My Portfolio
What Are E-Portfolios?
An e-portfolio refers to an “electronic portfolio”: a digital collection of evidence and artifacts that represents the knowledge, skills, and accomplishments of an individual or group (Lorenzo & Ittelson, 2005). These artifacts can include a variety of resources such as documents and files from successful projects; proof of competencies and skill advancement in the form of certificates and badges; and relevant experiences and achievements.
Student Learning: E-portfolio has been used to facilitate, document, and archive student learning. It is a learning tool for students to clarify their educational goals, integrate and solidify learning through reflection, and showcase achivement to potential employers. By having students reflect on what they learned, how they learned it, and how much they learned, they start to take control of their own learning. As Paulson and Paulson (1991) said, “portfolio is a laboratory where students construct meaning from their accumulated experience” (p. 5). As students select their representative work and reflect on what they learned, they start to make sense of their educational experiences in various courses and derive new meaning out of the process (Banta, 2003).
A well-executed e-portfolio program is an incredible tool for higher education. They provide institutions with authentic assessments of student learning and promote the deeper learning that we want for our students. I don’t understand why more institutions aren’t using them.
Candyce Reynolds, associate professor, Post-Secondary, Adult, and Continuing Education, School of Education, Portland State University
From matriculation through graduation, the goals for expected student learning are wide-ranging and ambitious. After reviewing mission statements from multiple institutions, examining various accreditation guidelines, and interviewing business and community leaders, AAC&U has found consensus among these resources that college learning should include broad knowledge, powerful intellectual and practical skills, personal and social responsibility, and the ability to integrate years of learning into a connected, functional whole. The search for ways to foster and document such complex learning for all students has led some campuses to develop e-portfolios as teaching, learning, and assessment tools. Those institutions are now discovering how to use e-portfolios to inform the process of improvement from the individual student level up to the institutional level.