E-portfolios for the Modern Learner 1

E-portfolios for the Modern Learner

Kyle Wilkerson
Lamar University
EDLD 5315
E-portfolios for the Modern Learner 2

Introduction

E-portfolios are an emerging educational instrument that promotes a digitized

approach to work in the classroom. The current generation of students collects and

processes information through creative social media posts and other new media. These

learners are familiar with the broadcasting of their thoughts and opinions to a mass

audience. An e-portfolio transforms this personal interest and way of communication into

the classroom setting. This educational tool provides students with the opportunity

prioritize certain aspects of their educational journey and organize their work products in

a manner that appeals to them. This sense of empowerment that is afforded to students

through the use of e-portfolios is a powerful classroom tool for motivating and educating

students.

This literature review will explore the existing literature examining the basics of

e-portfolios, how e-portfolios provide a unique way of assessment, and the different ways

e-portfolios may be utilized to enhance student writing ability. Due to the nascent nature

of e-portfolio usage, much of the current research focuses on developing of e-portfolio

programs and examining best practices for the usage of e-portfolios as an instrument of

assessment in the classroom. This review of literature will seek to discover existing

conclusions on not only the implementation of e-portfolio programs and methodological

approaches to using e-portfolios for assessment purposes, but also how specified e-

portfolio programs might aid in the progression of writing skills.

E-portfolios

Abrami and Barrett (2005) provided an overview of the e-portfolio program as an

instrument in the classroom. The researchers sought to answer what e-portfolios were,
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why they might be used in the classroom and how they might benefit the classroom

experience. Abrami and Barrett (2005) simply aggregated existing data and research to

inform others on the existence of e-portfolios. The research was designed to essentially

serve as a short literature review to organize existing findings and state potential areas for

further development.

On the other hand, in one of the seminal works on the usage of e-portfolios,

Barrett (2005) examined the potential rationale for and benefits of using e-portfolios. She

discussed the need for further research into K-12 student usage of e-portfolios and sought

to gain insight into how or why this educational tool might assist this student population

(Barrett, 2005). The researcher indicated the following processes past research had

demonstrated for student usage of non-electronic portfolios: collecting, selecting,

reflecting, projecting, and celebrating. She further stated that all of these processes were

essential to e-portfolios, but that the added technological benefit enhanced the portfolio

by adding the following processes: archiving, linking/thinking, storytelling, collaborating,

and publishing. Upon completion of her study, Barrett (2005) found that though some of

the observed participants in the study indicated a highly beneficial student usage of the e-

portfolios, other issues arose in the study. Instructors reported difficulty in learning

proper usage of the technology, relaying this information properly to the students and

overall access of the appropriate technology for the students (Barrett, 2005). This

research formed a solid foundation for further research in the field.

Miller and Morgaine (2009) took a qualitative approach to assessing the benefits

of e-portfolios on both students and educators. The researchers were able to interview

teachers and students that had participated in e-portfolio programs in their classroom
E-portfolios for the Modern Learner 4

about their personal experiences with the programs. The positive results the researchers

collected were provided through actual quotes and seemed to emphasize the reflective

process that enabled both students and educators to further examine the step by step

nature of learning and visualize the extent to which they were developing within the

classroom.

Yancey (2009) provided a retrospective look at the development of e-portfolio

programs as an educational tool and then an examination at what e-portfolio programs

might eventually evolve into. He stated that early existing research had found that the

hypothesized benefits of e-portfolios, such as creative student-informed participation,

were demonstrated in findings. Yancey (2009) also went on to show that research into e-

portfolios had expanded in unexpected ways and had included not only the importance of

the e-portfolio programs to students and instructors, but also administrators and potential

employers of current students. This unexpected evolution in research provided Yancey

with the ability to state that e-portfolio programs provide a unique opportunity in the

educational setting to develop in unforeseen ways.

Clark and Eynon (2009) discussed the emphasis on student centered learning that

has driven educational innovation to develop new instruments like the e-portfolio. The

researchers also emphasized the influence of technology in educational advancements

and how students rely more heavily on technology in day-to-day discourse. The

combination of these two factors and others are what led Clark and Eynon (2009) to

study e-portfolios as an important classroom tool of the future. The researchers also

briefly discuss the future of research in the area of new approaches to assessing students

through e-portfolio programs.

