JISC

Developments in ePortfolios enable greater power and flexibility in displaying achievements. Current initiatives side-step the problem of inter-institutional certification rather than dealing with it. Although proprietary solutions are starting to appear, they tend to be organisation- rather than user- centric.

This project seeks to address the issue of design for a suitable user-centric "eCertificate" system by working with representatives of the community to establish use case scenarios, to verify this design by building a demonstrator, and then by testing the demonstrator within the group. The demonstrator will be based on a code library which will be developed, and both will be placed in the public domain.

Aims and objectives

The aim of the project is to implement an electronic version of a Qualification Certificates System, which will overcome the authorization problems that we are facing in ePortfolios. This eCertificate system will be at least as valid as the paper-based certificates, and will be usable either as a standalone application or fitted within other applications, such as e-Portfolios. It will be easy to use and suit all levels of students while including high security methods to prevent forgery. The students will have control over the usage of such e-Certificates, and a verification method will be provided.

Project methodology

The Project Manager, Lisha Chen-Wilson, will not only manage the project on a day to day basis, but will also provide the core input in terms of background research and design development. The technical member of staff, Dr Tao Guan, will interact with Lisha on a day-to-day basis, and will implement the design as a test bed demonstrator, first producing a code library, and then developing the “eCertificate Demonstrator” based on this library. The design will be checked before and after the development of the demonstrator by running workshops where the community is consulted and views sought and taken into account. AT the end of the project, a report will be prepared, and the findings presented to the community.

Anticipated outputs and outcomes

• W1: Demonstrator Requirements and Specifications. Problem analysis, use case scenarios, requirements analysis and specifications made available on project website. 
• W2: Demonstrator Design. Design document made available on project website. 
• W3: Code Library & User Interface. The demonstrator interface. The code library. 
• W4: Demonstrator Production. eCertificate demonstrator. 
• W5: Concept Validation. Record of experimental results. 
• W6: Reflective Report and System Documentation. Reflective report. System documentation.