e-Portfolios: An overview
Why are e-portfolios important?
e-Portfolios are not a new concept. In various guises, digital presentations of skills and competences, online records of achievement and action plans with opportunities for reflection have been in use in education for nearly a decade. Tools and systems built for these purpoes are now numerous. So what is new about e-portfolios?
There has been increasing recent interest in the potential of e-learning tools and technologies to support more learner centred and personalised forms of learning, prompted in part by national strategies for e-learning and initiatives in favour of lifelong learning and personalised learning. These have all prompted interest in the benefits that e-portfolios may bring to personal development planning (PDP) and to 21st century models of learning, teaching and assessment.
Drivers within educational institutions contribute to this increasing interest, around the need to retain students, the increasing recognition of the importance of reflective practice in professional disciplines such as healthcare, and the requirement for UK Higher Education insitutions to have in place a PDP process by 2005/2006.
But most importantly we are interesed in e-portfolios because there is emerging, often powerful evidence from practitioners and learners of how e-portfolios can promote more profound forms of learning, as well their further potential in supporting for example transition between institutions and stages of education, and in supporting professional development and applications for professional accreditation.
What are e-portfolios?
Various definitions exist of term e-porfolio. There is an emerging consensus that the term encompasses both product and process:
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'An e-portfolio is a purposeful aggregation of digital items - ideas, evidence, reflections, feedback etc. which 'presents' a selected audience with evidence of a person's learning and/or ability' [1] |
Behind any product, or presentation, lie rich and complex processes of planning, synthesising, sharing, discussing, reflecting, giving, receifing and responding to feedback. These processes - which we refer to as 'e-portfolio-based learning' - are the focus of increasing attention, since the process of learning can be as important as the end product.
Descriptions of e-portfolio processes also tend to include the concepts of learners drawing from both informal and and formal learning activities to create their e-portfolios, which are personally managed and owned by the learner, and where items (or whole e-portfolio presentations) can be selectively shared with other parties such as peers, teachers, assessors or employers [2].
For further information, and an expansion on these definitions, please see the 'Effective Practice with e-Portfolios' publication and online infoKit (see below).
JISC's work in the area
JISC's aim with e-portfolios is to explore and develop effective practice in the use of e-portfolio systems and tools through the co-development of standards and piloting of e-portfolio related technologies and standards. JISC are working in partnership with other sectors and partners to develop the effective use of e-portfolios to support lifelong and lifewide learning. They also aim to provide guidance for institutions on effective practice in the area where our programmes are learning lessons of use to the wider community, in collaboration with the Higher Education Academy, Becta, JISC Services and other partners as appropriate.
JISC have funded a range of project activity around e-portfolio use in a range of contexts.
In September 2008 an Effective Practice with e-Portfolios publication was launched, the latest in the established series of JISC Effective Practice guides. It focuses especially on the role e-portfolios play in the formative processes of learning – for example, by supporting dialogue with peers and tutors, evaluating and celebrating personal achievements and skills development, and, in the process, engaging learners – and professionals – in more profound reflection on their personal development planning (PDP) and continuing professional development (CPD). The guide investigates the concept of ‘e-portfolio-based learning’ from different perspectives – those of the learner, the practitioner, the institution, a professional body and a potential audience, summarising key points of guidance in each case. Request a copy of the publication
In tandem an online infoKit was produced, which is a further source of e-portfolio guidance from JISC for the post-16 and higher education sector developed by JISC infoNet. This online resource covers the main drivers, purposes, processes, perspectives and issues around e-portfolio use and gives a valuable synopsis of JISC-funded projects on e-portfolios.
In 2009, a series of six workshops ran across the UK, sharing the learning emerging from the JISC funded work and other examples of excellent practice with e-portfolios from across the sector.
See below for a list of recent events where JISC have presented their work:
- Mahara conference University of London Computing Centre, 15 July 2009. Presentation
- EIfEL ePortfolio 2009 conference, City University, 22nd - 24 June 2009. Workshop
- Telling Stories 2009, University of Wolverhampton, 11 June 2009. Workshop
- NIACE conference, 26 March 2009. Workshop
Contact Lisa Gray, e-Learning Programme Manager if you have any queries.
Find out more about JISC-funded projects working with e-portfolios
JISC and other key e-portfolio resources