Student Motivation and Confidence-Building through ePortfolios April D. Baker

An ePortfolio… is a website of collected artifacts (i.e. tangible evidence of a skill) incorporates multi-modal artifacts spreadsheets, audio, video, slideshow presentations, Word documents, images of 2D or 3D artwork, projects

An ePortfolio… illustrates a variety of skills from cross-curricular academics, professional capacities, and personal experiences showcases a student’s best work throughout a course, program, degree, or career

An ePortfolio… connects coursework to “real life” and college-wide learning outcomes communication, technology, reasoning, professionalism, diversity demonstrates valuable skills for a course, at graduation, for university transfer, or during a job interview

A Greenville Tech student’s ePortfolio from our first pilot semester will be published in a new chapter of The Wadsworth Handbook.

ePortfolios motivate students by… encouraging ownership of work, reinforcing computer skills, bridging the gap between courses, making real-world connections, and increasing self-evaluation and self-esteem.

Ownership of Work “I was able to fully customize my own web page and make it something that I could be proud of.”

Computer Skills “I am not very literate with computers, but I believe that because of the creation of my e-portfolio I am more literate now, not perfect but better.”

Bridge the Gap “It adds a little fun to trying to figure out why you have to go through all this work to become a working world professional.”

Real-World Connections “It was easy to see the academic similarities.”

Self-Evaluation Reflections on Competencies Reflections on Artifacts “It was finally being able to answer the question of how these things related to my career that was worth every bit of the work.”

ePortfolios can be used as… a major assignment that incorporates several minor assignments, a semester project that incorporates major/minor assignments, or a body of work that accumulates over a degree program or course series.

Students should have… regular access to a computer, relevant software, and the internet; flash drive; resources to digitize artifacts (scanners, cameras, and other devices); and basic understanding of proper file management.

This ePortfolio system has… a ready-to-use template, a thorough instruction manual, and handouts and worksheets to create a portable ePortfolio that students house on their flash drives.

Or create your own, using… Microsoft Expression Web or Adobe Dreamweaver difficult for the tech-challenged but more flexible for the creative; files housed on CD or web space Microsoft Word the easiest and most familiar option; files housed on CD or web space

Or create your own, using… Microsoft PowerPoint another familiar option but will not look and feel like a true website; files housed on CD or web space WebCT (etc) less flexibility for the creative or portability for the mobile but easier administrative access; files housed in campus-owned software

Or create your own, using… Rcampus.com, Digication.com, Wordpress.com, or Blogspot.com pre-existing templates; files housed on free web space

Career ePortfolios should… omit any information of a confidential or personal nature sensitive data from previous employers, romantic relationships, self-portraits, family structure, medical problems submit only with permission or upon request not in lieu of a résumé, during interview process is preferable

Want to try it in your classroom? April D. Baker april_d_baker@yahoo.com Please contact me with questions or for additional materials.