RPL portfolios: Recognising quality EC teaching

This conference presentation will examine the progress of an innovative project, commenced in July 2014, aimed at supporting diploma qualified, experienced early childhood educators to work towards the completion of a four-year Bachelor degree that has been designed specifically for the sector. Based upon a literature review of how social media informs and shapes personal identity through social referencing and the existing, early childhood pedagogical tool of the narrative observation, this project uses existing teaching and learning materials to create a Recognition of Professional Learning (RPL) ePortfolio that potentially could cut a four-year course down by two thirds. Inspired by the Massive Online Open Course model, this project aims to support enrolled students, to use existing teaching and learning materials in a manner that facilitates the creation of a structured RPL ePortfolio to annotate professional artefacts, which directly match the learning outcomes of some of the academic units of study. This presentation will examine how the Australian Catholic University, in collaboration with industry and government stakeholders is currently using ingenuity, commitment, and technology to shape the future of children in the Australian Capital Territory.