E-Portfolio Handout
Focus On Learning June 2014
Overview
An e-portfolio is a digital representation of a portfolio. The author generates items (called artifacts) in a digital format and places them in the e-portfolio. It can be used by faculty or students. It can have the same components as a paper portfolio. The difference is that it lives on a computer instead of on paper. Like a paper portfolio, an e-portfolio can be used:
to apply for career positions.
to apply for post-secondary.
by students to represent themselves as learners.
as an assessment piece. The time period can span a course or a program.
for performance assessment.
The digital format allows your portfolio to be dynamic. In other words, it can be easily changed at any time. It can contain rich content: multimedia, hyperlinks, videos, audio, blogs. The portfolio can be easily viewed by a variety of people. There is a real opportunity to show your creativity to the world.
Presenting An E-Portfolio
Once you have completed your e-portfolio, you have a variety of ways to deliver it:
DVD or USB stick.
Hosted web site.
Learning management system.
Tools
First and foremost remember the pedagogy comes first, not the tool.
When learning a new tool, you will need a little patience. They do have a bit of a learning curve and they can be finicky. There are numerous tools available with a variety of features and price points. A little research will save you time and effort. It is important to choose a tool that matches your requirements, abilities and budget. When researching tools:
-Speak to the learning centre at your college.
-Look in to portability. Will it run on desktop, phones, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android?
-Read reviews.
-Examine features and pricing.
-Ask yourself:
- Where will the e-portfolio live: on a web site? on your desktop?
- how will you distribute it?
Adobe Acrobat
This e-portfolio tool is based on PDF files. It is very easy to use and is free. A large PDF file is created that contains the entire contents of the e-portfolio. If the portfolio contains audio or video, this file will be large. The portfolio can be dropped in to your college learning management system.
Functionality is limited and it has a little bit of a plain look to it. Settings, backgrounds and colours are limited within Adobe itself. However, an Adobe portfolio is based on PDF files. You can use any software package to create interesting files. Once saved in PDF format, they can be imported in to your portfolio.
weebly.com
This site offers web based portfolios. A large selection of templates is provided to get you started. Because the software has lot of features, there is a learning curve. The help is extensive and the live chat is excellent and prompt. The site provides you with two views: desktop and mobile. The site can also be used to create your own web site. The cost is $4 - $7/month, based on features. There is an interesting and helpful site ( that illustrates creating a General Education portfolio.
prezi.com
Prezi offers the ability to create a flashy and unique portfolio. As with many tools, it comes with a large number of templates. Features are abundant and there is a bit of a learning curve. Advanced features have a steeper learning curve. Provided YouTube tutorials are excellent. Community help on the site is also good. Prezi costing is based on features and on privacy requirements. If you register with your college email account, you get a free prezi accountwhich includesoffers private and publicprezisas well as core features. There is no official support at this price point (free) but community support is good. Prezis work on Windows, Mac and iPhone. Currently, there is no official support for Android and BlackBerry.
Additional Tools
Linked In, Google sites, File Manager.
A Few Quotes
“The themes and the actual e-portfolio program might not be completely evident during the course and content work/volunteer experiences, but in retrospect, they definitely haveimpacted the way I think and interact in the workplace and the e-portfolio program gave me some “website-creating” experience that gave me some ‘pull’ in the workforce."
Student in speech communications at University of Waterloo
"The most important thing I learned from using an e-portfolio was how to look at the “big picture”. In school so far, we’ve studied many accounting concepts. However, this is the first time that I have actually slowed down and taken all these small concepts and tried to understand how they are related in the grand scheme of things". Accounting student (UWO)
When interviewing a college student for a possible apprenticeship, being able to look at the student’s work ahead of the interview certainly gives me a deeper insight into the student’s body of work. Employer in the construction industry
I have watched students who had very little confidence grow in self-belief through their pride in their e-portfolio. John Pallister, e-portfolio practioner
Additional Resources and Contact Information
Feel free to contact me at any time: Janis Michael, St Lawrence College.