‘The e-portfolio is the central and common point for the student learning experience… It is a reflection of the student as a person undergoing continuous personal development, not just a store of evidence.’
Geoff Rebbeck, e-Learning Coordinator, Thanet College
e-portfolios provide learners the opportunity to personalise even the most prescribed curriculum by customising the learning process based on preferences and needs.
One of the main benefits from using e-Portfolio in learning is the ability to share developing ideas and receive prompt feedback, thus increasing the learners’ ability to understand concepts that were initially unfamiliar. When effectively embedded into practice, the dialogic functions commonly found in e-portfolio systems support a learning community to enhance the performance of both, individuals and teams.
A model of e-portfolio-based learning, adapted from Kolb (1984)
As learners experience critical moments in their learning, they can express their responses, collect and organise information and plan their next steps, potentially within an integrated digital environment. One of the more important skills fostered by e-portfolio is of reflection and forward planning – skills that have relevance across all subject disciplines.
E-portfolios facilitate the recording, organising and storage of narratives about self which develop over time to provide a record of the learning journey that each learner is engaged in. Learners gain knowledge about self and environment by exploring aspects of their learning and wider life experiences.
Last but not the least, e-portfolio use can generate many of the skills that learners need to effectively navigate their way through the complex demands of an information age.
ART OF LEARNING 