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e-Portfolios
There are numerous uses and types of e-Portfolios. Some are utilized within an
educational setting for assessment or to showcase learning over the course of time.
Others are set up to enhance a resume and allow a potential employer to see an
individual’s skills in actions. Whether it’s for professional, personal, or educational
purposes, e-portfolios are a location to house accomplishments, skills, and as an
assessment of learning to be accessed by whomever access is given. Someone could
potentially have a portfolio or several portfolios in order to accomplish each of these
goals. Regardless of the purpose, e-portfolios provide a way for an individual to
evaluate and document skills, continuity of growth over time, and a way to assess
learning outside of traditional tests (Boston University; Clemson University, 2018).
To a certain extent, an e-portfolio can be whatever an instructor wants it to be
and can be an alternative way to assess a student’s learning and growth over time. The
same can also be said if the e-portfolio is being created for uses outside of education.
An individual can truly show their creativity and feature some of their skills through an e-
portfolio as an online professional resume. These glimpses at an individual’s skill-
based design and featured accomplishments allow potential employers, instructors, and
other individuals to see accomplishments or growth within those featured projects. On a
certain level, it seems as though an e-portfolio allows a person to be seen outside of the
box of grades, standards, and written requirements. These modes of rating someone
rarely consider an individual’s creativity. In addition, grades are quite subjective and as
such don’t always show to the full extent what a person can really accomplish. The use
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of an e-Portfolio allows multiple people to look at and determine the worth of what
someone else has done.
The most important aspect of an e-portfolio is making it user friendly. No matter
which purpose the e-portfolio is serving, it isn’t usually being made for personal
pleasure. The person making or creating this cache of work is seeking to impress an
instructor, a potential employer, or a client. Though the creator of the portfolio may also
enjoy the repository of successes, the site must be easy to navigate and provide clear
directions for finding the information they seek. Potential employers aren’t likely to hunt
for information for which they are looking; likewise, an instructor would rather not spend
an inordinate amount of time trying to find each aspect of a project. Creating a
navigation system that allows visitors to find the information they are looking for quickly
and efficiently in another key element. As with any resume, the e-portfolio should catch
people’s eyes, make them look more deeply into what that person has to offer a
potential employer or school (Newsham, 2010).
I can see several future uses for e-portfolios. As a graduate student I have the
option of creating a portfolio as part of the exit requirements for the Master of Science in
Education, Information Technology program. Currently I am a classroom teacher. I
may decide in the future, however, to either supplement my income with an instructional
design side job or to leave the classroom and pursue teaching from another angle.
Portfolios also seem to fit in with my philosophical viewpoint of standardized testing.
Though it may be scored from criteria within a rubric or need to show certain job
requirements; the e-portfolio allows for this to be accomplished in multiple ways. I
would really like to implement the use of e-portfolios within my classroom of fifth
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graders. Through some quick research I have found two potentially viable options to
pursue this. One option is through Class Dojo, and since it is a platform that many
teachers within my building already use as a behavior management and parent
communication tool, it may be the easiest to set in motion. The other option, which I
have heard fantastic things about it SeeSaw. This program appears to be quite robust
and I may try Class Dojo first and switch if I find that I am looking for something more.
The role of an e-portfolio within an elementary classroom could serve to not only assist
in the transition between elementary and middle school, but it also serves as another
parent communication tool allowing parents to see the quality of work their child is or is
not completing. It would also be fantastic if the portfolios could lead to student led
conferences with their parents.
The role of e-portfolios within the world of education is only just beginning to be
tapped in a broad sense. The benefits of connecting people in ways beyond paper,
numbers, and words has great potential to allow a glimpse of someone that can’t be
matched with traditional forms. Using this format to catalog accomplishments and show
growth over time provides a great way to allow students the opportunity to really
showcase their true capabilities outside the realm of standardized tests. Employers can
use an e-portfolio to see beyond a resume and into the capabilities of an applicant.
Whether a person is planning to utilize an e-portfolio for their educational purposes, as a
class requirement, to attract a potential employer, or as a storehouse for skills and
accomplishments; the e-portfolio is a fantastic way for an individual to highlight
themselves.
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References
Boston University. (n.d.). Why use eportfolio. Retrieved from Boston University:
https://www.bu.edu/eportfolio/using/
Class Dojo. (n.d.). Retrieved from Class Dojo: https://www.classdojo.com/
Clemson University. (2018). The what, why, and how of ePortfolios. Retrieved from
Clemson University: https://www.bu.edu/eportfolio/using/
Newsham, K. (2010, November 15). How to make a successful e-portfolio. Retrieved
from Simon Fraser University: http://www.sfu.ca/olc/stories/topic/how-make-
successful-e-portfolio
SeeSaw. (n.d.). Retrieved from SeeSaw: https://web.seesaw.me/
