ePortfolios
What are they?
An ePortfolio is a digital collection of text-based, graphic, or multimedia artifacts archived on a website or storage device (CD-ROM, DVD, flash drive) that represent the accomplishments of a student or program.
Source: Educause Learning Initiative, EDUCAUSE
Typical characteristics of an ePortfolio include the following:
- Framing Essay that makes claims about achievements of course learning goals.
- Artifacts that provide evidence of claims (papers, digital images or video, etc.).
- As an alternative, or in addition, to the framing essay, annotations may accompany each artifact to highlight the specific learning goals and accomplishments of that artifact.
Source: ePortfolios for Assessing Individual Students' Learning, David S. Goldstein, UW Bothell
- An E-Portfolio with No Limits - Campus Technology. Discusses the ever-expanding nature of ePortfolios in higher education today, and its impact.
- An Overview of E-Portfolios - Educause.
- ePortfolios, Finally! - Campus Technology. The recent past and developing future of the ePortfolio.
Just like their predecessor physical portfolios, students collect their work, select examples to showcase, and reflect on what they've learned. ePortfolios help students deepen their learning of course content, become critical thinkers, and develop their writing and multimedia communication skills while providing evidence of learning for assessment. ePortfolios can also be used to assess program effectiveness; see ePortfolios for Curricular/Program Assessment below.
- Demonstrating and Assessing Student Learning with E-Portfolios - Educause.
- Effective Practice with E-Portfolios: Supporting 21st Century Learning - JISC - Larger PDF covering many facets of their use in the university setting.
- ePortfolios Explained: Theory and Practice, Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo - Goes over what an e-Portfolio is, types of e-Portfolios, why use them, tips for using them, and the assessment of e-Portfolios.
- Engagement with Electronic Portfolios: Challenges from the Student Perspective - Research article looking into four common themes that are challenging true engagement.
- Implementing Electronic Portfolios Through Social Media Platforms: Steps and Student Perceptions - Seattle Pacific University - link to download of research article.
- ePortfolio Assignment Guide - Pace University. Examples of six different assignments with a few associated rubrics.
- ePortfolio (Digital Portfolio) Rubric - University of Wisconsin Stout. Generic sample rubric, easily adaptable.
See also: Example Rubric 1 and Example Rubric 2
What are some resources and where is there help?
Resources at WWU
- Canvas - Learning Management System
- Career Services
- MySites (Office 365)
Free Tools
- Blog Style
- Website Style
Low Cost Tools
- Photography/Art-Centric
- Website Style
- Strikingly (free or low cost)
- Digication (education-specific) / Digication Quick Start
More Resources on ePortfolios for Curricular/Program Assessment
- Assessing with ePortfolios - University of New South Wales, Australia. Focuses on when ePortfolios are best used, potential benefits and challenges, and strategies.
- Are We Who We Think We Are? ePortfolios as a Tool for Curriculum Redesign - Northeastern University. Includes a link to a short presentation about the topic by Gail Matthews-DeNatale.
- Models for Integrating E-Portfolios into a Curriculum or Co-Curriculum - Association of American Colleges and Universities. Seven models for utilizing ePortfolios.
- Using E-portfolios for Program Assessment: Some Considerations - American Society for Engineering Education.