Summary - The Electronic Portfolio Boom - What's it all about? (Batson)

http://www.campustechnology.com/printarticle.aspx?id=39299

why use eportfolios?
- student work today has become mostly digital
- the web is everywhere.. so access to info is everywhere
- online databases permit Ss to manage large volumes of their work


eport capitalises on benefits of ict
- storage
- management of data
- retrieval
- display / presentation
- communicate / share with others

issues
- curriculum integration of eport
- flexibility for long term needs (will current set ups accommodate future needs)
- interoperability (can work done on one eport system be transferred for use on another?)

student benefits of eportfolios?
- realize a resume
- provide evidence of their actual work to be shared with others (potential employers?)
- visualize where they are in their college career (what they have accomplished; what's needed next?)
- review a body of their work over a number of semesters (see continuum)
- facilitate transfer/ articulation w/ other colleges or university
- sustain relationships with alma mater once they have graduated

faculty benefits?
- similar to students; realize a resume
- support tenure and promotion reviews; provide samples of student work to illustrate excellence
-reference letter writing for students .. can be better grounded; based on review of student eport
- better manage, review, reflect & comment on student work (longitudinal monitoring / review is easier to realize)

administrators benefits?
- tracking individual student progress over time
- tracking general student progress in a course over time
- tracking many courses to assess a whole program thus facilitating program review
- better integration of courses .. continuity of student work

benefits are many .. so what's stopping it?
how to implement?
- storage issue - storage of S work in perpetuity; changes in technology
- security - how can we keep personal data secure from end to end . (requires an enterprise solution)
- certification - certify S work? would require closing off to future editing previous student work (by whom? how?)
- support - institutions are prepared to make a long term commitment .. yet vendors cannot commit .. too much current experimentation

places to start?
- observe the work done in English classes.. portfolio work with reflective component inviting students to rewrite papers ... reflect on and revise this work