Introducing Integrated E-Portfolio Across Courses in a Postgraduate Program in Distance and Online Education

E-Learning Program

E-learning is defined by the New Zealand Ministry of Education (2004, p. 3) as “learning that is enabled or supported by the use of digital tools and content. It typically involves some form of interactivity, which may include online interaction between the learner and their teacher or peers. E-learning opportunities are usually accessed via the Internet, though other technologies such as CD-ROM are also used in e-learning.” It would be an extremely rare tertiary institution that does not have a learning management system (LMS) for online delivery, and a body of staff already using it in their courses (Nichols & Anderson, 2005).

At Massey University we have acquired WebCT as the LMS since 2002 for delivery of courses at a distance. At Massey University we also use CMC platforms such as Horizon Wimba and Macromedia Breeze for conducting real-time meeting sessions with the distance students. We have about 20,000 extramural (distance) students which is double the number of internal (on campus) students.

Massey University postgraduate qualifications staircase (Figure 1), in education, permits students to tailor courses and programs in ways that are suitable and which accommodate a wide range of circumstances and needs. On the staircase, the qualifications commence with two-paper postgraduate certificates (commonly for individuals just starting postgraduate study). Thereafter, the qualifications include general and endorsed 100-point postgraduate diplomas and a wide range of 200-point masterates, and they culminate with doctoral study, either the EdD or the PhD.

Figure 1.

Massey University postgraduate qualification staircase