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Starting Early: Using ePortfolios to Prepare First Year Midwifery Students for Professional Practice

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Ensuring Quality in Professional Education Volume I

Abstract

Increasing accreditation demands for evidence of student competency and logistical challenges with paper-based portfolios have driven the shift towards ePortfolio use in midwifery curriculum. The use of the ePortfolio for assessment and learning in clinical settings provides students with flexible and immediate access to relevant information which can be instantly applied to learning. Using ePortfolios to prepare first year midwifery students for professional practice is an important contribution to the current trend in the move towards digital technologies. From a student perspective, early experiences of using an ePortfolio provides a foundation for their practice and career progression planning as well as meeting professional competency requirements.

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Acknowledgements

The researchers would like to thank the students who participated in the surveys and the staff who provided feedback on the ePortfolio implementation process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia

    Terri Downer

  2. The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia

    Christine Slade

Authors
  1. Terri Downer
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  2. Christine Slade
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Correspondence to Terri Downer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia

    Karen Trimmer

  2. Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA

    Tara Newman

  3. University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia

    Fernando F. Padró

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Downer, T., Slade, C. (2019). Starting Early: Using ePortfolios to Prepare First Year Midwifery Students for Professional Practice. In: Trimmer, K., Newman, T., Padró, F. (eds) Ensuring Quality in Professional Education Volume I. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01096-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01096-6_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-01095-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-01096-6

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