PebblePAD (software)
PebblePAD is the name of a proprietary web-based Personal Learning Environment or eportfolio system. The software uses Macromedia Flash to provide a customisable visually orientated series of record editing tools. The system offers a high degree of user-customisation in terms of accessiblity features and the user interacts with the system's tools through a desktop which can be personalised with background images, snapshots and overlays. Through a system of moving 'pads' the user is guided stepwise through the process of creation of a variety of record types. These include a 7-step action plan, ability, achievement, experience and thought records. Records May Be presented by means of a webfolio and journal entries can be posted to a blog. Artefacts from a user's social networking space can be incorporated into some of the presentation tools e.g. You Tube, Flickr arguably an expectation of today's student. All of the record types have a reflection and review options. The system allows reuse and repurposing of collected material by a process of tagging. Multimedia integration is supported in version 2 of PebblePAD and RSS feeds can be incorporated into presentation webfolios.
Users can share the records flexibly assigning differential permissions to others including view, comment, copy, collaborate and cascade permissions. Permissions can be granted to both internal and external users. Record types are viewed as HTML pages.
The design team behind PebblePAD are all graduates of the University of Wolverhampton and were co-winners of the http://www.checkpoint-elearning.com/article/4452.html2007 Learning Technologists of the Year award at ALT-C in recognition of "contribution over the last three years to the development of the PebblePad ePortfolio system, which has been used by over 120,000 students in over forty institutions across the UK."
Social Networking and Personal Learning Spaces