Electronic portfolios are online collections of academic and professional work that convey qualifications more thoroughly than resumes. E-portfolios allow creators to showcase accomplishments like theses, training materials, lesson plans, and research projects. They function as resumes, blogs, and social media combined, serving as self-reference letters. An effective e-portfolio has a clear design, organized artifacts connected to a mission statement, and samples of work demonstrating skills. While initially conceptualized as course websites, e-portfolios are professional tools for networking and job applications that highlight capabilities and professionalism.

1. Sarah Johnson
CSE 689
10/21/18
Electronic Portfolios
Electronic portfolios are online collection of professional and academic
accomplishments and creations. E-portfolios are places online where the creator can put a
selected collection that will convey their qualifications more in-depth than the space that a
resume or application allows. Beyond that a e-portfolio can follow a person throughout
their career (TEDxTalks, 2010, 4:34 mins). For example, my own e-portfolio can contain my
thesis for my undergrad degree, examples of trauma informed trainings that I wrote in my
job after graduation, sample lessons that I write while in the MAT program, and my action
research project that I will complete at the end of the program. While I can state I have all
of these skills in my resume, showing examples of my skill as a researcher and historian,
my experience working with vulnerable populations, and proof of my ability to combine
both skills and experience in my planning for my classroom to increase my effectiveness as
a teacher.
E-portfolios are used as part resume, part blog, part social media (TEDxTalks,
2010, 3:55 mins). E-portfolios are more formal than blogs and social media accounts and
are more extensive than a resume. They serve as a sort of self-reference letter for yourself.
Not just for displaying your credentials for jobs or graduate school but also to help you
network with colleagues in your profession (Lorenzo, 2005, pg. 2). In my own profession,
teaching, it is a collaborative profession. Teachers engage in professional development as
well as observing their colleagues to continually work towards improving their practice.
Having an electronic portfolio can be used a tool to show colleagues that you are

2. networking with what you have experience in and what work you have done in the past, a
useful tool in a profession like academia that encourages professional development and
continuing education.
An effective e-portfolio has several elements. First they should have a professional
design and should be easy to navigate for visitors to your portfolio. Your artifacts should be
organized in a clear and user-friendly manner and the look of your portfolio should be easy
to read and use. Your portfolio should have a clear introduction to you and a mission
statement about the purpose of your portfolio. What do you intend for viewers to take
away from your portfolio? What is your personal mission statement? These should be
answered clearly and concisely. What differentiates e-portfolios from long resumes is the
artifacts. Samples of your work and how they contribute to the mission statement and
picture of yourself that you want present. Your artifacts should be connected to your
mission statement, if it is not clear how one artifact relates to the whole then you can
briefly explain why it is included in your collection and what skills or credentials it is meant
to highlight (AuburnWrites, 2013, 0:25 mins). While I see a lot about the social elements of
e-portfolio, I think it is important to remember that this is not a personal blog or social
media profile. It is a professional tool that should highlight both your capabilities as well as
your professionalism.
I have touched on aspects that I potentially will include in my portfolio, but I am still
considering what the best use of my portfolio might be. Initially my conceptual idea of an
electronic portfolio was similar to a course website, which while not completely wrong,
was also not completely right. I see now it is somewhere between that and a resume and I

3. am still considering a way that I can introduce it appropriately to my classroom. Right now
I am going to use it as a professional tool for networking and job hunting, but I still want to
consider the application of electronic portfolios to my classroom to see if I can use it as an
element in my teaching.

4. References:
AuburnWrites. (2013, November 14). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvqBORISA5k
Lorenzo, G., & Ittelson, J. (2005). An Overview of Electronic Portfolios. ​Educause
Learning Intiative​.
TEDxTalks. (2010, March 10). Retrieved October 21, 2018, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckcSegrwjkA