ePortfolio Purpose and Process

ePortfolio Purpose and Process Dr. Helen Barrett1 calls portfolios “dynamic celebrations and stories of deep learning.” The B.A. Instructional Design (BAID) program wants to help you celebrate your own dynamic stories of deep learning. In each BAID course, you will save your final projects, as well as other work you may choose to include, into an electronic portfolio, also known as an ePortfolio. This ePortfolio will serve as a collection of evidence to support the competencies you developed as you earned your degree. Such an e-portfolio is particularly important for instructional design, a field in which work samples can be a key factor in earning a new job or advancing to a new position. Your ePortfolio will be as unique as you are. Purpose of this Document: This document offers guidance on choosing an ePortfolio platform and structuring your portfolio. While this document will offer many selections, you may choose any website that suits your needs and that can be accessed by individuals to whom you give permission. This document will not offer step-by-step instructions for any particular ePortfolio platform, as each student will choose the platform that best suits his or her individual needs. Availability of technical support for any platform should be a consideration in your selection. Purpose of an ePortfolio: The most important purpose of your ePortfolio is to present yourself as a developing, reflective practitioner of instructional design. Within this overarching purpose, there are several related goals: 

To demonstrate individual competencies for the learning outcomes associated with both distinct courses and the entire educational program;

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To present work samples which demonstrate competencies required for memberships and certifications in professional organizations;

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To exhibit work samples which validate skill sets being sought by potential employers; and

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To reflect on the process of developing and refining work products in order to establish yourself as a reflective practitioner.

Steps to Building Your ePortfolio: There are several steps to building your ePortfolio. Since your portfolio should reflect you, consider adjusting these steps to meet your individual needs. 1. Select the structure. Think about the framework you will want for your ePortfolio. The most useful structures will probably relate to standards, competencies, goals, or themes. Consider established instructional design standards and competencies associated with professional organizations like the Association of Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), International Board of Standards for

ePortfolio Purpose and Process

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Training, Performance and Instruction (IBSTPI), American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), or Quality Matters (QM). 2. Choose a platform. You can explore the suggestions listed near the end of this document or take your ePortfolio in a unique direction by using another platform. Some considerations include: a) the variety of different media that the platform can support; b) how easy it is to rearrange content if you later want to change the structure or layout of your ePortfolio; c) the ability to grant others access to view your work; d) availability of help and technical support; e) amount of storage space or capacity based on current and future needs; and f) cost. 3. Create a home page. Like a cover page, the home page is likely to be the first thing that visitors see in your ePortfolio. Include an introduction and navigational links like a table of contents. The table of contents would be related to the structure you chose in Step 1 and the capacity of the platform you chose in Step 2. 4. Form placeholders for additional pages. Depending on the capacity of your chosen platform, make one page for each section listed in your table of contents. While you may not have content for each of these pages, creating the page serves as a placeholder for future content you can upload later. 5. Load your artifacts. Artifacts are those items that you want to include in your ePortfolio. Depending on your selected platform, you will load content into your ePortfolio pages or add hyperlinks to your content housed elsewhere online. The type of artifacts and selected platform will determine the exact procedure for loading content. 6. Caption each artifact. Like the caption of a picture, the caption of your artifact should offer a succinct description. 7. Compose a reflection. Post your thoughts on how the artifact demonstrates the theme, goal, standard, competency, or other framework/structure you decided in Step 1. 8. Contemplate future goals. As a lifelong learner, contemplate your future learning goals. You could include these goals on a separate page of your ePortfolio or include these goals on the pages related to each theme, goal, standard, or competency. 9. Publish your portfolio. Depending on your selected platform, publishing your ePortfolio could include making it “active,” copying the hyperlink, or granting access in some other form. Below are a few suggestions on ePortfolio platforms, though you are welcome to use any platform that meets your individual needs.


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Blog with capabilities to add pages (e.g., WordPress, Blogger) Carbonmade Digication Elgg FolioForMe FolioSpaces Google Drive iWebFolio LiveBinders Mahara Open Source Portfolio P-nelope PathBrite PortfolioVillage Seelio VisualCV Weebly Wiki (see the WikiMatrix to compare features of different wikis) Yola

Below are some screen shots of different examples of setting up your ePortfolio.

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Dr. Helen Barrett is world-renowned expert with decades of experience researching and consulting related to e-portfolios. You can learn more about Dr. Barrett at her website (http://electronicportfolios.org/).

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