Powerpoint used for learning profiles

I met a chap the other day who's been developing subject-specific e-learning profile templates in PowerPoint. Developed to fit the Every Child Matters agenda, they aim to assist transition between Key Stages 2 and 3.

Essentially these templates act as a portfolio of the student's work, hyperlinking to examples and other relevant documents. He said he used PowerPoint because it's free for teachers as every school already has it - a point which I would challenge, but the templates could easily be replicated in other presentation software - and that it is familiar and flexible.

I have some questions about using proprietary software and changing the nature of a tool (is it a presentation tool or a work management tool?), but my bigger question is about how this fits in with the government's drive for e-learning platforms and e-portfolios:

"The government’s target is that all pupils will be able to access a personalised online workspace, capable of supporting an e-portfolio, by 2007-08" (Learning platforms, Secondary: Making IT personal, 2005, Department for Education and Skills, London).

Is this PowerPoint project a good example of an e-portfolio that can sit on the learning platform, or is it likely that the learning platforms will be developed with a specific mechanism for developing universally acceptable e-portfolios? And are there/will there be specific guidelines - distinct from Every Child Matters - on how an e-portfolio should be put together?

Transition questionnaire

We are interested in getting a picture of how ICT might better facilitate the flow of information between the primary and secondary phases of education in the UK.

We have produced a questionnaire for secondary teachers involved in that transition.

The collated results will be published on our website and hopefully on the BCS website. We also intend to circulate them to systems developers (such as Schools Information Management Systems (SIMS)) and relevant bodies such as the DfES and Becta.

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'Including Everyone' is the blog of a voluntary group of education professionals in the UK, keen to push the agenda of ICT and inclusion.

You can find out more on our website.