ePortfolio Creation Research Articles

Opinions of Students Learning Turkish as a Foreign Language on the Use of E-Portfolio in Writing Lessons

This study aims to investigate the opinions of students learning Turkish as a foreign language on the use of the e-portfolio method in writing classes. During the implementation phase of this case study, two methods were used concurrently. The first method was face-to-face instruction centered on the coursebook. The second method was the e-portfolio method utilizing digital tools. After the implementation, data regarding the participants’ opinions were collected through interview technique, and the collected data were analyzed through content analysis. According to the research findings, there is a diversity of opinions among students regarding digital writing practices. Generation Z students tend to evaluate digital writing more positively. Language control and support are positively received by students. It has been observed that digital writing offers spatial and temporal independence, enhances student-teacher and student-student interaction, and contributes to collaboration and skill development in the context of peer learning. It is concluded that digital writing increases learning motivation and generally improves Turkish writing skills. As a teaching tool, in addition to textbooks and notebooks, the use of digital resources, especially e-portfolio creation tools and dictionaries, which offer unlimited variety, has become a necessity. Based on the study results, it is recommended to use a hybrid approach where traditional and digital writing-based e-portfolio methods are used together in education. Accordingly, curriculum should be updated, digital tools should be used more effectively, and technology infrastructure should be improved. Centers or courses teaching Turkish as a foreign language should take the initiative for infrastructure improvements. In this context, it is recommended that researchers in the field of online teaching of writing, speaking, listening, and reading skills conduct studies and educators develop applications.

Reflective Pedagogy Community of Practice: Engaging Faculty and Staff in Reflective Pedagogy to Prepare for Eportfolio Launch

To prepare faculty and staff for using eportfolios in classes and with co-curricular experiences, we engaged faculty and staff in a Reflective Pedagogy Community of Practice. Participants reviewed and discussed the literature on reflective pedagogy, particularly related to using eportfolios. Participants documented their learning about reflective pedagogy in an eportfolio and shared their eportfolio with other participants for review and feedback. Materials and discussion prompts used during the community of practice sessions are provided. The assessment indicated that participants felt that the amount of work and the number of sessions that the group met were reasonable and that they learned a lot from the readings, discussions, eportfolio creation, and peer review of others’ eportfolios. This model to prepare faculty for using reflective pedagogy with eportfolios can be adopted by other institutions.

A professional-driven blockchain framework for sharing E-Portfolio in the context of Industry 4.0

The journey towards Industry 4.0 have driven the workforce with the need for continuous competency development to stay on top of their profession and remain attractive to their employers. In this context, E-Portfolio has been conceived as a promising tool for both professionals and employers, in assessing and providing guidance for further workplace learning. Nevertheless, the challenges in implementing E-Portfolio are daunting, particularly with regard to lack of interoperability while collecting and sharing the competency evidences across multiple organizations and institutions. The increasing move towards professional (learner)-centered interoperability poses additional challenges that needs to be addressed to realize the full potential of E-Portfolio in the context of Industry 4.0. This work puts emphasize on realization of professional-centered interoperability and proposes a framework leveraging the advantage of blockchain, decentralized storage system interplanetary file system, smart contract and session management for E-Portfolio creation and sharing evidences across multiple organizations without comprising the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the shared evidences. The proof of concept simulation on Ethereum official test network Rinkeby demonstrates the feasibility of proposed framework in practice. In addition, the evaluation of the proposed framework demonstrates its effectiveness from the aspects of cost and security as a potential solution for implementing E-Portfolio and helping the professional to remain competitive in global labor market.

