Rough draft of paper about e-portfolios.

1. Running header: E-PORTFOLIOS 1
E-Portfolios
Melissa D. Thiel-Stinson
Western Oregon University

2. Running header: E-PORTFOLIOS 2
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 the skills
in actions. Whether it’s professionally, personally, or educational purposes, e-portfolios
are a location to house accomplishments, skills, and 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).
To a certain extent, an e-portfolio can be whatever an instructor wants it to be in
an attempt to assess a students’ learning and growth over a time period. 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
online professional resume. These glimpses at an individual’s skills based design and
featured accomplishments allow potential employers, instructors, and other individuals
to see accomplishments or growth within those projects featured. 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 of an e-

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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 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 element that is important. As with any resume, the e-portfolio
should catch people’s eyes to make them want to look more deeply into what a person
has to offer a potential employer or next school (Simon Fraser University).
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 based from criteria from 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 with
which 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 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 serves 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
turning in. It would also be fantastic if the portfolios could lead to student led
conferences with their parents.

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References
Newsham, K. (2010, November 15). How to make a successful e-portfolio. Retrieved
from http://www.sfu.ca/olc/stories/topic/how-make-successful-e-portfolio
(2018). The what, why, and how of ePortfolios. Retrieved from
https://www.clemson.edu/academics/programs/eportfolio/information.html
(n.d.). Why use eportfolio. Retrieved from https://www.bu.edu/eportfolio/using/