I hesitate to appear critical of an institution or individuals that are making an attempt to promote e-Portfolios. I hope that the authors of 'ePortfolio Commons' will read this post in the constructive manner intended. What first caught my eye was the challenging statement:"Are you ready for your final semester in the college? Have you started preparation and application for a job and/or further study? How can you enhance your chance of success? Register and join our ePortfolio hands-on workshop to start creating your own ePortfolio to strategically showcase your capabilities and achievements! "
As much as I applaud the efforts of any to get students to realise the value of an e-Portfolio, I feel that the above is a very narrow and 'last century' view of the function or purpose of an e-Portfolio, possibly coloured by the references used. So, perhaps I may be allowed to say "Great! BUT!"
- The e-Portfolio should not be seen as a last minute 'rush job' but as something built up over many years, certainly starting at the begining of the college course if not before.
- Job-hunting is possibly one of the least effective purposes for using an e-Portfolio, unless potential employers are really ICT savvy and are willing to look at and know how to navigate an e-Portfolio.
- One of the greatest functions of an e-Portfolio is as a secure and private space for formative feedback from peers and mentors.
- Yet another valuable function of the e-Portfolio is that of planning and drafting ideas which can be worked upon collaboratively.
- Above all, students should be made well aware of the image that they are communicating to others and that the patois of the younger generation or a careless selection of photographs might not be received well by potential employers or university professors.
- Care should be given to thinking out where the e-Portfolio is to be hosted, by an academic institution or 'in the Cloud'. Both solutions have their problems - which is why I have developed eFolio for UK and European students.
So yes, my feeling is 'get on with constructing your e-Portfolio as a matter of urgency'. But don't think that it is just a tool for showcasing or PDP.
Perhaps I should add that the list of categories by nations is very simple. It might have been that in the UK 10 years ago HE was using e-Portfolios mainly for showcasing and PDP but that is no longer the case. Secondly, e-Portfolios are becoming more popular in mainstream education, even in primary schools. I can give you several examples of different approaches to using eFolio.
2 comments:
fair critique Ray, but as you know eportfolios cover a spectrum of uses. And some of those uses do encompass "just" presentation of achievements, so I guess that is what this author is conveying. Misguided as it may be - as you point out.
But... what about work based eportfolios, those are primarily dedicated to making the assessors life easier & a not much more than a competency list??
It's all in the semantics - tho' we continue to persevere
Hi, Gabber,
Thanks for your response, it's encouraging to know that there is someone 'out there'!
Ah, I wish there was another term such as WB-Portfolio. I'm primarily looking at the UK situation where every learner in mainstream education has access to a VLE which is able to deliver all the criteria, competency lists and scaffolding for sumative assessments. In the same way I feel that any employing organisation should provide if not a VLE then at least an on-line study system whereby the WB-portfolio is specifically related to that course of study (ie acting like a VLE). The NCSL course portfolio is a good example.
In both situations (mainstream or employment) an assessment portfolio is not really learner-owned - it is a tool used by the institution.
Perhaps even the word 'semantic' is a semantically loaded term? I argued with colleagues at Becta that we should have determined clearer definitions of 'VLE', 'CMS', 'Learning Platform' etc so that we all knew what each other was talking about - but they said at the time that different vendors and software writers had adopted their own meanings to a whole variety of terms without any mututal agreement!
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