Abstract:

In recent decades, advances in technology and communication have had a great impact on the education sector, leading to radical changes in teaching and learning processes. Set up dynamic and student-centered environments, in which live active and significant experiences, seems to be the shared objective of educators and researchers (Nigris et al., 2007; Baeten et al., 2010; Hattie, 2012; Giuliani, 2019). In this scenario, the introduction of the e-Portfolio in formal education contexts has proved to be among the innovative and effective solutions to promote more engaging and student-centered learning experiences (Rossi et al., 2006; Pedone, 2009; Roberts et al., 2016; Chaudhuri & Cabau, 2017).
The features of the e-Portfolio make it particularly effective in making students feel active protagonists of the educational path they are experiencing, giving them the opportunity to have a space in which to collect, organize and reflect on a vast range of materials. The strategic value of the e-Portfolio can be found in the possibility it offers students to represent their growth and learning processes in a coherent and meaningful way and to self-evaluate them. These are important prerequisites for developing a greater awareness of their own skills and achievements, reinforcing self-esteem and motivation (Rico, 2017; La Rocca, 2020; Segaran & Hasim, 2021).
In Italy, recent legislation also confirms the importance of using the e-Portfolio in school contexts (D.M. 328/2022, Orientation guidelines), and this is why it’s important to investigate how is possible to use it strategically and consciously.
The paper explores a pilot study developed in a secondary school based in Rome (Italy). The study involved 23 students from the third year of the Human Sciences Lyceum, who were asked to produce an e-Portfolio.
Among the main objectives were to enhance students’ reflective and communicative skills and to increase their engagement. Then, through the shared reading of the e-Portfolios produced, an attempt was made to encourage interest in each other and collaboration among peers. Finally, looking ahead, one of the objectives of the pilot study was to identify an effective strategy for involving the highest number of students at the Institute in the development of the personal e-Portfolio in the following school year.
A semi-structured logbook was used to monitor the progress, and personalized feedback and shared reading of the work in progress were used as supervision strategies. At the end of the year, each e-Portfolio was analyzed and discussed with its author and was subject to formative evaluation by the teacher and peers.
Students' works were largely assessed as good, although there have been exceptions. The expected objective of promoting collaboration between peers was partially achieved, but what was proposed was important to start a dialogue in this sense. By reading the e-Portfolios it’s possible to speak of an increased students’ reflective skill, and they themselves also confirm this in the answers provided to the final questionnaire administered.
Evidence collected allow to confirm that the use of the e-Portfolio can be an effective strategy for increasing students’ awareness and engagement in upper secondary school, promoting their active involvement in a student-centered environment.

Keywords:

Awareness, e-Portfolio, Engagement, Instructional design, Secondary school.