Reforming higher education with ePortfolio implementation, enhanced by learning analytics

In a time when blended learning is the norm and not the exception, ePortfolio implementation has the potential to serve as a tool for 21st-century skills development, namely self-reflection, self-assessment, goal-setting, evidence-based learning, as well as a tool for digital literacy development. Two learning scenarios implementing ePortfolio in teaching and learning processes are presented. The first one deals with a learning model, following principles of autonomous learning applied in language learning, with a focus on goal-setting and evidence-based portfolio as a growth portfolio, with attention to applied assessment types and learning processes of university students. A constructivist approach to ePortfolio creation makes a solid foundation for the learning model. The second scenario of ePortfolio implementation presents how to use ePortfolio in pre-service teacher education, especially as an active learning strategy in the subject oriented to technology-enhanced learning. Students present in ePortfolios interviews with different target groups, relevant materials research, best practices, and applications. ePortfolios are shared between students, and create a special dynamic effect in the online course. Both presented case studies highlight the differences in positivist and constructivist approaches to ePortfolio implementation with respect to student behavior in areas of their attitudes and learning processes and evidencing. In both scenarios, learning analytics are used as an important tool to monitor students’ work and for the gradual improvement of ePortfolio implementation model. Presented results prove ePortfolio tool to be a high impact practice fostering student autonomy and active learning.

Key ePortfolio features and strategies for student success in a competency-based clinical research program

BackgroundStudent ePortfolios provide an interactive space for faculty, student peers, and potential employers to view skillsets and reflective expressions of students. Educational ActivityThe adoption of ePortfolios in an interdisciplinary, competency-based, master's degree program in clinical research at a university in the Midwestern United States is described. Students submitted their ePortfolios as their culminating assessment. A survey was used to collect objective and open-ended responses from 104 students between 2015 and 2019 followed by a voluntary post-survey interview. Two ePortfolio platforms and instructional methods were compared. Critical Analysis of the Educational ActivityA user-friendly platform enhanced student engagement and reduced student and faculty frustration with the ePortfolio requirement. Thirty-seven students and alumni responded to an ePortfolio survey, and five students shared their experiences in a post-survey interview. Students described positive experiences related to their academic program and job search as a result of completing the ePortfolio. However, alumni were not strongly motivated to maintain their ePortfolio post-graduation. ePortfolios provide evidence of student acquisition of core competencies in a professional graduate degree. Facilitating the process of ePortfolio creation with instruction guides, exemplar ePortfolios, and an evaluation rubric support student success. A user-friendly ePortfolio platform with social media linking features will enhance exposure of the student's work to key stakeholders during and after their academic program. If the ePortfolio is to have an impact on a student's professional trajectory after graduation, it should contain meaningful examples of academic work that can be shared publicly and allow updating of ePortfolio content.

TEACHERS' READINESS TO USE E-PORTFOLIOS

An e-portfolio is one of the tools for monitoring and evaluating the professional activity of school teachers and their achievements. An e-portfolio can be used for teachers’ professional development. It provides openness and transparency of both teachers’ and educational institutions’ work. The purpose of the study is to analyze teachers' readiness to use e-portfolios for both self-evaluation of their own professional experience and continuous professional development. The article analyzes various approaches to the structure of e-portfolios based on the analysis of international experience, the legislation of Ukraine and the survey of teachers. The purpose, tasks, requirements of normative documents on the use of e-portfolios are generalized.The multi-level structure of an e-portfolio is defined and the requirements for its dynamic content are substantiated. Teachers' needs for advanced training in using a variety of IT tools for creating e-portfolios have been systematized. It has been determined that the use of e-portfolio can satisfy both the needs of evaluating the effectiveness of teachers’ work and the formation of self-esteem and reflection skills, facilitate teachers’ continuous professional development, dissemination of advanced pedagogical experience and teaching practices. Different types of e-portfolios have been analyzed. IT tools for creating an e-portfolio have been identified. The content of the corresponding educational module for teachers in the system of postgraduate pedagogical education has been substantiated. The content of a portfolio is defined by the goals of its creation. For teachers, the emphasis in e-portfolio creation is not on learning, as it is for students, but on professional activity, self-assessment, and marketing. The results can be teachers' understanding of why and how they have learned throughout their careers, the importance of reflection for future professional development.

