Use of Emerging Mobile Technologies in Portfolio Development

In the UK, implementing personal development planning (PDP) is an obligatory requirement across all Higher Education awards. This has led to a number of institutions requiring students to produce electronic portfolios to meet this requirement. However, far too little attention has been paid to utilising the powerful functionalities and high levels of connectivity of emerging mobile technology. This social study seeks to discover a potential role of emerging mobile technology in portfolio development and its effects on students’ reflective capacity and engagement with PDP. To raise students’ engagement with PDP, a mobile application (HUD iPDP) for Apple mobile devices was developed with fifty-one undergraduate students participating in this study. The data collected was both qualitative and quantitative. Results revealed a high level of interest among students and the potential for mobile technology to enhance the process of PDP.