E-Portfolio Uses and Benefits

1. E-Portfolios: Uses and Benefits
Keenan North
CSE 689
Western Oregon University

2. 1
E-Portfolios
E-portfolios are digital artifact collections maintained in some type of published format
which represent the person or organization who create them. Digital work must feature both
artifacts and reflection to be considered an e-Portfolio, separating the medium from a blog or
website. Portfolios are made in a variety of styles and with different purposes in mind, from a
constantly updated showcase, to work from a fixed period. Professionals, educators, students,
and others are using e-portfolios today to market themselves, show off and assess skills and
learning objectives, and maintain a digital space documenting and reflecting upon their
personal experiences. Following the completion of this course I plan to use a formative e-
Portfolio as an exit project for the WOU Masters program, demonstrating my mastery of the
learning goals and objectives required to graduate. I also plan to maintain an ongoing e-
portfolio demonstrating my skills and experience for both personal and professional reasons.
For work to be considered an e-portfolio it must possess a few defining characteristics.
Most obviously, a portfolio must be in electronic format to be considered an e-portfolio.
Usually content is stored and presented using the internet, but this may not be necessary in
some unique contexts. The use of artifacts is also required for electronic work to be considered
an e-portfolio. These artifacts can be presented in one media format or multiple, which is one
of the unique advantages of using an electronic format. Finally, reflection is required for
electronic content to be considered an e-portfolio (AuburnWrites, 2014). Apart from sharing
these qualities each e-Portfolio can be as distinct as the person who created it, and therefore
the medium is used in many diverse ways today.

3. 2
E-Portfolios
According to Lorenzo and Ittelson, there are six core educational functions that e-
portfolios can serve. They can be used to: plan educational programs, document knowledge
and learning, track development, find a job, evaluate a course, and monitor and evaluate
performance (2005). These broad categories encompass the purpose of most e-portfolios, and
many e-portfolios that are created and maintained today can not be placed into just one
category. For example, an e-portfolio used to document knowledge and learning could also
showcase skills and projects for potential employers, serving several different functions at once.
e-Portfolios in each category can be limited to work over a specific period of time, usually for
documentation and evaluation; they can also receive constant updating, aligning more towards
showcasing and tracking long term development. In her 2010 Ted Talk, Dr. Helen Barrett
demonstrates that e-portfolios can even be used by Alzheimer’s to improve their memory by
creating digital biographies. Regardless of the purpose which creators use e-portfolios for, an
abundance of positive outcomes exists stemming from the use of the platform, and for this
reason I plan to use e-portfolios for educational, professional development, and personal
growth going forward.
I plan to use an e-portfolio as my capstone project for the WOU Master’s Program, and
this is valuable for several reasons both to myself and the educators who run the program.
From a personal perspective, the e-portfolio allows me to reflect and track the progress that
was made throughout the duration of the graduate program. For the graduate committee, the
artifacts which make up the e-portfolio provide valuable evidence of learning outcomes, while
also giving potential employers a more accurate picture of the skills that I have cultivated in my
time at WOU. As Dr. Matt Fowler points out in his presentation “The Impact of ePortfolios”

4. 3
E-Portfolios
credit hours are not equally valuable across educational institutions and presenting learning
artifacts through e-Portfolios are a great way to remove any uncertainty about the value of a
degree (2014). With this thought, I hope to also create a formative e-portfolio to track my
personal and professional experiences going forward to foster a sense of intrinsic motivation
and increase my chances of further employment and professional collaboration.

5. 4
E-Portfolios
References
[AuburnWrites]. (2013, Nov 14). What is an ePortfolio? Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvqBORISA5k
[SchoolchaptersInc]. (2014, May 19). The Impact of ePortfolios. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szUIAg0Ivxw
[TEDx Talks]. (2010, March 10). TEDxASB - Helen Barrett - 2/25/10. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckcSegrwjkA