• Supporting high-impact practices with PebblePad

    by Shane Sutherland

 

Supporting high-impact practices with PebblePad

~ High-impact practice ~

AUGUST 6th 2019· by Shane Sutherland

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ABOUT THIS BLOG POST

Born out of a recognition that today’s graduates need to be responsible global citizens, and equipped to respond to the challenges the future holds, high-impact practices offer a structure to help educators create learning cultures designed to develop the whole person and nurture graduates who are genuinely future-ready. This blog post by PebblePad Founder and CEO, Shane Sutherland, discusses high-impact practices before offering readers the chance to download a copy of our popular High-impact Practices publication. If you can't wait till the end of this post to get your hands on the publication, no problem – you'll also find a link to the paper immediately below.  

The image shows a snapshot of the PebblePad High-impact Practice Publication
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High-impact practices were created with a fundamental and common ambition – to educate the whole student and develop graduates who can contribute to society. For me, and I expect for many others familiar with our work, it's easy to find parallels between the PebblePad ethos and the principles behind high-impact practices. 

 
 
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EDUCATING THE WHOLE PERSON

If you are reading this blog post as someone who is involved in the North American higher education market, I expect you may be ahead of the curve when it comes to understanding high-impact practices. If you work in higher education somewhere else on the planet, while the term may be new to you, I expect the core principles underpinning the practices will sound familiar. Established in 2008, a few years after the start of the PebblePad journey, high-impact practices were created with a fundamental and common ambition – to educate the whole student and develop graduates who can contribute to society through meaningful employment and an awareness of global issues. For me, and I expect for many others familiar with our work, it's easy to find parallels between the PebblePad ethos and the principles behind high-impact practices.

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With the established high-impact practices spanning a diverse range of contexts, in settings on and off-campus, and where the quality of the experience is key, I believe that the PebblePad Learning Journey Platform is uniquely placed to support these practices.

Shane Sutherland, PebblePad Founder and CEO 

 
 
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SUPPORTING THE ENTIRE LEARNING JOURNEY

High-impact practices were first proposed by George Kuh, Director of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment and the Association of American Colleges & Universities as research-based strategies for effective teaching. Kuh’s research (2008) suggests that high-impact practices (outlined below) when done well, can enhance student success, retention and engagement.

High-impact practice list












In 2016, an 11th high-impact practice was added to the list - eportfolios. This confirmed what we at PebblePad knew all along, that the use of eportfolios within the curriculum can have a positive and lasting effect on student learning. 

While a decade may have passed since their inception, it's clear that high-impact practices remain relevant to current practice, not only in North America but across the globe. Indeed, our recent research into trends in higher education supports this viewpoint and highlights the fact that universities are continually looking to bolster their learning ecology to find better ways to develop graduates who are capable of demonstrating a wide range of aptitudes, attitudes and abilities, across a variety of contexts. With the established high-impact practices spanning a diverse range of contexts, in settings on and off-campus, and where the quality of the experience is key, I believe that the PebblePad Learning Journey Platform is uniquely placed to support these practices.

The journey analogy is a very fitting one in the context of high-impact practices since they cover experiences from induction to graduation, and everything in between. Right from the very beginning of our own journey, PebblePad was designed to help learners plan for, make sense of, evidence, and tell their stories of learning and achievement, regardless of the context or setting. I'm very proud of the depth and breadth of practice which PebblePad supports – the ten terrific case studies included in the paper below are a testament to its versatility. I'm also very proud of the contributions we have made in recent times through sharing our knowledge and expertise with the higher education community – and this high-impact practice publication is no exception. Enjoy

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The image shows a snapshot of the PebblePad High-impact Practice Publication
 
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Download the paper now


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References

Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Watson, C. E., Kuh, G., Rhodes, T., Penny Light, T. and Chen, H. (2016) Editorial : ePortfolios – the eleventh high impact practice. International Journal of ePortfolio, 6(2), pp. 65–69.

 
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Author

CEO and founder of PebblePad, Shane has been a big presence in the world of portfolios and personal learning ever since the company's inception in 2004. It's not just his boundless enthusiasm and towering capacity for innovation that keeps PebblePad at the top of its game ... when you're 6' 10" having a list of great ideas 'as long as your arm' is somewhat of a competitive advantage!

 

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