ePortfolios at CSU
What’s an ePortfolio?
Portfolios mean different things to different people. For some, they’re a means of showcasing specific qualities and skills to help gain employment or promotion. For others, they’re a space to develop personally and professionally through self analysis and reflection, and to set goals for the future. Still others see them as a means of assessing achievement of specific learning outcomes – either for individual students, or even an institution. There are a host of different systems claiming to support portfolio development, all with different foci and functionality. It’s no wonder there’s often confusion about what actually defines a portfolio.
Luckily, there are some general features which tie all of these different types of portfolio together. Following Sutherland and Powell (2007), we can say that:
A portfolio is a purposeful aggregation of items - ideas, evidence, reflections, feedback, both formal and informal - which 'presents' a selected audience with evidence of a person's learning and/or ability.
ePortfolios add another dimension, the ‘e’ indicating that evidence is stored and presented digitally. ePortfolios can be shared more easily, more quickly and with more people than paper-based portfolios. They also make it easier to organise and refine information for different audiences. However, one of the biggest benefits is in the amount and type of information that can be included, particularly multimedia files such as audio, video and images, allowing for a better representation of one’s skills.
Why use an ePortfolio?
ePortfolios offer students more responsibility and control over their learning and professional development, making them an excellent tool for lifelong learning. They can also:
- facilitate the making and keeping of records to build confidence and a sense of progress;
- encourage people to make connections between different aspects of their lives, including both formal and informal learning;
- enhance communication and organisational skills;
- encourage regular review and reflection;
- facilitate personal and professional planning
- foster a strong self-knowledge that helps in preparing for job applications and interviews.
At CSU, the drivers behind the use of ePortfolios include:
- CSU’s key objective of being a leader in the provision of excellence in education for the professions, and the associated need for a tool that supports the development of professional and lifelong learning skills such as self-appraisal, reflexivity and self-directed learning, as well as the presentation of those skills to others;
- the need to develop improved and varied assessment strategies, including those for the online environment and those that support the development of graduate attributes;
- a growing interest and demand for an ePortfolio tool from CSU staff, in particular academics from the Faculties of Education, Arts and Science, as well as staff in Careers Services, to support key learning outcomes and employer requirements;
- an increasing need to highlight and make explicit the generic skills required of a CSU graduate; and
- an increasing need for students to have a place to record, monitor and reflect on their achievements.
The CSU ePortfolio Project
The CSU ePortfolio Project, under the direction of the Online Learning Environment (OLE) Steering Committee, as been tasked with the implementation of an ePortfolio tool across the university. The Project aims to:
- determine the current uses, problems and issues related to portfolio use within CSU;
- learn from the experiences of other institutions regarding the implementation of ePortfolios;
- determine current and future academic and student needs in relation to ePortfolios;
- determine and configure the most suitable ePortfolio tool to meet these needs;
- determine what is required to ensure successful implementation of ePortfolios on an institution-wide basis;
- select and develop a strong understanding of the ePortfolio tool – from a functional and technical perspective;
- guide the mainstreaming of ePortfolios at CSU;
- nurture ePortfolio ‘champions’ within each Faculty; and
- create exemplars of the effective use of ePortfolios at CSU.
The Project has undertaken a range of activities since its inception in May 2007, including an extensive analysis of stakeholder needs involving management, academics in all four faculties, educational designers and students; exploration and customisation of OSP, the Sakai-based ePortfolio system, five separate pilots using various ePortfolio tools, and the preparation of professional development resources in relation to ePortfolios. The Project is currently moving towards implementation of Pebblepad as our ePortfolio solution, and selected academics and students will be able to try Pebblepad during 2009.
Where can I learn more about ePortfolios?
A number of sites are currently in development to support CSU’s ePortfolio initiative:
- ePortfolios is a project site within CSU Interact that is designed to support the community of academics at CSU who are interested in using ePortfolios to support student learning. All CSU academics are invited to join this site.
- Transferable skills, another project site within CSU Interact, is directed at postgraduate students who are interested in using ePortfolios to support their professional development and learning. All postgraduate students are invited to join this site.
- RealFolio is a blog where you can find out more about current developments in ePortfolios along with examples, tips and hints from ePortfolio users within the CSU community. All users are invited to visit and subscribe to this blog.
Further professional development resources are planned for development in the near future, along with a number of workshops for academics staff. These will be advertised on this site.
Where can I learn more about the ePortfolio Project?
For more information on the OLE ePortfolio Project, please contact:
Philip Uys
ePortfolio Project Lead
S16, Room 11, Bathurst campus
Phone: (02) 633 84342
Email: puys@csu.edu.auCarole Hunter
ePortfolio Team member
N5, Room G2-2, Bathurst campus
Phone: (02) 633 84468
Email: chunter@csu.edu.au
Photo source: http://scottish-rscs.org.uk/newsfeed/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/jigsaw_pieces.jpg
