E = mPortfolios 2? Challenges and opportunities in creating mobile electronic portfolio systems for lifelong learning

Abstract

This paper critically examines the developmental trends of mPortfolios and gauges their impact on newer forms of learning that utilise mobility, portability, and flexibility. Placing this study within the emerging paradigm of futures' thinking, the paper focuses on the environmental factors that shape the direction of portfolio development from electronic to mobile systems using a series of global case studies to illustrate the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead for educators. While mobility and portability emerged as strong elements in design, flexibility remains a key challenge for educators. The analysis also revealed that sector based approaches to developing mPortfolios through research and Community of Practice structures are potentially more beneficial for mPortfolio developers. Yet within these approaches there are clear advantages to be accessed from the communal-dialogical approach found within the Community of Practice approach, which could potentially inform futures' thinkers in relation to strategic planning and forecasting of new trajectories in mobile and lifelong learning.