goals, selecting strategies, evaluating personal motivation, creating and sharing work, providing and incorporating meaningful feedback, and reflecting on the performance and the outcome. Age-appropriate, easily accessible assistance helps learners and teachers to understand the phases and apply their principles to their work process. ePEARL currently has three developmentally appropriate levels, intended for K-12 students. It has shown to promote several SRL processes in learners, such as goal-setting, using teacher comments to improve the outcome, and understanding how they are being evaluated.
In 2009, the CSLP undertook the development of a new ePEARL level for adult users, primarily to support pre-service and in-service teachers, as well as other post-secondary students, in becoming self-regulated learners. Initial analysis revealed several important differences in the needs of this particular project.
First, adult learners should be more aware than children of the variety of elements influencing their learning experience, or can more easily grasp them once they are made aware, and are therefore more equipped to correctly assess their influence. Furthermore, adult learners face topics and learning tasks that may greatly influence their intrinsic interest and performance.
Second, adult learners are often required to do work that is more complex, less structured and lengthier than the tasks assigned to younger students. This requires finer planning and more precise monitoring during performance, as well as more sophisticated reflection and adaptive inferences. This type of tasks also demands that motivation be sustained for a longer period of time, as the final reward of achieving the goal may be substantially delayed.
As such, rather than make superficial modifications to the existing ePEARL interface, the environment was redesigned in a way that would tackle the particular challenges and opportunities presented by older learners and the tasks they face. This allowed the exploration of more complex and nuanced aspects of the self-regulation model. This presentation will explore these challenges and the way they were addressed in the design of ePEARL for adult learners.

Keywords:

Portfolio, self-regulation, forethought, reflection, adult learning, educational technology, pre-service, post-secondary, instructional design.