E-portfolios as a Learning Tool

Eportfolios are similar to physical portfolios because both are a collection of work that has been created to demonstrate a person's skills and knowledge. Though both can be used to promote one's self to future employers or academic institutions, an Eportfolio has the advantage of being portable and viewable for anyone who has an internet connection. This affords the creator of an Eportfolio to have greater exposure to their targeted audience and a chance to present a broader view of their learning and achievements.

Portfolios in general, whether paper based or digital provide the user a new and more complete view of their learning. While things like tests, transcripts, and projects can vaguely demonstrate a learner's performance in particular subjects and classes, a sort of snapshot of academic performance, a portfolio gives the viewer a more precise understanding of what the creator of a portfolio has learned and has to offer.

As a learner pursuing a graduate degree, it would be most beneficial to me while creating my portfolio to be given a list of questions and ideas by an instructor to include in my reflections and collection of artifacts. This is because I am unsure of what potential employers would consider important skills and knowledge to have obtained during my studies. As a personal preference, I would like the opportunity to show what I have learned through my classwork, research, and professional experience. I think this is important because it is vital to give an accurate picture of what I know and have learned.

The biggest differences between physical and digital portfolios is the portability, level of exposure, and ease of editing. While physical portfolios are a great way to showcase knowledge, skills and reflections of artifacts in this collection, they must also be sent directly to potential employers via a courier service or presented in person, which means that an applicant must have already established contact with or secured an interview with the potential employer. Eportfolios offer a competitive advantage in this, because they can be posted on social media platform to be viewed by those seeking applications and can also be sent to potential employers during the application process to make a candidate stand out against their competition. While paper portfolios can be edited and grown over time, the changes are not immediately viewable by interested parties. An Eportfolio offers the creator an edge in this area since changes can be made instantaneously and do not require that a new artifact or portfolio be fabricated. Though both physical and digital portfolios offer roughly the same affordances, I believe that using an Eportfolio is the most appropriate form to be used for my purposes.

This technology play assignment was an exciting challenge to me because there are so many different options available to explore. During my exploration of Eportfolio tools I examined three different options: Google Sites, Foliospace.com, and Wikiuniversity.com . All three options provide a free platform to create and host an Eportfolio and they all offer and the opportunity to transfer an existing portfolio to the respective platforms for no charge. Though they have this in common, the three platforms provide unique ways to display, create, and network.

Wikiuniversity.com is a collection of articles and Eportfolios geared toward learning. This website is a place to explore classes that are hosted on the platform and is a community of learners interested in a wide variety of topics. Eportfolios can be created on this platform, though they are not the traditional idea of an Eportfolio since others in the community can offer suggestions for improvements and additional information regarding the topics and artifacts posted by the creator.

Foliospace.com is a site that is dedicated to the creation of Eportfolios exclusively. It offers the user a chance to network with groups and individuals that are also using Eportfolios to promote their skills to future employers. It is a somewhat complex to use interface that assists the learner in creating webpages and collections of webpages to display on their homepage. While experimenting with this option I found that I had to perform numerous YouTube searches to understand how to use the platform, so it is not the friendliest and most intuitive option that I explored.

The final platform the I explored was by far my favorite. Google Sites has several advantages over the other websites. Since it is hosted by Google the user can be assured that hosting of their Eportfolio will not in danger of being cancelled due to lack of funding. The site also provides step by step tutorials on the website to guide the user in the creation of their website. Google Sites also has the advantage of being linked directly to Google Drive, thus making transfer and back up of files convenient and fast. With an extensive selection of themes and images free to use, Google Sites promotes the creation of clean and attractive Eportfolios. Since this is hosted by Google, the learner can be assured that sharing this website will be easy to use and reliable. For these reasons I have decided to create my Eportfolio using Google Sites.

While exploring these options I considered how I might use Eportfolios in the library. I believe that the library should be the entity that initiates a student's use of Eportfolios to document their learning. On the substitution level, students can use Eportfolios to collect samples of their work from their classes during their academic career to be displayed as evidence of learning. On the modification and redefinition level, students can select outstanding works and then use them to reflect on works, document improvements, and also identify areas of weakness in each subject. The second activity which includes selection of outstanding work, a student's reflections and documentation of progress will address the learning objection of: the student will create a collection of works and write a reflection about why the student believes these particular items to be a good representation of learning/improvement. This will give the student an opportunity to showcase their quality works as well as reflect upon the assignment including any changes that they would like to make to a particular work or collection. Because Eportfolios give students a convenient way to collect, evaluate and display their work, this technology provides the perfect platform for students in their effort to showcase their learning, and provide future employers and educational institutions a more complete and well rounded picture of the skills, knowledge, and experiences that a student has gained.