Enabling Professional Development with E-Portfolios (original) (raw)
Related papers
E-portfolios in teaching, learning and assessment: tensions in theory and praxis
Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 2022
E-portfolios are increasingly used in innovative ways, particularly in higher education, where they have the potential to transform teaching, learning and assessment. Given that students are learning in a hypertextual, digitalised and multimedia world, there is an ever-pressing need for assessment to be more authentic, engaging, and to develop transversal skills. This research analysed the challenges and opportunities of e-portfolios in secondary schools and universities. A review of the literature was undertaken in which studies conducted primarily across Europe and the US over the last 20 years were evaluated. Analysis identified several tensions relating to e-portfolio theory and praxis which were organised according to three main themes: the theory and research underpinning e-portfolios; the uses and purposes of e-portfolios; and the challenges and opportunities related to e-portfolio implementation. These tensions both deepen our understanding of e-portfolios as pedagogical tools as well as inform internationally relevant recommendations for implementation.
E-Portfolios as Digital Assessment Tools in Higher Education
2017
This chapter examines the role of e-portfolios as digital assessment tools in enhancing the quality of student learning outcomes in higher education. E-portfolios tap into the potential of digital technologies to support students’ self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and sharing of learning. Thus e-portfolios have been reported as bringing about improvements in student learning. On the other hand, existing research also shows challenges for teachers of higher education institutions (HEIs) when adopting e-portfolio assessment. To formulate strategies for optimising the learning potential of e-portfolios, a landscape review of research literature is conducted to address the research question: How are e-portfolios used as digital assessment tools to enhance the quality of learning outcomes in higher education? The chapter begins with an overview of e-portfolios as digital assessment tools. A typology of e-portfolios is then presented to analyse the situations where e-portfolios are applied in higher education. The chapter goes on to argue for two essential affordances of e-portfolios, namely: (a) empowerment and ownership of learning for students, and (b) feedback and interactivity by drawing on digital technology. This is followed by a discussion of challenges and opportunities of e-portfolios in meeting conventional assessment criteria, including: reliability, validity, authenticity, and honesty. Key pedagogical factors influencing the use of e-portfolios as digital assessment are then examined, giving rise to four strategies for effective implementation of e-portfolios: Analysis of students’ learning needs and contexts for using e-portfolios Constructive alignment between learning, teaching, and assessment Scaffolding of students’ learning progress through task design Capacity building and sustained support for students and teachers By considering these strategies, teachers of HEIs are likely to maximise the affordances of e-portfolios, and ultimately enhance the quality of learning outcomes. Along with these strategies, this chapter points out several aspects of e-portfolio implementation that warrant future research
International Journal of Online Pedagogy and Course Design (IJOPCD), 2012
Portfolios have been used for assessment in higher education as an alternative to exams and assignments. E-portfolios offer staff a digital technology that can be both a personalised learning space, owned and controlled by the learner, and a presentation tool which can be used for formal assessment purposes. However, this can result in a tension between process and product, where e-portfolios become electronic repositories of resources that simply tick boxes for career progression. The paper reports on a project that ...
Promoting Competence-Based Learning and Assessment Through Innovative Use of Electronic Portfolios
Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development
This chapter focuses on how innovative use of electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) can contribute towards meeting the needs of 21st century learners by promoting competence-based learning and assessment. The author explores various strategies and functionalities of e-portfolio application in higher education. Further, fundamental issues that relate to successful implementation of student academic e-portfolios are examined. Specifically, the relevance of congruent theoretical perspectives and teacher's involvement in the process of e-portfolio development are articulated among other key issues. Based on the emergent perspectives elucidated through this chapter, best practices to inform innovative and effective uses of e-portfolios are identified. The chapter illuminates how the effective use of e-portfolio can promote meaningful learning experiences and development of core competences including interactive collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, digital literacy, problem solving and self-efficacy.
