Student teachers’ perceptions about an e-portfolio enriched with learning analytics

Abstract

In recent years the use of e-portfolios has increased in teacher education. Moreover, another rapidly evolving area in teacher education is learning analytics (LA). This paper reports the experiences of 13 student teachers in the implementation of an e-portfolio that is enriched with LA in a teacher education programme. Thirteen student teachers of primary school teacher curriculum received feedback and were assessed by their supervisors in their internship via an e-portfolio with LA. Questionnaire and a focus group interview were administered among the participants to identify how the student teachers perceive the job-fit and the effort expectancy of the e-portfolio with the LA application and to indicate the challenges encountered. The study revealed several positive evidences: the student teachers were on agreement that e-portfolio with LA is time-economising and easy to use. The student teachers appreciated that they received a good overview about their professional development. As a challenge, many student teachers questioned whether the use of e-portfolio can increase the quality of their professional activities (e.g. planning lessons, carrying out teaching activities and evaluating pupils’ learning). Future research should focus on how to support the student teachers so that they would comprehend the benefits of the e-portfolio with LA on their professional activities and how to integrate human expertise in a more dynamic way.