E-Portfolio Implementation Experiences of Prospective Primary School Teachers

In the information society, as in all other institutions the functions of educational institutions have changed by the phenomenon of globalization, the rapid spread of knowledge and reaching broad masses, the necessity of co-existence of differentiated cultures, and the development of science and technology. Portfolios help students to assess themselves and improve their ability to express themselves and allow observation of the development that takes place over a specified period due to the collection of work during a specified period, taking these characteristics into account, the use of portfolios in the assessment and evaluation process is suggested. Considering the progress in educational technology, it can be said that e-portfolio implementations, which can provide the products of teachers or prospective teachers to move on to the next teaching process and other teachers and prospective teachers, will become more prevalent. When these developments and changes are taken into consideration, it is expected that the evaluation of the e-portfolio implementation of the prospective primary school teachers enrolled in Science and Technology Instruction II and their related gains in the process will contribute to the field. In the research aimed to reveal the evaluations of primary school prospective teachers about their e-portfolio implementation, the approach of phenomenology was used which is one of the qualitative research designs. In this research, it was aimed to reveal the evaluations of e-portfolio contents and the outcomes related to themselves in the course of Science and Technology Education II of the prospective primary school teachers. In the research, the result that e-portfolio creation process is contributed to the prospective primary school teachers in the sub-headings of "Pedagogical Knowledge", "Field Information", "Technology Use Skill" and "Thinking Skill" was obtained.

Using Weebly to Create E-Portfolios

In an effort to engage in Computer Assisted Language Learning in the classroom, Katie McClintic and Summer Peixoto were inspired to use digital portfolios, or ePortfolios, while taking classes for TESOL certification in online teaching from TESOL, Inc. Katie went through the ePortfolio creation process for the online course and is now using the same principles with her KAUST class this semester as a culminating project for their college prep year experience at KU. Similarly, last year Summer created a blended learning online hybrid course centered on portfolio building for Kansai students to illustrate their learning experiences over the course of 2013. Throughout this six-week course, Melissa Stamer-Peterson’s role was to assist in the classroom and give feedback on student portfolios. As members of the LEO team, Summer, Melissa, and Katie are attempting to lead by example by incorporating technology into their courses and pursuing professional development opportunities that include the use of CALL in daily instruction and special programs.

Using Weebly to Create E-Portfolios

In an effort to engage in Computer Assisted Language Learning in the classroom, Katie McClintic and Summer Peixoto were inspired to use digital portfolios, or ePortfolios, while taking classes for TESOL certification in online teaching from TESOL, Inc. Katie went through the ePortfolio creation process for the online course and is now using the same principles with her KAUST class this semester as a culminating project for their college prep year experience at KU. Similarly, last year Summer created a blended learning online hybrid course centered on portfolio building for Kansai students to illustrate their learning experiences over the course of 2013. Throughout this six-week course, Melissa Stamer-Peterson’s role was to assist in the classroom and give feedback on student portfolios. As members of the LEO team, Summer, Melissa, and Katie are attempting to lead by example by incorporating technology into their courses and pursuing professional development opportunities that include the use of CALL in daily instruction and special programs.

The Practical Application of e-Portfolios in K-12 Classrooms: An Exploration of Three Web 2.0 Tools by Three Teachers

Portfolios used in K-12 classrooms give students the opportunity to collect, showcase, and reflect upon the work they have completed throughout a class or program. With the advent of the digital age, e-portfolios have allowed for this process to be conducted online through the use of Web 2.0 tools, offering a number of advantages and features that were not possible before. In this article, three teachers reflect over the integration of e-portfolios in their K-12 classroom and discuss the relative advantages and limitations of three different e-portfolio creation tools.

Transparency in the ePortfolio Creation Process

This paper presents the findings of a study examining the effect of transparency on the ePortfolio creation process. The purpose of the study was to examine whether increased awareness of other students’ ePortfolios through the implementation of transparency and peer review would positively affect the quality of performance of school library media candidates’ ePortfolios