What trigger students to create e-portfolios?

This is a general overview about the international seminar named “What trigger students to create e-portfolios?”, which gathered teaching professionals from many different countries to discuss the creation of online portfolios by students. The event was part of the “Empowering E-portfolios Profess”. The project is based on the idea that, by creating online portfolios students get more involved with their academic and professional development. Therefore, it seeks to solve questions about, for example, how teachers can help in the process.

The development of the educational process is no longer restricted by the space inside classroom. This freezed dynamic can be redesigned so we can avail technological advances which we have access today. Besides that, all the educational system é increasingly influenced by social, political, economic and environmental reality surrounding the students and teachers. Hence, these issues cannot be set aside when setting the disciplines curriculums neither when planning how we expect students produce during the course.

Narratives inside classrooms also could be better explored. Instead of a one-hand dynamic in which teacher talks and students listen, we could have a learning process so that students share among themselves and with the teachers their knowledge and doubts. The curriculum, also, should be flexible in a way that it allows the knowledge fluidity. Dr Julie Uí Choistealbha, member of Marino Institute of Education (Ireland), mentioned Kahn and O’Rourke, which principles defended a curriculum based on listening the students: a clear, but open, starting point with resources to support learning.

Therefore, we can propose an “ecology of learning” as highlighted during Choistealbha lecture. She quotes Barnett when defining ecology of learning as a recognition of the totality of the learning experience.

The Dr also highlights the important role played by the teachers. “There is now a greater awareness of how pedagogic practices impact on student learning, motivation and engagement and a definite move away from the traditional notion of teaching as an exchange of information (OECD, 2012)”. Still concerning the ecology of learning, a positive environment motivates students, in particular those who are anxious about the subject matter or feel alienated. Motivation is not only an stimulation, but also a product of the learner’s perception about the effectiveness of their learning (Good and Brophy, 2000). In a nutshell, positiveness creates motivation and motivation creates more motivation. Also, the environment should allow students to “be learners” instead of just having a degree.

Resuming, the main roles of e-portfolios are engage teacher and students, to ease feedback and mould learning and teaching to individual needs and to give more voice to the students.

Another important point of view over e-portfolios is to make more visible student’s work. Using this tool, students have the chance to write down their experience during college works and archive the learning’s backstage for later access. Also, the e-portfolio can gather knowledge acquired beyond classes, such as in internships or in social responsibility projects and make transparent student’s competences and skills. This can provide reflection about their own work.

One aspect I considered very relevant in the seminar was the general relevance teachers are giving to students voice and interests. Also, the fact their updating curriculum in order to make them more open. This can, for example, make that natural discussions that happens in class could effectively influence on the knowledge gained.

As a student, the most important characteristics of e-portfolios would be to learn a clear way to demonstrate my skills and also to set a routine in order to have time to keep it updated and complete.