The core portfolio was tested on three different digital platforms during the first project module to prevent the project from being restricted by the constraints of one particular platform and in order to gain experience of different tools. They were: Canvas’s own ePortfolio solution, the web-based Wix platform, and the text-based module in Research Catalogue. The second project module used a different platform called Bulb, which could be integrated with Canvas.
Accessibility and intuitiveness
The students using Canvas ePortfolio found the editing function to be cumbersome. The editing menu was not very intuitive, and it was difficult to position pictures relative to text, for instance. Those using Wix, meanwhile, were very happy with its intuitive interface and ample aesthetic features. They liked being able to design according to their personal artistic profile, enjoyed the ease of uploading text, pictures, audio and video, and welcomed the wide range of menu options. The students assigned to Research Catalogue used the text-based module, which did not work particularly well. HTML code had to be placed directly in the text files they were writing in, and numerous errors occurred which required extensive support. The canvas-based set-up in Research Catalogue would have been better as it offers additional options and results in fewer problems. This alternative was not tested by the project, however. Access was made difficult because the main instrument teachers involved in the project were not familiar with Research Catalogue.
Privacy and ownership
The core portfolio provided an opportunity for the students to organise information and materials for their own benefit. However, questions soon arose around whether they would be able to keep their data after graduating. The Wix platform allows the students to keep their accounts and continue to use them, while access to Canvas ePortfolio is withdrawn upon graduation. Wix also came with other benefits in that the students were able to practise how to build a website. Yet Wix is not GDPR-compliant and is therefore not considered a safe space for reflection in an academic context.
A platform tailored for music education?
Having tried out a selection of platforms in the first year of the project, we wanted and needed to continue to investigate platforms that satisfied GDPR requirements while also meeting the need for multimedia features and versatile design options. The NMH wants its students to use as few platforms and communication channels as possible in order to keep things streamlined and practicable. It has adopted Canvas as its main learning management system. We set out to find a portfolio platform that could be integrated in Canvas, was not designed for frontstage use but for backstage use (frontstage is when the material is made public, while backstage allows you to keep the content private and decide who is granted access), and offered multimedia features. There were very few such platforms and opportunities available in 2019, although we did find one called Bulb which we chose to trial in the next CPAM project module.
Bulb met our practical criteria, but over the course of the year it emerged that it posed other challenges that often led the students and mentors to abandon the portfolio platform or leave it dormant. Issues included problems determining exactly what had been made private, what had been shared and with whom, and problems with links shared with mentors that turned out to be faulty. This caused some students to instead send materials to their mentors by email because it simply felt safer and more familiar.
Some of the students and mentors also found that it was too complicated to have to retrieve the portfolio in order to work on it during the mentoring sessions. Some would instead use pen and paper to draw and think together, and many of the mentors highlighted the benefits of writing and drawing by hand when reflecting. Having to bring up a screen can have the opposite effect for many.
The students said they liked using platforms they are already familiar with to reflect and store audio and video and to communicate with their teachers.
When selecting a platform, it is crucial to establish precisely which needs it is meant to meet. During the project period we were unable to identify a solution that met our needs for reflective exercises, multimedia and communication on a single platform.
When it comes to the portfolio as a tool for reflection, we found that face-to-face meetings and conversations are conducive to such thought processes. The portfolio can help the students complete simple exercises and summaries, but in-depth thinking around the processes requires a level of activity which in a study setting should be associated with meeting places and interactions – such as a mentoring session.