# Instructional design/ePortfolios

| 1. Introduction | 2. Purposes of ePortfolios | 3. Types of Artifacts | 4. Benefits and challenges | 5. Best strategies | 6. Assess Yourself | 7. Summary |

## From Wonder Woman to Transformer

"From Wonder Woman to Transformer: My first nickname is changing" posted on her Facebook Michelle Franklin.

## ePortfolios are like a box of chocolates

Life is like a box of chocolates. It is full of surprises, and you never know what will happen next.
Each box of chocolates is different, and there is no way to know how they taste until you try them.
ePortfolios are like a box of chocolates. They are full of surprises.
Whether you are a high-school teacher, a college level instructor, organizational administrator, or if you have asked the following questions, ePortfolios are good to consider.
* How can I help my students to set goals?
* How can I hear my student’s voice?
* How can I promote self-regulatory skills?
* How can I embed technology effectively?
* How can I facilitate student centered learning?
* How can I help my students to develop a self-identity?
ePortfolios keep students, teachers, job seekers, or institutions alert about their achievements. They demonstrate peoples' ability to reflect, communicate, collaborate, research, design, and develop. Current research on ePortfolios indicates (Wuetherick and Dickinson, 2015) that "portfolios may have several advantages over other forms of assessment".

## Key Learning Objectives

ePortfolios will enable you to facilitate student centered learning, develop self-identity, and showcase your students' projects using online emerging technology tools. Before implementing ePortfolios, you should be able to develop good implementation strategies and meet the following performance objectives:
* Define e-portfolios
* Given examples, identify applicable purposes of e-portfolios
* Given examples and non-examples, identify the benefits of e-portfolios
* Given examples, differentiate the types of artifacts used in e-portfolios
* Given list of strategies, identify the best strategies for creating e-portfolios

## What are ePortfolios?

An ePortfolio is a summary of a person’s certifications and skills shared with an online community for a specific purpose. An ePortfolio can contain text, videos, audio, or images, but it isn’t specifically limited to these sources. It is a digital tool for reflection.
According to Stefani, Mason, and Pegler (2007) "E-portfolios are a valuable learning and assessment tool. They can serve as an administrative tool to manage and organize work, to present course assignments and act as the medium for learners to record their learning goals, outcomes and achievements. They encourage personal reflection and involve the exchange of ideas and feedback."
Lorenzo and Ittelson (2005)ː "An ePortfolio is a digitized collection of artifacts, including demonstrations, resources, and accomplishments that represent an individual, group, community, organization, or institution."
As Helen Barrett points out, “A portfolio without standards, goals and/or reflection is just a fancy resume, not an electronic portfolio.”
Click the "Next" link below to move on to the next section.
| Back to Instructional Design | Next: Purposes of ePortfolios |
* ↑ Wuetherick, B., Dickinson, J. (2015). Why ePortfolios? Student Perceptions of ePortfolio Use in Continuing Education Learning Environments. International Journal of ePortfolio. 5(1), 39-53. http://www.theijep.com/pdf/IJEP135.pdf
* ↑ Stefani, L., Mason, R., and Pegler, C. (2007). The Educational Potential of e-Portfolios: Supporting Personal Development and Reflective Learning (Connecting With E-Learning) . London, England: Routledge.
* ↑ Lorenzo, G., Ittelson, J. (2005). An overview of ePortfolios. https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli3001.pdf
* ↑ Dr. Helen Barrett's Electronic Portfolios. http://www.electronicportfolios.org/