This document discusses implementing electronic portfolios through social media platforms and provides recommendations. It summarizes that while portfolios have been used in education for decades, institutions are now migrating to electronic formats which provide advantages but initially required technical skills. The newest iteration uses social media applications that are easy to use, free, and sustainable. However, literature on implementing portfolios through social media and promoting quality entries is still limited. The document provides steps for implementation, including defining scope and purpose, selecting a platform, creating a model, and instructing on appropriate use. It also provides recommendations for using questions and prompts to promote quality portfolio entries.

1. Implementing Electronic
Portfolios through Social Media:
Steps and Recommendations
for Sustainable Portfolio Use
By David W. Denton
Seattle Pacific University

2. Abstract
Over the last two decades, students and teachers, across educational levels and
disciplines, have been subject to a variety of school reform efforts. Nevertheless, some
instructional practices, such as portfolio assessment, persist and grow in popularity even
in the midst of changing educational reform goals and shifting priorities. Teacher education
programs have used paper-based portfolios for more than three decades. Recently,
institutions have migrated to electronic portfolios since these provide several advantages.
Early models of these systems required special technical skills, hardware, or fee-based
contracts with service providers. The newest iteration of portfolio platforms are based on
social media applications, which are easy to use, free, and more sustainable. However,
the accelerated adoption of social media applications as repositories for student portfolio
content has produced several gaps in the literature. Two of these include steps for
implementing electronic portfolios in social media platforms and instructional methods for
soliciting quality entries from students through questions and prompts. Basic instructions
for implementing social media portfolios and for promoting quality entries are discussed. In
this paper, new lines of inquiry involving social media portfolios are proposed.

3. Education Reform
 K-20
 Accountability
 Transparency
 Reduced costs

4. Oversight
 Federal
 Regional
 State
Assessments
Published standards
Sanctions for failure

5. Teacher Education
 Professional knowledge and skills
 Battery of assessments, TPA
Compete for RTTT $
(many are called, few are chosen)
Addition-subtraction of
standards & assessments = ↑
complexity

6. Portfolio Assessment
Portfolio assessment involves the collection and presentation
of different types of student work samples, gathered over time,
to show depth and breadth of learning. Work samples are
collected systematically to validate accomplishments relative to
specific instructional objectives. Portfolios contain written
entries, often accompanying work samples, which are
characterized by self-assessment through reflection.
(Shermis & DiVesta, 2011)

7. Example

8. Paper Server Social Media
→ →

10. Electronic portfolio
A digital container capable of storing visual and auditory content
including text, images, video and sound
(Abrami & Barrett, 2005)
Advantages
Search
Retrieve
Change
Link
Organize
Show

11. Types
 Add-on
 ePortfolio + Blackboard
 Independent
 Live Text
 Social media
 Wordpress

12. Easy
 Dashboards are getting easier to use
Cost
 $10 to $30 per user per year
No Cost
 $0, but sometimes ads or restrictions

13. Specific Support – General Support

14. Literature on Social Media Platforms
Surplus Shortage
 Efficacy of portfolios for learning  Implementation
 Quality of portfolio entries  Promoting quality entries

15. Implementation: Defining Scope
and Purpose
 Class – program
 When and how to add content

16. Implementation: Selecting a
Platform

17. Implementation: Create a Model

18. Implementation: Instructing on
Appropriate Use
 International Society for Technology in Education
 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
 Additional suggestions
Eliminate personal information
Conceal institutions and individuals
Avoid content that is overly critical, biased, or error prone

19. Promoting Quality Entries
 Questions and prompts
Summaries
Pre- and postassessment
Item analysis
Case study analysis
Self-evaluation with artifacts

20. Course Assignment
Webpage authoring
and presentation

21. Paper Publishing

22. Google Drive Coauthoring

23. Paper Publishing

24. Create an Online Course < 200

25. New Lines of Inquiry
 Comparing social media platforms
 Assessing integration of online media applications
 Determining effects of digital citizenship instruction
 Evaluating student attitudes toward social media