In the spirit of democratization, the AAEEBL student panelists at Zoom 2 suggested that I build a tab documenting some of my experiences as a teacher using ePortfolios and my experiences as a student of ePortfolios, finding my way as I experiment with ePortfolios in classes and professional pursuits.

"THAT IS NOT AN ePORTFOLIO," she said with a tone that expressed great patience and tolerance.

What Makes an ePortfolio an ePortfolio?

A wizened peer told me that putting materials on a website doesn't make my website an ePortfolio. I agree. At the same time, I'm open to pushing the boundaries of what we conceptualize when we say "ePortfolio" and what we imagine ePortfolios to be, along with what ePortfolios can do. 

Here are eight ways I've used ePortfolios with hyperlinks to these works in progress:

• Using ePortfolios to teach ePortfolios

W140 FIRST YEAR WRITING: https://oeschminor.wixsite.com/w140

I clone the website each semester, update the HOME page, then delete some content from several tabs. Students build along with me during classes. We work together during class each time a major project is due. Then, students share their website updates with peers in a Discussion Thread on Canvas [IUPUI's Learning Management System]

• Using micro-ePortfolios to share documents with community partners

MICRO-ePORTFOLIOS to SHARE PROJECTS with COMMUNITY CLIENTS

W231 PROFESSIONAL WRITING: https://oeschminor.wixsite.com/w231reporttemplate

The W231 Instructional ePortfolio provides instruction, examples, tutorials, information to share with clients on previous projects, and materials to boilerplate.

• Networking with other faculty to support students as they build ePortfolio across courses and coursework 

ePORTFOLIOS in a THEMED LEARNING COMMUNITY 

INTRODUCTORY LITERATURE in a cluster of three courses: https://oeschminor.wixsite.com/sample/home

The website provided commentary, examples, and structural ideas for students building the ePortfolio to work with their Themed Learning Community cohort in STEM.

• Hyperlinking ePortfolios to showcase student work

IUPUI ENGAGED LEARNING SHOWCASE: https://getengaged.iupui.edu/showcase/2022/index.html

Faculty build Google Forms, then circulate them to among their students to gather names, project descriptions, and ePortfolio hyperlinks. The good folks in IUPUI's Institute for Engaged Learning build the Engaged Learning Showcase and circulate an announcement when the site goes live.

• Building professional ePortfolios to house presentations, documents, and reflections for faculty annual reviews and promotion documents

PROFESSIONAL ePORTFOLIO: https://oeschminoriupui.wordpress.com/

My professional ePortfolio has an introductory home page then tabs for presentations and other materials I need to link to my Faculty Annual Review. When I'm presenting, I can share the URL that gives the audience quick access to the visuals and notes.

• Designing an ePortfolio for the back-end of grants [including progress reports and reflective commentary]

RECENT GRANT ePORTFOLIO: https://djoeschm.wixsite.com/ceg2022-w231-livlab

ePortfolios can be a convenient way to share the range of materials built as part of a grant. This Curricular Enhancement Grant included faculty surveys, student focus groups, the construction of a major database, a mid-grant progress report, and the closing report. 

• Constructing ePortfolios as a learning management system [LMS] when networking with community partners who don't have access to university LMS

ePORTFOLIO as LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

I had the opportunity to design an advanced leadership training program for Grassroots Maternal Child Health Initiative leaders who partner with IU Fairbanks School of Public Health. The number one challenge was finding a way to share materials with participants during Covid. We couldn't meet in person. We didn't want to mail materials--it was early in the pandemic when there were still fears of Covid transmission on surfaces. And, the participants did not have access to university platforms like Canvas [a learning management system]. The solutions? A website to circulate materials and a shared ePortfolio to share responses, reflections, drafts, and artifacts. 

SYLLABUS and SESSIONS: https://djoeschm5.wixsite.com/mysite-1/syllabus 

SHARED ePORTFOLIO to SHOWCASE LEADERS' WORK: https://djoeschm5.wixsite.com/eportfolioshowcase

To read more about these amazing women and the way ePortfolios supported their leadership experiences, link to the Winter 2021 issue of AePR.

• Constructing/Managing shared ePortfolios for PRESENTATIONS--like this one--as a critical tool for networking and sharing materials across time zones

ePORTFOLIOS for GROUP PRESENTATIONS: https://sites.google.com/iu.edu/aaeeblstudentpanel2022/home

This website functions as a presentation support tool and a place for shared-content development as well as a space for transparency and reflection.

What is NOT an ePortfolio? 

What IS an ePortfolio?

Does it Matter?

These are relevant questions. They help us engage in the intellectual labor of defining and exploring what we mean with the terms we are assigning to the transformative experiences some students have as they create and curate materials to share in their ePortfolio. As we wrestle with the nuances of these questions,  we may benefit from answering in ways that are open-ended as we invite universities to re-imagine what ePortfolios can do to support student learning, showcase student work, re-affirm program fidelity, explore new pathways for assessment, and dream of innovative ways to expand who we reach and how we reach them as we make learning more accessible and equitable.