ePortfolios & Assessment

Overview
Currently, the Office of the Academic Vice President over Academic Technology, the Associate Vice President of Undergraduate Studies and the Center for Teaching and Learning are conducting a research project to determine a strategy for ePortfolios. Part of this research includes an environmental scan of technologies that will support an ePortfolio initiative.

What Are They?
An electronic version of a paper-based portfolio.

  • It is a organized collection of completed work (papers, projects, case studies, movies, presentations, videos, audio files etc).
  • Used for specific purposes: to showcase student work, show evidence of learning outcomes accomplished and student growth and reflection, and
  • Stored digitally and retrieved from a website or delivered by DVD or CD-ROM.

What Are They Used For?
There are three main uses:

  • For students, it allows them to demonstrate competence, show their attitudes, knowledge and skills, and provide evidence of reflection.
  • For the graduates, it allows them to gain licensure or registration, to showcase their qualifications and competencies as they move into or through the workforce.
  • For faculty and institutions, it allows for institution wide reflection, it makes accreditation more visible, and for program improvement and assessment.

Why Should I Use Them?

  • it is a way for students to develop and showcase technology skills.
  • it provides a rich picture of student learning and competency.
  • It helps the student to manage their own professional development and flesh out their resumes.
  • it facilitates the exchange of ideas and feedback quickly and regularly between faculty and student throughout the construction of their portfolios.
  • it encourages student to reflect on their work.
  • it engages students in the assessment and evaluation process.
  • the student can incorporate many types of multimedia elements into their work.
  • they are easy to maintain, update and edit.
  • they are easy to carry, to share with others, and to transport into a new system.
  • they can be easily accessible by a number of people.
  • they are efficient and easy to store.
  • they can help faculty to assessment performance against learning outcomes.
  • they can help faculty and departments to continually improve their programs.
  • they can help faculty build their own resumes and provide more teaching data and their promotions and tenure reviews.

Training & Support
If you have an interest in learning more about ePortfolios, please contact Jeff Fox (422-5008) or Debra Biser (422-6498).