This document discusses the use of ePortfolios in higher education. It describes ePortfolios as personal online archives that can be used for learning planning, career development, and demonstrating skills and qualifications. EPortfolios allow students to collect work samples, reflections, and other evidence over time. They support learning, professional identity development, and ongoing professional development after graduation. Institutions can also benefit from using ePortfolios to holistically assess student outcomes and support accreditation. Success requires focusing on learning over assessment, providing support and examples, and promoting faculty and departmental use of ePortfolios.

1. ePortfolios
for Higher Education
July 31, 2012
Don Presant

2. Video
ePortfolio at LaGuardia

3. What is ePortfolio?
http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/e-portfolios

4. Personal Planning and Learning
Online Locker, Interactive Workbook
• Online archive
– Personal & downloaded documents, links
• Resources for self-directed learning
– Webinars, videos, self-assessment surveys
• Learning plans and tracking tools
– Set goals and track progress to them (Learning Plans)
– Keep records of learning activities over time (CPD)
• Personal journal
– Reflect on goals and alternative futures
– Keep ad hoc “notes to self”, prepare agendas, etc.
• Ongoing Personal Learning Environment (PLE)
– “Continuous Learning Environment”

5. Employment & related purposes
Demonstrate, assess & improve Human Capital
• Qualification Recognition
– Initial, formative, summative assessment
• Academic recognition
– PLAR/RPL for courses and programs
• Career Development
– Gap analysis, exploration of alternatives, building pathways
• Employment (Web CV)
– Hiring, career advancement, team building tool for employers
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
– Tracking ongoing learning activities and reflection on practice
– Recertification

6. ePortfolios & Higher Education
Points of Convergence
• Institution/Program admission
– Assessment, gap training
• Undergraduate learning
– First year general studies
– Course specific/program wide
– Work experience, internships
• Capstone
– Graduate Attributes
– Employability (“School to work”)
• Continuing Education/ Professional Development
• Personal Learning Environment

7. Benefits
• Supports undergraduate learning
– Embedded learning activities
• Holistic view of the graduate
– Diverse evidence aligned to graduate outcomes
– Interdisciplinary, lifewide
• Supports professional identity development
– Scaffolded reflection
• Ongoing professional development tool
– Personal Learning Environment

8. Affordances of “e”
• Information Management capabilities
– Collecting, archiving, making different versions
• Easy sharing
– “One to many”, digital copies, links to specific pages
• Collaboration
– Easy to add comments, edit, mentor, coach
– Can integrate with other ICT systems
• Measurement
– Link to frameworks, rubrics, track learning over time
• Easy to illustrate/demonstrate with multimedia
– Pictures, PowerPoint, Audio, Video
• Integration with Internet skills
– Online research: documents, networks
– Internet literacy
– Builds personal network, grooms digital identity

9. Evidence
to demonstrate outcomes
• Authentic Evidence or Documentation
– Artefacts: assignments, reports, presentations, videos,
images of objects, etc.
• Explanations or Reflections
– Curation of evidence, learning journals, etc.
• Validation Entries or Observations (3rd party)
– Evaluations, testimonials, etc.
…more than scanned documents – images, videos,
audio clips, forum entries, newsfeeds, etc.

10. Success Factors
Student perspective
• Watch the frame of reference
– Emphasize “internal” (personal values & interests) over “external”
(expectations of employers & recruiters)
• Focus on learning, not just assessment
– PLE, lifelong companion, personal narrative
– Private, shared and public space
• Start early and monitor progress
• Emphasize content over technology
• Opportunities for peer interaction
– Peer review, brainstorming, portfolio buddies, presenting portfolios
• Take small steps with lots of scaffolding
– Simple tasks to begin, provide examples
– Provide technical and content support and feedback
• Eat your own dog food (i.e. build your own eportfolio)

11. Success Factors
Organizational perspective
• Burning platform
– Program outcomes, impact on accreditation
• Principles of change management
– Accelerating vs. accepting the maxim: “change
happens one retirement at a time”
• Faculty portfolios (“eportfolio is good for you”)
– Graduate portfolios
– Hiring Portfolios
– Continuing Professional Development
• Department portfolio to support accreditation

12. Constellation of Possible ePortfolio
Stakeholders
Penny Light T., Chen H., Ittelson J. 2012. Documenting Learning with ePortfolios – A Guide for College Instructors. Jossey Bass

13. Don Presant
don@learningagents.ca
careerportfolio.mb.ca
Link to the support page
for this presentation:
bit.ly/eP4HigherEd