Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology

Special issue on e-Portfolios:

"EPs [electronic portfolios] support portfolio pedagogy by engaging individuals in deep reflection on their learning and acting as a central repository for a wide variety of multi-media artifacts that provide evidence of professional and intellectual growth as well as documenting the complex processes involved in learning."

This paper is a collection of work following on from the ePortfolio conference 2008 held by the European Institute for E-Learning (EIfEL). Papers include:

The value of eJournals to support ePortfolio development for assessment in teacher education -Susan Crichton, Gail Kopp

This paper is based on a two year pilot where ePortfolios were used for assessment on an inquiry-based teacher preparation program. The programme also explored social networking and communities of practice.

The relevance of this topic rests in the link between journaling and portfolio development as well as the integration of technology for authentic purposes. The students who were involved in this pilot left our program prepared to work differently, having experienced technology as an enabler of changed teaching and learning.

Interestingly the paper suggests that students had a different perspective of ePortfolios, and saw them as a collection of their best work, not necessarily their working process. They also fail to identify an ePortfolio as a stimulus for discussion or interaction. An interesting comment from a student focus group:

It was almost like it shouldn’t be called an ePortfolio, because you have a preconceived idea in your head already, and people think that you can try to get a job using that. But making it clear that you’re documenting your learning process, that’s a huge thing.

Comparing students’ perceptions of paper-based and electronic portfolios
Maarten van Wesel, Anouk Prop

This paper looks at (on a medical degree) the transition from paper to electronic portfolios and the student perception; the latter being of particular interest to me. It addresses the common benefits of ePortfolios such as development of ICT skills and the ability to easily share media. Another interesting point made is that the software does not determine the quality of the portfolio:

"Previous research showed that the quality of a portfolio does not depend on the medium used."
"Although ePortfolios are being used more frequently in higher education, little attention has been paid to comparing them to their paper-based counter parts. Current ePortfolio research focuses mostly on the specific features an electronic portfolio has to offer. While the above mentioned points truly can be advantageous, educational innovation always asks for caution. When moving from a paper-based portfolio to the digital variant, we must assure ourselves that our original portfolio goals are not lost. In other words, electronic portfolios and paper-based portfolios ought to be compared on their shared potential merits, such as support for self-reflection, preferably in a similar ecological setting."

An interesting point is the suggestion that eportfolios are user-friendly for mentors, somethings which isn't all too common in practice. Software aside, the main objective of this study is the student perception of support from eportfolio for self-reflection. The study identifies that reflection is an important part of the eportfolio:

"Self-reflection is an essential precondition for the professional development of medical students, since it helps students “become aware of their mental structures, subject them to a critical analyses, and if necessary, restructure them” "

Another interesting factor highlighted is the importance of the role of the mentors. Overall the report concludes that students found both paper and eportfolio equally useful; more time was spent working on eportfolios, this may have been for a number of reasons including the time or required to learn the software, time spent editing work or simply because they enjoy using the eportfolio.

Following on from the study, there are some key issues raised:

1. Does the portfolio medium affect the learning outcomes, and if so, how?
2. What is the perception of teaching staff of the two different portfolio media?
3. What is the impact of technical errors on student perceptions and learning outcomes?