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Student Assessment with E-portfolios

Burnett and Williams (2009) provided specific insight into the process of

developing e-portfolio programs for the detailed purpose of student assessment. The

researchers examined programs at two institutions of higher education to evaluate the

processes used to develop e-portfolios with expressed purpose of using them for student

assessment. Burnett and Williams (2009) detailed the difficulty in developing new

methodological approaches to assessing student engagement and understanding. The

Spellman College example they provided showed a simple but effective way of

examining student work to evaluate student work in a more individualized manner.

Herring and Notar (2011) emphasized the multi-media aspect of e-portfolios and

the versatility this provides both educators and students. The researchers sought to

examine how student media consumption and creation outside of the classroom might

impact their ability to learn and develop within the classroom. Herring and Notar (2011)

stated that e-portfolio programs provide educators with a new approach to assessing

student comprehension of material.

Kryder (2011) provided a distinctive examination of e-portfolio programs by

studying their potential in a higher education business program for the purposes of

networking. This real world usage outside of the classroom itself provided instructors and

the researchers to assess the content and practice of e-portfolios in a different way. This

utilization of the e-portfolio as a product of your education that you can utilize beyond

the classroom setting is something that might be beneficial to examine more in the future.

For the purposes of Kryder (2011) the findings of the research showed that real world
E-portfolios for the Modern Learner 6

assessment of your competency as a potential employee is something that provides value

to students.

E-portfolios Developing Student Writing Ability

Acker and Halasek (2008) utilized the e-portfolio as more of a vehicle with which

to assess student writing than to actually evaluate the e-portfolio process. The goal of the

research was to conduct both formative and outcome assessment on students through

instructor evaluation of a draft of an essay and the same completed essay within a

student’s e-portfolio. This particular research highlights the versatility of e-portfolios as a

tool within the classroom. The usage of technology allowed the instructors and

researchers to quickly assess the student work in a way that might have been more

difficult if they did not have immediate access to the work upon student completion. This

accessibility and versatility are two important aspects of e-portfolios that might need

further exploration in literature in the future.

Jenson (2011) emphasized the importance of reflection in the learning process

when discussing the educational approach to writing. She conducted a study examining

eight semesters worth of student work on reflection writing artifacts within e-portfolios.

Jenson (2011) found that the e-portfolio approach aided student development of self-

regulation and critical reflection skills. The findings of the study found that throughout

the creation process of the e-portfolios, not only were the lengths of the written

reflections increased over time, but also the assessment of the written assignment showed

a better in-depth analysis within the content of the written work.

Writing Skill Development Through Student Empowerment

E-portfolios for the Modern Learner 7

Fahey and Cronen (2016) studied the importance of creating student voice in the

educational experience. The concept of process learning was something that was

discussed to elaborate on the evolution of students as learners. The researchers sought to

discover how e-portfolios might aid in this furtherance of student voice and how this

might aid in the evolution of students as writers. Fahey and Cronen (2016) found that the

directed nature of e-portfolios greatly aided in the empowerment of the student by giving

them the opportunity to create and individualize their work product.

Bennett, Rowley, Dunbar-Hall, Hitchcock and Blom (2016) provided a unique

insight into the vast opportunities that the usage of e-portfolios can provide in a wide

range of classroom settings. Bennett and her colleagues (2016) focused on students in

higher education art programs. The e-portfolios examined in the study consisted of music

samples, creative writing and professional writings. The findings of the research centered

on the learning process in which the students were engaged in and did not necessarily

seek to evaluate the e-portfolio program itself. This approach was something distinctive

in comparison to a majority of the existing literature. Researchers found that the e-

portfolio served as a toll by which students were able to develop an individualized voice

and create a self-portrait of himself or herself as a student. This shows the potential of e-

portfolios to utilize the creative aspects of e-portfolio creation to develop writing skills

and tailor these skills to individual students and their interests.

How Does this Affect the Broader Field of Education?

Research into e-portfolios in general searches to explore how to connect with

students inside of the classroom. Performing research to examine the implications of the

usage of newly developed classroom instruments, such as e-portfolio programs, only

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serves to further study the overall educational experiences of the students. This line of

research seeks to expand this knowledge of the student experience.

