ePortfolios being used in Higher Education to promote College and Career Readiness
Incorporating E-portfolios into learning will benefit students and teachers in the classroom. Students will be able to use the E-Portfolios to monitor their growth and progress over time in all of their contents. The E-portfolios are easily accessible through computers, tablets or smartphones. They hold students accountable and put them in charge of their learning. E- portfolios will also help students gain a deeper understanding of learning and critical thinking skills. The E-portfolios are an innovative tool, because they help create a student centered classroom. It also keeps students engaged and helps teachers meet the students’ needs in real time. The evidence of learning is visible and students are able to access their accomplishments and assess the areas they need to improve in. Eportfolios allow teachers to gain a holistic view of how students are learning over time in school, they also encourage communication, track performance, and they can use them as a tool for planning.
Goals, Purpose and Vision:
- Help learners develop new or deeper learning
- Higher grades and Performance
- Help learners develop a better sense of themselves as students and as individuals
- Measure individual academic growth
Eportfolio will contain:
- ● A Variety of Files (text, media, pictures and videos)
- ● Evidence of learning
- ● Writing Samples throughout the year
- ● Projects
- ● Evidence of creativity and performance
- ● Extra Curricular activities and Leadership
- ● Data and Analysis
Eportfolio Benefits for College and Career Readiness:
Eportfolios will give educators a way to monitor student’s learning. Educators can use them to measure their growth throughout the year. Basken (2008) noted ePortfolios “are a way to generate learning as well as document learning” (pg. A30). By creating an Eportfolio and adding their projects, assignments and college plans this will help them keep track of their progress. When students are able to easily access their learning they gain accountability and responsibility. Jae-Eun Oh discussed the importance of Eportfolios in her article, “As students become key actors in leading their courses, it is necessary to have high-level intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In the search to enhance student motivation.” This is true because students need to know their progress and growth in order to succeed. E-portfolios will help students gain the ability to connect. An ePortfolio can unite the learner’s experiences and display a professional, online identity to the employer. In addition to allowing the learner to demonstrate who they are to the professional world, utilizing ePortfolios in higher education challenges educators to provide more authentic learning experiences by connecting learning experiences to actual career goals (Reese & Levy, 2009). They can increase their connections by showcasing their achievements. Students will be able to quickly access the work they did well on. This will assist in preparing them for their future, because they will know the importance of creating goals. Primary and Secondary campuses all have one thing in common. They all work hard and endlessly to help students be successful. Eportfolios are extremely important to have in High schools, because students can use them as a resource for college. As Jae-Eun(2020), stated, extrinsic and intrinsic benefits that students will be able to achieve. They will be able to reach their personal goals and they will also be rewarded, because their future will be impacted positively. College and career readiness is an important factor at most high school’s. Students will upload essays, college plans, artwork and important information to their Eportfolios. College
essays are mandatory because they are dependent on a student’s future. Students will be able to share their progress and growth with colleges. These Eportfolios will also house their materials that they need to get into the schools that they apply for.
Rhode Island College did a study that involved using Eportfolios to assess career readiness. They utilized Portfolium, which is a platform where students can create E-portfolios. Around 8,500 students created Eportfolios that showcased their academic achievements and proved as evidence of learning. The College then used the artifacts to demonstrate their career readiness. Eportfolios were authentic examples of learning and competency. Regional Business News specified, “ePortfolios are free for life for students to carry evidence of their achievements and skills throughout the entire student lifecycle and beyond as alumni. As part of the student success platform, employers (including RIC’s own industry partners) will be able to match students’ evidence of skills directly to their desired job criteria, aligning K-12 and postsecondary pathways directly with workforce needs.” The use of Eportfolios will help students empower themselves and prepare for the future.
Eportfolios benefit students in higher education and college because of what they are able to do for students. Eportfolios can be used to highlight achievements in one’s academic journey. Scholarship opportunities, Internships, Extracurricular activities and Academic achievements can be showcased and even used for assistance with job placement. For college graduates, ePortfolios have proven to be effective vehicles when used to showcase higher education experiences and skills to outside audiences. In doing so, they provide a professional presence for the new graduate who is seeking not only a job, but also a career (Cambridge, 2010). In doing so, they provide a professional presence for the new graduate who is seeking not only a job, but also a career.” After college students want to enter the workforce and have to be able to show a record
of their accomplishments to compete for the position they desire. This is extremely important in today’s society, because of the competitiveness in major companies.
Who Owns the Eportfolio:
Learning Management Systems( LMS) are owned and controlled by instructors that decide who is able to have access. They also decide what tools are accessible or restricted. On the other hand, students are in charge of their personal Eportfolio. Students can decide who can view the ePortfolio, and the information that is added, how it is created.
Publication Websites
I would like to submit my article to places like:
- eLearn Magazine
- ASDS Educational Leadership
- TCEA Tech Edge Quarterly Magazine.
- Edutopia
References
- Cambridge, D. (2010). ePortfolios for lifelong learning and assessment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
- Hattie J., Timperley H. The power of feedback. Rev. Educ. Res. 2007;77(1):81–112.
- Horn, Michael B, and Heather Staker. Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools. Jossey-Bass, 2014.
- Jae-Eun Oh, Yuet Kai Chan, & Kyulee Viviane Kim. (2020). Social Media and E-Portfolios: Impacting Design Students’ Motivation Through Project-Based Learning. IAFOR Journal of Education, 8(3), 41–58. https://doi-org.libproxy.lamar.edu/10.22492/ije.8
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