But in order to do so, they must employ multiple strategies. The EATP enlivens the traditional print portfolio with electronic materials that could strengthen portfolio components. Additionally, an electronic format allows one to display teaching excellence in ways that traditional print portfolios simply can't. Consider the benefit of documenting anecdotal claims of effective teaching with video showing students engaged in learning activities and peer workshops, for instance. Moreover, electronic media can display print materials in more understandable and more enjoyable formats.
Technology also provides an efficient means of storing and of critiquing the portfolio.
In short, technology allows one to capture information about teaching that previously would have gone unrecognized and unrewarded. In a related item, our Faculty in Residence for Portfolio Development, Marge Terdal, recently returned from a fact finding mission to the International Consortium for Educational Development in Higher Education Conference at Wroxton Abbey, Oxfordshire. Marge was among a select few U.S. representatives to this conference, whose attendants also came from Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and England. A major theme was how to ensure reliability and validity in portfolios that are used for assessing teaching. Based on what she's learned, Marge feels that the criteria for faculty portfolios at PSU need to be clearly specified if we expect portfolios to provide meaningful assessment evidence.