E-Portfolio

E-Portfolio
Aaron Z. Smith
Western Oregon University
CSE 689
Dr. Ambrose
11/2/2016

E-Portfolio

An E-Portfolio is not terribly different than a normal portfolio. A

portfolio is a collection of materials that display ones work in a professional
environment.
An E-portfolio, according to Cornell University, is a collection of
materials that document student accomplishments, and may include
reflections on the learning process and its outcomes.
Since e-portfolios are electronic, they have additional qualities such as:

Requiring students to organize their thoughts and materials using an

electronic interface similar to a personal web page,

Allowing for the presentation and interlinking of various media types,

and

Being shared easily and continuously edited, (E-Portfolios. (n.d.)1

E-Portfolios are increasingly more useful by today's standards then

they were a decade ago. The primary reason is the ever increasing
dependency on technology that we have but also the convenience of
employers seeking to learn more about the people they employ without
trudging through mountains of paperwork. Now myself personally I like the
idea of putting together a hard copy portfolio but the world changes at
exponential rates and having both styles of portfolios can open many more
doors then just one or the other.
1 E-Portfolios. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2016, from
https://www.cte.cornell.edu/teaching-ideas/teaching-withtechnology/eportfolios.html

E-Portfolio

According to the Association of American Colleges and Universities

the primary benefits of an e-portfolio are to:

build learners personal and academic identities as they complete

complex projects and reflect on their capabilities and progress,

facilitate the integration of learning as students connect learning

across courses and time,

be focused on developing self-assessment abilities in which students

judge the quality of work using the same criteria experts use, and

help students plan their own academic pathways as they come to

understand what they know and are able to do and what they still need to
learn, (Miller, R., & Morgaine, W. (n.d.).2

This came to a surprise to me because I assumed a portfolio cast the

end results of a mastery of the subjects. Proof that someone is ready to
place themselves in a professional environment after they had done the
required academics. According to the AACU a portfolio, and by that an eportfolio, is an ever evolving facet in a professional environment. Proof that
we are never truly masters of our work and that we struggle to lead
ourselves and others up an endless set of stairs.
I plan on using my e-portfolio as icing on the cake for future
employment opportunities. I will stress a level seeking by employers to view
my works on my e-portfolio which will allow my performances in various
2 Miller, R., & Morgaine, W. (n.d.). The Benefits of E-portfolios for Students and
Faculty in Their own Words. Retrieved October 21, 2016

E-Portfolio

musical fields to be watched and scrutinized. In the music education world it

is not enough to teach music to students but one must also be able to
perform on a variety of disciplines. As a band director I must be able to
perform on each of the instruments that I teach and in the styles that I wish
to teach them. Otherwise what business do I have teaching my students?
An e-portfolio is the perfect medium that future employers can go to watch
my skills that they simply cannot get on a hard copy portfolio.

E-Portfolio

Reference
E-Portfolios. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2016, from
https://www.cte.cornell.edu/teaching-

ideas/teaching-with-

technology/eportfolios.html
Miller, R., & Morgaine, W. (n.d.). The Benefits of E-portfolios for Students and
Faculty in Their

own Words. Retrieved October 21, 2016, from

https://www.aacu.org/publications- esearch/periodicals/benefits-e-portfoliosstudents-and-faculty-their-own-words