Specifically with e-portfolio programs, research only enlightens instructors on

how technological advancements might be beneficial to connect with students. E-

portfolio programs as a tool provide researchers with the ability to study how current

students respond to more technology in the classroom. Further developing this line of

research on aids the entire field of education in understanding the modern student.

Gaps in the Literature

As an emerging area of research, existing literature on e-portfolio usage is in

obvious need of further development. While there has been much research done in the

higher education setting and the development of e-portfolio programs at the collegiate

level, the K-12 setting is still an underdeveloped area of interest. Further research must be

done to evaluate the potential similarities and differences that may exist between

implementation of e-portfolio programs at both educational levels. This is essential to

understand how much of the current existing research might be generalizable to the K-12

setting.

Furthermore, the current studies have been reluctant to examine the more creative

side of the e-portfolio. Instead the vast majority of existing work has researched the e-

portfolio programs purely as tools for assessment. Developing new work centering on the

versatility and creative nature of the e-portfolio as a tool might shed new light on the

benefits of implementing these programs. Providing students with the ability to feel

control and a sense of empowerment over their educational journeys seems like a field of

interest worth further exploration.

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The Current Study

In relation to this current work, the focused area of interest on the potential

ramifications of e-portfolio programs and the enhancement and development of student

writing skills is a specific topic that deserves further study. This area of emphasis would

provide invaluable information regarding the importance of specific benefits of the

utilization of e-portfolios in the classroom. Developing further understanding into the

exact benefits of e-portfolios as a classroom instrument could on further lines of research

in the area.

Outside of research specifically into the usage of e-portfolio programs in the

classroom, this current research might also provide deeper understanding into the means

by which a newer generation of students might best be able to develop writing skills.

Rather than focusing on the e-portfolios as the emphasis of the research, the research can

be manipulated in way to examine best practices for the development of writing skills in

the classroom. Furthering research on this precise subject could have positive

ramifications on numerous different educational research interests.

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References
Abrami, P., & Barrett, H. (2005). Directions for research and development on electronic

portfolios. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology/La revue canadienne

de l’apprentissage et de la technologie, 31(3).

Acker, S. R., & Halasek, K. (2008). Preparing high school students for college-level

writing: Using ePortfolio to support a successful transition. The Journal of

General Education, 1-14.

Barrett, H. (2005). White paper: Researching electronic portfolios and learner

engagement. Retrieved June, 23, 2006.

Barrett, H. C. (2007). Researching electronic portfolios and learner engagement: The

REFLECT initiative. Journal of adolescent & adult literacy, 50(6), 436-449.

Bennett, D., Rowley, J., Dunbar-Hall, P., Hitchcock, M., & Blom, D. (2016). Electronic

portfolios and learner identity: An ePortfolio case study in music and

writing. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 40(1), 107-124.

Burnett, M. N., & Williams, J. M. (2009). Institutional uses of rubrics and e-portfolios:

Spelman College and Rose-Hulman Institute. Peer Review, 11(1), 24.

Clark, J. E., & Eynon, B. (2009). E-portfolios at 2.0-Surveying the Field. Peer

Review, 11(1), 18.

Fahey, P., & Cronen, L. (2016). Digital Portfolios in Action: Acknowledging Student

Voice and Metacognitive Understanding in Art. The Clearing House: A Journal

of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 89(4-5), 135-143.

Herring, D. F., & Notar, C. E. (2011). SHOW WHAT YOU KNOW: EPORTFOLIOS

FOR 21 ST CENTURY LEARNERS. College Student Journal, 45(4).

E-portfolios for the Modern Learner 11

Jenson, J. D. (2011). Promoting Self-Regulation and Critical Reflection through Writing

Students' Use of Electronic Portfolio. International Journal of ePortfolio, 1(1),

49-60.

Kryder, L. G. (2011). Eportfolios: Proving competency and building a network. Business

Communication Quarterly, 74(3), 333-341.

Miller, R., & Morgaine, W. (2009). The benefits of e-portfolios for students and faculty

in their own words. Peer Review, 11(1), 8.

Yancey, K. B. (2009). Electronic portfolios a decade into the twenty-first century: What

we know, what we need to know. Peer Review, 11(1), 28.