RAPPORT
Volume 3 Issue 1 (2018)
In planning the event we were also keen to
recognise that this was not 2005 - or even
2015. From our perspective, developments
within those thirteen years have
highlighted the increased ‘coming of age’
of ePortfolio practice, with a move beyond
the periphery and into the mainstream of
institutional practices, from pilot schemes
with enthusiastic proponents and other
initial practice to survey the scene and
catalyse development 1 , toward more
systematic implementation which
recognises and celebrates the value of
such practice(s). In this context we note
the work of Eynon and Gambino (2017)
amongst others; the recognition of
ePortfolio as a ‘high impact’ practice
influencing postsecondary student
success 2 by the American Association of
Colleges and Universities 3 ; and look
forward to the work of Yancey and
colleagues (in press) emphasising the role
of students as active agents in the
construction and deployment of their
Portfolios: ‘ePortfolio makers’ rather than
simply users of ePortfolio systems.
1
see e.g.
http://www.eportfoliopractice.qut.edu.au/information /
‘ePortfolios are the latest addition to AAC&U’s
list of high-impact educational practices, and higher
education has developed a range of ways to
implement them for teaching and learning,
programmatic assessment, and career
development. ePortfolios enable students to
electronically collect their work over time, reflect
upon their personal and academic growth, and then
share selected items with others, such as
professors, advisors, and potential employers.
Because collection over time is a key element of
the ePortfolio process, employing ePortfolios in
collaboration with other high-impact practices
provides opportunities for students to make
connections between various educational
experiences’. From https://www.aacu.org/leap/hips
2
3
see e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r9WuHB_Yo0
As a consequence of this thinking we
sought to offer the opportunity not only to
highlight specific ePortfolio practice –
colleagues will always wish to know more
about the practice of others – but also
‘the contributions that ePortfolio
technologies can bring to the wider
learning and development landscape’.
Hence our Seminar title, ePortfolios and
more: the developing role of ePortfolios
within the digital landscape.
Such language was very deliberately
chosen, as it allowed for:
• a focus upon functionality within
systems, upon supporting the activities
of reflection and presentation for
example, rather than simply upon
products called ePortfolios;
• recognition - in our pre-seminar
information and CfP – of other
technologies and systems which might
share similar interests and concerns in
terms of the four seminar themes:
o learning: the management of learning
by institutions; support for increasing
the agency of individuals in their
roles as learners; the connections to
systems and strategies which
support such approaches to learning;
and the development of ‘digital
capability’ by students, faculty and
staff;
o formal and informal contexts for
learning: support for learning and
progression in both formal
educational environments and within
workplace and community settings;
o presentation: the presentation of
learning outcomes, not only by
enabling individuals to present
holistic accounts of their own
development based upon clearly
4