ePortfolio
An ePortfolio is a digital collection of artefacts (such as documents, posters, photographs, videos) which a student creates at different stages of their programme/module. Designed and created by the student, an eportfolio is usually generated over a period of time and often includes a reflective analysis component where the student reflects on the experience of creating the eportfolio and what they feel they have learned during the process.
Typically used to….
- assess disciplinary knowledge and understanding
- evaluate ability to select and present materials appropriately to evidence learning
- assess critical thinking/reflective analysis skills
- determine if students meet the requirements of professional bodies.
Key considerations when using eportfolios for assessment
When using eportfolios as part of your assessment strategy, keep the following points in mind:
- What is the purpose of the eportfolio? Is it the most appropriate way to assess student learning outcomes in this instance?
- Are you intending to use eportfolio for formative or summative assessment purposes, or both?
- What criteria will you use to assess the eportfolio? Have you provided students with a rubric? Does the rubric align with the relevant learning outcomes?
- Will you set requirements regarding where students host their eportfolio? For example, in the institutional VLE or a third party platform?
- Will the eportfolio be private (where only the student author(s) and lecturer/examiner can view it) or will students be encouraged to make their eportfolio public, allowing for wider peer review and commentary?
- Encourage your students to create a timeline for publishing work on their eportfolio. It can be tempting to leave it until the last minute but this should be avoided!
- Remember that your students may not have set up an eportfolio before. Check what institutional supports and guides are provided for this and share with your students in advance. These may include technical guides on setting up an eportfolio and academic guides on eportfolio design, reflecting writing, critical thinking, referencing etc.
Tools/technologies
Trinity-supported tools:
External tools (unsupported by Trinity):
Examples of ePortfolios
An ePortfolio Student Tour: this video developed by Anna Strawn, an undergraduate student at the University of Auburn, provides a visual tour of an eportfolio developed as part of the University’s ePortfolio Project
Make Learning Visible: This website from North Eastern University, USA, hosts a range of student eportfolios. While these are Pharmacy-related, they provide useful insights for any academic considering an eportfolio approach to assessment.
A student perspective on eportfolios
Coming soon
Resources
This video developed as part of the National Forum project Eportfolio Hub, provides an accessible introduction to eportfolios and how they can be used to support and evidence your learning at University.
This is an archive of presentations, recordings and digital outputs from from a national event on eportfolios for experiential learning, hosted by Academic Practice and funded by the National Forum. The event took place on 9 Nov 2021.