An eportfolio can be a web-based information management system that uses electronic media and services. The learner builds and maintains a digital repository of artifacts, which they can use to demonstrate competence and reflect on their learning. Having access to their records, digital repository, feedback and reflection students can achieve a greater understanding of their individual growth, career planning and CV building. Accreditation for prior and/or extra-curricular experiences and control over access makes the eportfolio a powerful tool.
According to Dr. Helen C. Barrett at UAA, a national expert on eportfolios, "electronic portfolios are much more than innovative resumes or scrapbooks". According to Barrett, eportfolios show "reflection, evolution of thought, and professional development".
We've reached a critical mass. As we reach electronic saturation, new norms of work are emerging. Arising out of this critical mass is a vision of how educational institutions can benefit, which is with the eportfolio.
We seem to be beginning a new wave of technology development in education. There is a push to free student work from paper and to make it
- organized,
- searchable, and
- transportable
This opens enormous possibilities for re-thinking whole curricula and allows for
- the evaluation of faculty,
- assessment of programs,
- certification of student work, and
- how accreditation works