The Educational Potential of e-Portfolios: supporting personal development and reflective learning
2007
London: Routledge, 2007, 186pp. ISBN-13: 978-0415412148 (pbk) What are the difficulties facing practitioners, managers and institutions when choosing and implementing an e-portfolio system? Why should you consider an e-portfolio system as a tool for learning? What is their purpose in education? What software is available? How do you get started? Can e-portfolios be aligned with assessment practices? Are e-portfolios a tool for inclusive learning? How can we use e-portfolios with other new technologies? What could the future hold for e-portfolios? These are all questions and themes that are addressed in one of the very few books written about e-portfolios.
Opportunities and challenges of e-portfolios in teacher education. Lessons learnt
Research on Education and Media, 2019
Portfolios are often used in higher education for learning, promotion, assessment and appraisal. Thanks to technical developments in recent years, portfolios are increasingly digital rather than physical. E-portfolios provide a comprehensive way to document personal progress, to reflect on work activities, to support learning and to serve as a tool for feedback and evaluation. However, there has been very little research conducted on the use of e-portfolios for learning purposes in higher education. This paper focuses on the use of e-portfolios in teacher education. Six students in a master programme work with e-portfolios in the course of their practical vocational training. In a mixed-methods design, the students were interviewed about their experiences and the process of writing e-portfolios. In addition, a document analysis of the e-portfolio entries has been conducted in terms of content and structure. The findings of this study provide indications on how e-portfolios can be used effectively in teacher training and which promoting and inhibiting conditions students encounter.
2011
Universities and colleges around the world are embracing the use of electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) as one of the more important elements of their e-learning strategies. Schools and colleges have a similar pedagogic need for e-folio technology. This paper explores the use of e-portfolios in higher education and identifies the strategies, processes and functionality that have implications for teachers in schools. It proposes a research approach to better understand the affordances of e-portfolios across 11-18 education. A significant number of higher and further education institutions have embraced the available digital technologies in a strategic approach to enhance the educational experience through delivering more flexible and cost effective courses to their students (Segrave and Holt, 2003). Universities and colleges around the world are embracing the use of electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) as one of the more important elements of their e-learning strategies. As universities strive to educate for excellence in professional practices, the emphasis is shifting to student-centred learning. This has fuelled the use of e-portfolios as multipurpose repositories where students store evidence to be used later to assess their pedagogical progress. It also bocomes an area where they can showcase their
e-portfolios are a form of authentic assessment with formative functions that include showcasing and sharing learning artifacts, documenting reflective learning processes, connecting learning across various stages, and enabling frequent feedback for improvements. This paper examines how e-portfolios take up these formative roles to support productive learning. Qualitative findings from interviews with selected first year undergraduate students at a higher education institution in Hong Kong are reported concerning students’ experiences of constructing e-portfolios as assessment tasks. As part of an institutional teaching and learning initiative, e-portfolios were incorporated into three core courses for first year students. The findings reveal that several conditions necessary to foster productive learning were missing in students’ experiences: strengthened formative role of e-portfolios through coherent assessment design; encouragement for students’ pursuit of authentic tasks to develop learning interests; engagement of students in reflective and self-regulative learning as an essential learning process; provision of constructive feedback for sustained learning support; support for students’ autonomy through facilitation of collaborative knowledge building. By explicating how the lack of these conditions impeded students’ active involvement in e-portfolio tasks and suggesting relevant strategies for teachers at the institution in question, this paper offers implications for harnessing ICT to support students’ productive learning。
Evaluating E-portfolios for university learning: Challenges and Opportunities
E-portfolios provide a web-based space where students can demonstrate their development of expertise in a wide range of skills and knowledge, whether in discipline knowledge or graduate capabilities. However, it is yet to be demonstrated how readily these tools can be integrated within the university curriculum. This paper reports on the results of a pilot implementation of the Mahara e-portfolio tool in an Australian university, involving different curriculum contexts across two semesters.