Abstract:

This paper presents a case study of a four-year eportfolio initiative at the University of Oregon. The eportfolio project began in the Arts and Administration Program with 10 students, and now “eportfolio thinking” is sweeping the campus, catalyzing interest in reforming student learning and instruction, and the ways that technology is integrated across learning and working environments.

Portfolios have long been used as teaching and learning tools, and in professional development in Schools of Education and Fine Arts Colleges. With the emergence of new technologies, eportfolios are revolutionizing how students across disciplines manage information and learning, and prepare for professional careers. Electronic portfolios (eportfolios) serve three primary purposes: to promote student-centered learning and reflection, professional preparation and resume development, and for institutional accountability.The ability to represent work in all the mediums allow students a repository of research, evaluation and feedback from teachers, and an opportunity to self-reflect and represent how they construct meaning from their academic learning and professional experiences.

Universities that employ eportfolios integrate them into coursework and student learning: “With eportfolios the pedagogy shifts from a course-driven focus to a student-centered approach placing emphasis for learning firmly on the student” (Tosh 3). Students document and legitimize their learning choices through a record in their eportfolio by:
• Creating a system of tracking student work over time, in a single course, with students and faculty reflecting on it.
• Aggregating many students' work in a particular course to see how the students as a whole are progressing toward learning goals.
• Assessing many courses in similar ways that are all part of one major and thus, by extension, assessing the entire program of study.
• Encourage continuity of student work from semester to semester in linked courses (Batson 2005).
With the emergence of web 2.0 tools and a vibrant open source community, the eportfolio project is embracing instructional technologies that employ lifelong digital communication tools in support of student learning and assessment. With a focus on the development of 21st century workforce tools – including innovation and creativity, collaboration, and communication – faculty and instructional support staff create dynamic mediated learning environments that incorporate reflection, analysis, and presentation across degree programs, and that transect the borders between classroom learning and professional growth.

This case study presents the challenges of implementing an interdisciplinary eportfolio program at a Research institution.The goals of the project include: the development of a comprehensive learning environment that serves as a hub for the generation of new knowledge in a dynamic learning community of faculty, students, and professionals; and, centers the integration of demonstrations of excellence in academic objectives, participatory learning experiences, and professional development.

The eportfolio project is a member of the Intern/National Coalition on Electronic Portfolio Research. The project was included in the Eiffel eportfolio conference in Maastricht, the Netherlands in 2007. It is supported through a grant from the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.

Keywords:

eportfolios, blended learning, web 2.0, pedagogy, open source, student-centered learning and assessment.