This session will explore the issues surrounding the use of ePortfolios, such as determining a purpose, developing an adoption and outreach strategy, addressing privacy considerations, and designing assessment tools.
ePortfolios can serve a variety of purposes within the higher education landscape. There are multiple solutions available, so it is important to reflect upon the best practices of ePortfolios in the academic setting prior to the implementation of an ePortfolio program on campus. Purposes can range from displaying mastery and skill achievement for a specific course or program to seeking employment. Also, students should be informed of the purpose and if graded, a detailed rubric should get provided.
Woodley and Sims (2001) noted that students did not see the potential for an ePortfolio outside of the assessment requirements (e.g., did not use for job seeking). This highlights the importance of informing students regarding the potential and possibilities of an ePorfolio to not only showcase achievement prior to graduation, but also once they are an alumni of the university. Ambrose, Martin, and Page (2014) describe a formalized university adoption and roll-out of ePortfolios based upon recommendations from their provost’s committee. On their campus, ePortfolios were first used with a specific target audience of first year students for advisor interactions and then expanded to the entire student population and connected to university learning outcomes. Through a pilot program on a campus, feedback is gathered that can then shape the future implementation of an ePortfolio program on a campus.
The use of an ePortfolio should reflect upon the assessment needs of a program or course, but it also should display relevance for a student. This can begin by specifying the purpose, goals, and necessary features of the ePortfolio. For example, O'Sullivan et al. (2012) identified six key features when developing their ePortfolio system: student-centered, built on pre-assessed evidence, drives learning to desired educational outcomes, suitable for summative assessment, uses information technology to accept, store and report on evidence, and ensures alignment between assessments and outcomes. When thinking about an ePortfolio solution, the critical elements that must get performed technically should get aligned with the purpose and goals of the ePortfolio. Additionally, the privacy of the student’s work and feedback is a critical component of the system (e.g., specifying roles and permissions regarding who has access). For example, enabling privacy options for the ePortfolio, so that certain content is only visible to the instructor and other information is visible to the public/potential employers.
The Online Learning Consortuim offered a workshop titled Exploring ePortfolios. This specific workshop focused on discussing how ePortfolios can support reflective and evidence-based learning and provided guidance on assessing ePortfolios using rubrics. This workshop offered an opportunity to not only view examples of ePortfolios, but also discuss with others from various campuses and learn from their experiences.
On my campus, we are continuing to explore the potential of different ePortfolio solutions, determining various scenarios, and defining use cases. Through two pilot programs, we have explored two products on our campus. Each solution offers it own benefits, which is why we are dually offering the solutions to our campus. For example, one product is integrated with the learning management system, so it can easily link assignment submissions whereas the other product can directly link to career service offerings. This session will discuss these two products, the results of the pilot programs, the benefits of each solution, the lessons learned, the feedback from our student showcase event, and the future of ePortfolios on campus.
Goals:
- Participants will discover successful strategies for implementing the use of an ePortfolio system at a program and course level.
- Participants will analyze how the purpose of an ePortfolio can reflect adoption across campus.
- Participants will reflect on their own campus ePortfolio solutions and compare/contrast their experiences.
References
Ambrose, G. A., Martin, H. E., & Page Jr., H. R. (2014). Linking Advising and E-Portfolios for Engagement: Design, Evolution, Assessment, and University-Wide Implementation. Peer Review, 16(1), 1-8.
O'Sullivan, A. J., Harris, P., Hughes, C. S., Toohey, S. M., Balasooriya, C., Velan, G., & ... McNeil, H. P. (2012). Linking assessment to undergraduate student capabilities through portfolio examination. Assessment & Evaluation In Higher Education, 37(3), 379-391. doi:10.1080/02602938.2010.534766
Woodley, C., & Sims, R. (2011). EPortfolios, professional development and employability: some student perceptions. Campus -- Wide Information Systems, 28(3), 164-174.