Creating and using ePortfolios

2.1 Determine the primary goal of your ePortfolio

There are three primary goals which define the audience and hence the relevant format, content, and tools.

• Showcase Portfolio: examples of work/achievements to support employment applications;
• Assessment Portfolio: for summative assessment or evaluation, to receive a grade;
• Learning Portfolio: drafts/unpolished work (Scully, O’Leary, & Brown, 2018, p. 2).

There are a number of reasons to use ePortfolios:

2.2 Explore INTALL materials

INTALL materials can be explored for criteria for working in the field of adult learning:

• Job Profiles of Adult Educators, comprising tasks and responsibilities, qualifications, skills, and potential employers;
• Skills of Adult Educators
• Employment stories of Adult Educators

2.3 Review possible tools for building an ePortfolio

A number of tools exist for building ePortfolios. You should ‘own’ your portfolio, which assumes autonomy by choosing: (1) the artefacts to include and (2) the technological platform to create them, which should facilitate, not interrupt, the process of portfolio building (Scully, O’Leary, & Brown, 2018).

However, it is important for you to be aware of privacy implications, which must be considered when choosing a tool. So you would be well advised to explore the platform used at your ‘home’ university.

For example, a number of universities use a system called Mahara, which at the time of writing this guide is provided to organisations (who would then set it up for individual use of people at the organisation, e.g. students, lecturers, etc.) at no cost as open source software, under the GNU General Public License version 3 or later. The system is modular in design to maximise flexibility and extensibility. More details can be found at the link https://mahara.org/view/view.php?id=6. This is the platform used, for example, at Dublin City University, Ireland.

Other potential tools for ePortfolios can include ePortfolio platforms, content management systems, blogs, and web publishing sites (Ravet, 2010).

3.1 A useful example

A useful example of specific sections of a portfolio for students in adult education and lifelong learning is from the European Adult Education (Young) Professionals Learning Platform (AE-PRO, n.d.). The topics suggested below partially draw on the outcomes of this project.

3.2 Building an ePortfolio repositpry

There are four main stages in building the evidence for an ePortfolio.

1. Collect evidence of learning, knowledge, skills, and competencies.

2. Select relevant evidence against known standards.
3. Reflect on the reasons for choosing certain artefacts and on strengths and weaknesses.
4. Connect with the audience and peers for feedback (adapted from Ravet, 2010, p. 57).

Each of these four parts are considered in more detail below.

3.2.1 Collect artefacts

The first stage involves collecting artefacts representing evidence of your learning, knowledge, skills, and competencies.

Examples of artefacts include:

• artefacts representing your best work,
• resume,
• testimonies,
• personal statements,
• links to relevant social networks,
• writing samples,
• photographs and videos documenting accomplishments,
• teachers’ evaluations of performance in a given area,
• skills and competencies.^*

(Ravet, 2010, p.56; Scully, O’Leary, & Brown, 2018, p. 2)

^* For skills and competencies, cross-checking with the INTALL profiles of adult educators can facilitate selection of most relevant artefacts.(Ravet, 2010, p.56; Scully, O’Leary, & Brown, 2018, p. 2)

The ePortfolio gives you an opportunity to describe skills you have acquired as part of the learning process, professional or extra-curricular activities. Reflect on where, when, and in what context you have developed these skills). INTALL profiles of adult educators provide further details on each area of relevant skills:

• Analytical thinking
• Innovation
• Active learning
• Learning/teaching strategies
• Critical thinking
• Complex problem-solving
• Leadership
• Social influence
• Emotional intelligence
• Monitoring
• Teamwork
• Relating with multicultural groups
• Communicating with others (orally and in writing)
• Active listening
• Planning and organising
• Acting ethically
   

3.2.2 Select relevant evidence against known standards

Evaluate critically all the evidence and artefacts and select those that are relevant for desired career paths and those that demonstrate impact in your field of adult learning.

Cross-checking with INTALL materials such as adult educators profiles can facilitate selection of the most relevant artefacts. Please refer to 3.1 of this guide for suggested portfolio sections.

Reflect on your reasons for choosing certain artefacts, as well as on their strengths and weaknesses. True reflection should evidence deep learning; with learners analysing the skills they have learned from a particular exercise, linking these to other aspects of their studies, and identifying how they may use the skills ‘for a lifetime, professionally, personally and civically’ (Jenson, 2011, p. 52).

3.2.3 Reflect on your choice of artefacts

There are a number of models for reflective thinking and writing. The Dublin City University (DCU) Reflective Writing Guide can be used as a resource to guide this process, as it lists a  number of approaches for you to select the one that makes sense to you personally (the link can also be found in the References list). As the DCU Guide puts it, reflective thinking and writing as part of an ePortfolio involves exploring and explaining the events rather than simply describing them. One such approach is a reflective cycle by Gibbs (1988).
 

3.2.4 Connect with audience and peers for feedback

Engaging in dialogue about your ePortfolio is considered to be another distinctive feature for student portfolios. Various platforms may have a feature enabling you to discuss and receive feedback about your ePortfolio from your teachers, peers, colleagues, and others. This can be done, for example, by sending them a link to a particular portfolio you would like feedback on.

The benefits of this dialogical approach described in the literature include the opportunity to:

• receive friendly advice on how to improve your ePortfolio(s);
• reflect upon receiving feedback and make any needed changes (see section 3.2.3 ‘Reflect on the choice of artefacts’ above).