An electronic portfolio or ePortfolio is a collection of data that has been collected and organised to resemble a physical folder, but is online or electronic. The portfolio has documents, data diagrams, pictures, images, videos, multimedia information, blog entries and related website links relevant to the ePortfolio owner work.
ePortfolios are dynamic. They expand as the work done by the user increases. Some times, these folios can cover years and years of work. Such folios are excellent especially if the person needs proof of the work done by him. It is not bulky and can be accessed from any corner of the world. The user can provide or deny access to viewers depending on his privacy settings.
ePortfolios are gaining precedence in schools now since they improve the ICT skills of students. Also, they minimise wastage of paper resources since they can be maintained as online folders. Indeed, with the presence of the Ultranet, all teachers, parents and stake-holders have access to students’ information. They are an online data bank that provides information on the progress of students over the years.
ePortfolios are also used by teachers and other staff in schools as proof of work completed. Indeed, I have just worked on my own ePortfolio that covers the following areas:
-Introduction
-Educational Philosophy
-Curriculum Vitae
-Reflection on Practicum
-Curriculum Material
As stated earlier, ePortfolios are dynamic and will grow according to the work done by the user.
ePortfolios cover a wide range of domains from VELS. These are as follows:
-Personal Learning: Students seek and use teacher feedback to develop their content knowledge and understanding and reflect on how their prior knowledge has changed.
-English: Students produce, in print and electronic forms, a variety of texts for different purposes using structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience and context of the writing. They begin to use simple figurative language and visual images.
-Communication: Students develop their skills in organising ideas and information logically and clearly to suit their purpose and the needs of their audience. For formal presentations they begin to select appropriate forms for sharing knowledge and influencing others.
-Design, Creativity and Technology: Students begin to record their progress using words and images.
-ICT: Students develop and maintain a digital bank of evidence that demonstrates their learning. This requires students evaluating, selecting and organising files that showcase their learning and that are up-to-date and structures in an orderly way. Students apply file management procedures that assist in securing their files and in allowing the easy retrieval of files by using naming conventions that is meaningful.
(http://www.vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vels/using.html#)
As teachers, we are expected to provide the following support to students while creating ePortfolios:
-technology for easy creation
-easy access to created ePortfolios for staff, parents, stake holders and students
-knowledge banks or data bases that enable students to understand what is expected of them
-clear cut instructions and assessment rubrics for ePortfolio creation
ePortfolios are ‘Proof of work done’ and should not be created for the sake of curriculum completion. It’s an on-going process that enables every one concerned to know the progress made by students.
