ePortfolios as
Literacy
Arguments
Dave Fisher
Joonna Trapp
Emory Writing Program
14 August 2014
http://theory.sleepyside.org/portfolio
password: portfolio
“Documenting Learning. Electronic Portfolios: Engaging Today's Students in Higher Education” by Flickr user Giulia Forsythe
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What is an ePortfolio
“Stacks of Folios - University of Chicago” by Flickr user Sharat Ganapati
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Folio Thinking
 What is an ePortfolio?
 Why would you want to use one in your course or
program?
 What experience have you had with portfolios before.
Was it positive or negative? Why?
“Thinking” designed by Joe Shelton from the Noun Project
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Outcomes
By the time you’ve finished this workshop you’ll be able to
 Create and organize a mini-portfolio using a free drag-anddrop tool
 Explain the differences between a learning portfolio and a
presentation portfolio
 Develop curricular maps, learning goals and outcomes,
learning activities, and assessment practices that are
“constructively aligned” and “portfolio friendly”
 Draft a scoring guide for assessing an ePortfolio or the
artifacts therein
 Design the broad outlines of a course that engages students
in collection, selection, reflection, and connection
 List some of the affordances and constraints of several
ePortfolio platforms
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A recent study conducted by the Association of Authentic, Experiential,
Evidenced-Based Learning (AAEEBL) found that in 2012 more students
are producing ePortfolios than ever before. In 2011, 15% of respondents
reported that 90-100% of students at their institutions had ePortfolios. In
2012, about 28% reported that 90-100% of students at their institutions
are building ePortfolios. There also appears to be movement away from
ePortfolios focused on a single course toward those that are programbased. (Chen, Brown, & Gordon, p. 133).
The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) recent
paper titled: “It Takes More than a Major: Employer Priorities for College
Learning and Student Success” states that “more than 4 in 5 employers
say an electronic portfolio would be useful to them in ensuring that job
applicants have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their
company or organization.”
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Discourses
“A Discourse is a sort of 'identity kit' which comes complete with
the appropriate costume and instructions on how to act, talk, and
often write, so as to take on a particular social role that others will
recognize. Imagine what an identity kit to play the role of Sherlock
Holmes would involve: certain clothes, certain ways of using
language (oral language and print), certain attitudes and beliefs,
allegiance to a certain life style, and certain ways of interacting
with others. We can call all these factors together, as they are
integrated around the identity of 'Sherlock Holmes, Master
Detective' the 'Sherlock Holmes Discourse.’ This example also
makes clear that ‘Discourse’ . . . does not involve just talk or just
language.”
Gee, J. P. (1990). Social linguistics and literacies: ideology in discourses. New York: Routledge.
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Discourses
“Another way to look at Discourses is that they are always ways of
displaying (through words, actions, values and beliefs) membership in a
particular social group or social network (people who associate with
each other around a common set of interests, goals and activities).”
Gee, J. P. (1990). Social linguistics and literacies: ideology in discourses. New York: Routledge.
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What is an ePortfolio?
ePortfolios are multimodal compositions in which people argue
that they are members of one or more Discourses by curating a
collection of their performances.
To create ePortfolios, people
Collect artifacts from throughout their careers
Select artifacts from that collection that align with the activity of the
Discourses they want to join or with which they want continue their
involvement
Reflect, explain, or argue that their selections qualify them as a member
of the Discourse
Design, build, and publish a multimodal composition that embodies their
central arguments
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What is an ePortfolio
What Is an ePortfolio? N.p., 2013. Film.
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Where to ePortfolios work best?
Evaluate performance or quality of learning in courses that
emphasize
 Clinical practice
 Scientific methods
 Writing or written analysis
 Creativity
 Craft
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Learning/Process Portfolios
 to show growth or change over time
 to help develop process skills such as self-evaluation
and goal-setting
 to identify strengths and weaknesses
 to track the development of one more
products/performances
Mueller, Jon. “Portfolios (Authentic Assessment Toolbox).” N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2014.
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Presentation Portfolios
 to showcase end-of-year/semester
accomplishments
 to prepare a sample of best work for
employment or college admission
 to showcase student perceptions of favorite,
best or most important work
 to communicate a student's current aptitudes
to future teachers
Mueller, Jon. “Portfolios (Authentic Assessment Toolbox).” N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2014.
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Evaluation Portfolios
 to document achievement for grading purposes
 to document progress towards standards
 to place students appropriately
Mueller, Jon. “Portfolios (Authentic Assessment Toolbox).” N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2014.
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http://commons.gc.cuny.edu/wiki/images/EPortfolio_Faculty_Handbook.pdf
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http://commons.gc.cuny.edu/wiki/images/EPortfolio_Faculty_Handbook.pdf
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http://commons.gc.cuny.edu/wiki/images/EPortfolio_Faculty_Handbook.pdf
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http://commons.gc.cuny.edu/wiki/images/EPortfolio_Faculty_Handbook.pdf
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http://commons.gc.cuny.edu/wiki/images/EPortfolio_Faculty_Handbook.pdf
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Authentic
Assessment
Traditional
Portfolio
Measures student's ability
at one time
Measures student's ability
over time
Done by teacher alone;
Done by teacher and
student often unaware of student; student aware of
criteria
criteria
Conducted outside
instruction
Embedded in instruction
Assigns student a grade
Involves student in own
assessment
Does not capture the
range of student's
language ability
Captures many facets of
language learning
performance
Does not include the
teacher's knowledge of
student as a learner
Allows for expression of
teacher's knowledge of
student as learner
Does not give student
responsibility
Student learns how to
take responsibility
National Capital Language Resource Center. “Portfolio Assessment.” N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Aug. 2014.
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Portfolio Characteristics
 Collection of texts
 Range of performances
 Delayed evaluation promoting time for revision
 Selection of texts
 Student-centered control
 Reflection and self-assessment
 Growth along specific parameters (e.g., speaking/conversation)
 Development over time which provides evidence of progress
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Possible
Artifact
s
Mueller, Jon. “Portfolios (Authentic Assessment Toolbox).” N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2014.
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Folio Thinking
 What do you envision as the purpose for the ePortfolio
you’re contemplating?
 Whom do you see as the primary audience for the
portfolio? What are this audience’s expectations?
 Who are the secondary audiences? What are their
expectations?
On the “What is an ePortfolio?” page of your mini portfolio,
write a paragraph in which you answer these questions.
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