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