ePortfolios

What is an ePortfolio?

A portfolio is a collection of work developed across varied contexts over time. The portfolio can advance learning by providing students and/or faculty with a way to organize, archive and display pieces of work.

The electronic format allows faculty and other professionals to evaluate student portfolios using technology, which may include the Internet, CD-ROM, video, animation or audio. Electronic portfolios are becoming a popular alternative to traditional paper-based portfolios because they offer practitioners and peers the opportunity to review, communicate and assess portfolios in an asynchronous manner. 

Most people are familiar with student portfolios, however, higher education institutions are starting to create departmental and institutional portfolios as a means for evaluating student learning on a more global level. Institutional portfolios provide a means of assessing the impact of the entire educational experience on student learning. They can be used to drive internal improvement and external accountability. Like student portfolios, they allow for internal improvement and external accountability, but on the level of the whole institution.

ePortfolios are great for: 

• Keeping student work organized and accessible by learning standard, lesson focus or lesson outcomes. 
• Aligning learning outcomes with standards. 
• Allowing student reflection, which builds deeper understanding related to the learning outcomes. 
• Letting students easily share their portfolios via web links with teachers, parents, colleges and employers.

Before you make the leap to this technology, consider its drawbacks:

• Possible procedural problems with implementation.
• Limited access to or reliability of the technology.
• Extra time and effort to create and maintain e-portfolios.
• Extra time and effort to grade portfolios and maintain digital artifacts.

Different Tools for ePortfolios

Before implementing a web-based portfolio system, you should determine the components you want the tool to house, such as grade-level requirements and technology needs, such as the number of pictures, videos and documents required.

Next, create guidelines and/or rubrics that describe the portfolio process and how it will be evaluated. Train students how to use the tool ahead of time so they know how to organize samples of their work correctly.

Here are five free, web-based e-portfolio tools that works well for K-12 students:

1. Digication is free with a subscription through Google Apps for Education. It is easy to use, has customizable templates and supports the creative display of artifacts, such as presentations, photo galleries and reports, with color options, fonts and formats, videos or pictures, and linked documents. Digication offers 200 MB of storage. 
2. Epsilen offers a standard e-portfolio template for life at no cost. With storage up to 72 MB, students can incorporate calendars, wikis, blogs, notes, drop boxes and other interactive tools. A tech-savvy student can finish training and start using Epsilen's e-portfolio in as little as 20 minutes, but this may take longer for those who are less technologically advanced. The company offers face-to-face training, self-paced tutorials and follow-up training for a fee. 
3. Googlio is a good option for students who already have Google and gmail accounts. Google provides step-by-step instructions and offers ready-made templates. This tool is easy to use and supports creative presentation of artifacts, so students can easily share their e-portfolios. 
4. Prezi is similar to an interactive whiteboard that allows students to zoom in and out of the projects they work on. This allows viewers to see how an e-portfolio's content connects. Similar to PowerPoint, Prezi allows students to create a path that the document follows in a pattern when viewed. The tool may take a less tech-savvy student a bit longer to master, but it offers an impressive 500 MB of storage. 
5. WordPress uses a blog format that includes a commenting feature. While creating an e-portfolio, students could also learn how to use a blog with this tool. WordPress offers a 10-step tutorial, examples, templates and 200 MB of storage.

My ePortfolio so far: Schmitt ePortfolio