My introduction to 'e-Portfolios'

This week's reading was about  'Balancing the Two Faces of e-Portfolios'. While my first co-operating teacher tried to explain to me how this works, I remained confused and astonished by how much school has changed since I left!
The Author of this reading, Barret, States,

            "An ePortfolio (electronic portfolio) is an electronic collection of 

evidence that shows your learning journey over time. Portfolios can relate to 

specific academic fields or your lifelong learning. Evidence may include 

writing samples, photos, videos, research projects, observations by mentors 

and peers, and/or reflective thinking."

If you are still confused, like I was, about what e-Portfolios are and their benefits for your career and your students' learning, I suggest you watch these videos.

This video emphasises the value of feedback - from peers, colleagues, tutors, lecturers... anyone who takes a significant place in your career or professional development. It also emphasises the presentation of the e-portfolio as a JOURNEY.

This video, which is very well presented, highlights the e-Portfolio as a method of showcasing your best work, and displaying how you have grown. We can use the e-portfolio as a method of measuring and assessing the progress of teacher and students as an entity. What were their goals? What have they achieved? How did they learn? What can the teacher add to their professional development? How could this be better implemented?


I'd like to reflect on my school days and how I remember portfolios. When I was in year two, my teacher had been assessing us and I didn't even realise! She had given us all these tasks to do - maths work sheets, creative tasks, literacy tasks. They all had one thing in common - a scale at the top which had 'working towards, achieved, working beyond' and a tick along the line somewhere. I was especially proud of my portfolio, and so were my parents. My father noticed how my handwriting had improved, my additions and subtractions were much neater and he even hung up the calendar I'd made. When I was in kindergarten, my teacher would ask a student at a time to her desk to ask a few questions and draw a picture for her. I now realise, she was asking me to reflect on my learning and progress for my portfolio! In retrospect, I really enjoyed taking home my portfolio. It was like taking home a book I had published, or a reward for all my efforts. In retrospect, I've always been adamant that I will recreate this experience for my students.


When e-portfolios surfaced as our topic of discussion this week, I was eager to learn the immediate benefits. As the first video above mentions the environmental benefits, both videos recognise the importance of feedback in education - whether it is your professional development, or the educational progression of our students. The other benefits are accessibility, the emphasis that the publication puts on spelling, grammar and other elements of presentation, and the displaying the linear relationship between the syllabus outcomes, goals, indicators and samples of how these have been achieved in class.


During our class discussion, concepts raised included:

• Professionalism of the e-Portfolio
• Sensitivity of some children towards showcasing of their own work and viewing others'
• Necessity of organisational skills 
• Using assessment and presentation as a form of student interest
• Encouraging creativity and student belonging through the portfolio

In class, we further discussed the views of Dr. Helen Barrett from whom I have borrowed the image on the right. It is important to use the portfolio to display the 'showcase' face and 'archive of learning' face in harmony. In other words, all class-learning should be documented as it is all a valuable part of the learner's journey. My tutor, Annie Agnew, stated, 'a true e-portfolio should show where a student has started something and progressed towards the end.'


Reference List:
Barret, H. (2010). Balancing the two faces of E-Portfolios. http://eft.educom.pt/index.php/eft/article/viewFile/161/102