What is an ePortfolio?

 by Nancy Wozniak

The students in Cathleen Rowley's Writing and Rhetoric were asked about a portfolio.  All of them had done a portfolio in one or two classes in high school.  They came to the collective conclusion that portfolios are journals on reading assignments that are typed on Word documents and put in a notebook.  I asked them to tell me where are those portfolios.  One student replied, "On my bookself in my bedroom at home.  It's all yellow and dusty."  I asked them to define an eportoflio and another student replied,  

"An eportoflio is a portfolio that doesn't gather dust."

How true.  A profolio sits on a shelf and gathers dust.  An eportfolio is active and gathers experiences over a lifetime of learning.

-Nancy Wozniak

 Helen Barrett

"a portfolio without standards, goals and/or reflection is just a fancy resume, not an electronic portfolio."  

Learning ePortfolio Overview - LearningePortfolios.pptx

PowerPoint Presentation by Nancy Wozniak

ePortfolios can be used for showcase, teaching, developmental, assessment (course and departmental), committee documentation, projects, departmental documentation purposes.  The key is reflection. Witout reflection, it's an online resume, a informational webpage, or an online file cabinet for documents.

Types of ePortfolios

Developmental Portfolios: demonstrate the advancement and development of student skills over a period of time. Developmental portfolios are considered works-in-progress and include both self-assessment and reflection/feedback elements. The primary purpose is to provide communication between students and faculty.

Course and Program Assessment Portfolios: demonstrate student competence and skill for well-defined areas. These may be end-of-course or program assessments primarily for evaluating student performance. The primary purpose is to evaluate student competency as defined by program standards and outcomes.

Career and Showcase Portfolios: demonstrate exemplary work and student skills. This type of portfolio is created at the end of a program to highlight the quality of student work. Students typically show this portfolio to potential employers to gain employment at the end of a degree program.

Hybrids: Most portfolios are hybrids of the three types of portfolios listed above. Rarely will you find a portfolio that is strictly used for assessment, development or showcase purposes. Occasionally, you may come across showcase portfolios that do not show evidence of self-reflection, rubrics for assessment or feedback, however, as Helen Barrett, an expert in the field of e-portfolios, would say "a portfolio without standards, goals and/or reflection is just a fancy resume, not an electronic portfolio."

Self-reflection is an important component of electronic portfolio development. If you do not require participants to self-reflect on the artifacts they add to the portfolio, they will not gain from the rich learning experience that e-portfolio development can provide!

Metacognition - sense-making, self-assessment and reflection.

Instrinsically Motivated Behaviors - Autonomy, Self-Reliance, Self-Competenacy = Self-Determination.